Indoor Sports Photography
Posted by Matt McGuire in 
Indoor sport photography is tough arena to master. I was at an indoor soccer game yesterday taking pictures for a local team. I decided to experiment with different lenses. While there were quite a few differences between lenses my main desire was to test each lenses difference in aperture.
Aperture is sometimes called Fstop or depth of field (DOF). Aperture is basically how wide open your shutter will go. I have lenses from 1.8 to 5.6. It was very interesting to see the differences. With my 1.8 lens I could have the sutter speed pretty fast. As soon as I put on my 3.5 lens everything was black. I had to slow down the shutter speed a lot to even get somewhat light picture.
I am still saving for the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, which will make a great indoor (and outdoor) sport lens. If you are going for indoor sports shot don’t plan on using a lens with a smaller aperture than 2.8. Anything larger and your photos will be blurry or very dark.
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28 Comments to “Indoor Sports Photography”
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AJ says:
Don’t you need a pretty fast shutter speed to grab the action shots? Indoor sports photography is a whole different ball game than portrait photography. Sorry for the pun
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Matt McGuire Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Yes a fast shutter speed is needed as well as a wide aperture.
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Melvin from Rental Property Management Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Matt, besides that I feel one should have a quick reflex and attention to detail. Every single second is precious and one have to set eyes on the game from scratch till end. We cant just say when the decisive moment comes. What do you think? I believe this is applicable to all action oriented territories of photography.
Melvin@Rental Property Management´s last blog ..Otahuhu, Auckland City
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steve from treadmill says:
You are right with shutter speed, when you are taking pictures of something that is stationary then having low shutter speed enables the picture to have more depth and detail I believe. What you think?
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Klaus from TechPatio says:
Are you going to put up a post about your experiences in this matter? What about ISO, did you shoot at the same ISO all the time or did you try raise ISO to try faster shutter speeds at smaller aperture?
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Gmail Tip: Trick Gmail Into Checking Your POP3 Accounts Often
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Gary from Wedding photographer in Warwickshire says:
I have been using software to remove the noise from high ISO, indoor shots and it works very well, I won’t say which though, in case it gets mistaken for spam!
Thanks
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lucas from How To Jump Higher says:
Yes, for indoor photography you do need fast shutter. Aperture and ISO are also important, nonetheless.
lucas@How To Jump Higher´s last blog ..4 Reasons for Failing To Jump Higher
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Matt from Wilton California says:
Indoor photography is tough/ You need a fast shutter and a large aperture.
Matt @ Wilton California´s last blog ..Pleasant Grove Jr Eagles Football and Cheer Signup
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Professor Nyiam says:
A fast shutter speed as well as a wide aperture would help. But don’t forget the stamina you need to keep those hands up ready for action. You definitely need to be in shape to keep up with the Action.
Professor Nyiam´s last blog ..Meet Jaylin Fleming, the best 10 year old hoops player in America Y! Sports Blogs Yahoo! Sports
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Amanda from Northampton Wedding Photography says:
A monopod could make it easier on your arms and help prevent blur.
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Chris from Commercial Photographer Belfast says:
I too, lower shutter speed for stationary objects. It adds more character and life to a shot.
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stacie from Photographers in Bromsgrove says:
Hey Matt. I am my son’s chosen photographer for his basketball team so I know how hard it can be to get those shots just right. When I first started I was pretty shocked by how difficult it was compared to still photography, even though I tried to prepare myself for it.
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Rich from protein shakes says:
Few of my friends had a badminton tournament not long back and I was using a generic digital camera and found that even after playing with all the settings I couldnt capture an infocus-detailed action shot which was mega annoying.
Rich@protein shakes´s last blog ..Which Cross trainer?
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Denver Photographer says:
I can imagine the difficulties with indoor sporting events but there are some great advantages. You dont have to deal with the bad weather and rough conditions and really focus on your subject. As far as shutter speed, you could go higher and get cool action frozen in mid step or you could go slower and give your image illusion of movement with the blurriness. The options are limitless. Of course if you’re shooting with a huge telephoto lens its always harder to adjust while still getting the lighting you need.
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James from Bromsgrove Photographers says:
I used to do the photos for my younger brother’s football games and it’s so hard to get it right so I can appreciate the effort you had to put in here matt. Sometimes you wish you could just ask everyone to freeze so you can take good shot but if it works out it’s great.
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david from engagement rings says:
Truely I do not know anything about this. But like to master ndoor sport photography. How can I do?
david
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david from engagement rings says:
Indoor sport photography needs fast shutter speed.
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Luke from Tahoe Photographer says:
i normally do portrait photography but every now and then I try my hand at sports photography and let me tell ya its hard not to mention the lens i needed for it was expensive! I don’t always use a fast shutter and agree with steve. I like to add “movement” to the photo with a slower shutter speed sometimes.
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leonardo from consultoria de qualidade says:
you need a fast shutter speed for that right?
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Sabrina from raleigh portrait photographer says:
Shutter speed is indeed necessary! I recently photographed an indoor badminton tournament for my friend. I was totally unsatisfied with how some of my pictures turned out. Either I was too late to capture a perfect shot, or, I was too early because I was already anticipating being late for the shot. Of course, they wouldn’t break off the game until I could get my bearings
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Vanessa says:
Are you able to take photos of indoor tennis? I am very interested.
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Tim from Free Venue Finding Service says:
How do you get both a clear image and the depth of field indoors?
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Tamara from buy vampire costume says:
Hi, just want to say i learn a lot of ideas here about the importance Shutter speed in photography. It is really enlightening in my part to know the things which are really necessary in taking picture particularly when it comes to indoors sports. Thanks for sharing this informative post.
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petter from wedding photographers in Buffalo, NY says:
Great site and have a big response. I need help. can you provide me some important tips for indoor photography? thanks for comments.
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Aiden from wedding photography in Buffalo, NY says:
I have been working on taking photos inside of a gym during basketball games. My problem is that lighting in the gyms causes me to shoot at such at a low speed that the action is all blurred. But if I turn up the ISO, I am able to increase the speed to 1/125, but the shots are extremely grainy and still dark.
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Aiden from Buffalo photographer says:
IN indoor sport photography what to do for a fast speed i am really very interested?
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State College Wedding Photographer says:
Wow! Your lens can reach 1.8 opening. Mine can only be at 3.5 opening. I envy you.
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Chicago Wedding Limousine says:
thanks for the good tips that you said in taking indoor sports photo.
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