Wrestling Tournament, strobed - 8 pics

[MJPhotos24]

Think this is only the second time I've been to a wrestling match/tournie since I was on the host schools team back in '97. First time shooting one as well, and this is one of the largest and best tournies around: 10 teams, 9 from NY - 8 of those NY teams state ranked...other from PA. Dual match.

Bought some Alien Bee strobes & MultiMAX pocket wizards - problem was/is I don't have the cables to connect the PW's to the strobes just yet. So had to shoot from the upper level a bit and keep the strobe connected directly to the Mark IIn. Tried a lot of settings, some good, some bad, some stupid, all embedded, a lot of them shown as you can easily see the different exposures (some too bright, some too dark, etc). Shot with the 70-200 2.8 IS mostly, cropped and maybe an auto contrast but that's it.

C&C welcome but the thing you don't need to mention is getting lower down by the mat - I was connected to the strobe with about a 12 foot cord so had literally about 5 feet to move since it was extended with the light posts. Also, the background sucked in this gym (there's 3 gyms going). There was people everywhere, very noisy back there with fans, coaches, other wrestlers, scorers, etc. So being high did offer a nice clean background with the mat, but as you can probably tell wrestling is done LOW. I'll have strobes set up in two gyms tomorrow, one lower that has a nice wall with noone standing back there as a background, and this one again up top. End of explanation.

#1 - back points...

http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR01.JPG


#2 - sizing each other up...
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR02.JPG


#3 - All locked up...
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR03.JPG


#4 - Grab a leg and drive, DRIVE!!
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR04.JPG


#5 - Getting ready to shoot...
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR05.JPG


#6 - Reach out and touch someone...
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR06.JPG


#7 - Out of titles for the pre-shoot photos...
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR07.JPG


#8 - another kid about to shoot...(shot with the 300 2.8 IS)
http://www.knockoverrecords.com/ATTOUR08.JPG

[Sauk]

looks nice. Were these bounced or direct?

[MJPhotos24]

looks nice. Were these bounced or direct?

Some of the exposures are screwy, but hey was trying to show the good and bad - and nothing that's not usable. 411/470 were keepers as I just got done getting rid of the crap. Anyways, it was bounced definately - I HATE DIRECT FLASH, ha - when I walked in and looked up to my delight I saw a bright white ceiling. Probably should have angled it a bit different but was using tonight to test for tomorrow - which is 10+ hours straight...good times, good times.

[Sauk]

ouch, were you using the 7 inch or the 11 inch reflectors?

I might try the 7 inch to get it going stronger towards the ceiling at our gym. I think the 11 inch might lose a little strength

[MJPhotos24]

They came with the 7" and they worked well. Trust me all the changing in light and inconsistency in the above images is 100% pure user error trying different things. Tomorrow I'm going to play it a bit more safe, with lack of sleep I won't have the brain power to experiment.

[khall]

Good start, good luck for tomorrow.
What you have posted, as far as picture quality goes.....they look fine.

Sleep well.....:)

[MJPhotos24]

Good start, good luck for tomorrow.
What you have posted, as far as picture quality goes.....they look fine.

Sleep well.....:)

What the heck is this "sleep" thing you talk of? I heard it was some new trend, but I just haven't been able to partake in that just yet...4:29am - one team still uploading, should be four...so probably all will be there since normal people are sleeping at this hour, ha.

http://mikejanesphotography.exposuremanager.com/g/attica_wrestling_tournament_-_1207

[namasste]

What the heck is this "sleep" thing you talk of? I heard it was some new trend, but I just haven't been able to partake in that just yet...4:29am - one team still uploading, should be four...so probably all will be there since normal people are sleeping at this hour, ha.

http://mikejanesphotography.exposuremanager.com/g/attica_wrestling_tournament_-_1207

I'm anxious to see what you come up with down low. #5 and #8 seem to have solid exposure and I'd have to say are my favorites. They almost look ambient lit which I really like. Nice. I know what you mean about the sleep thing to. I read your post around 2am last night while processing my basketball shots from the game last night. I didn't want people to think I had no life, so I waited til today to post!:lol:

[MJPhotos24]

I'm anxious to see what you come up with down low. #5 and #8 seem to have solid exposure and I'd have to say are my favorites. They almost look ambient lit which I really like. Nice. I know what you mean about the sleep thing to. I read your post around 2am last night while processing my basketball shots from the game last night. I didn't want people to think I had no life, so I waited til today to post!:lol:

