Basketball - about to give up

I think I've tried just about every lighting technique to shoot indoor basketball and I still can't get it right. I tried a single strobe bounced off the ceiling but it didn't give me enough light. I generally don't have the luxury of setting up strobes.

Today I thought I figured it out. I had my 550 on a bracket with a Sto-fen diffuser, ISO 800 but not shooting at the fastest synch speed to capture the ambient light figuring the flash would freeze the action so I wouldn't have to worry about it. I shot some at f/4 and some at f/5.6 with shutter speeds mostly of 1/90 and 1/125. The lighting was actually pretty balanced and didn't have any of the harsh flash lighting. Problem was the flash didn't freeze the action like I thought it would so almost every shot was too blurry. I was shooting with a 10D and 24-105 f/4L with IS so I'm guessing it's not my equipment.

When I used a faster shutter speed (1/250) I got the harsh light from the flash again. Should I push to ISO 1600 and 1/250? I really thought the flash would eliminate the need for the faster speed.

What am I missing?? I need help!

I dont have time for a detailed response right now, but here is a quick summary. If you need more let me know and i will type it up later. But basically you want your frame to be 2-3 stops underexposed w/o the flash. Then have the flash fill in the rest. This creates the flash to be the main source of light, making the flash the effective shutter speed. But you USUALLY want to keep your SS up at the 1/250th mark.

First thing you do is take the dang Stofen Omni-Bounce off your flash. All this is doing is cutting down the flash power, which if you need to do, is better done by adjusting the flash itself, not by putting a piece of plastic over the flash. I see this all the time, and just scratch my head and wonder why someone would use the OB when shooting sports. It does nothing to soften the light since the size of the flash remains the same, and if you're trying to use it to combine bounce and direct, in a large space like a gym, this is not the tool to use.

Heck, I've even seen the Omni-Bounce in use shooting night football outside, with the flash head pointing straight ahead. Madness, I tell you.

Shooting with a flash is easy. Set your ISO to 800. Put your flash in direct mode (I know, the light is harsh, but just try this) and ETTL. Set your shutter speed to 1/250s and fire away. If the shots are too hot or too dark, use FEC to adjust the flash intensity.

And take off the Omni-Bounce!

I personally don't like the look of direct flash, but it will produce properly exposed images.

Try the third episode in the podcast listed in my signature. This might help.

http://www.sportsphoto​graphycast.com

But don't I have to meter the 2 to 3 stops as if I'm using a 1/250th shutter speed? Sitting in my house just now I took a meter reading of the light in the room. At 1600 ISO and 1/250 sec shutter I'd have to shoot at a negative aperture to be 2-3 stops under. (obviously kidding about the negative but you know what I mean). Maybe I'm misunderstanding. Been known to happen. I read somewhere about what you mentioned - using the 2-3 stops to balance the light with a flash - and that's why I was shooting at a slower speed. I think you're right in that I need to shoot at 1/250, but I think the flash will overpower the existing light and it won't look good.

I hear you about the Sto-fen. I actually never use it but figured I'd give it a shot. Somewhere during the shoot I took it off to see if it made a difference. I even tried the built in diffuser on the 550EX but that wasn't working for me either. I really don't like the harsh light but maybe playing with FEC is the answer. I want it to look more like I had strobes set up than I was just an amateur with an expensive camera.

This is EXACTLY what you WANT to happen. You want your flash to be the dominant light source, not the ambient. When the flash is the dominant light source (at least 2 stops over ambient), then the flash duration is stopping the action, not the shutter.

Like I said, listen to the podcast - it's all in there.

It's hard if not impossible to reproduce the strobe look with an on-camera flash. The best you can hope for is a shot that is properly exposed rather than one that is too dark.

I say crank that ISO up to 1600, set the maximum aperature that you can get with whatever lens are using, and shoot without any flash at all.

But, then again, I am one of those "flash bigots" who hates flashed photos for indoor sports - if nothing else, get yourself a "nifty-fifty" and let 'er rip!

Brad - http://www.ohiovalleyp​hoto.com

To dmwierz:
I just watched your podcasts. Three things:

1. Thank you,
2. Thank you, and
3. THANK YOU

Tremendous amount of information that explains so much. I'm one of those guys that loves to understand how things work so the end result makes sense. I really felt frustrated by my failing to get the indoor shots right but seeing your podcasts really got me charged up again.

I know it takes time to make them but keep 'em coming!

S- Thanks. Yeah, they're rather time consuming, but the next one should be timely. It'll be on shooting baseball; one of my favorite sports.

Excellent. My favorite too. Looking forward to it!

-Scott

Use the 85 1.8 go 1600 iso and you should be able to get 1/250.
Dont use the flash. It take some time to figure out the DOF but if the gym isnt a cave you should be able to get some good shoots.

sfinchler wrote in post #5220765
But don't I have to meter the 2 to 3 stops as if I'm using a 1/250th shutter speed? Sitting in my house just now I took a meter reading of the light in the room. At 1600 ISO and 1/250 sec shutter I'd have to shoot at a negative aperture to be 2-3 stops under.

Then lower your ISO. If you want to use flash, you don't need high ISO. I normally shoot high ISO (usually 3200) with no flash, as I don't like the flashed look for sports.

On those occasions where I have used flash for basketball, I've went with 400 ISO and 1/250 shutter for the flash sync - the flash will help "freeze" the action as well. You don't need the higher iso unless you are going flash-free.

I can't wait till the baseball one comes out!!!!!

dmwierz wrote in post #5220668
First thing you do is take the dang Stofen Omni-Bounce off your flash. All this is doing is cutting down the flash power, which if you need to do, is better done by adjusting the flash itself, not by putting a piece of plastic over the flash. I see this all the time, and just scratch my head and wonder why someone would use the OB when shooting sports. It does nothing to soften the light since the size of the flash remains the same, and if you're trying to use it to combine bounce and direct, in a large space like a gym, this is not the tool to use.

Heck, I've even seen the Omni-Bounce in use shooting night football outside, with the flash head pointing straight ahead. Madness, I tell you.

Shooting with a flash is easy. Set your ISO to 800. Put your flash in direct mode (I know, the light is harsh, but just try this) and ETTL. Set your shutter speed to 1/250s and fire away. If the shots are too hot or too dark, use FEC to adjust the flash intensity.

And take off the Omni-Bounce!

I personally don't like the look of direct flash, but it will produce properly exposed images.

Try the third episode in the podcast listed in my signature. This might help.

http://www.sportsphoto​graphycast.com

I just watched your podcast. Heaven sent for us apiring sports photographers. Thank you.