Kevin, I'm a Canon shooter, so I don't know what your cameras are capable of, but all of these, even #7 which is a static shot, are soft, which I assume is due to a too slow shutter speed. For college players, at a bare minimum, you need 1/620 (although you will have motion blur on the ball and some limbs at that speed).
On the plus side, you did a good job of capturing peak action on most of these. As far as #3, shots with faces are much more compelling. I would ditch #2, as it is nothing special.
I was shooting at 1/500 for the majority of the shots. I'll try bumping it up next time. I have the noise reduction on in the camera and I suspect that may be adding to the softness as well.
Great shots Kevin, it's nice to see another angle of a game that I shot. I agree that a couple of the shots are a bit soft, but theres not much you can do in Matthews Arena to up that shutter speed because of the really bad lighting for basketball, unless you want to push your ISO to levels that your bodies may not be able to get a clean shot out of.
I like the last two a lot. Maybe add a bit of fill light on 7. If 6 were sharp that would also be a great shot- I think it stands out to me because it has a pretty smooth background compared to the others.
Like I said, Matthews Arena is really tough to shoot in compared to other arenas in the area, especially for basketball (Matthews was built for hockey and they just throw down a court) so you got some really nice shots for the conditions. NU is playing some decent teams coming up in mid January, so we'll have some good chances for great pictures.
I will echo Elan as I am a Nikon shooter that started in a D3100. I think you did a good job for a first post given the equipment and location. That place looks like a closet to shoot in! ISO hell...
one of the things I noticed were horizons. I think a level shot really helps the overall picture.
If you up your SS as mentioned above that will help alot. However on a 3100 and 5100 that may push the ISO's pretty hard for those sensors. Do you use any post production software like Lightroom or PS? Or are these shots straight off the card jpg's?
Definitely keep at it, some nice moments and action.
Closet is an understatement. Compared to the other arenas in Boston, Matthews is a dungeon for basketball, it's just a bit better lit than most HS gyms... not up to D1 standards
Elan: Do you have your pictures up anywhere? I'd like to see another perspective as well. I'll try pushing the ISO for the next game and see what happens.
Mako: I do have PS but I tend to avoid editing my shots since I'm mostly shooting for myself. I definitely notice the horizon issue now that you mentioned it. That was my first game with the 70-200 f2.8 VR and I was not prepared for how heavy it was.
I don't really post anything online except for what the Northeastern SID puts on the athletics websites. Take a look at gonu.com it will give a good look at what else was shot at Matthews Arena. I don't think they put up a gallery of that game, but here's one shot from it: http://gonu.com/news/2012/12/17/MBB_1217123225.aspx
