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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Basketball - Position for least # of butt shots
Alan Maglaque, Photographer
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South Plainfield | NJ | USA | Posted: 9:20 PM on 12.16.05 |
| ->> I would like to get everyone's favorite spot to shoot a basketball at. As everyone is aware, you get more butt shots in basketball than in any other sport. Please provide your favorite location. Thanks. |
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Mark Bolton, Photographer
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Gilmanton Iron Works | NH | USA | Posted: 9:35 PM on 12.16.05 |
->> I'll plug the perspective of shooting from the stands, looking down onto the court.
Sometimes I'll try shooting from midcourt @ ground level, to get something different as well. |
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Rick Burnham, Photographer
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Enfield | CT | USA | Posted: 10:34 PM on 12.16.05 |
->> At some of the college games I shoot at, the only positions that we are allowed to shoot from are on the floor along the baseline. We had a photographer at a game who was working on art for a story on one of the student managers. He needed photos of the kid working during the game so in the second half he found an empty seat directly across from the bench and wasn't in anyone's way with his gear. He was told he couldn't shoot from there only from the assigned floor positions.
Doesn't leave much room for creativity does it? |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington | IL | United States | Posted: 11:04 PM on 12.16.05 |
->> Mark's right. No butt shots means shooting from above the heads... stands, catwalk, balcony seats, remote somewhere over head.
My favorite spot? On the floor between the corner and the 3 point line, opposite the strong side (so I get the most faces). 2nd favorite, but dangerous, is right next to the basket standard or a similar location on the floor if the bucket is hung from the ceiling. Some High Schools won't let you have that spot. |
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Gavin Ellis, Photographer
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Braintree | Essex | United Kingdom | Posted: 4:37 AM on 12.17.05 |
->> I would agree that the best way to avoid the backside pic is to shoot from a higher perspective.
I rarely shoot hoops in venues that have any stands! However, the most recent shot in my blog is with a 300mm from a mid-level walkway...
http://www.tgsphoto.co.uk/blog/
The other benefit is that you will get a clearer view of the players' faces on their way up to the bucket as they will inevitably be looking up at the time.
Of course, another spot for a clear view is to rig a backboard or overhead remote.
---- Gavin |
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Jeff Gentner, Photographer
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Jerome Davis, Photographer
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Rochester | NY | USA | Posted: 9:54 AM on 12.17.05 |
| ->> I tend to shoot at the baseline where the 3 point line meets the baseline. I find that to work for me. |
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Kevin Sperl, Photographer
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Laconia | nh | USA | Posted: 10:28 AM on 12.17.05 |
| ->> I shoot as Jerome describes. And try to be on the opposite side of the paint from the baseline ref. |
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Jack Howard, Photographer
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Somerville | NJ | USA | Posted: 12:13 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> I like to stand about three feet in front of the baseline about 10 feet out from the key.
The refs tend to cross into the out of bounds area, running backwards as plays develop, so being on the actual court helps to make sure you are positioned in front of the ref's posterior.
It helps to make sure you nail your winner shot really really early in the game because, for some reason, they keep shooing me off the court. |
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Jack Howard, Photographer
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Somerville | NJ | USA | Posted: 12:16 PM on 12.17.05 |
| ->> Butt seriously, I love HS gyms that have a balcony, or a stage at one end of the gym. The baseline position, and the slightly higher perspective helps reduce the hairy armpit aspect of a low baseline shooting position, and you are closer to straight-on (or above, such as the RBC, NJ high school gym's balcony...Union Catholic also has a nice balcony, though I've not shot hoops there yet) for action right at the net. |
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Seh Suan Ngoh, Photographer
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Singapore | SG | Singapore | Posted: 12:46 PM on 12.17.05 |
| ->> Gavin, you've got a nice set of photos. Do you shoot with shutter priority more often? Looks like the case from what I see though. I'm trying to figure out if I should shoot f/2.8 open with my 70-200 all the time, or just stop down a little to f/3.5 or f/4 for my typical shots. |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 3:30 PM on 12.17.05 |
| ->> Gang, check this out. When the refs are camping out in front of me, sometimes I will move. The refs then seem to find their way back in front of me. Is it me or does this happen to everyone else? |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington, DC & Seattle | WA | US | Posted: 4:27 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> Seh Suan Ngoh...there is no reason to shoot basketball (or any other activity in which the light is constant) using shutter priority. The uniforms would cause the meter/exposure to "bounce", when in reality the lighting has not changed.
Let's take basketball, for high level (bigger/faster) athletes, you really want a shutter speed of 1/500 (assuming your goal is to stop the action).
I see lots of shooters at Madison Sq. Garden shooting at 1/400 (2.8 ISO 1250-1600), but at Villanova you'll easily get 1/500 at 2.8 (ISO 400-640).
You then need to "work backwards" to determine the aperture/ISO combination that provides you with 1/500 shutter speed. Yes, you can "get away" with shooting 1/400, 1/320 or even 1/250, but you'll probably have more misses than hits.
Shooting a sporting event (low lighting conditions) at f3.4-4 isn't really an option a lot of the time...you just don't have enough light to do it at 1/400-1/500 of a second. |
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Mark Smith, Photographer
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Elk City | OK | USA | Posted: 5:16 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> Jeff, it's true!
