9th Grade VB C & C

1. 300mm, f/3.2, 1/250, ISO 500

great shots

Good stuff Phil. It doesn't look like these were flashed, so I wonder why you stayed with the 1/250 SS. Although, the action is pretty well stopped. Did you consider bumping the ISO for a bit more SS ?

I'm picking #1 and #3 for favorites.

Congrats on missing the ball on the game winner.

John

Pretty nice. I'm surprised at the clarity shooting at only 1/250. Not that brave, here! Just curious why you didn't up the ISO to 400 and try to shoot faster? Maybe to add a bit of motion blur to the action? They are still pretty crisp on the faces where it counts.

dave

nicely done Phil. I've only shot VB twice and since I know little of the game, came away pretty frustrated. Shockingly, I agree with Devane (talk about a road to nowhere!) 1 and 3 standout. I also like the candids. The other shots are clean enough but lack anything of interest so they really just don't do much for me.

Phil,

My guess is that you fooled them (photogs) all! I'd say you strobed these.

P.S. Love them! #1 = Favorite!!!

I am completely confused. How do you shoot these at ISO 250-500, SS 1/250 and get such nicely exposed shots? Let alone, how frozen the ball is in some of these images.

I shoot 1/500 and don't get the ball frozen like that. Its still usually blurred quite a bit, as well as the girls hands. I just don't know how you did that without a flash. Were these strobed at all? They certainly don't look like it. Very nicely done!

I'm guessing bounced strobe(s)

Nice stuff

clarence wrote in post #8707179
I'm guessing bounced strobe(s)

Correct. Alien Bee B800s

Even at ISO 250, they were overexposed and I had to pull them back in post. I'll have better skin tones next time.

You did a great job of controling the lights bud. They look very natural.

I've got a lot to learn about this game and how to shoot it. I admire those who can do it well. The plan is to just keep working at it and since my daughter is a freshman, I've got some time. The coaches have played volleyball in college with strobe photography, the head coach has a sophomore daughter playing, and he loves photographs of volleyball. He invites me to practices and even suggested I could shoot there if I wanted.

That helps.

Strobes are wonderful but they really expose bad timing on the part of the photog (me).

Ziv,
Nice even light. Where did place the strobes?
Dave

wyofizz wrote in post #8708438
Ziv,
Nice even light. Where did place the strobes?
Dave

I'll get a pic of the lighting on Tuesday's varsity game.

Nice work Phil.

You didn't fool me, Phil. Skin tones that don't look like they have hepatitis are a dead giveaway that good light was in use.

A couple of suggestions. You might try shooting the 135 at f/2.8. While it is solid at f/2 it really sings at f/2.8. You have plenty of room to up the ISO and be just fine. I'm guessing f/2.8 at ISO 400 would also have fixed your slight overexposure problem.

You might also try setting a custom white balance. It looks like you are bouncing off something not totally white which is contributing to the color being off just slightly.

Last suggestion, I find my images are just a bit better when I am at one of the "natural" ISO breaks (100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, etc.) The between ISO's are actually adjusted via camera software and I find a slight increase in noise even at lower ISO's. Very minor and might just be my perception and would be curious if you try it to hear your thoughts.

Keep up the good work.

Big K wrote in post #8708713
Nice work Phil.

You didn't fool me, Phil. Skin tones that don't look like they have hepatitis are a dead giveaway that good light was in use.

A couple of suggestions. You might try shooting the 135 at f/2.8. While it is solid at f/2 it really sings at f/2.8. You have plenty of room to up the ISO and be just fine. I'm guessing f/2.8 at ISO 400 would also have fixed your slight overexposure problem.

You might also try setting a custom white balance. It looks like you are bouncing off something not totally white which is contributing to the color being off just slightly.

Last suggestion, I find my images are just a bit better when I am at one of the "natural" ISO breaks (100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, etc.) The between ISO's are actually adjusted via camera software and I find a slight increase in noise even at lower ISO's. Very minor and might just be my perception and would be curious if you try it to hear your thoughts.

Keep up the good work.

I will take your suggestions. I know better skin tones are possible with this set up.

One question about the 'natural' ISO breaks. I had heard that all the increments on the 1D III were all natural rather than software created (other than 50 and 6400). Nonetheless, it is easy enough to use 400 and adjust. I'd just purchased the 135 the day before and wanted to see the bokeh at 2.0 I'm really looking forward to using this lens for basketball and portraits too.

Varsity volleyball on Tuesday!