Martial art shoot tomorrow - settings?

[Janet1075]

I am trying to work on my portfolio and I am still a beginner. Tomorrow I will photograph a martial arts class in action. The ceilings are about 15 feet high, generally descent lighting and there are mirrors in the front of the classroom.

What kind of settings should I be using to catch those really quick action shots with quick short movement.

I have a Canon 30D, 28-135mm lens, 580 EX II.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated and the simpler the info, even better! I'm get lost in the language. :(

[Skrim17]

If you are working on a portfolio you should be learning the language.

You want a fast shutter, have you asked the teacher if they allow flash? It can be quite disconcerting for the practitioner. try shooting in TV with high ISO and the lens wide open (at the lowest aperture number it will go to).

And be aware they you can show up in the mirror, so shoot at angles to avoid that and use the mirror to get reflected images as well.

[gjl711]

If flash is allowed, your limited to 1/250th, so use it and bounce the flash off the ceiling. It will be less distracting to the students and will give an overall better light. Take a few test pics before the class and see what worked best ISO and aperture wise.

If flash is not allowed, then ISO 1600/3200 f/wide open and let the shutter speed float as fast as possible. Even if flash is allowed, you might want to try some pics without flash anyway. If it's florescent lighting, you might want to bring along a gray card and set WB appropriately as Canon cameras tend to not handle florescent very well. If no gray card, shoot raw so that you can adjust the WB later.

[Janet1075]

If you are working on a portfolio you should be learning the language.

You want a fast shutter, have you asked the teacher if they allow flash? It can be quite disconcerting for the practitioner. try shooting in TV with high ISO and the lens wide open (at the lowest aperture number it will go to).

And be aware they you can show up in the mirror, so shoot at angles to avoid that and use the mirror to get reflected images as well.

I am trying to learn the language, it just still confuses me. This evening I had a conversation with someone and they were talking about bracketing, so here I am trying to find out what bracketing is in the meantime.

I agree with you on the flash. There is nothing like trying to back fist a person with a flash going off so I will do my best to avoid it unless I just bounce it off, but the ceilings are quite high. I am going to have all my notes ready to test my settings of what everyone tells me.

Thanks for the info!:)

[Janet1075]

If flash is allowed, your limited to 1/250th, so use it and bounce the flash off the ceiling. It will be less distracting to the students and will give an overall better light. Take a few test pics before the class and see what worked best ISO and aperture wise.

If flash is not allowed, then ISO 1600/3200 f/wide open and let the shutter speed float as fast as possible. Even if flash is allowed, you might want to try some pics without flash anyway. If it's florescent lighting, you might want to bring along a gray card and set WB appropriately as Canon cameras tend to not handle florescent very well. If no gray card, shoot raw so that you can adjust the WB later.

gray card? my flash has a white card. I also have filters, one which is gray. Do you mean like instead of a white card have a gray card?

And as simple as the idea is...RAW...thank you! I think I've shot in RAW only a handful of times, but considering i just bought my computer, I will actually have a place to work with raw photos so good idea. :D

[gjl711]

gray card? my flash has a white card. I also have filters, one which is gray. Do you mean like instead of a white card have a gray card?...It's a different kind of card and used for a different purpose. You can pick one up at your local photo shop and it's a real handy thing to keep in your photo bag. You can use either an 18% gray or a white card to properly set your white balance. Under florescent lighting your pictures can get a funny tint to them causing things to look odd. If you shooting without flash under these types of situations manually setting the white balance using a gray or white card will get you much truer colors. Take a look at page 65 of your owners manual on how to set WB.

[tonylong]

You mentioned the white card that is on the 580 EX, and that would come in handy since the ceiling is so high -- point the flash up and pull the card out and you have a built-in bounce, as well as whatever gets reflected off the ceiling.

[flickserve]

I think you are on a tough assignment:)

Scenario 1

Let's assume you don't use flash.

Set to RAW (for colour correction later)

Set to ISO 1600 (or even the 'H' setting)

Set to Av mode at the largest apeture (i.e. smallest number)

Take the photos.


Scenario 2

Assume you use flash and the flash goes off at the start of a kick/punch in a sparring session.

