Rugby - a very cold and wet Cheshire Cup

First night game and it was horrible conditions, rain, wind and a low temperature that would have caused brass monkeys a few problems

Have attached 3 pics from the evening to share - I made a very big mistake though - I borrowed a Canon 300 2.8L from the paper.....and WOW!!!! The IQ and speed of focus were just mindblowing, far more so than I prepared myself for! My wishlist has just grown a little!!

Anyway, techy stuff.....all shot on 1d, 300 2.8L, Manual and at around 1/320 @ F2.8. Used the grass as a grey card which gave a meter reading that needed little or no tweaking, except in the really dark areas of the pitch. ISO 1600 for the first 2 pics and then 3200 for the last one.

1.

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Is it my monitor or do these guys look like the rugby team from the "Walking dead" movie....the look PALE white...

Pictures are crisp and clear, just the color is off I think...

Not sure about the players but I was that cold that I wasn't far off a dead man walking.

The last one is admitedly a little on the bright side looking at it again, however the other ones should be ok. Although that said, still haven't returned to my own laptop yet, so am on an uncalibrated screen!

Hi Paul a Canon 300 f2.8 hey u lucky thing, i would love to have a go with one just to see if its as good as it looks but im affraid i have nochance so will just have to carry on until i win the lottery or some kind soul leaves me a mint

Steve

Steve - there is always the Euromillions lottery, not sure if anyone won it last week, but its up to about £100m now.....that would get you the 300, 400, 500 and 600!! Just a thought! It is every bit as good as it looks though...just want to try it again for some hockey or rugby during daylight when I can shoot at ISO 200!

Superdiver - Have just had a quick shot at tweaking the levels on the last 2 pictures. The first one I feel is ok - have had a look at some past photos of that player and he always comes up as very light skinned!

I'll just post the last one again - to save bombarding you with too many pictures!!

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Nice, Paul!

The levels adjustment looks good.

Not the easiest of lighting to work with I'd imagine. Noise levels look very good. Did you do any removal?

I like number one for the face Im so jealous of the gear

You did a nice job for the conditions and your first shot at some night game shots.

the edit looks good too!

Nick C. wrote in post #2269006
Nice, Paul!

The levels adjustment looks good.

Not the easiest of lighting to work with I'd imagine. Noise levels look very good. Did you do any removal?

Thanks Nick.

I've seen worse lights, although this is the "worst" of the main grounds that I will have to cover rugby at in the local area. Well fingers crossed it is and there isn't some black hole I haven't yet found!!

Noise Reduction was thought Noise Ninja, using the downloadable camera profiles in that.

Actually whilst I'm at it, workflow is/was:

Shot as RAW (1st time out at a night game, so no chances with the white balance, although it turns out that AWB on the 1d was perfect!)

Converted in DPP using Portrait (saturation in that good for sports)
Noise Ninja
Levels
Brightness/Contrast
Saturation
USM (200, 0.4,0 for ISO 3200 and 300, 0.4,0 for ISO 1600)
Crop/Resize

Have to admit, was amazed at the lack of noise, especially given the reputation the 1d has for noise once its gets past ISO 800

Nice work, I would imagine to custom WB caused the skin but looks fine to me and in would look fine in print.

Pete.

I didn't realise that you were using an orginal 1D.
I'm upgrading my noise assessment of 'very good' to 'outstanding!'

So...what draws grown men to partake in mud play? Is it the slipping and sliding that is so much fun? The exhilaration of deeply breathing that humid, chilly air?

Sharp, these pics are...I just wish you wouldn't have mentioned the 300mm as the f/2.8 version...Now my closely scrutinized wish list has increased, while my cash flow availability has decreased...

bristolpete wrote in post #2270423
Nice work, I would imagine to custom WB caused the skin but looks fine to me and in would look fine in print.

Pete.

Thanks Pete

Can you expand on the custom White Balance comment a little - its the one area that I hold my hands up to being fairly clueless on!

And with having to shoot ice hockey this weekend am fairly keen to quickly conduct a crash course!!

Nick C. wrote in post #2270430
I didn't realise that you were using an orginal 1D.
I'm upgrading my noise assessment of 'very good' to 'outstanding!'

Oh yes, retro-man here - absolutely love the original 1D. I seem to have an exceptional model though, very low noise and the battery life is fantastic too. Which flys in the face of the 2 main criticisms people had of it on this forum.

If you fancy a pixel peep, there are some test shots that I posted on the "1d finally here"

http://www.photography​-on-the.net …hread.php?t=222​957&page=6

There are some other shots on pages 7 and 8 (if I remember rightly!)

I just hope that the 2nd 1d arriving tomorrow is as good as the first 1d I got!!

johnstoy wrote in post #2270663
So...what draws grown men to partake in mud play? Is it the slipping and sliding that is so much fun? The exhilaration of deeply breathing that humid, chilly air?

Believe it or not its actually quite good fun playing in conditions like this! Assuming you win that is!! And on Tuesday night, under a pile of bodies was probably the warmest place to be - it was freezing!!

johnstoy wrote in post #2270663
Sharp, these pics are...I just wish you wouldn't have mentioned the 300mm as the f/2.8 version...Now my closely scrutinized wish list has increased, while my cash flow availability has decreased...

If its any consolation its the non-IS version.......

No, thought it might not be!!

I should add that the Sigma 120-300 is a brilliant lens, however, the Canon just raises the bar even higher from the Sigma lens. The Canon has made it onto my wish list too - which is probably a good thing as it will mean the 70-200 will start to be used again. See how much I am trying to justify it?!