[arkaksi]

Hello,

I've been asked to photographically cover our tennis club's outdoor weekend meet.
(I did ask them to support some local professional photographer, but as it is lamentable these days, they would not want to pay for such a thing.)
I am free with the content and the execution; the results will be used in the club newsletter and in social media. All the releases have been asked and so forth.

I come from large format photography background, and as is common on LF equipment, preparing for one exposure takes me around thirty minutes.
With 35mm gear, I have decades of experience on architecture, landscapes, macro and portrait photography, but with action photography,
I am not very experienced. I've tried to practice that as well in the past two years, but after each session I've made,
there is always some thing I've ignored in all the hassle.

I know the grounds, the programme; I've also proposed a plan and got it accepted:
I'll create a photo itinerary of the two days (I am also participating in the tournament,
so naturally I won't be covering my own matches) and additionally, I'll make some photo portraits
(here I am better in my comfort zone).

I've decided to give my Pentaxes a chance here: originally I thought of taking Pentax as primary selection,
and Nikon gear (I have longer experience with that) as my backup, but it does seem a bit excessive to
drag along two sets of gear just for one purpose. I've had digital Pentaxes only for two years, but I think
I am starting to get the mechanics under control. I much prefer manual focus, but action shooting just might
need auto-focus with my limited experience in this subject area.

There's a bit of a problem in the equipment, as I have mainly primes for my cameras;
I have a decent medium zoom, which I think will provide sufficient flexibility in
the relatively restricted tennis court environment.

Here's the gear list I've thought to take:
K1,K5 as backup,24mm,43mm,85mm f1.4/135mm f2.8 (undecided),300mm primes and a 70-210mm zoom.
Gitzo tripod/monopod+RRS ball head,flash,portable reflector. For backdrop I'll be using the tennis court

Comparing the continuous shooting ability of my Nikon D850 and Nikon D7200 with the corresponding models Pentax K-1 and Pentax K-5,
the Nikons appear to shoot about twice the speed (that's how it sounded anyway). RAW/JPEG selection appears to make a big difference on the APS-C
cameras.

There is no real stress, as I can freely choose if there is anything acceptable to publish if any (one good thing about doing things for free).
Why I am posting this here is that I just like to do things as well as I can.


I'd appreciate any suggestions or tips for the execution of this gig.

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Last edited by arkaksi; 05-13-2021 at 03:00 AM. Reason: better choice of a word

[AfterPentax Mark II]

I do not intend to be helpful here, but I think you do the right thing with "I did ask them to support some local professional photographer...". I think you should stick to that. But if you go along with it take only one camera with the 70-210 (and if you must the other with the 300mm). Nothing more, because having a broad choice of lenses makes more difficult than it already is (your question perfectly illustrates this). But I think it is important to help the professionals at this time, because they have a difficult time with all that is going on.

[Sidney Porter]

You are going to want auto focus. Back button focus, af-c. I use high burst rate jpeg only. Center single point. I primarily use a kp or k3, Tamron 70-200 f2.8.

I am primarily shooting lacrosse. The ball is about the same size I would think a serve and a shot can both hit high speeds. I use tav and set the shutter at 1250 and f3.2. as it gets dark and the lights come on I will scale back to 800 and open up to 2.8.

I center area meter. If tennis players are in white and it is sunny you might need to adjust the exposure compensation. I run into issues on the kp with white helmets and jerseys

Location is important. How close can you get to the court? Are you shooting thru netting / fence? "Two eyes and a ball" makes more interesting photos so position yourself appropriately. I would think so you get them opening up with their forehand(?). A bunch of backs and back of heads does make for as much interest.

If you are shooting from stands. The shots lose a little bit of face. But you do eliminate distracting backgrounds, since the court/field becomes the background.

Shoot and crop for the action. I have never shot tennis. Some tennis photos although technically good all start to look the same as an isolated player hitting the ball. But that is the nature of the sport. For some of the shots I would try setting behind the court and taking a picture of the far player where the net can be part of the shot (but out of focus).

The sports single photo has quite a few high school (devildogs) tennis shots. That poster uses a k1. If you start from the most recent and go backwards you should find some. You will also find plenty of other sports to give you idea

[Belnan]

Never go anywhere without your wide angle lens. I would likely lean on the 70-210, but if there is room in your bag I would take the 85, 43 and 24. People worry about redundancy too much, sure if you were a professional getting paid for a once in a lifetime event yes but the probability of your gear failing is virtually nil.

