Strobed Basketball QUESTIONS

Hi all. I have a question (or two) on setting up my strobes.

I have 2 AB 800's that I am planning on using this season for our HS boys and girls games. I have all the different permissions I need from the school and athletic personel, so that's covered. Also, I have talked with the boys coach, and he agreed to let me come to a few of the practices to get this lighting dialed in before games start.

What I am looking for is some advice as to where to place them. On one end of the gym, is the doorways to acces the gym:

Photo to show the entry only:

The opposite side has the same set up of bleachers, except that above them , there is a balcony with a railing all the way across. Sorry no photo of that

#4-- Should I just set them up and start from scratch

I also have my 580EX ll to use as a 3rd strobe IF need for even more light

and all this will be shot with a Canon 1D Classic (YES there are those of us who still use that Dino!

(DUPLICATE IMAGE)

) and fired with CyberSyncs.

Ahh, I am so ready for basketball season!!!

Here are my thoughts.

#1-- Should I have both on one end of the court, opposite sides, or should I have one on each end opposites sides?

Both on one end would be my choice. canonnoob (Dave) did some interesting things shooting volleyball with them on diagonals so hopeuflly he will see this post and add more info to give you some options. Here is a link to his post. https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=767701

#2-- Should I bounce off the ceiling, or feather out to the court? I'm really thinking of bouncing, as I have had good results with just a 580EX ll OC pointed straight up. the strobes would be @ 10 ft from the ceiling when mounted.

Bounce them off the whitish wall. Attached is a link to a post I did last year that shows where I positioned the strobes as well as some example images. Based on your sample images I think you could do basically the same thing in that gym. This is without a doubt my favorite setup if the gym works for it.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=603550

#3-- Where should I start on power settings for these, 1/4 -- 1/2 -- 3/4 -- or Full? I just want a baseline to start from.

Full power. Your flash duration drops off as you lower the power so I am a big believer of shooting at maximum power to minimize the flash duration. Plus, if you are bouncing light with only a couple of 800's you will need all the power you can get. It will slow down the refresh time but I would rather have fewer pictures that have the least motion blur.

#4-- Should I just set them up and start from scratch

You will probably want to experiment and don't hesitate to do so especially since you have the luxury of getting into practices to do testing.

I also have my 580EX ll to use as a 3rd strobe IF need for even more light and all this will be shot with a Canon 1D Classic (YES there are those of us who still use that Dino! ) and fired with CyberSyncs.

Doubt you will need it but again, can't hurt to do some testing and see if it helps.

Hope that helps. Good luck.