Comments on: Photographing Cricket – DPS Community Workshop

By: lee

lee — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:10:12 +0000

Will a Canon 550D with 250mm lens be sufficient for cricket photography??? Im worried that the lens isnt big enough.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:32:04 +0000

Pay attention to the background. An otherwise good action shot can be spoilt by parked cars in the background, no matter how blurred they are. Trees, like in the photo at the top of the page, provide the perfect backdrop.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:38:32 +0000

I thought Ashok M’s images were excellent. I recently covered a cricket final in herts and took my D70 and 170-500mm Sigma lens which bumps up to about 650mm. I was shooting with a monopod as couldn’t find my tripod coupling. I shot using the sports setting, which I think may have been a mistake as many of the images were blured apart from those shooting to the side of the site screen, long off and long on, or at third man/fine leg. It’s a big heavy lens with no VR, so it’s possible the images were blurred due to the fact there’s more movement than on a tripod. Next time I shoot on a monopod has anyone got any suggestions to improve and get shraper images. The sigma lens isn’t that fast. I have a 50-150mm, which is f2.8. I’m wondering if I stuff a 2x converter on that I’d get sharper images like Ashok M’s, with a much lighter lens. Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

By: Max Hughes

Max Hughes — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:45:57 +0000

I photograph my grandsons matches (under 12) with a Canon Powershot S3 – not as flash as most of the previous posters, but it does an excellent job.
You need reasonably flat lighting, so keep the sun largely behind you. On telephoto a tripod is a must. I zoom to get the composition I want, then prefocus on the spot where the action will occur. I use the sports setting, which gives continuous shooting, and ignore the viewfinder. I start shooting as the bowler releases the ball, and get about 3 frames each time. Usually one of them is well worth keeping.

By: Ashok M

Ashok M — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:50:12 +0000

Excellent discussion!

Here in Ireland Cricket matches are rare but we had Ireland play India and South Africa in north last summer. I am reasonably new into the photography, but had heaps of fun shooting Ireland playing India. A few shots here in flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chunangadan/sets/72157600462304989/

I used Canon 400D with 300/f2.8L IS coupled with 1.4x TC on monopod. I was shooting from behind the boundary line. Canon 400D’s continous shoot was just about enough (3fps), but only barely. 300/f2.8L IS is a sweet lens, and its really fast with a 1.4x TC. However, depending on the size of the ground, you might need a 400/f2.8 to avoid cropping. A good monopod is important too – especially when you are out shooting all day!

Happy shooting!

By: cheryl

cheryl — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:19:29 +0000

re wijews question about DSLR at the SCG I took my canon 350D to the last test at the MCG and got some great shots of Simmonds making his 100 runs with Hayden.My understanding is that if you are not a professional and photos are for personal use only it should be ok.I would advise you not to get in the way of other spectators if the complain you may be asked to leave.

By: Amit

Amit — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:53:18 +0000

As a number of people have already said “use a faster lens”, & have given tons of advice, hardly anything left for me to say. Just follow the action through your lens & be quick on the shutter since you will have less than a moment to click, so a fast shutter speed would also be required & if necessary then you can boost up the ISO to 400 or 800(if you can get away with the noise at that much). I took this photo while on a weekend vacation a couple of months back with my Panasonic FZ50 at 469mm(in 35mm terms) at 1/1000 shutter speed and 200 ISO.

And while taking photos, enjoy the game as well, you will find that you are able to take better photos!

By: banbro

banbro — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:36:08 +0000

I think there are some wonderful suggestions here and I definitely agree that fast glass and location are going to be your biggest friends. One other tip I would offer is to keep a watchful eye on your backgrounds. A busy background, though sometimes unavoidable, can really take away from a great shot.

By: wijew

wijew — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:17:19 +0000

hey,

Interesting post, here’s my two cents!

I think the best places to photograph a batsman would be from the boundary line between deep extra cover and long off. The best place to get shots of the bowler would be from the fine leg boundary (assuming its a right hand batsman and a right hand bowler!) If you shoot from these positions you will be able to get a shot of the players face, which i feel adds a lot to the image.

The good thing about shooting cricket is you’ll get plenty of chances to practice over the summer!

A quick question of my own, does anyone know if i’ll be able to take a DSLR to the SCG for an internataional game? are there any copyright issues etc?

By: Pepperfly

Pepperfly — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:10:28 +0000

While my first inclination was to suggest a long/fast lens, after seeing many similar responses I wanted to make sure something else is considered, and that is to slow down your shutter and decrease your focal length for some of your non-closeup shots. It’s nice to be able to have that soft out-of-focus depth of field, but if you’re capturing a team shot or a wide shot you want to be sure that you’ve got everything in focus. Using a smaller aperture, like f8 or f11 (or higher), a shorter focal length, and an appropriate shutter speed will certainly give you a crisp photo with everything in focus. Remember what Harold said:
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/photographing-cricket-dps-community-workshop/#comment-18212)

Good luck!