HS Wrestling w/Alien Bee

Checked with the coaches and AD's about bouncing the light off the ceiling before the match. Here are two shots from my first attempt with the alien bee and high school wrestling. Used my 40D and 85 lens. What do I need to do to make this better?

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These look great in my opinion. Focus is sharp, white balance looks good and the colors pop. You even have some nice BOKEH and seperation from the background.

Wow...i am not into lighting yet....But these look great! Perhaps....if you wanted a nick pick.....they are a tad bright in areas and no quite evenly lit all over.
I would be happy with myself if i shot these inside a gym like you did. good work.

first is very very good. missed the comp slightly as the image is a little unbalanced. I'd at least crop some dead space on the right. Second needs a horizon correction, the whites seem pretty hot. Might bring down contrast slighty as well. Nothing that can't be done in post.

I can hear all the dirty minds out there snickering at these lol.

Maybe its my eyes, but the color balance seemd a tad off to me, at least on my monitor. I took the liberty of a tweak, dont know if it helps or not.

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shadowcat wrote in post #7054064
I can hear all the dirty minds out there snickering at these lol.

Huh ? ? ?

Color looks good to me. I think you should talk to one of em after the match and ask about the lighting. A couple of months ago I was playing in a soccer game around 8pm and a person on the sideline (about 15ft from me) took a picture with what seemed to be a 580ex flash. Well, it at least SEEMED to be that bright. I was seeing spots for a few minutes after that. By the next time they pointed the camera at me, I'd learned to turn my head away.

Bottom line: bright flashes can be distracting! lol.

warrior, you just absolutely STUCK these shots. If you know wrestling as well as your images indicate you do, you know that is high praise.

Not only did you capture the right action, especially the second shot, but you also captured perfectly the intensity, agony, and exertion that are so much part of the sport.

I would love to see you position yourself so you're facing the wrestlers head on when they're starting a new period or after action is stopped, then restarted where one athlete is in the down position and the top wrestler covers him. As the bottom wrestler explodes to his stance, lunges forward to switch/reverse, or is controlled by the top wrestler, the facial expressions will be unbelievable. Post more.

Thanks for taking time to look. This is the kind of info(help) I was looking for.

Specifically, AustinRoepke...I bounced the light off the ceiling...if the wrestlers saw any flash, they were already on their back looking at the house lights and waitin' to be pinned. I did talk to a couple wrestlers from the home team and they didn't even notice the light till I showed it to them.

Brandonink2001...thank​s, yes it is very intense. My son won a state championship at 215 pounds a few years back, so I do have a great interest in this very competitive sport.

looks great what shutter speed are you using and what iso??

I really like the shots. IS there a way for you to get lower? I think being lower, even on the mat or ground would really make these even better.

warrior6901 wrote in post #7055561
Specifically, AustinRoepke...I bounced the light off the ceiling...if the wrestlers saw any flash, they were already on their back looking at the house lights and waitin' to be pinned. I did talk to a couple wrestlers from the home team and they didn't even notice the light till I showed it to them.

That's what it looked like in the shots, after I actually took time to look at them

It's just that some people use flashes without consideration of the players...

I was sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers. I did a couple more matches later(ambient light only) and was actually seated between two mats, taking pictures on both mats...I liked those angles better.

AustinRoepke...glad you came back and looked again. I know there has been lots of discussion of ambient vs strobes...I agree that one has to be considerate of the competitors...there are so many people with point and shoots in the stands anymore with flashes going off everywhere that it is a bit annoying.

I think the bounced light is hard to detect anyway. I had a former co-worker who(in my book), is a good photographer stand beside me at a recent basketball game for about 15 minutes. He finally asked why I had the transmitter on the camera. I showed him the light in the balcony and his comment was that "he hadn't even noticed."