HS boys game tonight

[dhyravy]

Since sports are my main subject, and basketball is pretty much king around here, I just had to put up some more BB shots. I threw caution to the wind tonight and put the 18-50mm 2.8 on then shot from about 5 feet behind the baseline under the basket. I only got hit by the ball 3 times and nearly missed by players twice. (and the player near misses were during the girls game:-) It occurred to me that I have been kind of lax about including the setup info what with the new folks trying to get started on this forum lately. So here's the gritty details:

Camera:
ISO 800
f2.8
1/320 or 1/400
Single point focus
Centerweighted Metering

Flash Setup:
2 Sunpak 383 Supers triggered with RF remotes and mounted on the railings 12 rows up and about 4 feet behind the corners of the court on both sides of the same end. Aimed at and about 10 feet above the free throw circle. Flashes were set at Manual, 1/2 power.

[BFiredup]

Wow nice pics.

And us Newbie's really appreciate the info....it helps alot...
I hope that someday, I can shoot like this....

[livin4lax09]

nice timing, and decent light. looks a bit hot, I would try stopping down some more and boosting in PP in order to keep the details in the jersey. I don't really dig the whole direct flash look, but sometimes its all that you can get.

[dhyravy]

I might drop the flash back a bit to 1/4 power to reduce the glare from the satiny uniforms. Because I shoot for at least 2 newspapers most of the time I shoot jpeg so I don't do much for PP. Also, for the papers and others I shoot for I need the contrast and pop. I usually find bounced shots a bit soft for my taste.

[Old Timer]

Shade hot but I'd kill to have that setup. Nice work Daniel.

[Mule]

I'm another person who likes to see the background information on how people are capturing the shots.

I am curious about using remote flashes for indoor basketball. Your setup doesn't look very expensive compared to some of the pro outfits I have seen. I'm wondering if I add a second SB600 if I can duplicate what you use. What remote firing device do you use? Are there mounting brackets you use or have you come up with a low cost home made device?

[dhyravy]

I use 16 channel RF triggers from an ebay seller (magic_trigger) which run about $40 for 1 transmitter and 2 receivers including shipping. As for the mounting, I use hotshoe umbrella swivels mounted on $1.99 heavy duty spring clamps. See photo below:

[livin4lax09]

beware of magic trigger radio slaves. THey make work for some people, but not for others. I know people who use them with no problem, and I had no problem using them in the studio, but when i got to the gym, the interference is just too much to handle. I was no farther than 30 feet away from both of the lights, but they wouldn't fire a lot of the time. It caused much more trouble than it was worth. I sold them and bought pocketwizards, and even though they are expensive, they are SO worth it. So reliable.

[Mule]

See, now those are more reasons why I read this forum. Thanks for the help.

[livin4lax09]

no problem mule. you can always use optical triggers, but be prepared for your flashes to go off whenever someone in the stands shoots a photo. But of course, then you may be able to successfully blow out all their photos so they have to buy them from you to get a picture from the game...

[dhyravy]

The ebay triggers do have their issues in some circumstances, but for the price for someone starting out they're great. The next step up would be the Elinchrom Skyports which are very reliable at about $189 for one xmitter and one receiver. Then you get to the PWs which are around $189 each for the Plus II. I'm going with a set of Skyports myself.