Strobed girls bball

[fidgety]

I'm using only one Canon 550EX up in the stands so I do get some shadows and a bit of contrast between highlight and shadow but it's been working decently.

[brmill26]

I'd say the shots look quite good for just one strobe; well shot, in other words. It looks like you captured some good action as well.

[fidgety]

I'd say the shots look quite good for just one strobe; well shot, in other words. It looks like you captured some good action as well.

Thanks. I've got another strobe but with a broken Pocket Wizard and being too lazy to buy another one, I haven't been shooting with two for a while.

[dhyravy]

Nice job Chris! Sometimes ya just gotta make do with what you have at the time. Anyone who has shot sports (or most anything else) long enough has had an equipment failure. Usually the worst thing at the worst possible time. I carry 3 speedlites, an extra trigger, at least two bodies, etc. The thing that's different with sports is that we're usually on-location so grabbing something out of the closet is not an option. The Bees would be another option but I noticed the red end wall in the first couple of shots which would probably give you a color cast with a bounce setup. Way to survive!

[fidgety]

Nice job Chris! Sometimes ya just gotta make do with what you have at the time. Anyone who has shot sports (or most anything else) long enough has had an equipment failure. Usually the worst thing at the worst possible time. I carry 3 speedlites, an extra trigger, at least two bodies, etc. The thing that's different with sports is that we're usually on-location so grabbing something out of the closet is not an option. The Bees would be another option but I noticed the red end wall in the first couple of shots which would probably give you a color cast with a bounce setup. Way to survive!

Thanks. My camera got bumpred last week and the Pockete Wizard on top got snapped off. The plastic foot on those things are cheap and break easy but it's my understanding they do that on purpose so if the PW gets hit it won;t rip the hot shoe off the top of your camera. Plus, you can buy a new foot for about six bucks, unscrww the PW and slip the new oner back on.
Also, I only use speedlites when shooting high school sports and keep my Alien Bees back in the studio for portrait, etc. work. The speedlites do a decent enough job for images that wind up on news print. I have the arena football season coming up and may haul the AB's there and set them up as the arena is of course much larger than a high school gym.
The walls ins this gym are a real challenge as they are orange. Couple that with mercury vapor lights and it makes white balancing a sport in itself. I've tried AWB, custom WB and using Kelvin, which I find works best in this gym except for the fact that the lighting conditions change depending where you are on the floor. Hey, if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
Heading down now to photograph the one year anniversary of the shooting at NIU. I was there the day after last year and it was a real tough assignment. It won't be any easier this year, especially since I'm a graduate of the university and met my wife there. We used to go to Cole Hall on Saturday nights for $1 movie night as that was all we could afford. Today will be tough as it will be emotional but I have to remind myself that I'm there to do a job. God Bless those students.