bouting for boobies (roller derby)

the Roc City Roller Derby league had their season closer last month
and I had the opportunity to shoot it.

Proceeds went to the local breast cancer coalition, and that theme was carried through the entire event!

It wasn't my best work of the season, but it was the brightest the dome has been for a bout.
so these are all shot with available light.
they usually turn half these lights out, but left them on for some reason.
and it was a packed house!

They mixed up the teams into 3 breast themed teams and they all skated with different names than they had in the past.
some skated in memory of breast cancer victims, some had breast themed variations
of their usual names, and some just had completely new names that went with the theme.

new season starts soon! T-3 weeks here in the ROC

hopefully i get some better shots this season so maybe someone will comment on them!

Yeah, getting comments in this forum is tough at best. I think this is a great sport and a lot of fun, with great action to shoot. It looks different from any of the rings I've scene here in Denver. The Denver Roller Dolls have a wooden floor, velo drome like thing. Kinda Roller-Ball like. High speeds in those corners!

Nice shots of a great event man. Im not a huge fane of the B&W convertion image just because of the nature of this event. That pink color is what it's all about. Did you try a version where all other colors except the pinks where de-sat? That might be really cool.

thanks for the comments! that is a good idea with the b&w.. i'll give it a go.

yeah, all the leagues here are flat track derby. most of the venues i've been in are really hockey rinks most of the time. i'd love to get to a banked track venue some day!

great shots!! just started shooting my team when I'm not skating myself. flat track here. Used my 85mm on my 50d for my first go out to shoot them. I loved how quick it was for the sport. Although, I found myself wanting to go wider. Any suggestions? Also lighting is a biggy for me in that it is difficult. Took the 430 but maybe I didn't need it because it was fluorescent lighting...also I had put my iso up to 2500, but maybe that was too much for this arena because most were pretty grainy.

Any tips would be really helpful - i love your photos.

joanna19 wrote in post #11755801
great shots!! just started shooting my team when I'm not skating myself. flat track here. Used my 85mm on my 50d for my first go out to shoot them. I loved how quick it was for the sport. Although, I found myself wanting to go wider. Any suggestions? Also lighting is a biggy for me in that it is difficult. Took the 430 but maybe I didn't need it because it was fluorescent lighting...also I had put my iso up to 2500, but maybe that was too much for this arena because most were pretty grainy.

Any tips would be really helpful - i love your photos.

Thanks!
how does your 50/1.4 fare? it's probably still too long for what you are looking for, isn't it? i have a lot of success with the 17-55, but its kinda pricey.
i'm usually rockin' the 85/1.8 though for action.
Do you shoot raw? seems like i'm always at iso3200 on my 50D shooting derby if i'm going without flash. i usually use just a little noise reduction in LR. not too much though, so i don't lose detail.
This set was shot at iso 1600 because they misteriously left a lot of lights on.
but here is a recent image shot with 50D at iso 3200 and i don't think the noise is bad:

I actually didn't use my 50 1.4 because I had read another thread here that suggested the 85 would be a better choice. What kinds of shots do you find that the 17-55 takes care of? is it wide? I know nothing about that lens, but when you say that the 85 would be better for action, I agree since it's faster than any zoom.

I do shoot raw. In the set I took on Saturday of the practice most of the ones I choose to pp in LR had to get adjustments in exposure ( I probably did not have the shutter speed high enough) and then noise reduction. Except I bumped the NR to the full percentage. Didn't even look like it made a huge diff. to me. A lot of grain. However, I was taking portraits before so maybe I just have to get used to a bit of grain?

Honestly I am not totally up on how to use my 430 properly, which I know I need to be. I just have it on ettp and fire. I know there is more to it, but it did not come with the manual. I know, excuses, excuses - i just need to read about it online.

So, there is actually a lot of fluorescent light on at Sat. practices so I prob. could have gone with no flash?

Here is one example I have -

The 17-55 is a good lens if you are sitting trackside. It is wide enough to capture the pack as it passes in front of you, and long enough to reach out to the corners or opposite side of the track. The AF is faster than the 50 1.4 and it has image stabilization for those candids of stationary players. The 85 is good for shooting across the track or down the straight, but too tight for skaters passing in front of you. The 17-55 is also wide enough for the post bout team group shots without having to change it out for something else.

When it comes to using flash, I find it best to shoot in manual mode. I try to stay around F4 on a crop body to get enough depth of field for most of the pack to be in focus. For shutter I try to stay no slower than 1/125, but 1/160 is better yet. Set ISO for the degree of noise you can tolerate in the image. With flash, you really have two exposures you are managing. You set the camera to get the degree of background you want to see beyond the flash range. Then adjust the flash compensation for the exposure on the skaters. I find I often go -1/3 to -1 on the Flash Comp. It is better to use averaging vs ETTL for the metering mode because different tone uniforms will give big variations in the exposure under ETTL when one color dominates the scene. Averaging gives more exposure consistency shot to shot.

solid advice as always. i completely agree ..

thanks bsmotril - great advice that i'll def. try out.

oh I forgot to ask, do you think I need the 430 flash is enough or do I need to step up?