I've always just presumed that many refs are so fond of their butts, that they want as many images taken of them as possible. Some are even such schemesters that they wait until something magnificent is about to happen, a dunk, a block, etc. and then skillfully execute their butt placement to coincide with my shutter release. |
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Chris Williams, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Rancho Cucamonga | CA | USA | Posted: 5:32 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> I usually get refs asking to get make sure and get some shots of them. I comment back and tell them "Don't worry, I'll get your good side!" Now whether they caught on to what I was talking about is a mystery in its own.
Chris |
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Gary Cosby, Jr, Photographer
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Decatur | AL | USA | Posted: 6:14 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> I always thought that the refs got an extra bump in their pay for each blocked "shot" they can manage during a game. I shot last night at one of our main high schools which has a terrible gym. It is small and has seating on all four sides of the court leaving nowhere to escape. No balconies either. I can't prove it, but I think the ref was looking back to see where I was and positioning himself between me and the action for the entire third quarter.
To answer the first question, I like the baseline near the corner when I can get it and when I can't I take something nearer the hoop because the refs don't seem to camp under the hoop as much. |
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Thad Parsons, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Oxford | UK | United Kingdom | Posted: 8:40 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> Just to chime in ... I throw a vote to the stands/balcony/upper level angle.
At Cameron, when I used to shoot there, I really like to go to the upper level and shoot from the doorways. Granted, you could not do it during most men's games but you could do it during women's games.
Cheers! |
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Kelvin Ma, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Tampa | FL | USA | Posted: 9:25 PM on 12.17.05 |
->> One time, a ref went so far out of bounds along the baseline (at Northwestern, 4-5 ft. away with your back basically against the bleachers) that he tripped over me and landed on the little kids sitting right behind me.
After he apologized to me and the kids' parents, I never had a problem with butt shots whenever he was reffing.
Funny how things work out :) |
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Seh Suan Ngoh, Photographer
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Singapore | SG | Singapore | Posted: 4:31 AM on 12.18.05 |
->> Delane, I know what you're talking about. I was referring to Gavin's blog of photos that he shot - the newer ones seem to be shutter priority to me, since 1/1000 would indicate a fair lot of light - but the missing piece of the puzzle would be the ISO speed.
Thanks anyway :) |
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Andrew Brosig, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Paola | KS | USA | Posted: 10:12 AM on 12.18.05 |
->> Jeff:
I've tried sitting, standing, kneeling, everything but dangling from one foot by the rafters and I keep getting ref's asses. At a game just this past Friday, I parked myself against the wall behind the baseline, about three or four feet outside the paint. The baseline ref kept sticking his butt in my lens about every other second. He worked my side of the court for fully half the quarter, never changing his routine. About four minutes left in the quarter, I crossed over to the other side of the court, again three or four feet outside the paint. I got one play. I could see, out of the corner of my eye, the ref eyeing me as the play broke. Next time down the court, he came down the opposite side of the court, crossed the shooting zone and, you guessed it, planted his big butt right in front of me, again! Where he would remain until the end of the quarter. I swear I saw him smirking every time as he planted himself in front of me. Fortunately, the gym I was shooting at has mini balconies on each end of the court. I'll usually shoot a quarter up there before going down on the court. Needless to say, a lot of my shots from this particular high school look a lot alike. I just wish the high school gyms around here had catwalks. My feet would never touch the boards, even though I hate heights. I love the look of high-up shots so much! When I was in Texas, at the college, sometimes I'd spend an entire quarter up in the stands w/ a 300mm. I mean way up, almost to the top of the coliseum. Gotta get high. Gotta get high! |
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Gavin Ellis, Photographer
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Braintree | Essex | United Kingdom | Posted: 4:57 AM on 12.20.05 |
->> Seh Suan Ngoh >>>
As per Delane's post, I shoot in manual mode 90% of the time, inside and out. The basketball pic in my blog was shot at 1/500s, f/2.8 at ISO1600.
---- Gavin |
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Barbara Perenic, Photographer
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Laramie | WY | USA | Posted: 4:59 PM on 12.21.05 |
->> I've found that being friendly with your local refs doesn't hurt anything. Here in Wyoming there's a small pool for both high school and college, and I've got a rapidly growing list of officials with whom I'm on a first-name basis. Since I've started basketball season, I've noticed them being more aware of my presence, looking over their shoulders and scooting over, etc. For my part, I stay behind the agreed-upon invisble line parallel to the baseline--I rarely get tripped over anymore and when I do, apologies always follow. While I prefer to shoot from the corners of the court, the way that UW's Arena Auditorium is set up places you directly in the traffic pattern of practically everyone on the floor. So baseline it is, ten minutes on each side of the basket. For high school, shooting up high is the way to go since there are balconies available to me.
And getting some "cheeky" shots is just a part of the biz. The officials with a sense of humor will get a laugh if you show them their rear views... and quite possibly get the hint. After that, delete and move on. |
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Brent Drinkut, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Indianapolis | IN | USA | Posted: 9:11 AM on 12.23.05 |
| ->> Sometimes after what seems to be endless butt shots I just give up go back to the media room and take pictures of the TV. I mean those guys are always with the action anyway... |
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