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blam
11th of October 2006 (Wed), 11:56
hey guys, heading out to the climbing gym tonight to take some pictures.any tips??the gym is fairly dark...so using my onboard flash is going to be a must. whats the best way to avoid hot spots with it since I can't really bounce it anywhere
sswanson
11th of October 2006 (Wed), 15:28
At the climbing gym near me there are surfaces to bounce the flash off of all over the place - especially in the bouldering areas.

I'd suggest bringing any fast glass you have and having fun - it's an great/easy sport to shoot as they move slowly yet have great positions and muscle definition to capture!
basroil
11th of October 2006 (Wed), 15:37
i'de say forget the flash altogether and just use your 50 wide open+iso1600
blam
11th of October 2006 (Wed), 15:54
i'de say forget the flash altogether and just use your 50 wide open+iso1600

yeah, hat's what I am hoping for, but as mentioned it's very dark =\ I don't know if that will even catch enough light.

as for flash bouncing, it's hard to do without a swivel flash =\

I think one of the bouldering lounges has fairly good light, but I will have to see when i get there. for th most part it's pretty dim.
primoz
12th of October 2006 (Thu), 06:32
Flash is last thing you want to use with climbing... especially inside. Why? First and worse reason is magnesium powder. Especially inside air is filled with it and it makes >NASTY< white spots all over your photo. It looks like it would be snowing, just that it's way more annoying. Second reason is extremly ugly shadows which climbers cast on wall. So my suggestion is wide open lens and if it needs to then go for iso3200. Better iso3200 then flash. And here's (http://www.photo.si/search1.php?searchstring=free_climbing&lenb=0) few of my climbing photos from last year's World Cup finals.
blam
12th of October 2006 (Thu), 08:16
very nice photos!

I didn't get a chance to shoot many photos, but it was indeed too dark to shoot in most places. (ISO 1600 F1.8)

I found lighting for me was best when i stood up on the 2nd floor and shot down to the first floor. shooting on the first floor would get me shutter speeds of 1/30s which blurred my pictures due to handshake.

and yes, I don't want to use flash because of all the chalk in the air. especailly on a busy night. I'll be back there Friday and I'll see what I can shoot from up top. I only got a half a dozen shots off last night.