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07-06-2010, 08:21 PM   #1
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keeping both eyes open in action photography

I've been practicing action and close-sports photography (like volleyball) and find it difficult to execute this technique!

I find it especially hard because I am left eyed, if both eyes are open, my brain favors my left eye, and the camera is in the way of my right eye.

When a ball shoots across the court, I need to track which person it is going to so I can get a nice closeup of them and the ball. I've tried not holding the camera in front of my face and following it, predicting, and bringing the camera up, but it's pretty hard with a 70-200mm f2.8. And then there are spin shots or wind where it doesn't land where I expect it, and then spikes which I have never captured well.

Anyone have any tips for this?

07-06-2010, 08:52 PM - 1 Like   #2
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Getting those sports action shots: all the details

[To try to be quick and yet fully address the issue... that is the mission!]

1. Get the photographic basics right. Lots of times, I am forgetting something really elementary and it changes how well my shots come out. I shoot lots of basketball games and football games, where the action is indeed fast as all get-out. The basics: Ample light behind me; tripod for lengths above 300mm; high shutter speed; good vantage point (height and location); lowest ISO emulation reasonable for the shutter speed.

2. Know the game; better yet, know the team and the coach's designs. If you know what's going to happen, you don't have to guess where the action will be; game action will come to you. Even if you haven't had a long background with the game or the team, watch the patterns (in other words, don't shoot; just observe carefully for a few minutes) in the action. Determine what moments you want to capture; then get yourself ready to capture them.

3. Shoot "upright," with the framing tall instead of long. That gets one eye out from behind the camera, on some units.

OR... 3B. Hover. I, too, have trouble keeping both eyes open and staying behind the shutter. When I need to shoot long instead of tall, I usually use the 55-300mm, handheld, and I "hover" over the camera, nose in the viewfinder and both eyes looking over the top. It's close, it lets me watch the game, and the width of the lens catches everything I wanted to capture and a little extra--not restrictively like a macro and not indiscriminately like a wide angle.

Note on 3. and 3B.: strength... to take for the whole game, and still remain steady, you need strength in your hands, your arms, and your torso. Your work in the gym will affect your photography--I have always insisted that my Photo Team captains hit the gym and strengthen themselves so they can catch moments that happen too fast to allow for tripod, testing, and final shots. What to do: wingspan reaches (forward and side) with free weights, short bar arm exercises of all varieties (forward and reverse curls, primarily), and shrugs (do those very slowly). Other things that help: playing musical instruments that involve the hands, serving food using trays carried overhead (five-finger style), and archery or firearms practice (more heavy artillery practice at the shooting range and a camera will seem like a piece of cake; if you're an archer, ratchet up the resistance on that compound bow and keep hitting your bull's-eye).

I hope this helps. I know I bring a lot of details, but in some ways, for better or for worse, that's what photography is: a lot of details to which we pay precise attention.
07-06-2010, 10:28 PM   #3
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In portrait orientation at least, turning the camera shutter-button down instead of shutter-button up should clear up your right eye view.

I also sometimes use my right eye on the viewfinder and better left eye on the view. You only need to line up the shot.
07-09-2010, 01:41 AM   #4
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It helps

I do find that it helps to Keep one eye on the subject and one through the view finder.

I would have to say though that my best friend is the crop function. I tried taking photos of my daughter playing volleyball with a 70-200 f2.8 and found that I took most of my photos close to 70mm. I have just purchased a 28-75 which I hope will do the job.

The best advice though is the know the game. I can take good field hockey shots a game I still play after 40 years but sports that are new to me like volleyball I am pretty ordinary. (my own humble opinion)

How do you go with light? Even with the constant 2.8 I find that under the artificial lights I am pushing the cameras limits at Volleyball (and hockey).

James

07-09-2010, 10:30 AM   #5
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Being a lefty clearly hampers you, but in my experience using both eyes ends up pretty natural and efficient. Practice makes perfect
07-09-2010, 02:11 PM   #6
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It pays to keep trying to get both eyes open, at least with fast, hard, ball sports anyway.
07-12-2010, 09:09 PM   #7
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It's just a matter of practice. Recovering after a recent surgery I spent a few days trying to capture bird-in-flight shots around our feeder. At first tracking with both eyes open was near impossible. After some hours and a few hundred missed or badly framed shots, something clicked and now it's easy.

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