All-Star Action Shots (diy)

[MzLyn23]

So I'm super excited for this season because not only is cp (daughter) cheering on a wonderful team but this is my son's first year cheering on a Tiny team!!! So usually I take pics with my camera phone and record with my small camcorder but this past Mother's Day my parents gifted me a Nikon D3300 bundle (camera, 2 lenses, bag, etc)...

I FREAKING LOVE THIS THING!!! Anytime I can take pictures my camera is on my hip lol and it honestly takes magnificent shots!!! I recently went to Cuba and took some awesome pictures that someone recommended I register them and protect them so I can make a profit off them.

Any who I'm still learning functions etc but I really want to be ready for comp season. Does anyone know about cameras or is familiar with the Nikon D3300 and what accessories I should consider getting for taking awesome action shots. I want to be able to get them during routines cause I always have the worst luck finding pictures at events from the photogs. Last season I literally only found one decent action shot that I posted on here.

Any advice will be appreciated or even direct me to someone who knows more... I'm googling but everything is so complicated lol I just need an easy explanation lol

 

[SL&AM]

I found YT Tutorial videos to be my best friend when I got my new camera. It's not the same model so I won't be all that helpful, but I did a quick YT search and there are handfuls for your model.

Good luck!

 

[cachoi]

If you haven't already, check if your camera has a rapid fire setting where it takes multiple pictures just pressing the shutter button once! It's perfect cause if you know a certain part is coming up like a cute pose or a jump, you can snap right when it happens and can get multiple shots to choose from. I always used to catch a lot of post-jump landings or already let go body positions until I discovered my rapid fire setting.

 

[MissCongeniality]

White balance inside where you are going to shoot from...Also set shutter speed yourself...the sports mode doesn't tend to work well in the low light cheer event type settings

 

[Ashley]

So I'm super excited for this season because not only is cp (daughter) cheering on a wonderful team but this is my son's first year cheering on a Tiny team!!! So usually I take pics with my camera phone and record with my small camcorder but this past Mother's Day my parents gifted me a Nikon D3300 bundle (camera, 2 lenses, bag, etc)...

I FREAKING LOVE THIS THING!!! Anytime I can take pictures my camera is on my hip lol and it honestly takes magnificent shots!!! I recently went to Cuba and took some awesome pictures that someone recommended I register them and protect them so I can make a profit off them.

Any who I'm still learning functions etc but I really want to be ready for comp season. Does anyone know about cameras or is familiar with the Nikon D3300 and what accessories I should consider getting for taking awesome action shots. I want to be able to get them during routines cause I always have the worst luck finding pictures at events from the photogs. Last season I literally only found one decent action shot that I posted on here.

Any advice will be appreciated or even direct me to someone who knows more... I'm googling but everything is so complicated lol I just need an easy explanation lol

What lenses do you have? You'll probably have a hard time with the low lighting of most cheer events. You'll want to be up close, and if you're going to use your zoom lens to zoom in all the way, you'll probably want a tripod. The D3300 is Nikon's entry level DSLR, so it's not going to be anywhere near as good as the pros with their bodies and lenses that probably cost well over $10k. When I used my 3200 at a cheer comp, I got *okay* pictures, but I was pretty far back.

 

[youbetterwork]

White balance inside where you are going to shoot from...Also set shutter speed yourself...the sports mode doesn't tend to work well in the low light cheer event type settings

Yes to shutter speed, that's really important.

 

[123jump4!]

Oh so that explains why my Canon pics didn't turn out so great, most probably the low lighting. I did suspect that. My best ones were when they were still. Think I'm mostly videoing this season but interested in taking good photos too!

Good luck @MzLyn23

 

[5-6-7-8]

I recommend the book, "Understanding Exposure." It does a great job of explaining shutter speed, aperture and ISO to beginners.

That said, to get anything decent at a cheer comp you will want a fast lens, a fast shutter speed and then know how to tweak aperture and ISO to get something acceptable.

 

[KDCheerMom]

here is another thread on this subject...couple of thoughts the lens is really important along with ISO. but also note that many of the bigger comps - will not let you bring in a big camera. if you are at a small gym - maybe volunteer to take photos - then you could go up with the coaches. Tough to do at comps - to be honest - I have gone to taking video and then finding pics from that. Good luck.

Good Camera | Fierce Board - The Voice Of Cheer

 

[Official OWECheer]

This thread is causing me to have yet another 'I ❤ Fierceboard' moment.

