Wrestling from the weekend C&C

Here are a few I took over the weekend. Please let me know what you think.

These two are of my son:

Great shots! Color is great and they are pretty sharp.
I think number one is my favorite, the background is simple and leaves your eye on the kids. The large woman in the background of number two is a little distracting. (But Clearly there was no way around that!

+1 on the distraction. Great shots though!

What camera settings were used, and if you used flash/strobes what was your setup? The photos look excellent!

Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 179 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Fired
Metering Mode: Partial
Color Space: sRGB
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Auto
Scene Capture Type: Standard


I believe this is everything. Single 580 EX flash; set to auto, Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens, body is a 20d.

I also ran these through imagenomic NR plugin in PS after LR. I have more if anyone wants to see them. Images were converted from raw files in LR.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Full exif can be found on my flickr page under canons900.

lespaulowner wrote in post #9208372
+1 on the distraction. Great shots though!

Backgrounds are tough at these tournaments. I have all but given up worrying about the background. There are parents and kids running everywhere, let alone the ref getting in the way when you want the shot!

Did you fire direct flash or did you bounce?

Flash was pointing straight up at the ceiling.

This weekend I am going to rubber band an index card to the flash and see if that helps keep more light on the match. Instead of throwing it straight up.

All the gyms I am shooting in have horrible light. For our team tournament I may try and rent some strobes or something, but my flash skills are very limited and I have not done much on that level. Then again being VP of the team and two boys wrestling, the additional lighting may take a back seat.

Well the photos look very well lit, so what you're doing seems to be working! Can't wait to get my 580EX II to get some similar shots.

Have you had any complaints from players/refs about using the flash?

I have never had a wrestler or ref complain about the flash.

I bounce my flash straight up. I don't shoot direct flash because I hate red eye and I hate cleaning it up even more. Less PP time when I don't have to deal with red eye.

The ref will every now and again give me the look.....about being to close, but I slide back and they know me and cut me some slack as well.

you nailed it and in my four years of shooting JS wrestling and being the County Tourn Photographer (4 strobes) I have never has one ref, coach or wrestler complain.

Just make sure they set out of line of site.

canons900 wrote in post #9210414
I have never had a wrestler or ref complain about the flash.

I bounce my flash straight up. I don't shoot direct flash because I hate red eye and I hate cleaning it up even more. Less PP time when I don't have to deal with red eye.

The ref will every now and again give me the look.....about being to close, but I slide back and they know me and cut me some slack as well.

I wrestled for almost 18 years, and coached for about 5. As a wrestler I never once noticed the flash, you hardly notice the crowd. I was aware of my coaches voice, and sometimes where the cheerleaders were

BTW great shots!

A couple more that I wanted to add. Let me know what you think.

Canons900

Those are great shots. I am quit impress by the image quality of the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8. I was wondering if you could tell us something regarding the HSM Auto-Focus performance. It is fast enough for action photography? Does it hunt? To be sure, the Sigma 70-200 seems to be a great alternative to the much more expensive Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens. Thanks for posting.

Steve

The first two are great! The second two look a little underexposed.