Strobed BBall with Bounced 11" LTR's

[wyofizz]

AB 800's bounced with new LTR's. First crack at it wiith these. Still need to make some adjustments between bounce and feathering.

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq226/dadsit/HS_BB_QV7F1439.jpg

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq226/dadsit/HS_BB_QV7F1418.jpg

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq226/dadsit/HS_BB_QV7F1315.jpg

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq226/dadsit/HS_BB_QV7F1307.jpg

[RickyH]

I'm just curious as to what specifically you want to do differently, because I think they look great.

[wyofizz]

Lighting isn't as balanced across the whole floor. I have to mount the strobes quite aways from the sidelines so getting a good angle is tough while trying to avoid a blown out ceiling in the background.
Need a little more pop also.

[CatchingUp]

Question for you, and others who set up strobes at games like this-

1- how many shots a game would you normally shoot using a strobe set up?

2- do fans/players mind the constant firing of the strobes?

3- Are you making any money doing this?

I shoot a lot of HS basketball and for the life of me cannot imagine going that route with the lighting.

[Big K]

Dave - Nice work. With that somewhat flat, white ceiling, it should not take you long to dial things in. Keep up the good work.

Question for you, and others who set up strobes at games like this-

1- how many shots a game would you normally shoot using a strobe set up?

2- do fans/players mind the constant firing of the strobes?

3- Are you making any money doing this?

I shoot a lot of HS basketball and for the life of me cannot imagine going that route with the lighting.

1 - 125-175

2 - No

3 - At least a 5 to 1 increase in sales vs ambient. However, even at 5:1 there is still not much money in sports photography where I live.

[Magic 24]

Question for you, and others who set up strobes at games like this-

1- how many shots a game would you normally shoot using a strobe set up?

2- do fans/players mind the constant firing of the strobes?

3- Are you making any money doing this?

I shoot a lot of HS basketball and for the life of me cannot imagine going that route with the lighting.

1 - Depends how exciting the game is but around 150 is a good start.

2 - Some people don't even realize they are going off.

3 - Money...aren't we doing this for the love of it?

Andy

[CatchingUp]

I'm certainly not in to this for the money as I find a great deal of enjoyment shooting. I do shoot for two local papers but do it mostly for the kids. I fire off anywhere from 250-400 shots per game. That is why I cannot imagine the use of strobes.

I would be curious to see some diagrams of some sort of your set up. I just figured low lighting gyms was one of the challenges of this hobby. ;-)

I have heard that at the pro level, and even college, that they have strobes mounted all over the place, but just never gave it serious thought for local high school games.

Without a doubt, these shots certainly have that 'pop' factor. Nice work!

[CatchingUp]

AB 800's bounced with new LTR's. First crack at it wiith these. Still need to make some adjustments between bounce and feathering.



What are "LTR's" ?

[Zivnuska]

What are "LTR's" ?

Alien Bee Long ThrowReflectors (11 inch).


Love the captured faces.

[Big K]

I'm certainly not in to this for the money as I find a great deal of enjoyment shooting. I do shoot for two local papers but do it mostly for the kids. I fire off anywhere from 250-400 shots per game. That is why I cannot imagine the use of strobes.

I would be curious to see some diagrams of some sort of your set up. I just figured low lighting gyms was one of the challenges of this hobby. ;-)

I have heard that at the pro level, and even college, that they have strobes mounted all over the place, but just never gave it serious thought for local high school games.

Without a doubt, these shots certainly have that 'pop' factor. Nice work!

My HS sports shooting is also more for personal enjoyment than money since sales are slim. I use strobes whenever I can mainly because the end result is considerably better as well as for the challenge of it. Shooting with strobes is considerably more difficult than shooting ambient because of all the setup issues compounded with the fact you get basically one shot per second at best.

I treat sports photography more as a marketing tool. It is a great way to get to know lots of kids and their parents and leads to lots of work doing senior pictures and later, their weddings which is where there is some money.

[Joe300]

Big K,
Very good networking on your part.. I dont shoot a lot of high school sports but I need to work my way up to that... of course in the process you might sell some action shots but like you said..they is going to be other jobs that come from that..
And if you can top the HS photog they have now you that might be the IN some of us needs.

Wyofizz,
you got some nice shots there... in some looks like your lights could be adjusted to cover the court more... the crowd looks like they have some good lighting on them and the players are getting the spill from that... ???

Keep shooting, and if you can make some money by more gear....lol
Joe

[CatchingUp]

My HS sports shooting is also more for personal enjoyment than money since sales are slim. I use strobes whenever I can mainly because the end result is considerably better as well as for the challenge of it. Shooting with strobes is considerably more difficult than shooting ambient because of all the setup issues compounded with the fact you get basically one shot per second at best.

I treat sports photography more as a marketing tool. It is a great way to get to know lots of kids and their parents and leads to lots of work doing senior pictures and later, their weddings which is where there is some money.

Interesting, as that is pretty much how this has played out for me - 'marketing strategy'. I waded in to this for fun, set up a web site to share the shots with the kids, and what a magnet it became. The end results for me has been tons of viewers coming to see the sports shots, then calling me for Sr pics, weddings, family portraits, etc. Really has been a sweet deal.

The whole strobe deal baffles me though in the gym. You can certainly tell quite a difference in the 'pop' factor with strobes vs no strobes. Not sure I could handle the slow down of shooting though. :-)

Also, how do you set them (strobes) up and out of the way of fans?

[Big K]

IAlso, how do you set them (strobes) up and out of the way of fans?

