How can I take good volleyball pictures?

Question

Volleyball is an extremely difficult sport to photograph due to the ball and players moving so fast and sudden. At the last game I tried, I played with different presets, aperture, ISOs, and shutter speeds. Nothing seemed to work just right. I'm constricted to using no flash and I'm stuck with yellowish gym lighting. I have a Sony Alpha and the next game is tomorrow. Any suggested manual settings or other tips so I can get the best pictures as possible?
(I also have access to Photoshop so I can change lighting and anything else I need to afterwards.)

Answer 1

The number 1 manual setting for action pictures is a fast shutter speed. That's the only way to freeze the action.

But you have to experiment a little to know how fast you need. I start with 1/125 sec. and move faster only if necessary.

The problem is the faster you set the shutter the more you have to compensate aperture and ISO to still get a good exposure. Because you are inside with artificial light, this will be a major concern.

You may be able to use Shutter Priority so the camera will set aperture after you set shutter speed.

Set the ISO as high as your camera handles well. That way you can limit how low the aperture is set. If you get too low with aperture, the depth of field will get too short and you will have some players out of focus.

Set the white balance to incandescent light so the yellow won't be too strong.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Fred's is the best answer with good advice.

Comments:

Your Sony has not tested very well at speeds above ISO 400, so see if you can stick to that.

You need the fastest lens you can get hold of, like a 2.8 or even faster.

If you can't freeze the action, try panning with the action as you shoot. Instead of crystal clear images, you might depict the motion and action of the sport.

Good luck.