Issues with 580EX with night football

[biznitch15]

I recently posted a topic about a month ago about using the 580EX for night football. I got some great advice, but that was before i got my flash a week ago. Now this past friday i applied some of the specs i received from some of you on a night game, and for some reason they didnt come out as good as i thought they would. I used the same IS0 1600 and used HSS on the flash. The results were that i got this white high contrast look on the pics, anybody got any comments why this happened, should i turn down the ISO? I got no pics cause im away from my home PC.

[ACDCROCKS]

use ETTL, IS0 1600 (EX 70-200MM 2.8 )set on 3.2)

[ACDCROCKS]

What lens did you use?

[gmen]

I got no pics cause im away from my home PC.In all honesty, some sample pics are probably going to be a big help when you get a chance to upload them.

A few quick things off the top of my head (just to get a fuller picture of what might have been happening):


Did you have the 580 on ETTL?
After you took a couple of test shots, did you find you need to apply any FEC?
Were the teams wearing very dark shirts?
What exposure were you getting if you had used just the ambient light at the venue?
Was the flash securely on the hot shoe?
How tightly were you cropping your pics in camera?
What was your working distance to the subject?
Was it foggy or raining?
Blah... blah... blah


---- Gavin

[PhotosGuy]

# Blah... blah... blah Me, too. Post pics. Do you call your car repair shop & say, "My car sounds funny. What should I do?" What do they tell you? :D

[fortinaa]

I'm not sure what to say without samples either. I shot at ISO1600 and tried the built in flash for the heck of it at my last game. It did travel a pretty good distance, but everyone had glowing eyes in the shots. The color cast was a bit different than no flash, but just needs wb adjustment.

[ShortBusCandid8]

I think you said you used HSS? I'm not sure if High Speed Synch's a good idea for football because it drastically reduces the effective range of the flash. Unless you were in the backfield as a ref, I don't think you'd be able to shoot onfield activities in that mode. I'd suggest a fairly wide open aperature (F4 or so to give some DOF) and a better beemer. For that matter, go to Staples or other stationary store and make your own out of one of those $8.00 fresnel page readers. Just my thoughts.
Have a great day!

[biznitch15]

Thanks guys, pics coming soon!!!!!!

[gmen]

Thanks guys, pics coming soon!!!!!!Luvly jubbly... we're all chomping at the bit!

---- Gavin

[chris clements]

Why HSS? As has been said, that will reduce your working range tremendously.
Turn it off, set the shutter manually to its normal synch speed and set a wide aperture (at ISO 1600). Then let the 580's ETTL do the rest

[gmen]

Why HSS? As has been said, that will reduce your working range tremendously. ... therefore making over-exposure unlikely, which is what the original poster seems to be alluding to.

Anyway, this is all speculation.. bring on the pics!!!

Chomp... chomp ;)

---- Gavin

[AjP]

ok, guy now you make me really confused.. no High sync.. are you going to shoot sport with shutter speed 1/250 and low.. how the heck you can stop the action???

[Jon]

The burst from a flash is much faster than 1/250 sec. When you're using the flash as your primary light source, your shutter speed (unless horrendously slow) doesn't have much effect at all on the overall exposure. So, when using flash as a primary light source, don't worry about having a high enough shutter speed to stop the action.

I suspect (subject to change on seeing the pictures) the high-contrast white areas were really close to you, while stuff off in the distance was almost invisible. That's because flash (or any other light source) falls off as the square of the distance. So close-in, the light levels change quite rapidly, while further off the falloff is less pronounced.

[gmen]

ok, guy now you make me really confused.. no High sync.. are you going to shoot sport with shutter speed 1/250 and low.. how the heck you can stop the action???1/250s is fast enough as the flash duration is much shorter than that.

As long as flash is your primary source of illumination then this will be the case. However, if you set an exposure on the camera that is close to the ambient light levels then you may see some ghosting with very fast sports - for example, the fingers or the edges of the ball in basketball.

I shot hoops with flash recently at 1/250s, see this thread: http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=107348

It is important to separate your exposure recipe into the two ingredients to get a good result...

1. The ambient exposure dialled into the camera (most likely in manual mode) - this will primarily determine how the background appears in the final image... at the same time you'll be choosing the right shutter speed and the right aperture (for the DOF) you require at a given ISO.
2. The flash exposure - this will determine how your subject is exposed, which may be via ETTL with FEC or using the flash on a manual power setting.

---- Gavin

[AjP]

ok, now I got... i use flash only to feel in, not as main source.. all I need to take shodows of faces, etc.. it why I use manual flash with high sync.. I still use stadium lights as main source and because of it, I use fast shutter speed...

[ShortBusCandid8]

This is a pretty cool page showing the effects of HSS on stop-action photography ...
http://webs.lanset.com/rcochran/flash/hss.html
Have a good day!

[Titus213]

This is a pretty cool page showing the effects of HSS on stop-action photography ...
http://webs.lanset.com/rcochran/flash/hss.html
Have a good day!

Interesting link. He also has some good studio flash info for us beginners.

[bachscuttler]

Me, too. Post pics. Do you call your car repair shop & say, "My car sounds funny. What should I do?" What do they tell you? :D

"Turn the radio up"