How to Photograph Basketball

(All images copyright Michael Berkeley Photography - no reproduction without permission)

Basketball is fast and furious, and there is never a dull moment. I also find it very difficult to photograph – possibly the hardest sport that I have covered.

The action moves quickly from end to end, and then a large number of players jostle for position in a very confined space around the basket, many with their back to you. In this respect, it is very similar to ice hockey (see How to Photograph Ice Hockey).

(Nikon D500; 24-70mm at 24mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 4000)

My experience comes from photographing my local basketball team – the Salisbury Suns (Wiltshire, UK) – who play in a school sports hall. The lighting is ‘challenging’ because it is quite dim and can vary in different parts of the hall.

This causes problems with exposure. I use a fast shutter speed in order to freeze the action (1/1000th sec, considering the speed of the players move); the lens wide open to let in as much light as possible and also to provide a shallow depth of field; and use ISO Auto within parameters.

(Sony A9II; 70-200mm at 148mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 10000)

Reviewing my photos for this blog, I realise that I allowed the ISO settings to creep far too high in many cases, meaning that some of the images are not as sharp as I would like. With my Sony A9II, I could probably get away with an ISO setting of 6400, but some of my images go beyond that. I also shot a mixture of RAW and JPEG, and this is probably a circumstance where I would recommend shooting RAW so that as much information is retained for use during post processing. It’s worth taking some shots while the teams are warming up to check the exposure.

(Sony A9II; 24-70mm at 65mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 8000)

I use Continuous Hi shooting, so that I have a sequence of images from which to choose the best shot; and focus tracking (3-D tracking on my Nikon D500, and one of the tracking modes on my Sony A9II). This means that when you have locked onto the subject you want to photograph, the camera will keep it in focus as it moves through the viewfinder.

Because of the variable lighting in the hall, I leave the White Balance on Auto and address any colour cast issues in post processing.

As mentioned above, a wide aperture allows the depth of field to be as shallow as possible and makes the main subject stand out from the background, but in a small sports hall, it is going to be difficult to find a completely ‘clean’ background, because there will always be kit bags, spectators, health & safety notices etc in the way.

(Sony A9II; 70-200mm at 113mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 8000)

This is one of the reasons why I try to position myself at the end of the court, because the ends of the court tend to be less cluttered (see above). Moreover, with ‘my’ team coming towards me, I can capture the player’s face as he attacks the basket – this is the same principle that I use for other end-to-end sports, such as football, ice hockey and rugby.

(Sony A9II; 70-200mm at 102mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 8000)

Because of the size of the court, a 70-200mm lens is ideal for shots further away, and a 24-70mm for closer shots – and therein lies a problem. The action moves so quickly that it is impossible to switch lenses as the players approach at speed. One option is to have 2 camera bodies (if you can afford that luxury), but it is still a challenge to change over at such speed. I have tended to use one lens for one period and then swap over to the other for the next to provide variety.

Photographing sport is all about capturing action, movement, emotion (highs and lows), and telling a story. And basketball has all this in abundance, but how do I capture this?

(Nikon D500; 24-70mm at 52mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 5000)

Probably the easiest way to get a good picture is when a player is on a break and is running up the court at speed. In the photo above, the player is in full flight, with both feet off the ground, conveying the impression of speed. In the image below, taken straight down the court, the facial expression adds emotion…

(Sony A9II; 70-200mm at 95mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 16000)

I like to get the whole of the player in the picture (i.e. including their feet), but this becomes very challenging when the players are close to you. I also like to get the basket – or some part of it – in the image to provide context. This creates a problem because of the height of the basket, such as in the image below where the players are cut off at the waist.

(Sony A9II; 70-200mm at 70mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 8000)

One way round this is to take the photograph in portrait, rather than landscape, orientation. The image below was taken as a landscape and then cropped to a portrait format afterwards to concentrate attention on the main action. With the lens I was using, it would have been impossible to have included both the whole of the player and the basket in the picture – I was just too close.

(Sony A9II; 70-200mm at 95mm; f/2.8; 1/1000th sec; ISO 10000)

It’s good if you can take a photograph that tells a story. In the image below, the player who has just passed the ball, has realised that the player in front has taken his eye off the ball and he is therefore trying to get his attention before it hits him in the back …

Another way to convey the emotion and speed of the game effectively is to reduce the shutter speed to introduce intentional blur into the image, as below. This was taken with a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens and the blur is obvious at 1/200th second, but not so great that the picture becomes confused. With the wider aperture and slower shutter speed, the ISO setting is far below most other images in this blog.

(Nikon D500; 50mm; f/2.2; 1/200th sec; ISO 2000)

As with all sports, it is worth keeping an eye open for interesting pictures away from the main action. For example, the image below of the coach giving a team talk during a time out provides something different to tell the story of the game.

(Nikon D500; 50mm; f/2.0; 1/200th sec; ISO 2000)

Basketball is a challenge for the photographer, but well worth the effort. I can’t wait to get back and give it another go!

With special thanks to Salisbury Suns Basketball Club.

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