Confused...

dmwierz wrote in post #5504409
Jeffrey - OK, gotcha. FWIW, I've never seen the 100-400 used at the United Center during the dozen or so games I covered there in the past season. Lotsa 70-200's (my weapon of choice - I don't rate using the strobes so I shoot 100% ambient), a 24-70 or two, a handful of 300 f/2.8's and 400 f/2.8's from the holes in the corners and up in the mezzanine.

To be honest, I expected them to be using 70-200's, and when I sat in rom 7 once near the corner I saw that fat while lens with two black stripes and said to myself 'yep, 70-200'.

Then I watched the guy pushing the trombone action.

They swapped corners at the end of the 1st period and the opposite photographer also had a 100-400.

I don't know who they were (SI, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News) but the odds on favorites are the latter two. It was a regular season game.

dmwierz wrote in post #5503781
Tell me how you deal with the color cycling of the lights? How do you achieve effective shutter speeds up to 1/3200s? How do you control your white balance? How do you ensure color saturation and "pop"? How do you get skin tones to look correct? How do you avoid shooting high ISO and higher noise? etc., etc...

Considering what my subject matter is (MMA) and where I shoot (most often through a cage in dimly lit clubs, casinos, and arenas) I'll answer your "hows": with higher iso's, fast glass, and in camera settings. When I shoot, I have it in mind to capture the action as it happened, and I come away with some respectable work, ambient light, bad shadows and all.

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Not to be difficult, but how does this resolve the lights color cycling, white balance, and achieving effective shutter speeds up to the duration of the flash (often 1/1000s or much faster)?

For example, your first shot shows:

Lens (mm): 35
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2.5
Shutter: 1/200

and you second image is at:

Lens (mm): 35
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2.5
Shutter: 1/250

A shutter speed of 1/200s or even 1/250s will not cut it for even the relatively slow High School action sports. Maybe I could boost my ISO to 3200 or higher to double my shutter speeds (OK, to half them, actually), but my customers would balk at the noise (even with a D3 or 1D MkIII).

Shooting with strobes, my effective shutter speed is at its slowest 1/1100s (but it can be much faster with the right strobes or flashes) which even then is only marginally acceptable for some sports.

I'm not diminishing your accomplishments or abilities - only trying to make the point that even WITH higher ISO's, faster glass and camera settings (the standard ways to deal with any photographic issue), you will not overcome the issues inherent in shooting ambient that will be very effectively dealt with by adding artificial light. You will still have light color cycling; you will still have shadows and tough WB issues; your colors will still appear relatively dull and flat - all at least compared to what is achieved by having artificial light at least 3 stops over ambient.

Maybe you're comfortable with this, and that's OK. Many of the groups for whom I shoot are not and as a result, it's my job to figure out a way to eliminate these issues. This is my definition of a "competent" photographer - one who delivers the goods to his customer's specs the first time and every time he/she is asked to do so, regardless of the quality, color and amount of light available at the event.

To make the outrageous statement that "A competent photographer should know how to improvise with the available light given." when you don't cover sports where the action is a lot faster than MMA is a bit narrow-minded and inflammatory, at least IMO.

Peace out,

Dennis

dmwierz wrote in post #5504704
A shutter speed of 1/200s or even 1/250s will not cut it for even the relatively slow High School action sports <snip>

Huh.

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Again, I've also shot in "pro arenas" where the lighting was sufficient to shoot 1/250 @ iso 400. I'd have no problem going up to iso 1600 if I required more speed, and not worry about quality control issues. Just a thought.

Getting back to the question of why no flash, I think it is mainly due to distracting the players and umpires. Just my opinion.