Football Blurry pics

[jdmcpherson]

Hello from a newbie.  I have a Canon Rebel T7i.  I have been using my 75-300mm lens to capture my son’s high school football game.  They are now a 7-0 team and are going to the playoffs, for sure.  It’s my son’s senior year, so I don’t want any more lost shots to blur.  I am struggling with capturing non-blurry action shots.  I realize I need to get out of these auto programs into manual mode.  The fields are well lit, as they have to be for football.  I had a suggestion from another "fairly new to photgraphy" person of 1/400 on the shutter speed (this camera’s range is from 30 to 1/4000).  That seems slow to me, given that the range is so vast.  Should it be quicker?  I also had the suggestion of the aperture at 8?  Does that sound right?  I am having difficulties trying to decide leaving ISO on auto or setting it.  Any suggestions?

[Waddizzle]

Just because a high school football field may look well lit your eyes, that does not mean the camera shares that opinion.  Shooting night time sports is something professional photographers struggle with using gear that costs 10x what yours does.

The EF 75-300mm series of Canon lenses are not one of Canon's best efforts.  They are designed more for teaching you about DSLRS, than they are for capturing high quality images.  I would replace this with a better lens.  Next to you, this is the weakest link in your work flow.  Sorry, but this experience you're going through is one you will learn from.  No offense intended.

The next weak link in your work flow could be your shooting location.  Shooting from the bleachers is never good, not unless you have a lens as long as your arm.  Getting closer to the action is better, even if it means shooting from the sideline between the 10 yard line and the back of the end zone.

Back to problem number one, the lens.  In addition to not being the sharpest lens in the bag, the 75-300mm is not one of the fastest lenses in the bag.  Fast lenses have aperture ranges of f/2.8, or faster.  The 75-300mm is f/5.6 at the long end of the zoom range, 300mm, which is probably close to where you're taking most of your shots...I assume.

The automatic Sports mode in the camera can do a decent job in bright sunshine.  But, it struggles even more than pro photographers during night time sports.  The aperture range, f/3.5-5.6m of the EF 75-300mm lens is most of the problem.  Getting out of Sports mode will improve your results when shooting at night, but you will still be hindered by the current lens.

There are a few new lens choices, all of which depend upon your budget.  The most expensive investments a photographer makes are in the lenses, not the camera body.  You should figure on spending $500 to $1000 USD for a better lens.  

Seeing how you are just a hobbyist, I am going to recommend that you visit KEH dot COM,  Type "Canon EF 70-200mm" in the search box.  I saw a very attractive looking EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens in "EX" for excellent condition.  Order it today, and you may have it by the weekend.  Or, you.could visit a Canon authorized dealer and spend twice that amount for a new one.  KEH will give you a 6 month guarantee, which is not exact;y the same as a 6 month warranty.

[jdmcpherson]

I would not take offense to any suggestions and experience shared!  I am appreciative of your time.  

I have been taking pictures in the No-Flash mode since sport at night isn't great, as you mentioned.  I have been pretty successful in getting most shots, except those fast action shots.  I stand at the fence between the bleechers and the field, walking back and forth along the sidelines at the fense for pictures.  

The lighting in the pictures from the field have been pretty decent.  I was really surprised.  I learned right away not to use flash and not to have it on sport once the light starts to go.  

I am taking most of my shots between 100 and 225mm.  Maybe 1/6th of my pics are at 300mm.

Could I ask you what you thought of entering manual with a shutter speed of 1/400 vs say 1/1000?  I take from your reply that I should set my aperture as low as possible, letting in the most light?  The lowest I can go isf4.0.  And should I leave my ISO on auto at the same time?

THANK YOU for the website suggestion!  I have that lens in my cart already!  I just need to talk to the hubs about buying it, as it exceeds our pre-agreed "talk-about" amount.  

Most sincerely,

Jennifer

[wq9nsc]

Night football at high school is tough because even a field that looks well lighted to a fan isn't well illuminated from the camera's point of view.

1/500 is about the minimum to get non-blurry action shots and quite a bit of motion blur will still be present in many, 1/640 is better and that is where I shoot most high school games except for the rare exception with better lighting that allows SLIGHTLY higher shutter speed. 

HOWEVER, I am shooting with f2.8 maximum aperture lenses and you are going to quickly run into an exposure triangle issue using slower (f4 or larger number aperture) while trying to keep shutter speed at a sufficient level without ISO going so far that shots are extremely noisy or even beyond your camera's available ISO range.

Ignore whoever gave you the advice to shoot at f8 unless you are taking posed group shots, for night football action you need you lens set as wide open as it will go (lowest f number).

