URGENT: who knows anything about photography?

[openfire]

I'm going to the Raptors game tomorrow (vs. Celtics) and I have some really good seats this time. (Baseline Prime, row 8 ) Since I'm going to be very close to the action, I want to get some really good pictures. I'm not sure what settings to use on my camera for this particular application.

I have the Cannon Powershot A570is. This camera allows you to adjust settings that most point and shoots don't. Unfortunately, unless you know a lot about photography, these adjustable settings are extremely difficult to take advantage of in a situation like this where I don't have time to practice and compare results etc...

Can anyone recommend the proper settings for this scenario?

 

[frozenfire]

I really can't help you out there.
I've never owned a point and shoot, but am going to pick up my canon eos rebel XSi today. I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time learning everything as well.

Perhaps you can check out certain photography forums?

BTW, you are SOOO lucky to get such awesome seats! The raps have been playing fairly good lately, hope this winning streak continues.
And I just realized that after they face the celtics tomorrow, they go to boston and face them again on monday!

 

[openfire]

You know, it's funny but I've actually had my eye on the same camera you bought. (It was sold out at Henry's in Newmarket last week)... I guess I should fully learn to use this one first lol That new cannon dslr is so sweet though.

Yup, I lucked out again this year. It's always nice when you get those corporate freebies once in a while. I'm actually more excited about these tickets than my playoff box seats last year. Not as luxurious and no free food and booze, but definitely more up close and personal. I can live with that trade-off.

As for them playing well recently, it's funny but I haven't seen a game in over a week now because they were pissing me off. For a few weeks they were blowing lead after lead, losing to some really bad teams like Oklahoma City who were like 1 - 22 at the time. It got to the point that I said, OK I'm off the Raps for the rest of the season. I guess they decided to start winning once I stopped watching. Go figure

** Edit to add - Frozenfire, can you recommend a busy photography forum where the members are knowledgeable and willing help a noob? I don't know if you visit any, but thought I'd ask anyway instead of googling and registering to forums all and day long. ***

 

[efka]

rtfm
but try setting on sport if its available, it allows for fast shooting so later you can select which pick to keep.
i have canon s3 and love it, little chunky though.

 

[frozenfire]

Have it in my hands now and it's pretty sweet!
The kit lens (18-55 mm is pretty nice)... although i'm going to look at getting my hands on some more soon.

Yah I know... I decided to stop watching too cause they were also pissing me off. Blowing double digit leads... not able to close out any games and letting opponents come back with ease...argh... now they won 4 of the last 5 games haha. We'll see how they do with boston though...

The only one i've been lurking in is:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php
It's the busiest canon based forum i know of.

efka is right on... there should be a sport mode that allows you to take pictures of fast moving objects better.

openfire, if you go there a little earlier and play around with the setting and take lots of experimental shots, I'm sure you'll have it down before the game starts... take shots of moving people in the ACC... or when the players come out to warm up.

 

[frozenfire]

I forgot to add....

I couldn't believe it when I found out they gave Oklahoma City their second win of the season!!! Such a big disappointment.

 

[efka]

openfire, if you go there a little earlier and play around with the setting and take lots of experimental shots, I'm sure you'll have it down before the game starts... take shots of moving people in the ACC... or when the players come out to warm up.

what do you mean people or warming up players??
WE WANT PICTURES OF CHEERLEADERS!!!

 

[frozenfire]

hahaha...can't forget the cheerleaders...
i'm sure when they come out for the opening dance, openfire will be all over them!

 

[openfire]

Oh, I'll get some cheerleaders fo sho!

Here's some of the pics I took from the game last year. Trout opening day, missed for this:

Raptors vs Magic, playoffs round 1, game 3. ACC, private box.

 

[openfire]

Wait a minute... Compare this:

With this: View attachment 6618

Notice a difference in quality? It's the exact same pictue, but the first one was uploaded to the gallery and the second was just attached as a file in the post. (You'll have to actually click on the pictures and view them in full to see what I'm talking about)

 

[MikeyMikey]

I still have my original Canon Digital Rebel Silver. hmm...

I also have a Canon PowerShot 720is which hacked firmware.

As for INDOOR sports shots having a fast lens is always helpful.
Play with either TV or AV mode,
Anyhow increase your ISO setting,
RAW,
I don't think flash on P&S cameras will do anything,


What am I saying, I don't know what I am talking about.

Have a listen to this podcast...
http://www.thedigitalstory.com/blog/media/tds061219.mp3

 

[openfire]

Thanks Mikey, that was an excellent link, just the kind of info I was looking for.

Frozenfire, after listening to the podcast that MikeyMikey linked, I think Efka was talking about shooting in continuous mode, ie holding the button down and letting it take rapid consecutive shots, like 6 or 7 in the span of 3 seconds, then later selecting the good ones. My camera has that option. But yeah, a fast shutter speed is going to be necessary for sure. I'll take your advice and get there a little early and try to get the settings right.

Mikey thanks for the info. I will be playing around with TV and RAW, different ISO etc.. see what happens.

And Efka, yes I think I'll be reading the #$% manual tonight.

I'll post some pics of the results tomorrow.

BTW, Let's Go Raptors! (I'll be happy if they can make it a close game)

 

[frozenfire]

man...the beginning was horrible to watch, but the 4th quarter intensity was nice to see.
oh well, we'll see what happens tomorrow...

 

[MikeyMikey]

With RAW files you can change the White balance when you edit it on your computer.
Than again it takes bit longer on camera to save raw files after a shot
so you might not be able to take multiple shots.

Hey, it's a digital camera.... just take as many shots as you want.




It helps to get some ideas on how camera functions work and how you should approach a shot.
http://www.thedigitalstory.com/podcast/

 

[openfire]

Well, they kinda made it close at the end. At least the last few minutes were exciting. I'm happy.
The ACC crowd was pretty flat for the first 3 quarters, but the crowd came alive in the 4th.

I ended up using TV mode with auto ISO on most of the pics. I shot most pics in continuous mode since I had 4 Gigs worth of memory.

Well, I learned that I need a better camera for these types of shots, and more importantly, I have a lot to learn about photography. :lol: Mikey, thanks again for the link. I'm definitely going to spend some time learning photography.

As for my pics, I'll post some more pics tomorrow, but here's one for Efka 8)

View attachment 6619

 

[openfire]

"Superfan" Nav Bhatia, chats it up with Moon. This guy has not missed a single Raptors home game ever in Raptors history. He was chatting it up with Moon for a good 2 minutes. I wonder what they were talking about? Was Nav giving him post-up advice? LOL
View attachment 6620

 

[openfire]

Here's another super-fan in the making. This kid's mom sent him to get Garnett's autograph. The usher blocked him, and the security dude in the yellow jacket was getting ready to open up a can of whoop-ass on the kid! :lol:View attachment 6621

 

[openfire]

One more for Efka :lol:
View attachment 6622

 

[openfire]

I was just testing the continuous shooting mode on my camera before game time. That's all. :lol:View attachment 6624

 

[openfire]

It's all in good fun, she didn't mind. :lol:
View attachment 6623

More pics to come...