Photographing Gymnastics

[gymgurl]

Ok, I am sure every parent out there is wondering how on earth can i get nice, sharp pictures of my dd/ds's gymnastics.

Well although i am not a parent i am very interested in photography and would really like to get into it a lot more, i would like to start with gymnastics photography the trouble is...........Without flash it is very hard to get a decent amount of light.

I have tried using the slowest possible shutter speed for gymnastics which i estimate to be about 1/200 or 1/250 and making the aperture as wide as possible (i.e. f stop is as small as possible) and the only way i can get enough light is by using an iso of 3200 which is rather inconvenient.

Any tips are welcome i am sure there are others wanting answers to this aswell

btw i hate flash as it makes everything look washed out but each to their own

 

[Mom2G&D]

Totally not a photography expert here... but, I use a Canon 40D digital SLR camera with a professional lens... works great (and with a fast/action shutter speed, you can get really good sequential images of each skill in motion). However, when I try to use my point and shoot Canon digital camera (S90) even adjusting the settings, the results are no where near as good. Good luck!!!

 

[3stars]

I just upgraded to the Canon 60D and have had great luck. Much better than with my Rebel even with a flash. I think finding a camera that is built with good low-light capabilities is the key.

 

[ryantroop]

Photography is changing a lot these days, with new tech coming out to augment the skill of the shooter.

Depending on the body you are using, iso 3200 shouldn't be bad. My sony Alpha 500 is going on 3 years old now, and it is capable of iso 64000 (yep, count the zeros). If you can't invest in a new body (or, far more importantly) new glass, find what exposure you can get away with in your given lighting situation, and find what works. Yes, 1/250 is slow, but not at peak action. A split leap that peaks. A geinger that reaches its max height... There is a stall point in most skills, you just need to get to know them. Watch warm-ups and get shots in mind, and during the meet go after them.

Lighting is notoriously bad in gyms. Its something we all deal with.

Prime lenses are your friend. They are cheaper than zooms, and you can alway get closer. Plus, they generally are faster than their zoom equivalent.

Learn about how light works. Get your angles right to let the most light in that bounces off your subject. This is very difficult when most gyms are overhead lighted, however some gyms have white walls which reflect light really well. Use them (I.e., your back to the wall, the light reflecting to fill your subject). This won't work too well in a large gym, but it's at least something.

Lastly, if you have noise that is unacceptable, there is software to help clean it up. Either the software that came with your camera, or third party software like noiseninja or neatImage work well, but if the source image is crummy, it will never look good.

Good luck, and happy shooting.

 

[lavinmeg]

My dad always uses a Nikon D90 and it seams to work well

 

[gymgurl]

I have Canon EOS 500d or i think you guys call it rebel t1i or something, it has iso capabilities to 3200 and it works pretty well in a low light setting, sad thing is i can't afford a better lens (maybe thats what i should save up for...hmmmm) thanks for all your tips so far and keep em coming!

 

[coachmolly]

I wrote a response to this, tried to submit and something went wrong. So I'll try to re-type.
I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT from 2006, so probably a little out of date but does it's job amazingly well and I have no complaints. It is only capable of an iso of 1600, but I've shot at least somewhat successfully at 800 before as long as my shutter speed was low. Even with that setting I can get pretty decent shots of bars, beam, and floor- more active skills on those events if I get the shot at just the right time. It's much harder when you aren't totally familiar with the routines and can't anticipate the skills coming up, but very possible.
Another fun hurdle in some gyms/arenas where meets are held are the background/seat colors. One arena where I have taken photos has mustard yellow seats which provide a pretty hideous backdrop if you shoot at a certain angle.

 

[bpatient]

the only way i can get enough light is by using an iso of 3200 which is rather inconvenient

I hear you. The most important fact related to gymnastics photography is that there’s never enough light. While the Olympic standard for illumination of a gymnastics competition allows shooting at 1/500th second at ISO 800 and f/2.8, I’m grateful if I can manage 1/400th second at ISO 3200 and f/2.8 in the torch-lit caves where my daughter competes—because it’s often worse than that. Others have already indicated that there are three primary ways to cope with this problem: fa$t lenses, cameras that do well in low light, and post-processing with noise-reduction software.

Noise-reduction software is the cheapest way to go. I use the good noise-reduction functions in Adobe Lightroom, but numerous specialized programs, such as those recommended by ryantroop, do an excellent job—and you can download free trial versions of the programs listed below to see which will work best for you.

Noise Ninja: The gold standard for image noise reduction

Neat Image - best noise reduction for digital cameras and scanners

Topaz DeNoise - Remove Noise, Recover Detail

Imagenomic - Imagination at Shutter Speed

Link Removed

FWIW, I sometimes work with files given to me by the father of one of dd's teammates. He shoots jpegs with a Canon 40D. Despite that limitation (it would be better to work with raw files), a little noise reduction and some slight compensatory edge sharpening helps quite a bit.