Basketball... with flash... disaster!

...and with some rough and ready work with the shadow/highlight tool, here's what that lovely background could look like ... might be worth avoiding anyway:

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gmen wrote:
Sometimes needs must. This is truly the darkest venue I've ever visited. Last season the lighting was truly appalling. This season it is even worse Therefore, without the option (at the moment) of strobing the place properly, on-camera flash had to do the job.
---- Gavin

Do you mind if I try lightnening the backgroud of one of your pics?

Feel free... although just posted one above to show the horrendous surroundings

---- Gavin

My attempt... not sure I improved it! by the way, the quality of the picture has been worsed by the need of saving it at a size smaller then 100 kb.

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tiziano wrote:
My attempt... not sure I improved it!

Yep, the general idea was to focus attention on the subject matter and to avoid the players milling about in the background... there's plenty of detail in the background if I really wanted it (bear in mind the main overhead lights in the background were switched OFF when I took it)... here's a small tweak to the pic...:

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I think your version is better then mine... I wanted to bring out the backgroung, because I liked the guy jumping on far right...Nice pics anyway!

Thanks tiziano! Here it is again... I've cropped a little more to the left so you can see the guy in question, brought up the background and warmed up the colours a little... hey presto...

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Oh yeah, this last version is REALLY good!
Just think, with all this practice in low light how good you will be when you get to shoot in a venue with real lighting!

Chance would be a fine thing...

---- Gavin

personally Gavin, i like the blacked out backgrounds in the first series of images. i love how it looks like they are playing in complete blackness with spotlights following the play. that place just scares me to no end.

i have to admit that i am one lucky guy. the facility where the mustangs play their volleyball and basketball got a new floor, a much lighter floor that does wonders in reflecting light up from underneath. no more blown out shoulders and i get an extra 2/3 of a stop. the volleyball set i posted here shows the results. now once they get all the burnt out lights replaced i might even be able to shoot 1/500 at ISO800 there!! never would have thought that possible.

good stuff with the flash though mate, i think you have done quite well.

I think that overall I'm with you on that. The good thing about flash is that it does give you complete control over how you balance the foreground and background lighting. I think that a totally black background would be my preference in this situation - the only problem is that the team I shoot (wearing red in these pics) normally wear black so I've got to show some background detail or all I'm going to end up with is floating heads and balls

I'm gonna have to improvise something as the end-result could still be improved. Fully fledged strobes aren't going to happen... but I might sneak in a second off camera flash to try to add a bit more light from the side for a more '3D effect'. Hmmmm. Given that I'm only shooting the action under the basket as it is, another 550 in the equation can only improve matters. Can't it?

---- Gavin

A news photographer in our area does exactly that for High School games - he mounts a flash on a tripod, bounces off the ceiling, and powers it just enough to help the ambient lighting a tad. It is not enough to fully illuminate... but it helps. But he is also in and out in 30 mintes... just something for the moms and pops to see in the paper the next day, nothing near full game coverage.

Oh course were talking news print here...

Gmen, did you get any dirty looks from the players after you were repeatedly hitting them in the face with that bright flash?
I would think that in a dark venue like that, it could be really distracting.

drisley wrote:
Gmen, did you get any dirty looks from the players after you were repeatedly hitting them in the face with that bright flash?
I would think that in a dark venue like that, it could be really distracting.

Nope... these guys are well used to it now... in fact, for the first 20 minutes of the game there were no less than three photogs flashing away.

In these circumstances, no flash would certainly mean no pics. The only consideration is to work from near the corners of the court rather than directly underneath the basket. Needs must I guess. I've spoken to the players/officials about it in the past... and they say it doesn't cause any problems for them.

Of course, I'd rather avoid it at all costs... but with the ambient light as low as 1/100s, f/1.8 at ISO3200, any alternative (flash-free) suggestions would be appreciated

---- Gavin

Oh, ok that's good. The way some athletes can be, especially if they miss a play, I was afraid they might take their frustrations out on you