Shooting indoor sports???

[mmaphotog]

Well I am very excited about picking up my 10D tomorrow and I have been trying to do my homework on the camera,compact flash cards, and digital photography in general and in any minute details.

My big question (today anyway) is how should I set up my D10 to get good White Balance readings when shooting under harsh TV lighting. I shoot mostly stuff like pro boxing etc.

What are the best steps with white balance???

[mwinog2777]

The temperature of indoor tv lighting is ~3200 kelvin. Do a manual setting of white balance there.

Do it in RAW; if you're off, you can adjust with a good RAW convertor.

[martcol]

10D also allows White Balance Bracketing. Obviously, you wouldn't want to do it all the time as you'll quickly use up memory on your card. Each bracketed shot you take the camera records three according to the parameters you set. If you could get to the venue before hand, take a few shots and then reveiw them on your PC it might help.... Might be useful whilst you're getting used to the camera.

Good luck - 10D really is a beeeeeauty! :D

Then of course, there's RAW.

Martin

[CoachP8]

GENERAL

Start with a fast lens. I use 28-70 and 70-200 "L" on and off a mono pod. Pick the most interesting angles. A bit of flag, scoreboard or the fans, coaches, referees and teammates faces make interesting background when the depth of field is deep. Empty seats is the worst. Busy without bang. As for the action, get the faces that give meaning to the moment.

The "lag time anticipation" interval required will vary depending on many variables. But fortunately, the mind/body/eye thing innate in us photo monkeys will compensate as you gain experience. Try to compose your 4X6 in camera. I print 500 of this format most weeks. If you also get the color correct, you will save huge amounts of "processing" time.

LIGHT: Quantity and Quality.

Without doubt the biggest obstacle to taking high quality indoor sports photos is the quantity and quality of light.

Big pro arenas are usually no problem. However, college and high school gyms are BIG PROBLEMS.

Consider this:

The light fixtures in most of these gyms will accommodate a wide variety of LAMPS. These lamps vary in price, longevity, and photographic freindliness. Some lamps will give nearly the same color and intensity until the day they die; Others will degrade continuely in terms of color and intensity.

Graingers www.grainger.com is the industrial supply that most plant managers use here in Southern California. Request your own free catolog by mail. The catolog lists the variety of lamps available and has a description of the pros and cons of the general categories. This is a great resourse for understanding many "locations" we all shoot. These are NOT PHOTO LAMPS.

Perhaps , many will consider this discussion a ramble. But, the number of sport photo journalists that get the white balance wrong in poorly lit locations is incredible.

All photographers will find it very difficult to correct a 1800-2500 degree sodium vapor lit enviornment when not maximized for sucsess in the camera. Shooting RAW can help. But, I usually shoot 120 per hour of play. So shooting RAW has it's own problems...

Metal Halide lamps are the best: 5200-5700 degrees K. Think a sunny mid-winter day (bluish). Unfortunately they burn HOT and are the most expensive.

The range of lamps in Industrial HID speak:
1800K 0range (ouch!)
1900-2200K Warm Yellow (too very common)
2700K Soft white (as advertized, but NO!)
3000-3200K Warm white (OK)
2400-3700K Neutral white (OK)
3800-4500K Cool white (OK)
5200-5700K Blue (A-OK easy to correct!)


Almost every high school gym will have a mixture of sodium vapor and metal halide. (Budget cuts, change of AD or plant manager.)

Most HS gyms have the absolute minimum number of fixtures necessary to meet the "standards" for HS sports. These standards are set for safety not photographers. Consequently, some sections of the floor will be underlit. So uneven lighting is another problem.

Example standards (footcandles at court level) are:
Basketball or Volleyball
Big time arena 50
College and High School 20-30
High School (public) 10-20


So practical advice.

1) Overcome low light in the usual manner: Fast glass, mono pod, ISO, ETC. Also, turn off the auto focus in low light and shoot only a specific plane, DOF, on the court.

2) Recognize uneven light (color and intensity) and deal with it.

3) Set the white balance manually (K) and test a variety of settings. WB Bracketing has not worked well on sports action for me.

4) Encourage the plant manager to replace old or missing lamps. Talk to the AD or Coaches if necessary. Get the booster club to buy Metal Halide! Yes, I have been sucsessful at this approach.

5) Get to know the enemy. Sodium Vapor lamps are the worst. They change color as they age and the damn things live a long time. SV gives off a lot of light and most flash units will not overcome the yellow cast except when in close. (This ruins quite a few team pictures taken by the HS pictue folks.)

6) Accept that you will blow it occasionally. The best insurance is to pre-test every location and keep notes for the next time.

You will need to know some of this WB stuff if you are to become a true "gym rat" photographer. Many sport photographers may just set the minimum WB or AWB in the poorly lit gyms. But, you will be rewarded by SUPERIOR skin tones, true blue jerseys and more pleasing prints by a systematic approach to getting the light right.

[jjustus]

Coach,
If this is a ramble, great ramble. Very thorough and appreciated.

[mmaphotog]

Thanks guys.

Very thurough thoughts.

Most of my stuff is lit for TV so the lighting is not terrible and I have had great results with my 1VHS. I shoot fast lenses (2.8) so mostly I'm worried about myself and the WB.

Any other thoughts would be greatly apreciated.

OH YEAH!! THE CAMERA ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!