I really varies from gym to gym. Sometimes I mount them to the railing on the end of the bleachers, sometimes on second level walkways, sometimes in catwalks overhead, sometimes on light stands in corners, etc. It can be a real challenge to figure out a way to set them up and sometimes, not very often, it just is not possible.

My preferred method is to bounce the light off a wall or ceiling instead of firing them directly at the floor. Not only does it smooth out the light on the action, it is less distracting to anyone around because it is not a blast in the face from a direct bulb.

If you ever decide to give it a try, post some shots of your gym and you would get several good suggestions on things you might try in terms of mounting the lights.

The reduced number of shots is a bit of a disadvantage, but you would be surprised how quickly your timing improves and it becomes less of a problem.

[Morlow]

This is very interesting. There is still enough light to illuminate the subject after bouncing off the ceiling? That sounds crazy since most of the gyms I have been in have huge ceilings. Also how do you aim them? Just trial and error?

[CatchingUp]

I really varies from gym to gym. Sometimes I mount them to the railing on the end of the bleachers, sometimes on second level walkways, sometimes in catwalks overhead, sometimes on light stands in corners, etc. It can be a real challenge to figure out a way to set them up and sometimes, not very often, it just is not possible.

My preferred method is to bounce the light off a wall or ceiling instead of firing them directly at the floor. Not only does it smooth out the light on the action, it is less distracting to anyone around because it is not a blast in the face from a direct bulb.

If you ever decide to give it a try, post some shots of your gym and you would get several good suggestions on things you might try in terms of mounting the lights.

The reduced number of shots is a bit of a disadvantage, but you would be surprised how quickly your timing improves and it becomes less of a problem.

Here you go on the gym pics

[CatchingUp]

Here are two samples of what I shot this past weekend. We have a pretty new gym, but the lights have grown unquestionably dimmer the past few years and are suppose to be replaced in the next month.

These two shots were taken with a 50D w/85mm
ISO 3200
SS 1/500 1.8 & 2.0

Sorry about the thread hijack. :-/

[Magic 24]

I think you could set up in either of the locations I'm showing. You could try and bounce of the wall (may have a problem with the corners (pillars)the stick out)) or bounce of the ceiling.

Nice of a gym for HS!!!

Andy

[Magic 24]

Here are two samples of what I shot this past weekend. We have a pretty new gym, but the lights have grown unquestionably dimmer the past few years and are suppose to be replaced in the next month.

These two shots were taken with a 50D w/85mm
ISO 3200
SS 1/500 1.8 & 2.0

Sorry about the thread hijack. :-/

These are nice but strobe lights will make those color really pop! I won't go back to AMB...unless the school does allow me to light it up anymore.

[Big K]

I would probably try mounting them at the red dot and aim them at either of the X's. I like to bounce off walls whenever possible but you would need to test it out and see if the off color wall gave you any problems.

One the near court side in this photo, I would try and mount on the walkway railing and aim at a similar place on that side of the court as you chose for the cross court position.

Depending on what type of lights you have, the gym appears to be dark enough that you should be able to get far enough over ambient to make it work.

If you have more questions lets start a new thread so we don't totally take over this one.

[CatchingUp]

Anyway to take these last few post with pictures and start a new thread? Not sure how to do that as I have more questions.

I have two AB800's with the remote triggers. I also have a 430ex and 580 flash set up with the ST-remote trigger as well.

I like to shoot from under or near the basket and have maybe 4-5' of space between the wall and the court.

[Big K]

Not sure how to do that. I would say just start a new one and put a link back to this one for reference.

Sorry Dave for getting your thread off track.

[Sauk]

wow that gym is awesome! I am shocked you are allowed to use that logo though?

The images look pretty good and yes the new 11 inchers produce a very slim line of light.

[wyofizz]

That's OK.
I'm guessing with the good lighting he has in that gym he may need 1600's to bounce off the ceiling.
I shot 3 1/2 games that day and didn't fill up a 4Gb card shooting RAW.
Strobes require far more timing. One downside, I clicked off the long slam dunk at the end of the game too early, would have had it in burst mode:(
Don't make any profit doing this "Yet". Right now I'm trying to create a model where I shoot for those that want pics. Shooting every kid will put you in the poor house.

[ChasWG]

Interesting thread, a little off the original topic, but helpful none the least. Nice images WyoFuzz, If you say you need to tweek more then, OK, but they great to me so far!

I'm hoping to be doing the same thing in a couple of weeks with my son's BB team. I made a few bucks shooting football and selling images to the parents. But this is an indoor sport and I need to learn a few more things. But then again, I never shot football before this past fall and it's still paying off.
I'm hoping to do at least as good as the football images with basketball.

I guess my marketing stragedy is to just follow my kid's (daughter who plays soccer spring and fall) different sports and shoot their teams! It seems to be working so far. :rolleyes:;):D

[RGolfJ]

Hey ChasWG.....I know this is totally off topic, but I just clicked on your Flickr link. Checked out the baseball pics and saw my big brother from my frat house in college. Matt Yallof was my PKT big brother at Muhlenberg College. Crazy.

[jrad4real]

Not bad pics, the composition is a lil tight though to me.

[ChasWG]

Hey ChasWG.....I know this is totally off topic, but I just clicked on your Flickr link. Checked out the baseball pics and saw my big brother from my frat house in college. Matt Yallof was my PKT big brother at Muhlenberg College. Crazy.

Yeah, that is a bit OT, but you're right, Crazy! It's a small world, isn't it?
Matt was a great guy to work with. He knows his Baseball for sure. But not much of a football guy is he? LOL

Back to the topic at hand! Lighting in crappy gyms I think it was. ;)