Boxing (first attempt)

[downunder]

Went to the boxing on the 21/03/06 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and was looking forward to trying out my new Lens, canon 70 - 200 2.8 is, also bought new 2x extender but wasn't fast enough with this lens. Got in some good shots but not quite as sharp as I was hoping for. these two pics are sharper than most of the pics. No flash allowed, although the stadium lighting was good. Maybe I should have use a monopod! suggestions welcome.

Canon 20d
Canon 70 - 200 2.8 is

[Croasdail]

Nice start. I have always wondered how shooting fighters with head gear would work. Seems to work just fine.

[Smooth1]

You are off to a great start. I'm really picky, the only thing I notice other than what you mentioned is the white balance is slightly off.

[calicokat]

nice first shots, you have talent. whats the exif data, iso speed, shutter speed, and I am assuming f/2.8. you could bumb your iso for faster shutter speeds, thats all I can think of

[downunder]

nice first shots, you have talent. whats the exif data, iso speed, shutter speed, and I am assuming f/2.8. you could bumb your iso for faster shutter speeds, thats all I can think of


Thx for comments

exif data
Shutter priority
Shutter speed 1/250sec
iso 800

Set the camera up this way after chatting with one of the professional photographers, very helpful and friendly guy.

Have added a couple more pics which I took from up in the stands, the other two were taken from the floor but the ropes kept getting in the way.

[calicokat]

They are all great shots in my opinion, if you ever needed the extra speed, bumb the ISO to 1600 and double your shutter speed. The 20D does well at ISO 1600.

[DwightMcCann]

Look good to me! I think you need CWB for the color shots.

[SurfKahakai]

What's CWB?

[DwightMcCann]

CWB = Custom White Balance. In this case, the matches are probably televised so the lighting is setup for TV which in my experience is "golden". At the suggestion of Gavin Ellis and Ed Mulholland I now use CWB when shooting boxing (and a lot of other things) as it seems to be able to compensate for much more than just color temperature. Makes the boxing shots look a lot more natural to the eye and I think cleans up the shadows a bit. Oh, and it's pretty easy to use.

[superdiver]

Dwight, you shoot mostly in RAW right?

[DwightMcCann]

Super, well, um, er, ahem, mmmggldldrxxxx, I, uh .... no .... a dozen frames once.

And certainly not boxing where I usually have around 2000 frames or more.

[superdiver]

So what do you usually shoot in?

Your stuff is so amazing I just always figured it was shot in RAW!

[DwightMcCann]

If you do not shoot RAW that only leaves the other thing! :-) If you get your images right in the camera there is much less need for post processing which is all RAW is good for anyway. [Oh, I can hear the whining, moaning and gnashing of teeth now!] Actually, I believe the colors in Stage Lighting are so dramatic and powerful that most of the value of RAW is lost (I know there are other opinions, many of which I value highly). I will certainly shoot RAW if I do landscapes or portraits ... I already have Rawshooter Pro and will look into Rene's recommendations if I am not totally happy.

Actually, I lied, there are two options: aRGB and sRGB ... I shoot the lesser of those, too ... sRGB. So, I guess you can get nice images without resorting to all sort of high powered technology, eh? :-) But be clear, I will change in an instant if it serves my needs.

[superdiver]

Interesting...

thanks for sharing, even if your ideas are not popular...which, usually makes them right IMHO...LOL

[DwightMcCann]

Super, I think that everyone is searching for the Holy Grail but that there are so many factors involved that there is no single or easy answer. I agree it is possible that if I shot RAW I wouldn't need to bracket (unlikely, but possible). I agree that I could get better images if I shot RAW. But that's not the right question for me ... the question is whether what I do meets the needs of my clients and would they notice any difference if the images were slightly better ... and I don't think so.

[Croasdail]

Hey downunder..... 3rd image is really good. Confirms that you still get good facial squishing with the helmets too. Non-pro is pretty much all we have around here. You've tempted me to try it. Cheers.

[downunder]

Hey downunder..... 3rd image is really good. Confirms that you still get good facial squishing with the helmets too. Non-pro is pretty much all we have around here. You've tempted me to try it. Cheers.

Thx Mark

Another Squish :)

[BIG H]

Great pics! CWB is the way to go.