Basketball and Speedlites

I mainly shoot ambient but our league has several dark gyms. I use a 50D and am happy with images up to ISO 3200. I shot this at one of the darker gyms and was hoping for some insight on how to improve my technique. Working towards AB800 or Einsteins but this is what I have now.

I used three speedlites (580EX and two YN-560's) with RF-603's. The 580 was mounted on the far side of the court bounced off the ceiling, the 560's were mounted on the shooting side (my side). One was aimed for ceiling bounce and the other aimed at the end wall to bounce.

Camera settings: ISO 640, f/3.2, 1/200
Flash settings: Manual, 1/2 power, zoom at 80mm for end wall bounce; 105mm for ceiling bounce.

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Hey Tim, as you can see too much ambient light is getting to the sensor, thus ghosting/motion blur is happening. Remember to freeze the action, you'll need to be shooting at least two stops above ambient. What I is set my settings first so that when I view the image on the screen all I see is a black image. If you see any white at all you'll get ghosting. Then with those settings I'll power up my strobes and adjust them for a proper exposure.

I think your setup is asking for more then your speed lights can get you. You might want to first just try lighting up the side you are shooting on. You should be able to get what you need with just two lights. And you might have to flash direct. But if your gym is dark enough you may be able to bounce off the wall behind you. If so then great. But to be honest I shoot direct all the time (using strobes not speed lights) and don't have any problems so long as their setup right.

dwarrenr wrote in post #13861464
Hey Tim, as you can see too much ambient light is getting to the sensor, thus ghosting/motion blur is happening. Remember to freeze the action, you'll need to be shooting at least two stops above ambient. What I is set my settings first so that when I view the image on the screen all I see is a black image. If you see any white at all you'll get ghosting. Then with those settings I'll power up my strobes and adjust them for a proper exposure.

I think your setup is asking for more then your speed lights can get you. You might want to first just try lighting up the side you are shooting on. You should be able to get what you need with just two lights. And you might have to flash direct. But if your gym is dark enough you may be able to bounce off the wall behind you. If so then great. But to be honest I shoot direct all the time (using strobes not speed lights) and don't have any problems so long as their setup right.

Thanks for the reply, I was way below ambient. This is from the same game, I alternated a little using ambient only and flash. BTW, that's easy to do with the C1 and C2 settings. Makes it easy to switch between two different setups by turning the knob.

This is ISO 6400, f/2.8, 1/500. It also happens to be directly under a "can" with a new bulb. Most of the others have a reddish tint which is why I brought flash. Although this one doesn't look bad at this size and would be OK for newsprint, most of my ISO 6400 files are bit disappointing as 8x10 prints. Direct flash is a huge difference but I've been trying to bounce as I like that look better.

I am going to try only two flash tonight for the boys game in the same gym. I'm going to try 1/4 power and see if a little shorter duration will help. I'll experiment with your tips also. I will probably have to go to ISO 1000 or 1250 to compensate. What do you think about that idea?

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Tim S wrote in post #13861628
I am going to try only two flash tonight for the boys game in the same gym. I'm going to try 1/4 power and see if a little shorter duration will help. I'll experiment with your tips also. I will probably have to go to ISO 1000 or 1250 to compensate. What do you think about that idea?

On second thought (thinking about the inverse square rule) that is probably the wrong thing unless I use direct flash.

Tim S wrote in post #13861628
Thanks for the reply, I was way below ambient.

Well then not much you can do...it is being caused by one or two things, or a mixure of the two.

One reason would be the flash duration is too long.
Another reason, the speed lights are not synced and thus firing at different times, thereby lengthening the flash duration.


This is from the same game, I alternated a little using ambient only and flash. BTW, that's easy to do with the C1 and C2 settings. Makes it easy to switch between two different setups by turning the knob.

Tim S wrote in post #13861628
I am going to try only two flash tonight for the boys game in the same gym. I'm going to try 1/4 power and see if a little shorter duration will help. I'll experiment with your tips also. I will probably have to go to ISO 1000 or 1250 to compensate. What do you think about that idea?

So long as you're 2-3 stops over ambient your settings will need to be what every is needed for a proper exposure. So long as your flash duration is 1/800 or faster you should be good to go.

My problem in a few gyms is the ambient is too good. Once ambient reaches settings of 1/800, ISO 3200, 1/600I really have to turn the strobes up to kill any ambient light from getting to the sensor. I'll still shoot with the strobes as the color tones are just too awesome then with out.

why bounce speedlites? why not fire them directly at the court?

arich wrote in post #13875491
why bounce speedlites? why not fire them directly at the court?

To avoid harsh light and hard shadows and complaints from players.

Tim S wrote in post #13875904
To avoid harsh light and hard shadows and complaints from players.

I will agree about the shadows being tricky, but if you can get them high enough and shoot down you can more or less eliminate that problem.

I played high school basketball for 4 years and was never bothered by remote flashes, I've also shot plenty of high school and ncaa games with remote strobes and never had a complaint.

Example of a 2-speedlite setup SOOC, there is some shadowing but its worth the tradeoff for the image IMO

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I'll stick with bounced flash indoors. I get enough shadows across people shooting football
The bounced flash just looks more natural. Fridays game was cancelled due to a snowstorm and is rescheduled for tomorrow night. I'll post what I've learned (or hope I learned) from this discussion.