First Basketball Pics

[bobcool]

With my new "thrifty fifty" 50mm 1.8, I went to my nephew's JV basketball game to take my first sports action shots with my new D80. All pics had these settings:

Nikon D80
50mm 1.8 lens
ISO 1600
F/2 - 2.2
1/400 - 1/640 shutter
Custom White Balance (white paper)

PP was as follows:
Levels with white point
USM 113%
Saturation bumped ~+20
Neat Image with auto-noise levels

I'd love some critique - I like to get some opinions on composition and PP. Also, I have PS Elements 2.0 - planning on upgrading but probably can only afford Elements 5.0 at this time (just spent ~$1700 on new equipment!). I'm curious to know if anyone has any PP workflow in PS or Elements that gives good results. Thanks!

#1
http://www.cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111813360-L.jpg

#2
http://www.cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111813365-L.jpg

#3
http://www.cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111813375-L.jpg

#4
http://www.cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111813382-L.jpg

#5
http://www.cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111813386-L.jpg

#6
http://www.cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111813374-L.jpg

Thanks again!

[chuckice]

Good action...nice and clean at iso600. Only thing I see is they definitely look overcooked/saturated...at least on my monitor.

[bobcool]

I added saturation intentionally, but perhaps too much? This is why I'd like some viewpoints from other on their post processing - do you increase saturation when trying to get low-light images to "pop?" If so, how much do you usually add? I almost never need to increase saturation in outside shots, just the low-light ones...

[chuckice]

I never saturate unless I feel something got lost. I've never had issues indoors so long as I nail the white balance and color mode.

Here's a sample...mediocre lighting but I didn't saturate...just some sharpening and slight hue adjust. That's just my flow tho.
http://SnortingBull.smugmug.com/photos/110824908-M-2.jpg

[Steve Cavigliano]

:agree with Chuck that these might look a little over-cooked. I don't think it is due, so much, to the added sat as it is the color temp. These are too warm (yellow). They look much better if you take the yellow down. I just used a 25% Cooling Filter LBB - Photo Filter in CS and it did well globally.

http://cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111082629-M.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/slo2k/image/70400159/original.jpg

http://cooleyfamily.smugmug.com/photos/111082639-L.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/slo2k/image/70400224/original.jpg

I like the action you captured :thumb But, I'd also suggest cropping a little tighter.

Good work! :D

Steve

[bobcool]

This is so weird - on my monitor your corrections make the player's skin too white, almost bluish as if the white balance was too cool. Could this be differences in our monitors? I'm looking at mine on a notebook LCD...

[gavin]

This is so weird - on my monitor your corrections make the player's skin too white, almost bluish as if the white balance was too cool. Could this be differences in our monitors? I'm looking at mine on a notebook LCD...

Most likly your monitor.. Have you calibrated it recently?

[chuckice]

This is so weird - on my monitor your corrections make the player's skin too white, almost bluish as if the white balance was too cool. Could this be differences in our monitors? I'm looking at mine on a notebook LCD...

Steve's mods look good on my monitor...you definitely might need a calibration. I'd still tone down the saturation but likely that's a personal pref. Agreed with Steve as well...you might consider some tighter crops to focus the action more...

[Steve Cavigliano]

This is so weird - on my monitor your corrections make the player's skin too white, almost bluish as if the white balance was too cool. Could this be differences in our monitors? I'm looking at mine on a notebook LCD...

Hi Bob,
I just used my Huey. So I'm pretty confident regarding the color. You might want to check these images on another monitor.

Steve

[bobcool]

Thanks for the feedback folks - exactly what I was looking for. I'll tone down on the temperature and do tighter crops the next go-round. I'll also purchase The Huey to get my monitor calibrated.

Have a great weekend!