430 EX II on the way for basketball shooting - settings help anybody?

[snyderman]

Hi again:

As mentioned, I have a 430 EX II that will show up today or tomorrow and intend to use it to shoot HS basketball, but not sure how to best go about the move toward flash. First off, it's ok, one of the other sports shooters uses his on every snap and nobody has said anything.

I've been shooting ambient light with a 30D on H ISO and getting around 1/500 shutter speeds. Output still what I consider dull and not up to what I'd like to see.

The 430 will go on camera. Other than that, I'm not sure where to begin with mode or intensity of flash, or a starting point with camera & lens settings. Currently used with the 30D are an 85mm f/1.8 and a 70/200 f/2.8.

Other than upping the stop on lenses from nearly wide open (to ???) and reducing ISO and shutter speeds to (???), what other adjustments are to be considered? Such a thing as a good starting point?

Also, one side of the court has an off-white wall. Could I point the flash there and bounce the light? The other side of the court has a red-red, (I mean REALLY red) divider curtain from ceiling to floor. Not sure anything can be bounced off a heavy fabric? Use the floor in this case? I'm guessing that tracking and shooting bursts is no longer going to be an option with flash?

Any advice from those who've been there, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance for your experienced ideas.

dave

[snyderman]

bump for advice from some of our SI-quality shooters out there?

In the meantime, I'll do another search to see if this room has some useful info for me.

thanks in advance.

dave

[40Dude6aedyk]

I have tried lots of things and they all work to some degree. So you are gonna have to try lots of things and see what works for you.

For on-camera flash:

1. I have used ETTL direct and bounced off the ceiling or a wall directly behind me.

2. I have used manual flash at 1/1, 1/2, 1/4 direct and bounced off the ceiling or a wall directly behind me.

3. I have used high-speed sync bounced and direct with 1/500 shutter speed. Contrary to admonishment here, it can work extremely well.

For the above, you can always get the right exposure by adjusting the ISO or the aperture. You can leave the shutter-speed at the fastest sync speed that your camera will give you.

I have bounced off of ceiling painted red. I will say: Don't do that.

I have used on-camera flash plus an off-camera flash. I have used 2 off-camera flashes. But you can't do that yet, so I won't say anything about those until you get there.

So you asked where to begin. I have stated that everything basically "works". You have to decide what kind of "look" appeals to you. I like the look of bounced flash. I don't like the look of direct flash. And I especially don't like the look of direct flash that is focussed. I like a more diffused even lighting, but that means less light per unit area overall and wider apertures and higher ISO.

So are you afraid to go try things out for yourself? What's your style? Be a leader? Or follow the leader?

[snyderman]

So are you afraid to go try things out for yourself? What's your style? Be a leader? Or follow the leader?

40Dude:

thanks for your response. I'll make certain NOT to bounce flash off the red curtain!

Read my 30D book and it appears that the 1/250 SS is the quickest 'synch' with the flash I'll get. That's a decent starting point for me.

After that, I'll have to work on the scene to dial in the ISO and Apeture settings. Any ideas on what might be a good starting point?

Also going to use the Sto-Fen diffuser to soften things. Agree with you that the brashness of a focused flash might not be a good thing and might even cause problems for the players or officials.

thanks again for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

dave

[40Dude6aedyk]

A good starting point? Get to game 30 minutes early. Figure out a good starting point!

[Tim S]

Have you talked to the AD? Is flash allowed? I would think that would be the first thing to check.

[MT]

My experience is almost entirely with off-camera flash, but the general principles should be the similar for on-camera.

What I do, is camera in M mode, 1/250, f2.8 or f4.0, Flash in M mode @ 1/2 or 1/4 power. Then I adjust the ISO so that I get a decent histogram. In my gym that works out to ISO 500/640.

The difference between what I do and what you want is the distance between subject and flash. I use two flashes in the corners angled towards the top of the key, giving me fairly broad coverage.

In your case, you don't have that luxury, so you may need to pick a "target" distance. So if you are shooting the top of the key, you might want ISO 800, if you are shooting the baseline 400.

The other alternative is to leave the flash in ETTL mode and hope for the best.

Regardless, do not be afraid to try different methods.

fwiw, I get results like

http://billcarter.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p873462633-4.jpg

http://billcarter.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p667858919-5.jpg

http://billcarter.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p164829476-5.jpg

[40Dude6aedyk]

MT: May I ask what zoom you set your flash head(s) to? 50 mm? 24 mm? Thanks!

[MT]

typically 50mm.

[40Dude6aedyk]

MT, thanks! I used 2 speedlites last weekend in direct flash and chose 50 mm for the flashhead zoom. They were mounted about 2 feet behind the baseline at the baseline+sideline corner pointed towards the top of the key. but I found the lighting "interesting": shadows too hard and the court so highly polished that everyone's legs sparkled (more than in your middle photo!).

[MT]

I don't have setup pictures, but my two flash heads were maybe 20' from the sideline baseline corner, and maybe 20' above the floor. Depending on where I position myself, I can get that "interesting" lighting as well.

I shot some high school wrestling last night, with a slightly different setup (again, no setup picture), but two heads roughly along the outer edges of the mats, 20' behind me and 15' above at 1/2 power and 1 head directly behind me and 15' above at 1/4 power.

I got things like...

http://billcarter.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p985160221-5.jpg

and

http://billcarter.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p680066014-4.jpg

Granted wrestling is far more predictable.