 

[Lazydaisytoo]

Start practicing a few teams before yours so that you can play with aperature and white balance settings. You can always color balance your photos in post, but it's best to be in the ballpark from the start. Of course, don't crowd the viewing area for other teams, but if you can hang near the back for a few test shots, it's a good idea. Be courteous to other parents in the viewing area. Nothing worse than a front row of spectators all holding up iPads.

I'm so on the fence about photos. They're nice to have, but then I feel like I miss the routine being penned in behind the lens.

I've never had a problem bringing my camera into a comp, but I will admit to popping a lens cover over my water bottle inside my camera bag so that I could sneak in a drink!

 

[schpo]

I got a great camera recently too (happy birthday to me!) and I'm really excited to use it at cheer comps. All these tips are very helpful. Another thing you should consider is going to a good camera store and either asking the staff for their recommendations or taking one of the workshops they offer. Here in Canada we have a chain called Henry's and I've found they give excellent advice and training.

 

[CookieMomster]

That's exciting! I shoot with a full frame Canon but started out with a similar camera to yours (only mine was also a Canon). From what I've read, your camera is a cropped sensor and not a full frame camera. So low light will be tricky, but still manageable. You'll want to learn how to take photos without a flash.

What lenses do you have? 18-55mm? 50mm? 70-200mm?

* Always invest in the best possible glass that you can afford. A good camera is great to have, but a fantastic lens can make a HUGE difference in the quality of your photo. There's always gear-heads who are selling their gear to buy the latest & the greatest gear, and you can score some great deals on used lens.

* Invest in a good camera bag.

* You'll want to play around with your aperture, shutter speed and ISO to compensate for the low light. Just remember that the higher the ISO the more noise you'll get in your image. Just because you can shot in a high ISO doesn't mean it'll come out pretty.

* A higher shutter speed will allow you to capture those fast moving images and help to eliminate the blurred hands, faces, legs, etc. With that said, the higher the shutter speed, the more difficult it is in low light because the lens is allowing less light in due to the speed and will make the photos appear darker (hence why you'll need to compensate with the aperture).

* The auto modes on you camera are good to begin with but to get the best chance at controlling the shots it's great to learn how to shot in Manual and get a feel for the features of your camera. When we shot in auto modes like sports, portrait, auto, etc the computer in your camera is making the decisions for you and could make the wrong one and ruin the perfect photo because it doesn't have all the information to make the best shooting mode decision (especially when we shot in low light at events like comp's). Only you will truly know the needed shutter speed, aperture, environment, etc.

* Definitely play around with the white balance as it will vary even when you go from shooting in the hallway to near the stage area.

* Check out YouTube and Lynda.com for some great tutorials to get you going.

* Try to shot in RAW and not in jpg. When you shot in jpg you are creating a compressed file of the photo and it's more difficult to edit the photo. RAW is like being able to open the file up and tweak everything from saturation, exposure, highlights, white and black tones, etc. So if you shot a photo and it's too dark, you can play with the exposure and lighten it up a bit to compensate.

 

[MzLyn23]

* Check out YouTube and Lynda.com for some great tutorials to get you going.

I just saw this and thought holy crap I have a website??? When did that happen??? lol Yes MzLyn is Lynda lol

Definitely thanks for the advice and I'm starting to look into tutorials to test it out... Ive definitely shot beautiful outdoor pictures especially in Cuba with that beautiful sun but haven't really used my camera indoors yet....

My lenses are: af-s nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 GII if that makes sense and..
af-s nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6 GII ED again if that makes sense lol

Def got the camera bag, so far I like it.... Have been keeping an eye on different websites for lenses but want to learn a bit more so thanks everyone for all the advice!!

 

[quitthedrama]

I can't offer advice on actually taking the photos because DH does that, but I do all of the editing. I normally edit every photo at least a little. I delete probably as many as I keep (DH will take about 250 pics/performance), but I look at each one and see if I can salvage any of it. There are often photos that don't look great as a group (someone's facial expression is awkward, off timing on a skill/motion, etc) but there may be one person who looks awesome so I will crop the photo to just of that athlete.
Look at each photo with the subjects' set of eyes. Is it a good photo of each person? If not, either crop it or don't use/post it. Are there "crotch shots" (my personal pet peeve with jumps and flyers)? I don't post any of those.
It will take a lot of trial and error, but it is fun! Good luck!