Denham Photography: High School Basketball

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/2.0, 1/640 sec

One of the true purposes of purchasing my DSLR was to be able to take pictures of my kids participating in sports. My daughter is a cheerleader for youth football and my son plays high school basketball. This has rekindled my love for sports photography, which is the reason I got into photography 25 years ago.

My son's team has a new coach this year and he has asked me to keep stats for him. This combined with the fact that I do the Public Address Announcing at the home games makes it very hard to take pictures. I have wrtten off getting shots at the home games due to the announcing, which is not so bad because it is the worst lit gym that they play in. I have managed to find a way to log the stats and take shots at the away games, though, and am having a great time doing it.

The equipment that I have limits me a small amount. My DSLR's max ISO is 1600 where a more advanced camera could get me to 6400 or even 12,800. In well lit gyms like you see in the picture above, this is not a big problem. When I get into gyms that are not as brightly lit, I have to enlist in the help of my flash. This brings me to my next equipment shortcoming. I don't have an external flash yet so I am still using the camera's flash which keeps me from being able to bounce light and has to flash directly at the players. So far this has not been a problem, I just don't like it.

The only other limitation is that I don't have a fast zoom lens. I am shooting exclusively with a Canon 50mm f/1.8. I really like this lens but shooting anything further out on the court is next to impossible. I do get some shots in focus out on the court, there are just not enough of them.

Both Shots:

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/2.0, 1/640 sec

One of the biggest lessons I have learned to get great individual shots is taking advantage of pre-game warmups. The teams tend to do repetitive drills in warmups and it allows me to stay pointing in a single spot or zone and take shots of each player in succession. The two shots above are two of my best that I have gotten and they were both in the same pre-game. There are at least another half dozen from this pre-game that turned out very well.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/2.2, left pic. 1/320 sec, right pic. 1/200 sec. flash at -2

One of the other lessons that I learned is to get underneath the basket. Most of the action takes place there and most of that action is physical. This causes a lot of great faces and reactions as you can see in the two pictures above. This goes double for high school girls basketball. Girls, without trying to insult them, don't play as fast and jump as high as the boys so they are closer together and more contact tends to happen.

When I get under the basket, I try to get as low to the ground as I can. This creates a more dramatic angle and I've found it helps to get a piggy-back from the lights in the ceiling.

Both Shots:

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/2.5, 1/200 sec, flash at -2

Something else I have learned to do is pay attention to what is going on off the court as well. Because my daughter is a cheerleader, I have an understanding of what they do and how they work on the sidelines. Their stunts and cheers make for some great action as well as shown by the two shots above.

This philosophy of applies to the bench as well. Coaches are just as active and animated as the players are. This makes for great dramatic pictures if you can catch them at the right time. The shot below is one that I caught of my son's coach from the end of their bench.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/2.0, 1/1000 sec

The last part of the game that most of us spend time taking part in but forget about when we have the camera in our hands is the fans. They are the most animated people at a basketball game. In the picture below, I was sitting in front of the this group and at a time out they started yelling across at the opposing fans. I jumped out on the court and turned to get a shot and they got louder and more excited.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS, Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/2.2, 1/500 sec

This year's boys' team is 9-1 after their first 10 games. This has the opportunity to be a special team. If it turns out that it is, I guarantee you I wil be there with my camera in hand to record it. I am putting together a photo book of this team to sell to the players and their parents. So far, the reaction to it is very positive.