Tuff Shooting Conditions Help !!

[jimmy johnston]

Help ???

I always seem to find the worst possible shooting conditions, so here is the deal...
My little girl is a gymnastics nut! She has been doing this for a few years, so I find myself going to these "gym meets" alot. This weekend I took my D70s (as I have done in the past) along with a 70-200 2.8 VR lens. All of the shots were indoors under fluorescent light with many at long distances (I added a 1.4 teleconverter for the really long shots). I cannot use a flash because the gymnastics rules prevent this. So, I am married to bad light, "sports action" shots, and long distances. I used the overexposure feature in the D70s and I have the White Balance under control. Still, even at shutter speeds of 180 and 200 I am getting motion blurr, but its the same old dilemma: Faster shutter speed with max ISO and aperture gives dark images. Can these underexposed shots be enhanced with Photoshop?

Any ideas will be appreciated !!! Thanks JJ

[Casey]

jimmy this is a quote from greg.


If you must have a certain shutter speed and available light will not allow, I purposely underexpose and 'push' the image in PP.

Remember the rule - it's always better to underexpose then to overexpose.

[jimmy johnston]

Thx Casey.....

Maybe I can give Greg a call for some advice. Hope your doing OK!!

JJ

[Casey]

i'm doing great! are you going to drink some worm buckets with us this weekend?

[Scream And Fly]

Jimmy, one problem in your situation is the 1.4X teleconvertor. With that mounted, you're losing 1 full stop, so your maximum aperture of F2.8 is now an F4. If possible, try not to use the teleconvertor and see if you can position yourself closer. If not, then you're going to have a tough time with an F4 aperture in very low light. You can take advantage of VR if you're not using a monopod, but that will not help too much with freezing action. If you're not using a monopod or tripod, that's a must at the focal length and relatively low shutter speeds you'll be shooting with.

Shoot in RAW mode, as that will give you more processing headroom - especially with your white balance. As you already know, you'll need to boost the ISO, but you can underexpose the image a bit and compensate in Photoshop (or any advanced image editor). You can also use exposure compensation in the camera, but I generally use Photoshop for those adjustments. Be prepared to deal with a high degree of noise in the image, but creative layering, masking and noise reduction software will greatly mitigate the problem.

I hope this helps. Call if I can be of any further assistance.

Greg

[jimmy johnston]

Thanks Greg.....

I'll work on shooting in RAW and getting closer. The only problem is the people that run these gym meets are real jerks and they probably won't let me get close. BTW, I just got the 2.8 70-200. I love it!!

Jimmy

[Scream And Fly]

Thanks Greg.....

I'll work on shooting in RAW and getting closer. The only problem is the people that run these gym meets are real jerks and they probably won't let me get close. BTW, I just got the 2.8 70-200. I love it!!

Jimmy
Awesome lens - my favorite next to the 200-400VR. As for people being jerks - remember that a good photographer always gets the shot :). Do what you have to do, and if you're courteous and respectful, I'm sure you can get close enough to do away with the 1.4X teleconvertor.

Greg

Here is a shot in low light with the 70-200VR (D200, ISO 1600, EV 0), shot at F4 to achieve the proper depth of field.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4577/002db0.jpg

[hsbob]

get a tripod with a weighted center. that way you can use slower shutter speeds. but remember with sloew speeds the movement of the subject may blur the picture. set you camera for bracketing and take 3-4 picture at one time. this will increase the odds for getting a blur free pic.