f/4. When using variable aperture lenses, make
sure that you set the aperture for the focal
length that you will be using; for example, if
I had the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Nikon lens, and
I knew I was going to be shooting all the way
zoomed to 300mm, then the widest aperture
would have to be f/5.6.the basketball player goes in for the slam-dunk or
makes the game-winning three-point shot. It can
also be the expression on a player’s face as the
ball doesn’t go the way it should, or the fingers of
the receiver who doesn’t quite get there in time.
But the one thing all these moments have in
common is that they should be sharp and not
blurry. The key to getting the images sharp is to
use the right shutter speed for the situation.
The right shutter speed
Picking the right shutter speed depends on the
speed of the action you are trying to freeze. For
example, there is a big difference in the speed of
play between a kids’ basketball game and an NBA
team driving down the hardwood. A good starting
point is to determine the highest shutter speed you
can use under the light. You can do this before the
actual event starts, as long as the light doesn’t
change. An easy way to do this is as follows:
- Set the camera to manual mode.
- Set the ISO as high as you can stand. This
takes a little testing on your part, but you can
do it anytime. Set the camera to auto mode
and take a photo. Then, raise the ISO and
take the same photo and keep doing this
until you have roughly the same photo at all
the ISO settings that your camera has. Then
download these images to your computer and
look at them at 100%. Find the ISO at which
you can’t tolerate the amount of noise and
step back one ISO. This is the highest ISO
setting you are willing to use. - Set the aperture at the widest f-stop the lens
offers. This is determined by the lens you are
using. For example, a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens will
be set at f/2.8 while a 50mm f/1.4 will be set to
As technology improves, cameras will
continue to offer higher and higher
ISO settings. So, if you get a new camera, you should run
this test again. The highest ISO you are comfortable with
is likely to be different on a different camera.note- Pick a shutter speed you believe will freeze
the motion. This is a best guess and can be
changed later, but as a starting point I most
often use a shutter speed of 1/500 second. - Take a photo of a neutral object in the mid-
dle of the light, preferably a player or an
official waiting for the game to start. - Check the exposure on the LCD. If the
frame is underexposed, increase the shutter
speed; if the frame is overexposed, decrease
the shutter speed and try again.
Once you find the settings you are happy with,
you know the highest possible shutter speed that
will be available to you during play. That doesn’t
mean you actually have to use these settings, but
it is very good to know what they are.
When shooting at night or in low light, you must
consider what direction the action is moving and
then how fast the movement is. The most impor-
tant concept to remember is that subjects moving
toward or away from you can be frozen with a
longer shutter speed, while subjects moving across
the frame need higher shutter speeds to freeze