Originally posted by TXPentaxK50 Ok, so you do recommend raw for my purposes? And tell me a bit about noise reduction - the players versus the background. How is this controlled? By camera settings? Or by the software ?.
When the camera does it to make a JPG, it can do it either too much or not enough, because it has no idea about the subject matter.
It's better that you take charge in software from the RAW file itself, using the mouse to select different noise reduction levels (and types) to different areas on the screen in front of you. You can kill all grain in the background, for example, but be very cautious about faces - you can end up with wax dummies!
Originally posted by TXPentaxK50 Sorry for all the dumb questions. I did most of my serious stuff in the film age and am just now gearing back up to shoot my daughter’s volleyball for the next 3 years or so.
Photography projects with personal meaning are the best, right? The love for your daughter can give you the impetus to rediscover the hobby and push through the ups and downs of learning.
At some (much) later stage, you should attempt some flash photography, even of just warmup/practice if there's an objection to it at game time, because you can get the true colours and contrast that are masked by the dingy stadium lighting and hopefully get some vivid pictures of what's an exciting sport.