The person on the receiving end of any punch/kick is going to blink

This is may result in some nasty plastic surgery and need for photoediting software

You may need to lie low for a while:confused:



Your lens has its limitations for indoor action shots i.e. doesn't let enough light in. You may find a lot of shots being blurred.

[ssim]

My wife and both of my kids are black belts in Tae Kwon Do and I shot them many times in their sessions. First of all I would not use flash while they are in class. Make some arrangements for some of them to recreate certain moves after class. The flash will be very distracting to them while they are in class to the point where it is possible that someone could get hurt. If you don't know the people personally, you better have good liability insurance.

If you are intent upon shooting during class then go with a high ISO and shoot with a low f-stop. You will still end up with movement in the images. Some of the moves that I saw were incredibly fast, while if you get them to do it after the class they can slow it down somewhat.

If you do get the chance to do it after the class then I agree with above that bouncing off of the ceiling is a good option. If you have a diffuser, an opaque plastic unit that fits over your flash head, using it would be of value. Remember that you have mirrors and they will add alot of reflective light and if the angles are right you could even bounce your flash off of these.

[Janet1075]

It's a different kind of card and used for a different purpose. You can pick one up at your local photo shop and it's a real handy thing to keep in your photo bag. You can use either an 18% gray or a white card to properly set your white balance. Under florescent lighting your pictures can get a funny tint to them causing things to look odd. If you shooting without flash under these types of situations manually setting the white balance using a gray or white card will get you much truer colors. Take a look at page 65 of your owners manual on how to set WB.


Thanks for the info! If I dont have a chance to get the gray card today, it sounds like a great idea for the future so I will get one. I notice when I take certain photos with flash there is sometimes an odd hue around the person which I can't stand and it is usually in flourescent lighting. Perhaps that gray card will help with that too. Thanks for the info. I will go play with my white balance in the meantime.

[Janet1075]

You mentioned the white card that is on the 580 EX, and that would come in handy since the ceiling is so high -- point the flash up and pull the card out and you have a built-in bounce, as well as whatever gets reflected off the ceiling.

Cool! Thanks for the info!

[Janet1075]

I think you are on a tough assignment:)

Scenario 1

Let's assume you don't use flash.

Set to RAW (for colour correction later)

Set to ISO 1600 (or even the 'H' setting)

Set to Av mode at the largest apeture (i.e. smallest number)

Take the photos.


Scenario 2

Assume you use flash and the flash goes off at the start of a kick/punch in a sparring session.

The person on the receiving end of any punch/kick is going to blink

This is may result in some nasty plastic surgery and need for photoediting software

You may need to lie low for a while:confused:



Your lens has its limitations for indoor action shots i.e. doesn't let enough light in. You may find a lot of shots being blurred.

hahahahaha. Thanks for the morning laugh. Hopefully I dont cause anyone to get hurt. Great basic info in a language I compleltely understand. THANK YOU! I will see how it works.

[Janet1075]

My wife and both of my kids are black belts in Tae Kwon Do and I shot them many times in their sessions. First of all I would not use flash while they are in class. Make some arrangements for some of them to recreate certain moves after class. The flash will be very distracting to them while they are in class to the point where it is possible that someone could get hurt. If you don't know the people personally, you better have good liability insurance.

If you are intent upon shooting during class then go with a high ISO and shoot with a low f-stop. You will still end up with movement in the images. Some of the moves that I saw were incredibly fast, while if you get them to do it after the class they can slow it down somewhat.

If you do get the chance to do it after the class then I agree with above that bouncing off of the ceiling is a good option. If you have a diffuser, an opaque plastic unit that fits over your flash head, using it would be of value. Remember that you have mirrors and they will add alot of reflective light and if the angles are right you could even bounce your flash off of these.

I actually used to take the class so I am comfortable with the people. I will use flash as little as possible. I also have a diffuser which I can use if I do use it but I am going to def try RAW with a high ISO and low f-stop. Good idea about using the mirror as a possible bounce off. I will keep that in mind. I will try and get some slowed down shots in btwn breaks. THANKS FOR THE INFO! I truly appreciate it.