JV basketball Game with Alien Bees

[Sauk]

Well I used the JV game to figure out my configuration with my new alien bees. Not a ton of pictures to choose from. 38 or so were keepers out of maybe a 100 taken. My B800's are not strong enough with the 11 inch reflector to bounce directly off of the ceiling so I have to angle it a touch lower so some of it flows onto the court. I got better results I believe in the Varsity game which I will throw up tonight or tomorrow. But without a doubt 1600's will be perfect if I can ever get the money for them, till then the 800's will do me just fine.

You can check my site tomorrow for the rest of the JV and Varsity Shots.

Here are some of those shots:

1.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p112609724-3.jpg

2.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p279003920-3.jpg

3.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p152289348-3.jpg

4.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p59040727-3.jpg

5.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p448888660-3.jpg

6.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p75252017-3.jpg

7.
http://www.athleticsphotog.com/img/v3/p55898028-3.jpg

[Sittingshooter]

They look pretty good to me. I must say though that I like the last two the best, as the ones shot in front of the bench/bleachers the backgrounds full of people realy take away from the image with the depth of field you used.

[Sauk]

Yeah #2 I was experimenting a little using F4. Wish I had F2.2 like I used pretty much the entire night on that one lol

[sjudkins]

I have a few questions for you if you dont mind!

My wife and I have been shooting area Middle and High School Basketball games. We use a prime 85mm with 1.8 f/stop and no flash. We happend to have two AB 800s in our studio and I ahve never considered the possibility of using them for sports! I just assumed the flas would be too distracting to the players and hence the coaches wouldn't allow it. How do you convince the coaches/school principal that this wont distract the players? Also, what about the possiblity of someone knocking them over, etc. And, finally what do you do in Small Gyms where space is limited. Your pictures look so much better than ours I have to start "arena strobing"! The larger DOF would be a tremendous help in focusing on the fast action. Any adivce would help us termendously!

Thanks!
Shayne

[Croasdail]

Is there a reason you direct strobed rather then bounced? Just curious....

[Sauk]

Is there a reason you direct strobed rather then bounced? Just curious....


wow this is a old post :)

Yeah I said in my first post that to be honest my bees were not strong enough to bounce well in that gym. Now these were a little to direct now that I have used them more. I think my latest set show what I use now a days in that gym. I can't bounce so I have to angle them so that the light will fall onto the court instead of bounced off the ceiling.

I don't like it as much as bouncing trust me, but it is the only way I can do it at this gym.

[Aaagogo]

it's an old thread indeed, but I thank whoever's the one that dug it up...

I have a qn, that being the sync speed.... is it still at 1/250 even you are doing strobe?

is there anyway you can shoot at a faster SS or is a faster SS not neccessary because of the extra light?

I'm trying to do research on "arena lightning"

[Sauk]

Dennis knows way more then I do do but the only way you can shoot higher then 250 is if your camera synch speed is higher then that. The original 1D had a synch speed of 1/500th. When I by accident go higher then 250 I get a black band on the right side of my image.

You really don't need it if your lighting is over powering the ambient light. I think dennis said it is somewhere around 1/800 to 1/1000.

[sjudkins]

I have a few questions for you if you dont mind!

My wife and I have been shooting area Middle and High School Basketball games. We use a prime 85mm with 1.8 f/stop and no flash. We happend to have two AB 800s in our studio and I ahve never considered the possibility of using them for sports! I just assumed the flas would be too distracting to the players and hence the coaches wouldn't allow it. How do you convince the coaches/school principal that this wont distract the players? Also, what about the possiblity of someone knocking them over, etc. And, finally what do you do in Small Gyms where space is limited. Your pictures look so much better than ours I have to start "arena strobing"! The larger DOF would be a tremendous help in focusing on the fast action. Any adivce would help us termendously!

Thanks!
Shayne

Would any of you care to comment on my questions above? I am very interested in figuring out how to use our Alien Bees at the next Youth Basketball games. :-)

[dschach]

I have been looking at your sports photos since you started with the AB's. These look good but to be honest I like the earlier shots better where you bounce completely off the ceiling. For me the direct light is just a little too strong. Your timing and composition are great.

[dschach]

it's an old thread indeed, but I thank whoever's the one that dug it up...

I have a qn, that being the sync speed.... is it still at 1/250 even you are doing strobe?

is there anyway you can shoot at a faster SS or is a faster SS not neccessary because of the extra light?

I'm trying to do research on "arena lightning"


The shutter speed is irrelevant as long as the flash is sufficiently above the ambient light. Generally 3 stops is enough. In that case, the shutter speed is the flash duration which can be anywhere from 1/500 to 1/3000 depending on the flash used. The canon 580 EX is approximately 1/1000.