Major venues with their own strobes?What settings are they getting?

Noticed at major venues(like NCAA basketball) that ALL the photogs are using Pocket Wizards and sharing the strobes mounted "in the rafters" and supplied by the arenas.

Does anyone know what kind of shutter speeds,ISO,apertures these guys are getting?Most are using Nikon or Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lenses.

It varies from arena to arena. But I know at the ones I have been to has been around 1/250 5,6 ISO 500, I think. Ill have to check some of my shots.

Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy is around 1/250 ISO 400 f/7.1 from what I remember.

Not too bad!The arena I'm closest to is Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee.It's a huge arena,much like the larger NBA arenas(was built for over 25,000 capacity originally).The lighting overhead(tungsten) is state-of-the-art,but still not good at all for sports photography.I assume the strobes allow reasonable settings at decent iso.

The huge 4-sided scoreboard doesn't help things either as it's brightness is constantly making big swings in the amount of available light as well as the WB.I sit in the stands,but very close to floor level.I just found out that I can get a photographer's pass from my friend....the S.I.D.,if I push for it-but it's a major favor(and one I would not do often).So I might just take a PocketWizard and shoot some from my seat.I guess that would work?

Just to clarify, not every photographer with Pocket Wizards is using them to fire strobes. Many of them are using them to fire remote cameras.

As for the strobes and what settings, as previously stated every arena is different. There are many factors that come into play, such as the amount of ambient light, the distance from the floor to the catwalk where the strobes are mounted, the type of strobes, etc.

Also, one last tip - one of the FASTEST ways to make sure you are NEVER allowed to shoot a game again in any arena is to just show up with a Pocket Wizard and "poach" the strobes, meaning you search for which frequency the receiver is set to and then "borrow" the strobes. Strobes are very sensative AND expensive pieces of equipment. If you have never shot on strobes before, they take time to recycle between each firing. Again, depending on the model of strobes and their power settings it can take anywhere from 2-4 seconds between shots for the lights to get back up to full power. If you just keep firing away, you can blow not only the flash tubes but also the power packs. I know this because the arena in Winston-Salem rented their strobes to a movie company who was doing some filming inside the arena, and the person responsible for "firing" the strobes just kept pushing the buttons on the Pocket Wizards as fast as he could. Arena staff told me that he blew out so many flash tubes that there was glass raining down onto the seats below. To this day the lights have never been the same, and I am lucky if there is one complete set of 4 lights that work for me when covering Wake Forest basketball.

frule wrote in post #9128054
So I might just take a PocketWizard and shoot some from my seat.I guess that would work?

BAD IDEA. Those strobes are typically owned by media outlets, they will not look fondly upon you "borrowing" their lights.

frule wrote in post #9128054
I just found out that I can get a photographer's pass from my friend....the S.I.D.,if I push for it-but it's a major favor(and one I would not do often).So I might just take a PocketWizard and shoot some from my seat.I guess that would work?

You absolutely should not take a PocketWizard. The strobes will already be spoken for. Unless you are the UT shooter, shooting for SI, shooting for AP/Reuters, or with the Sentinel, you won't be "strobe worthy". Firing the strobes while credentialed but not given permission to use the strobes is going to be a quick way for Tom or Bud to deny you access.

But just in case you do decide to ask and you get a pass, remember you are going to be restricted to the baseline. Never go behind the team benches. Also know were you stand in the pecking order. This isn't youth sports where you can say I was here first. If someone higher up tells you to move, you better move.

jacuff wrote in post #9128460
You absolutely should not take a PocketWizard. The strobes will already be spoken for. Unless you are the UT shooter, shooting for SI, shooting for AP/Reuters, or with the Sentinel, you won't be "strobe worthy". Firing the strobes while credentialed but not given permission to use the strobes is going to be a quick way for Tom or Bud to deny you access.

