Robert’s Photography Blog

The Aviva Open 2006 preliminary rounds were held yesterday at the Indoor Stadium (Kallang) in Singapore. I was there taking some test shots to get ready for the finals that start today.

Yikes! No flash allowed, sodium and fluorescent lighting overhead, and blazing fast badminton action. According to Wikipedia, Badminton champion Fu Haifeng of China set the official world smash record on June 3, 2005 with a shuttlecock speed measured at 332 km/h (206 mph), faster than the Eurostar train. Check out the video.

How can a photographer overcome these issues? Here are some helpful tips if you have never photographed this fast-moving sport.

Tip #1: Bring a dSLR camera and good ‘glass’ (L-series zoom lenses or primes). Stick with lenses that have a maximum aperture of at least f/2.8. To freeze action in sports, you need a shutter speed of about 1/500 sec. Several of the standard Canon primes work well also -  the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 and the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8, for example. If you can get next to the courts, bring a wide angle lens and shoot crouching or lying on your stomach for an interesting perspective.

Tip #2: Shoot with the lens wide open or nearly wide open using Av or Tv mode. In the Indoor Stadium (Kallang), the Exposure Value (EV) on the floor was between 11 and 12. That means, to get 1/500 sec shutter speed at f/2.8 you need to go up to about Iso 1,000. The wide aperture also helps to blur the background isolating the player from distracting surroundings. Use AI Servo mode or AI Focus mode (all focus points). You won’t have a chance of catching a ‘jump smash’ without focus tracking.

Tip #3: None of the white balance modes in the Canon EOS 30D can deal with stadium lighting. Using auto white balance, the photos have an ugly yellow cast. I recommend shooting in Canon raw format then correcting the white balance in raw conversion software such as Bibble Pro or equivalent. Also with raw files, you can correct exposure problems (+/-1 stop) and generate 16-bit tiffs for high quality prints. Most of the newer Canon dSLRs allow you to capture a raw file together with a jpeg. I usually choose ‘raw + small/fine jpeg’. The small jpeg is useful for sorting and selecting images as well as for quick edits.

Tip #4: Use monopod or tripod. If you are stuck in the stands, you can bring a light weight tripod and set it up in front of you. If you have access to the floor, consider using a monopod. The monopod not only steadies the camera but also helps reduce fatigue without reducing mobility. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS is my favorite lens for shooting badminton. It comes with a nifty tripod ring that balances the camera and lens perfectly on a monopod. My favorite monopod is the Gitzo MonoTrek carbon fiber monopod mounted a Bogen (Manfrotto) Mini Ballhead.

The example shown above is a photo of shuttlers Gail Emms and Donna Kellog of the UK paired off against Mingtian Fu and Lei Yao of Singapore during the preliminary rounds. A great action photo (jump smash) taken with a Canon EOS 30D and a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens at 105mm, 1/400 sec, Iso 1250, and f/3.2.

Click here to see more photos from the AVIVA Open 2006.