A good badminton photo

Slightly different is this shot.

Notice the extra attachments in the middle of the player...:)
 

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Here's one more.

This one is not the action shot but more about the badminton deity in the background..

20101206HKOPen10untitledshoot-IMGS0524.jpg


This one deliberately includes the shadow

20101206HKOPen10untitledshoot-IMGM0485.jpg
 
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Hi Demolidor,

I've picked a couple of photos of my preferences.

Here, the larger photo is quite OK. I decided to try to crop closer. I really prefer the shuttle to be in the shot. The player is looking towards the direction of the shuttle and the opposite side of the net which is something I look for.

the cropped version is much better. in fact, a publishable quality with that crop, the facial expression of the player, and the shuttlecock. the uncropped version includes too much extraneous surround that adds little to the photo.
 
I agree about the busy background. It's something we see a lot in badminton. One way of excluding it is to take a high angle. But then we lose a feel of depth in the photo - is that due to the telephoto effect?
 
Hi Demolidor,

I've picked a couple of photos of my preferences.

Here, the larger photo is quite OK. I decided to try to crop closer. I really prefer the shuttle to be in the shot. The player is looking towards the direction of the shuttle and the opposite side of the net which is something I look for.

Yep nice cropping, looks much more intense that way :). Guess this one is somewhat similar but don't think I had to crop (could still use some cropping on the sides though)

edit: I see now it's 4:3 already, guess I must've done some cropping already ...

DSC_8701.jpg


Too bad this one is spoilt by the "extraneous surround" :D. I guess the crop area for this one would be just the male with up to the bust of the lady in frame ...
 

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I have been looking this thread through.

As I see it a lot of you are missing the white balance setting.
It is very important.
In my opinion you also have to have the shuttlecock in every action picture.

My equipment for badmintonphotos is:
2 Canon MarkIV
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L
Canon 24-70mm f2.8L
Canon 300mm f.2.8L

Settings: Iso between 1600 and 12.800
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter: at least 1/500
White Balance: Take a shot of any white and import this to the camera.
Fps: Between 6 and 10 fps
Autofocus: on

On www.fjerbolden.dk you can see 2000 badminton photos from this season.

Best Regards
Johansen
www.badminton-nyt.dk
www.fjerbolden.dk
 
Hej Johansen, velkom tilbage :). Come a long way since your Pentax ;). Actually I have visited fjerbolden quite a few times already from badminton-nyt ... Hadn't really noticed untill now but you hardly have any pics of people smashing, most "action" shots are netshots. Of course this makes it much easier to have the shuttle in the frame.
As for my shots you are right about white balance. I had and have little to no experience with DSLR and hoped to work around by shooting RAW. Not ideal but one step at a time :D. Next time that will be one of the extra steps to go ...

ps. I'm sure kwun & co know how to set white balance
 
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Hi Demolidor
I am impressed that you remember way back to my pentax days. It is a while ago.
And I must say that i totally agree that Kwun is a excellent shooter.
I didn't mention raw files. That was a mistake. You have to take pictures in Raw, it is essential, so that you can correct any mistakes.
I don't think smash shots is the key to good pictures.
But a good variety of shots from all angles is the way.
I personally like these kind of shots. All taken with 300mm f2.8.

c.jpg.
Iso 3200, f2.8, 1/500, 300mm
b.jpg
Iso 1600, f2.8, 1/400, 300mm
a.jpg
Iso 1600, f3.2,, 1/320, 300mm
 
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Hi Demolidor
I am impressed that you remember way back to my pentax days. It is a while ago.
And I must say that i totally agree that Kwun is a excellent shooter.
I didn't mention raw files. That was a mistake. You have to take pictures in Raw, it is essential, so that you can correct any mistakes.
I don't think smash shots is the key to good pictures.
But a good variety of shots from all angles is the way.
I personally like these kind of shots. All taken with 300mm f2.8.

View attachment 89980.
Iso 3200, f2.8, 1/500, 300mm
View attachment 89979
Iso 1600, f2.8, 1/400, 300mm
View attachment 89978
Iso 1600, f3.2,, 1/320, 300mm

Haha, nice selection. Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo I don't feel having the shuttle in frame here has much too add does it? Maybe if practically frozen(?). And of course you are right a smash shot is not necessary for a good pic but for an action shot next to dives is there anything more spectacular?
 
Johansen, do you find the 24-70 useful? I find it is rather slow focussing. What's your impression? Do you use it much?
 
Thank you demolidor for your nice words.

I don't feel having the shuttle in frame here has much too add does it?


Yes, I still think it has. I believe that I will have deleted the photos if the shuttle was not there.

And of course you are right a smash shot is not necessary for a good pic but for an action shot next to dives is there anything more spectacular?

Shure it is spectacular, but the comercial interest of smash shots are very little. There are almost no demands on smash shots.

Best Regards
Johansen
www.badminton-nyt.dk
www.fjerbolden.dk
 
Johansen, do you find the 24-70 useful? I find it is rather slow focussing. What's your impression? Do you use it much?

Hi Cheung.
You are right. It is a little slow in focussing. But if I am close to the court I use it. Far the most photos I take is with my 70-200 F2.8 II.
What do you use close to court?

This kind of shots I use it for:
d.jpg
iso 3200, f2.8, 1/320, MarkIV with 24-70 f2.8

Best Regards
Johansen
www.badminton-nyt.dk
www.fjerbolden.dk
 
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Too high ISO? Cellphone pics look better these days ...

Model: NIKON D7000
ISO: 5000
Exposure: 1/500 sec
Aperture: 1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash Used: No
Latitude: n/a
Longitude: n/a


Or shitty post-processing, too much compression: 1024×732 pixels – 86KB?

Another one (same settings):

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Let's keep it on the post-processing :D

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Model: NIKON D7000
ISO: 1000
Exposure: 1/30 sec
Aperture: 2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash Used: No
Latitude: n/a
Longitude: n/a
 
demolidor,
my only tip in doing post processing is try not to resize the original picture (if possible, don't do it at all, unless one doesn't really care abt the quality of the final photo), esp. if it was taken in RAW format. Just crop & focus on the area you want to keep/show.
 
Obviously this is not my work ;):D I was just amazed a D7000 could produce this cellphone quality :eek: since that might be the camera I'm going for ...
 
Compression artificating with a touch of softness filter to make it presentable? Colours and exposure don't look. Look like they had the cellphone postprocessing treatment and/or taken with a 50 cent lens...
You can just go the website on the pics and choose the gallery of the currently held English National Championships

Having a hard time choosing the worst of the bunch ;) Should probably move to the D7000 thread by now :D.

DSC_5039.JPG


Interestingly it's from the same person/persons as posted before in the AE2010 picture thread only then it was a D80 and look better at roughly the same dimension and filesize.
 
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