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09-17-2015, 06:59 PM   #1
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My first paid assignment: indoor volleyball – any tips?

I just got my first paid photography assignment at my college: a volleyball game. Indoor court, reasonably lit, near-sideline access. The game will take place this Saturday starting at noon.

I've done volleyball before, but I'd like to have some tips from the community on how to get the best shots. I expect to have both my K-3 II and K-5 with me; the K-3 II will have the DA* 60-250mm lens on it while my K-5 will be mated to the DA 50mm f/1.8 prime.

Any tips or suggestions are welcome.

—DragonLord

09-17-2015, 07:11 PM   #2
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In volleyball I assume you are going to be closer than in other sports. Wouldn't you also want a wider angle to take shots of the entire half court closest to you? Maybe I am mistaken but 50mm seems too 'unwide' to get those kind of shots. And 250mm may be way more FL than necessary.
09-17-2015, 07:28 PM   #3
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I am not a professional but I have shot VB games when my wife or son have been playing for the past 8 years. I try to shoot from the bench or from behind the 2nd ref.

I use my K-3 with :
- lenses with focal lengths within 50-100 mm (not enough details when shooting shorter focal lengths and anything above 100mm is too long IMHO)
- fast prime lenses (f1.8 or f1.4)
- continuous shooting (8.3 fps)
- Manual Focus mode (MF).

I got my best shots with Carl Zeiss 85mm f1.4, Pentax FA77mm f1.8, and Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4 lenses.

Basic post-processing is a must. In particular for orientation/rotation.

My keeper rate is low: less than 5% are great shots. But my wife, my son and their friends are happy with my shots and this keeps my going.

I shoot in Hi continuous shooting mode all the times, hoping to get at least one good shot per sequence (of 4-5 shots).

I cannot comment about the 60-250mm. But VB is a fast sport and you cannot use a flash. I found that a fast prime operating in MF with pre-focus (based upon distance) works best for me. Since the VB court is 9m by 9m, it is relatively easy to estimate the distance(s) and pre-focusing does help a lot, specially if your lenses are well calibrated in terms of distance.

I hope that my '5 cents' can help. And I would be interested to hear from others: we are 'never to old to learn'.

Last edited by hcc; 09-17-2015 at 11:23 PM.
09-17-2015, 07:41 PM   #4
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Following some of the pros I've seen online, I've taped CSI Dolphins branding onto the lens hood of my DA* 60-250mm lens. (I do have another PH-RBK67 on hand, though, so this shouldn't be an issue.)

—DragonLord

09-17-2015, 07:58 PM   #5
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I took tamron 28-75/2.8 and FA50, 77 and 135 with me in several games. 28-75 was the major lens on K5, and primes on another camera, depends on my position and who I wanted to shoot (usually near net). 135 is too long in most time, only good for players running far away to save a ball or something like that.
Volleyball players have their zone on the ground and usually move in this area in a given time, and I had enough time to chang lenses.
09-18-2015, 07:48 AM - 1 Like   #6
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Just a reminder of the obvious: Not every great shot needs to be of action. Similar to any sport, a non-portrait/portrait of a face showing emotion tells a story and is usually appreciated by an athlete and his/her parents. So get a few photos of those fist pumps, intense stares before a serve, the emotional coach talking to a player(s), etc. with whatever lens you have that will show the eyes in focus and sharp. Even a wide angle shot of a crowded venue showing excitement adds to memories of the event. Some photos will be keepers and most won’t. Just be sure to crop and do what is necessary in post processing to put out a quality product.
09-18-2015, 02:54 PM   #7
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What I do: prefocus on a spot and have one eye in the eye piece of the camera and my other eye watching the action and try to guess which player is going to get the ball and fire away. My favorite shots are the "diggers" in which I see the action and very quickly put the camera up to my eye and fire as fast as I can. Success depends on how much you practice.
Like others said you don't need a real long lens just a fast one using high ISO to keep the shutter fast enough.
And yes, the keeper rate is very low if you are fussy like me

This is a digger


Good luck!

09-19-2015, 08:22 AM   #8
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Alright, game will start in about 30 minutes. I have my laptop set up in the backstage area behind the stands and all equipment is go.

I'm at floor level with sideline access (but not end line for safety reasons). Indoor court is pretty well-lit (and there's some light from outside as it's noon), so things shouldn't get too challenging. My K-3 II is set to shoot RAW+JPEG on separate cards, while the K-5 is also set to shoot RAW+JPEG.

Go Dolphins!

—DragonLord

Last edited by bwDraco; 09-19-2015 at 08:37 AM.
09-19-2015, 09:42 AM   #9
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Good luck and happy shooting!
09-19-2015, 10:38 AM   #10
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Game's over. It's not easy to shoot volleyball at all, but I did get some good shots.

I'll have some images up soon.

—DragonLord
09-19-2015, 11:03 AM   #11
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prefocus to the net where you predict something exiting is going to happen, or happen more often.
Happy shooting!
09-19-2015, 12:26 PM   #12
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Alright, here are some shots from the game. I've had to apply some pretty heavy-handed NR in RawTherapee, but the result is inevitably better than the out-of-camera JPEGs.







—DragonLord
09-19-2015, 12:48 PM   #13
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Nice work bud!

So...what lens did you use the most? Any lessons learned for future volleyball shoots?

Last edited by realitarian; 09-19-2015 at 02:25 PM.
09-19-2015, 03:28 PM   #14
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I was primarily using the DA* 60-250mm lens near the short end. 50mm, as on my K-5, was a touch too short for some shots, though. I guess the best lens would be something like the DA* 50-135mm, but the SDM on that lens is rather iffy . Good primes for volleyball would include the DA 70mm Limited and FA 77mm Limited.

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09-20-2015, 09:34 AM   #15
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They look great! Especially like your middle shot. What was your capture rate on average?
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