The Background Test

I set up at the same server position twice during the match. The first time, I shot with signs and doors visible in the background. The second time, I moved a few feet and cleaned that up.

Same player. Same action. Same distance. The shot with the cluttered background pulls your eye away from the player. The one where I moved holds your attention right where it should be.

It's easy to ignore this at the moment because you're focused on the play, not what's behind it. But a quick scan of your background before you settle into a spot can save you a lot of work later.

Exit Signs Are Just Part of the Deal

Here's the reality of shooting high school and middle school gyms. Exit signs, doors, scoreboards, they're usually unavoidable. You can improve things by moving, but you're not going to find a spot with a perfectly clean background all game.

A question I ask in this video is what you do about it in editing. For me, some shots get a tighter crop. A few get the remove tool to take a sign out entirely. I don't do this on everything, just the images I care about most.

I'm curious how other photographers handle this. Do you take the time to edit out clutter like this, or let it go and move on?

A White Balance Confession

I didn't forget to set white balance for this match. I forgot how, on both the Z9 and the Z6III. I run three different camera bodies, and each one handles this setting a little differently.

I set it as close as I could and got to shooting. Missing action to fix a menu setting is a worse trade than fixing color in post.

Afterward, I looked up the process for all three bodies and built a reference checklist so I won't lose time to this again.

High ISO and a Surprise from DXO PureRAW

I was nervous about the high ISO I would have to use in this gym. I usually shoot at least plus 0.3 exposure compensation, and with a bright floor and decent lighting, I probably pushed a few frames further than I needed to.

I ran the raw files through DXO PureRAW afterward, and it cleaned up noise on images shot as high as ISO 10,000. If you've been avoiding higher ISO in a dim gym because you assume your gear can't handle it, it is worth testing noise reduction software like Topaz, DXO PureRAW, LIghtroom Classic.

Testing the Viltrox 135mm

I brought the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 hoping for a different look. The autofocus is slower than my usual lenses, and it missed more shots than the 70-200 or 300 would have caught in the same moments.

But when it hit, the background blur was really nice. It isolates a player in a way my other lenses don't. I wouldn't call it a primary sports lens for me. But it's worth bringing along for a handful of frames a match if you want something different.

What Would You Do Differently

Paying attention to the background makes a huge difference in the final image. Gym clutter can rarely be completely eliminated, but you can make some small shifts to make a big difference to the final image.

What would you do differently? And tell me in the comments on the video, do you edit out exit signs and background clutter, or let it go?

Next episode, I'll share what I've learned from your comments about shooting high school volleyball.