Lighting BB game with 2 flashes

I thought this may be of some use to the sports photographers out there.

I had an assignment to shoot a college basketball game Saturday at UMBC against Hampton. The RAC Arena is about as dark as the average high school -- ISO 3200; f/2.8; 1/400, so I wanted to use some of my own light. I arrived about 15 minutes before game time and was quickly able to setup two Canon 580's clamped to the railing on the upper deck to light the one half of the court.

The flashes were set to 1/4 power; 70mm zoom and I shot at ISO 200; f/2.8; 1/250. Triggered with Pocket Wizards.

SETUP:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dhoffmann/21306​96757/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dhoffmann/21306​96967/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dhoffmann/21306​97035/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dhoffmann/21306​96811/

Good job, seems like it really worked for you. Mostly you would expect sharp but noisy shots from bb but these are excellent.

Thanks for sharing, Gatorboy. That's the setup I hope to use after the holidays. The gym is a junior high school and I'm worried I won't have anything to mount the flashes on. I have a couple of superclamps and several modified spring clamps, I just can't recall if there is an I-Beam or conduit to clamp on to.

You shots look great and I can only hope to get some as good as yours. I have the Skyports to trigger a 540EZ and a 430EX.

Mike

awesome! quick question though, did you experience any power loss / slow recharge during the whole game? or did the flashes hold their owN?

e r y k wrote in post #4562463
awesome! quick question though, did you experience any power loss / slow recharge during the whole game? or did the flashes hold their owN?

I was using the Al Jacob's Black Boxes, but at 1/4 power, I'm sure I could have gotten by with the rechargeables. I only shot about 140 images, far from depleting the batteries in the 580EX.

This evening, I set up two Speedlights (430EX and 540EZ) on the balcony railing at church and took 112 shots of a Christmas Program. The flashes were on manual at 1/4 power and 80mm zoom. I was using Energizer 2500 mah rechargeables and didn't have any problems with the flashes firing.

Hope you find this info helpfull.
Mike

I would be worried about someone snagging the flashes while I wasn't looking.

Great shots Gator. I was thinking this would be my next step if my current trial doesn't pan out (looks promising though...believe it or not, on camera flash with a lightsphere...don't laugh, it works!). If I go with something mounted I think another Sigma 530 would do the trick.

Out of curiosity, why 2.8 and not f4 with 400ISO? Seems like you'd have a little more margin for error that way and the flash isolates your subject plenty already. Just wondering and believe me, I'd be pleased with those shots at any ISO! Nice and thanks for sharing the setup and shots.

I thought about that. The balcony area had several folks watching the program. Also, the program director guy was there with a video camera set up so I felt fairly comfortable with my setup. Now for a basketball game or two, I'm still kinda leery about that too.
Mike

1 qn about the setup, no one complained?

If you are asking me, the answer is no. I asked my son-in-law, granddaughter (who was on stage singing), the pastor (who was also on stage several times), my wife, and a fellow church goer and they all said they didn't even notice the flash.

I did have three people ask me if I was firing the flashes with my camera and I said yes to all three.

BTW, I gave a copy of the pics to the pastor to share and use for their web site if so desired.

Mike

For the BB pics, I assume you had the flash on High Speed Sync?

wow VERY nice. I bet the people were wondering WTF the flashes were doing going off by themselves lol. Very impressive.

Sinkrate wrote in post #4663563
For the BB pics, I assume you had the flash on High Speed Sync?

As these were triggered off camera with PWs high speed sync is not an option.

Oh ok got ya.