Ok I was nervous, but the results were great

[Sauk]

In my eyes at least lol I was really nervous that my strobes would not be good enough for this pretty big arena, but they worked pretty darn good! I am estactic that they worked this well. There were times I got some ghosting, but overall the images were extremely sharp.

I got there almost 2 hours early to setup, walk around and take readings. I tried the direct flash and didn't like the look, to close. I then figured I would bounce them. I put them in those areas I have already showed on the other thread and aimed them where they needed to be aimed. Before flash I was getting readings from the meter at 1600 ISO F2.8 1/500th. With the flash I was getting ISO of 400, F4 1/250th. I settled on F3.5 though early on and never looked back. ISO 400 was a good sweet spot.

Well onto the game. The men were down by over 20 points heading into the 2nd half. The previous night they won I believe 100 to like 50 something! The 2nd half they just kept playing their tails off and chipped away at the lead. They would eventually take the lead with under 3 minutes to play and never looked back. The result of the game, a wonderful 87-77 win.

Enjoy the images:

1.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2233/2270361018_a9e4a4f9f7_o.jpg

2.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2194/2269570017_3b28be73ff_o.jpg

3.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/2270361134_03d52ced7d_o.jpg

4.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/2269570145_82e2eaf9d5_o.jpg

5.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2270361252_8dc73ba91a_o.jpg

6.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/2270361312_09018c25c0_o.jpg

7.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2262/2270361376_7c8e84072d_o.jpg

8.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2171/2270361448_79e5966224_o.jpg

[Sauk]

9.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2127/2270361518_20f6b376a9_o.jpg

10.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/2270361590_21d4371e01_o.jpg

[MT Stringer]

Good job, Matt. I like 'em all.
Mike

[JohnJ]

Wow... These are nice.

I've got some AB400's, do you think I would be way underpowered in a similar venue?

John

[Pete's Prints]

Nice images, good job!

[Sauk]

Wow... These are nice.

I've got some AB400's, do you think I would be way underpowered in a similar venue?

John

The arena is pretty darn big to be honest. I think my 800's were stretching it.

[SilverHCIC]

Nice shots. ... They're all nice & crisp!

[bobbyz]

I like these shots.

[Violator]

Man these shots are AWESOME.
Were you using the 70-200 (in your sig)?
Also - in shot #5 did you notice that the ball was perfect to read the name on it?

[Hdub]

I really wish you would stop posting picks. It's just not fair to us mortals.

Incredible stuff. You're my new idol. :)

[Redfish]

Great shots Matt
Have you switched to the AB1600's yet or still using the 800's

with your results look great with the bounced flash - good call

Steve

[Sauk]

Great shots Matt
Have you switched to the AB1600's yet or still using the 800's

with your results look great with the bounced flash - good call

Steve

I stuck with the 800's. Though I think one day I will go with the 1600's, but if I did I think I would go with the White lighting.

[topher04r1]

Matt ... ! ..... good choice with the bounce .... i like the results !!! .... Keep shooting stuff like this and you will have enough $$ from sales for a few more lights :)

[Sauk]

lol yeah I believe your 6 clicks is about right by the way.

Also my wife and I talked and I think my next purchase will be the 300 F2.8. I really think I need that for baseball, football (esp HS) and even basketball if i wanted to.

But that isn't going to be a next month kinda thing lol Maybe in August though just in time for football.

[topher04r1]

you wont regret the 300 matt.... in one season you will make the money back for that one EASY ...... i also reccomend picking up a 1.4 TC with it as wll .... it helps now and again .....

[Sauk]

yeah I had planned on getting those before the high school football season starts. Going to be saving up big for it lol Every penny counts!

The times I rented that thing, dang that lens was nice! The backgrounds are like Buttah :)

I have one rented for Tuesday which I will be shooting the girls tourney. I have 8 games to shoot and they go from 9:30am till 11pm lol

(also rented a 40D for a 2nd body to have on the 300mm.)

[topher04r1]

Rental fees add up thats for sure.... i hate to rent stuff but some time it's the only option ... good luck with the tourney man !!

[troutbreath]

Great shots. Thanks for sharing your set up.

It looks like your equipment made up about 1/2 the crowd. Where are all the people?

[Sauk]

they were playing a bad team. Against a good team there are good crowds for JC Ball.

[namasste]

they do look really great Matt. Bounced was the right call for sure despite the slight ghosting (I really only saw it in one shot). Colors look great and as always, nice action. Which flash settings to you finally settle on?

[Sauk]

For both games I used ISO 400, F3.2-3.5

To be honest it was the first time where I really didn't have to do any PP. Only thing I did was unsharp mask. Even that I really didn't have to do but I did it anyways.

[hawk911]

great shots Matt. I guess if you felt you were pushing it with the 800s, you could bump the ISO bit more, huh? I'd love to shoot 400 in a gym.

[superdiver]

Dude, these are killer!

I still dont get how you get the action so stopped. You must not have set the camera to sync at 1/250 or what ever it is, do you?

[sugarzebra]

Great series...the colours & sharpness are excellent.

[Zivnuska]

Your work with the strobes has improved with experience. Very, very nice. Super job! I'm jealous.

[352McCoy]

Hi Matt, great job! Can you diagram your set up for these nice shots?

[Red Wings]

Great shots..I like all of them. AB 800's on my wishlist.

[NVcameraman]

I have one rented for Tuesday which I will be shooting the girls tourney. I have 8 games to shoot and they go from 9:30am till 11pm lol

(also rented a 40D for a 2nd body to have on the 300mm.)

Where do you rent your equipment?

[Eric2007]

Absolutely...GREAT shots! Man, I have a lot of learning to do..........

[ironbelle]

Matt, these are great shots. Good lighting.

[Darsk47]

Nice job. You are clearly moving yourself up in the pecking order with work like this.

Too bad for the athletes that there was no one in the stands. #6 would be a lifetime keeper for the dunker with a huge crowd going nuts behind him. (probably will be anyway)

[michael_]

exposure is spot on , fantastic results.

[khall]

Excellent pictures. As someone has already commented your leading the field for picture quality.

[Merciez]

Very nice captures Matt. Images are tack sharp and well exposed.

[Aaagogo]

Matt,

couple of qns,

I assume that you set up the strobes only on 1 side of the court, you set up and leave it in the same spot for the entire game.

do you have 1 or 2 lens?

if 2, do they use the same mode of triggering of the strobes?

Thanx,
Denis / Ren

[ItzBitzHair]

nice shots.. something to look forward to doing.

[thekid24]

Those are exceptional shots Matt, I had no idea you were allowed to bring in and use your strobes.

[ronmayhew]

very nice work