Hi, I'm Ben Lemley, I'm a sports star from the UK, and in this new six-part series that I'm calling getting a shot I'm going to take you through some of my favorite images that I've created in my career I want to show you how I've created these really really special images, the techniques and the thinking that I've used to create them so that you can go away and try out of yourself. My hope is that by showing these kind of images you can go away and with a little bit of time and a little bit of practice you'll be able to create something just as special. In this first part of getting the shot I'm going to talk to you about shooting sports in indoor arena lighting and how to make the most of it. I'm well aware that shooting indoor sports as a photographer is a big ask for any of us. The arena lighting isn't always great, I get that. But I'm also a big believer in the fact that you should be able to use the lighting that you've got available to you in order to create something really really special. Also often as sports star of hers we actually shy away from indoor sports and we really don't have to, even if we don't have the best gear in the world because it's very possible with a little bit of thinking and a little bit of technique to create something really really cool. So back in early 2020 I was hired by England Netball to cover the nation's cup which is a four round competition of four of the best teams in the world playing in four different venues across the UK. And even though we were playing in some of the best arenas in country it definitely had some of its challenges. Some of those arenas are incredible, they have some incredible facilities in them and the lighting for the matches in particular was set up for TV. So the lighting was pretty darn good. However for students indoor sports it's still pretty tricky at times. It's still not the same as shooting outdoors in blazing sunlight. One of the first things I noticed on day one was that the arena floor and the court itself was being lit mainly by huge spotlights all around the outside of the arena like on all four sides. And I figured that with a little bit of thinking and a little bit of planning I could actually use those spotlights as featured elements of an image with the action and unfolding in front of it. It just takes a little bit of thinking and kind of figuring out what worked. But I had four days to do that so it wasn't going to be a problem. If you're interested in finding out more about how to make management sports photography then check out my How to Be Successful with Sports Toggle Course over on New Demi. Links in the description below. My go to Wide Lens Shooting Sports is my 24-72.8. It's a super fast lens so I can get some great indoor action with it whilst also be able to shoot like super wide. I usually pair it up with my Canon 5D Mark III which is a full frame sensor camera from Canon. And those two combined together let me get really really great wide images without unnecessary cropping like you would get on a crop sensor. The dynamic range on the 5D Mark III is also amazing so it's a really really good option in my bag for me when I'm shooting sports and I want to shoot wide. By the time we headed to the Birmingham Reader on day two I'd had enough kind of like practice and getting used to the spotlights being in the background of an image. And I knew that I was on for an image that potentially could be really really special. The key was just going to be to wait for that perfect piece of action. I would spend my time when the play was close to me on my longer lenses and on my teleconverter trying to get really really cool, close, tight action shots. But then as soon as the play moved away from me then I could break out my 24-70 on my 5D Mark III and really focus on waiting for the perfect piece of action for those super cool wide shots. And that image actually came during the England vs South Africa game in Birmingham and it happened when a long pass was played into the centre for Schubert George Fisher. I've been watching this happen a lot during the game. They were playing in like a long looping pass into George who would then be leaping in the air. So I knew all I had to do was wait for that absolute right time to fire on that shirt. It was just a case of capturing the moment when George was off the floor leaping up ready to collect the ball. So that starburst effect on the lights and the light in the background. All I do is I close my aperture down to about F11. Now you can do this on any light. It can be like a speed light. It can be a big spotlight in a runeer. It can be the sun outdoors. All you need to do is stop your aperture down until the point that it closes to such a point that as the light hits it coming through the lens, it kind of like refracts and spreads off. Now that starburst effect is different on each different lens. So you have to kind of take some time and play around with it. But I know in an indoor arena like that with a big spotlight, if it's right at me, it's directly at me. But if I go to F11 then I'll get a really really cool starburst effect. I was able to couple that with the action of George leaping into the air to create this really really special image. The indoor sports doesn't have to be lots of close tight in slightly grainy images if your camera is not great. You can really open it up and get something really really special. It just takes a little bit of thinking and a little bit of planning. Tune in next time for part two of Get In The Shot. If you haven't already, take a moment to hit subscribe so you'll get notified whenever I post new videos. At the minute, it's about twice a week. I share most of my work on Instagram too at Ben's Snap Stuff, so feel free to give me a follow. Till next time.