Realistically, getting good action shots at night requires a good location and a fast lens.  My standard setup for night field sports at high school is manual exposure, wide open aperture (f2.8 with the glass I use), shutter speed 1/640, and ISO set to auto.  With slower glass you will have to drop to 1/500 or lower and once you get below 1/500 there is going to be a lot more motion blur.  To help your AF system work faster, choose a single focus point in the center of the screen.

This photo is from the best illuminated HS field I shot at in Fall 2019 and it still required ISO in the 3200-6400 range to stay at 1/640 shooting with an EF 300 f2.8 lens on a 1DX Mark II from the sidelines.  Even with the excellent high ISO noise performance of my 1DX II and 1DX III, the difference between a f2.8 and f4 lens is very significant and the difference will be huge on a lower cost body.

Rodger

[jdmcpherson]

Rodger, thank you so much for your response!  What you say makes sense!  If I am understanding correctly, the higher the shutter speed, the more light it requires.  I accept that I will be doing some experimenting this Friday night!  I will start at the lowest aperature (f4.0) , ISO on auto, and the shutter speed at 1/650 and plan to adjust down to 1/500 and 1/400 as I see what is coming through.  Thank you for the starting point recommendations!

Jennifer

I love your picture!  

Here is an example of my picture image issue.  This is on the EF 75-300mm on the No-flash mode.  I don't know how to tell what the settings are in that mode.  I guess I should pull my camera's manual and find out!  This picture is what is spurring me to do better.  I will buy what I need to do it!  Thanks again!

[Waddizzle]

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@jdmcpherson wrote:

Rodger, thank you so much for your response!  What you say makes sense!  If I am understanding correctly, the higher the shutter speed, the more light it requires.  I accept that I will be doing some experimenting this Friday night!  I will start at the lowest aperature (f4.0) , ISO on auto, and the shutter speed at 1/650 and plan to adjust down to 1/500 and 1/400 as I see what is coming through.  Thank you for the starting point recommendations!

Jennifer

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Why wait until Friday night?  You can figure out the camera settings day or night.  You can practice shooting at night by aiming at something under a street light.

You will discover that your lens does not have a constant minimum aperture setting throughout the entire zoom range.  At the short end it will f/3.5.  As you zoom out, it will quickly shoot up to f/5.6.

I suggest that you get out of Automatic Sport shooting mode, too.  You may wish to try to M mode, with ISO set to Auto.  With this setting, you will want to go into your camera menu and set an upper limit for ISO Auto.  I suggest ISO 3200.  ISO 1600 would be better, but your lens does not have a wide aperture.  Your ISO will be pushing 3200 to 12800.

[jdmcpherson]

Great Suggestions, I will definitely be looking at my settings as you suggest!  Yeah, I stopped using Sport mode about 5 games ago when it started getting darker sooner.  I've been shooting in no-flash mode instead.  But I am gaining so much knowledge reading and through the forum.  I'll experiment this eveing.  We leave in very rural Montana, so I may have to drive  bit to see if I can get some cars to drive under a light for action shots, lol. 

 I am very thankful for the tips!!

~Jenniferf

[Waddizzle]

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@jdmcpherson wrote:

Great Suggestions, I will definitely be looking at my settings as you suggest!  Yeah, I stopped using Sport mode about 5 games ago when it started getting darker sooner.  I've been shooting in no-flash mode instead.  But I am gaining so much knowledge reading and through the forum.  I'll experiment this eveing.  We leave in very rural Montana, so I may have to drive  bit to see if I can get some cars to drive under a light for action shots, lol. 

 I am very thankful for the tips!!

~Jenniferf

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I don't know what it is like in rural Montana, but here in the East the power company will install one light pole on or near the main entrance to your property.  If not, I would assume that you have at least one outdoor light on your property, or on hour home.  

You can pracice shooting still photos as RAW after sunset, and then processing them into JPG files using the Canon app.  This is something you may want to learn together with the star of the show himself.

You can also experiment with metering modes.  When I have shot night time sports, the backgrounds are usually very dark, compared to the players on the field in the foreground.  I will set the camera to Center-Weighted Averge metering mode, so that the camera looks primarily at the center of the viewfinder to set exposure.  If the camera sees the surrounding dark background, it will try to raise ISO as much as full stop higher than what I might really need.

[Waddizzle]

I suggest that you take a look at the Series of Beginner Videos, EOS 101, on the Canon USA Youtube channel.  The link is in the very first post in this thread.

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/General-Camera-Discussion/Canon-YouTube-Video-Series/m-p/269237#M... 

[jdmcpherson]

Thank you! I'll do that.