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ben's photo tips
Basketball 2011-2012
Basketball season is officially underway and it is time to go and shoot. Most gyms in the county are dark, but you can at least go out and try to shoot. I am hoping to be at a lot of games this year, but with increasing photographers becoming a part of our website, it will be easy to cover high school basketball. Just remember to keep checking back to our website to see if your games have been covered. If you would like to have a particular game covered by one of us, please email us at info@benqueenphotography.com. Keep shooting. -Ben
Shoot Something Different
Many photographers shoot the same thing. Get a different angle. Shoot something that someone else isn't shooting. Making an interesting photo doesn't come from a photographer who is shooting the same thing as someone else, but from a photographer who looks around him/her and shoots.
Always Carry a Camera
You never know when something is going to happen. Not to say you should carry an expensive camera with you everywhere, but carry something. Even if it is your phone, you need to carry something. News happens, and if you are there, you can create an image that might go down in history.
Save Everything
You never know when you will need a picture. Most people try to go through all of their photos and delete the ones they don't need. Yes.....that might save a little bit of room on your computer, but sometimes you might delete a photo you want to keep. At this day in age, storage is cheep. Save your photos because one day, you might have some very valuable photos.
Basketball Shooting
High School basketball is in full swing now and parents want photos of their child playing. Although the lighting in most local gyms is poor, you can get a lot of very good photos if you use the right settings. Most people do not own a high end DSLR, so you will probably have to use a flash. When you use a flash try to get the peak action, so that when your flash goes off, you do not distract too many people. In contrast, some people shoot basketball with no flash...which in my opinion is better. When shooting with no flash, you can shoot more frames, and you can shoot everything you want...distracting no one.
When shooting with flash, your setting will probably be good around 640 ISO, 1/200th shutter speed, and max out your aperture. Most general lens have a aperture of 5.6. When you are trying to shoot a basketball game without flash, you will have to push your ISO to around 4000. With that ISO in place, you can shoot a 1/500th of a second and get that peak action while stopping the ball. With that in mind, to get that 1/500th of second, you need a fast lens with an aperture of about 2.8. Those lens run very high in price, but the investment is great.
-Ben
Sports Mode....
If you have a sports mode setting, stop using it. One of the students on the sideline with me at lsat weeks high school soccer match asked be me about this setting. He complained that his photo results with this setting were varied. Sports mode only attempts to set the highest shutter speed possible given the light conditions. My advice to him on this day was to use the aperture priority mode at the largest aperture setting her lens offered (f/4.0 - 5.6). I assumed he would get a decently fast shutter speed to stop the action at this setting given the lighting conditions today. I also advised him to raise her ISO from 400 to 800 given some of the shadows on the soccer field. Try it sometime!
Use Center Weighted Metering When Under the Lights
Many digital SLRs have multiple metering systems to choose. The very advanced and mostly standard matrix metering setting is appropriate for most sports shots. However, I get better results at night under stadium lights (properly exposed subjects) using the center-weighted metering setting on my Canon 5D Mrk II. Center-weighted metering gives me more shots with the subject properly exposed. The matrix metering setting seems to over-expose the subject I imagine because the camera is accounting for the dark background. I've even used spot metering at night for very good results.
Shooting At Night?
If you have the joy of shooting sports at night, be careful of what settings you choose. To make sure that you get the fastest shutter speed possible, take your ISO setting up as far as you can go. After that, be sure to switch to manual mode. Next, move your f/stop to the largest opening, whitch would result in a lower number. Finally, move your shutter speed to a position where you can get a good shot, but still stop the action!
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order summary
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Canon EOS 60D
 With the new EOS 60D DSLR, Canon gives the photo enthusiast a powerful tool fostering creativity, with better image quality, more advanced features and automatic and in-camera technologies for ease-of-use. It features an improved APS-C sized 18.0 Megapixel CMOS sensor for tremendous images, a new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for finer detail and excellent color reproduction, and improved ISO capabilities from 100 - 6400 (expandable to 12800) for uncompromised shooting even in the dimmest situations.
Canon EOS Rebel T3i
 Photographers looking for an easy-to-use camera that will help them create their next masterpiece need look no further than the Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Featuring Canon's newest DIGIC 4 Image Processor and an 18.0 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor - plus cutting-edge technologies like Full HD video recording, Live View shooting, Wireless flash photography and even a Vari-angle 3.0-inch LCD monitor - the EOS Rebel T3i offers the best of EOS photography in a compact package.
Canon EOS Rebel T3
 Perfect for photographers ready to make the move to digital SLR photography, the new EOS Rebel T3 delivers beautiful photos and video, speed, simplicity and fun. It features a 12.2 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor for richly detailed images and quick camera response. It has Canon's amazing 63-zone, Dual-layer metering for accurate exposures and features Canon's Basic+ function, HD video recording and Live View shooting. The EOS Rebel T3 is as beautiful as the pictures it takes.
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Combining his love of photography, sports and making his own money, Ben Queen realized very quickly that there was a market for amateur photography in his hometown of Bridgeport, West Virginia.