[rm2]

Agree with taking a wide lense for capturing the ambiance of the event. Your 300mm will be great for the action shots. Your best chances of getting great shots are at the return of service. With the better players you don't even need to look at the server, just listen. The time for the return being hit is almost exactly the same each shot. Just think of returning it with your shutter.

[aslyfox]

when is the event ?

any chance you can get into the facility before hand and practice with the gear you intend on using

check speed, lighting, positioning etc

get permission from the folks you photograph but I would tell them that you are just practicing for the " main event " and the photos you take will ultimately be deleted and not distributed

I do not intend to be helpful here, but I think you do the right thing with "I did ask them to support some local professional photographer...". I think you should stick to that. But if you go along with it take only one camera with the 70-210 (and if you must the other with the 300mm). Nothing more, because having a broad choice of lenses makes more difficult than it already is (your question perfectly illustrates this). But I think it is important to help the professionals at this time, because they have a difficult time with all that is going on.

I agree completely - besides which, when your work comes back as less than perfect, they won't consider that you're basically an amateur as to that kind of photography and did your best to help them with their problem; they may not hate you but you won't get any warm and fuzzies, let alone, "thanks". I'm thinking the best approach would be that taken by the Archangel Michael as played by John Travolta, who often said, "It's not my area."


I have a lot of experience with people who want free legal advice. They don't value what you give them because they didn't have to pay for it. And by extension, they don't value you because you're the sort of person who gives away that which others would charge money for.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

I agree completely - besides which, when your work comes back as less than perfect, they won't consider that you're basically an amateur as to that kind of photography and did your best to help them with their problem; they may not hate you but you won't get any warm and fuzzies, let alone, "thanks". I'm thinking the best approach would be that taken by the Archangel Michael as played by John Travolta, who often said, "It's not my area."


I have a lot of experience with people who want free legal advice. They don't value what you give them because they didn't have to pay for it. And by extension, they don't value you because you're the sort of person who gives away that which others would charge money for.

That is what I call "sound advice". You are absolutely hitting the nail there.

[Wheatfield]

Take the 70-210, throw the camera in shutter preferred auto mode at a shutter speed fast enough to do what you want with an ISO high enough to allow the lens to stop down a couple of stops, chimp a couple of shots, bias the exposure as needed, and then just take pictures.

[Sidney Porter]

For those that are concerned that the club will not be satisfied. I have not experienced that with any teams, clubs, players, parents or leagues that I have shot for. People appreciate these photos because it isn't something they can do with their phone.

The end product is social media post and a newsletter. That isn't that many photos that need to turn out.

This isn't like taking pictures of a wedding where there are critical shots you must get

[arkaksi]

Thank you all for your kind replies. I am especially grateful for the technical tips on capturing the tennis court action.
I am thinking of making the action shooting bit provisional: taking a critical eye to the results and
handing over only those exposures that I find sufficiently good, if any.

I do not think that the travelogue or the portraiture parts will present any major difficulties,
as I have done that kind of work several times earlier. The event will take place next weekend,
hopefully in better weather than today.

Incidentally, I made a test run last week (though only indoors). Finding several shortcomings in
my (action shooting) technique partly influenced my posting this topic here.

[robgski]

You could consider playing to your strengths and do a static shot of the tennis facility, or some tennis balls and a racket with the club logo featured, in addition to the action shots.

[Sidney Porter]

the serve should be an easy action shot. The player is standing in on spot so focus and burst with a fast enough shutter.

For returns use your ears. Focus on the returner and start shooting on the sound on the return at some point the ball will be in frame along with the returner

[arkaksi]

I had another go today, and found out that bright sunshine makes things more difficult.
But alas, I managed to get a few nice action shots. MF works much better for me. The portrait shots
that I delivered a few hours ago have already been praised by the club management (might be because I know these people personally).
gotta get that 300mm f2.8 soon

---------- Post added 05-16-21 at 09:59 AM ----------

the two and half things I have already learned:
- fill the frame
- ball between the player and the camera, focus to the eyes
- full manual mode (the hyper-something with that works fine)

[arkaksi]

Hi Sidney,
I really value your technical advice.
Clear and straightforward tips concerning just the issues I inquired about.