I was up to about 7am this morning and now just getting ready to head to the tournament (1pm) to track down the last 5 teams I didn't get yesterday. Since I got 5/10 teams in only 2 hours yesterday I figure 7 hours of shooting today will finish off the needed teams and it gave me a couple hours sleep :)

Screw what people think, ha. I was up all night cropping pics and getting them posted just so parents that get the flyer today go and see that they are getting done and uploaded one match at a time. Would have been in bed a lot earlier if just uploading as is, but decided to crop to give a closer look at the wrestlers, little experiment. Maybe it's worth my time, maybe it's not - we'll find out in the next week or so I guess.

[MNEEME]

I used to wrestle a couple years ago for several years. It was a great time. I'd just like to say your photos are amazing. Moves are very well caputed. I enjoyed viewing your photos.

I have a question though. How many stobes are you using? I have none, do think it would be possible to use a flash bounced? (Of course depending on what I bounce against.) I would love to photograph some wrestling events. I wish I would of kept going with wrestling HeHe

[MJPhotos24]

I used to wrestle a couple years ago for several years. It was a great time. I'd just like to say your photos are amazing. Moves are very well caputed. I enjoyed viewing your photos.

I have a question though. How many stobes are you using? I have none, do think it would be possible to use a flash bounced? (Of course depending on what I bounce against.) I would love to photograph some wrestling events. I wish I would of kept going with wrestling HeHe

I graduated from the host school, wrestled my senior year only and wish I had done it longer! The coach had been asking me since 9th grade but never did, until the last year and two weeks into the season. I was a fish for the first few matches and vs more experienced of course, but had some good battles. One college recruited, since I was going there to play football anyways but didn't cuz I was beat after the season, stupid move - they were one of the top teams in the country. Conference and Regional Champs...I'm an idiot, ha.

Don't have much experience with bouncing a flash, never tried it.

I'm only using one strobe, Alien Bee 1600, at 3/4 power. The camera is connected directly to the strobe so can't move much. Angled about 45 degrees or so, off a white ceiling. I'm not sure how noticable it was to the fans, noone really seemed to pay much attention to it...these were taken on the second level balcony. Today I shot directly from the floor, with it extended all the way up or just 3/4th up and it worked well to...but then again I noticed more people looking at it like it was an alien (bad pun intended) - maybe because I was standing next to them and in there "zone" shooting now instead of above them where they have to turn and look.

Downloading todays results and will post some more when finished. The coaches all got an envelope full of flyers for parents/wrestlers. Hopefully sales go good, if not - oh well got to learn. This area doesn't usually do well in online sales.

One thing I'm wondering is how noticable it is for b-ball...so I think in one of my practices I'm going to give the camera to someone on my team and have her shoot random shots of the wall or something as I shoot, just to see how intrusive it is IMO and not what others say. Hopefully shoot some b-ball too soon.

[MJPhotos24]

#5 and #8 seem to have solid exposure and I'd have to say are my favorites. They almost look ambient lit which I really like.

Follow-up...I shot from the floor today and they all seemed more like #4 and not "natural light" where you can't tell. I tried a lot of different things but they either looked like not enough or a little on the bright side. Parents didn't care, the ones who saw some on the viewfinder loved them "bright".

[Sauk]

I don't mind bright images. To me it is clear and crisp. I know some like the natural light and what not, but when there isn't enough ambient light I think it is ok to use the power of the strobe to make it crystal clear.

The only reason why I ever notice strobes is because I look for them. Otherwise I have yet to receive one comment on the strobes except me personally asking someone if they noticed.

[MJPhotos24]

I don't mind bright images. To me it is clear and crisp. I know some like the natural light and what not, but when there isn't enough ambient light I think it is ok to use the power of the strobe to make it crystal clear.

The only reason why I ever notice strobes is because I look for them. Otherwise I have yet to receive one comment on the strobes except me personally asking someone if they noticed.

Page 2 is online in 5,4,3,2....
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=418656

When I first got there and started to raise the strobe a parent looked up with an odd look on her face and asked "what's that?" I told her what it was and she said "oh, cool" and that was it basically. This group sitting there thought it was pretty cool, and thats all I heard on it all day.