But just in case you do decide to ask and you get a pass, remember you are going to be restricted to the baseline. Never go behind the team benches. Also know were you stand in the pecking order. This isn't youth sports where you can say I was here first. If someone higher up tells you to move, you better move.

pretty much sums it up....

to the op,

Dont do something stupid like use a PW and the lights that do not belong to you. You WILL get kicked out, and most likely never be allowed in again.

SportsOnFilm wrote in post #9128270
Also, one last tip - one of the FASTEST ways to make sure you are NEVER allowed to shoot a game again in any arena is to just show up with a Pocket Wizard and "poach" the strobes, meaning you search for which frequency the receiver is set to and then "borrow" the strobes.

Just curious, as I've never used Pocket Wizards...how many possible channel settings are there on a PW setup?

ToddR wrote in post #9128594
Just curious, as I've never used Pocket Wizards...how many possible channel settings are there on a PW setup?

4.... but it all depends on the type of PW you get...

It's interesting to me how many threads I've seen where people actually had to be told not to try and use the arena's strobes.. it just seems like common sense doesn't it?

ToddR wrote in post #9128594
Just curious, as I've never used Pocket Wizards...how many possible channel settings are there on a PW setup?

The Plus II only has 4 channels. They are good for use around your own studio or places where they won't be any photographers (or more than 3 others) using PW. The MultiMAX and the Flex has 32 channels with channels 17-32 having 4 sub-channels or zones. 17A is different from 17B, etc. This means it is possible to have up to 80 different people using PocketWizards.

ToddR wrote in post #9128594
Just curious, as I've never used Pocket Wizards...how many possible channel settings are there on a PW setup?

You can also send in your set of PW's and have them loaded with a custom channel so you don't have to worry about conflicts and poachers.

Many of the big venues that have dedicated strobes also use a different and much more sophisticated triggering system than PW's.

jacuff wrote in post #9128460
You absolutely should not take a PocketWizard. The strobes will already be spoken for. Unless you are the UT shooter, shooting for SI, shooting for AP/Reuters, or with the Sentinel, you won't be "strobe worthy". Firing the strobes while credentialed but not given permission to use the strobes is going to be a quick way for Tom or Bud to deny you access.

But just in case you do decide to ask and you get a pass, remember you are going to be restricted to the baseline. Never go behind the team benches. Also know were you stand in the pecking order. This isn't youth sports where you can say I was here first. If someone higher up tells you to move, you better move.

I absolutely was NOT going to "poach" the strobes.I'd clear anything with Bud Ford or Higdon, even just shooting from the stands(know both since high school).I also have KNS connections(my dad worked there for 40 years).I just don't want to push it with these connections,as I realize that the photogs on the baseline are there as part of their job and I'd be an interloper............​.Some of the assumptions made in this thread about my intentions are incorrect.I'm just looking for information about doing this the right way......and NOT stepping on toes(that's why I have not taken Bud Ford up on his generous offer for temp credentials).That's the reason I brought up shooting from my seat(I'd NOT be in the way of the media photogs).

frule wrote in post #9129052
I absolutely was NOT going to "poach" the strobes.I'd clear anything with Bud Ford or Higdon, even just shooting from the stands(know both since high school).I also have KNS connections(my dad worked there for 40 years).I just don't want to push it with these connections,as I realize that the photogs on the baseline are there as part of their job and I'd be an interloper............​.Some of the assumptions made in this thread about my intentions are incorrect.I'm just looking for information about doing this the right way......and NOT stepping on toes(that's why I have not taken Bud Ford up on his generous offer for temp credentials).That's the reason I brought up shooting from my seat(I'd NOT be in the way of the media photogs).

I never made any assumptions, but with your choice of words I just wanted to make it clear to you and other aspiring photographers who read these forums that the strobes you see in use are usually owned by someone and they are not for general use. Now, some buildings may have strobes available for rent, and depending on the building that can run anywhere from $100 to $500 per event.