1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Flash Photography Advice

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SoSueMe, Apr 14, 2007.

  1. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    A flash gives you better pictures even if the place is blanketed with TV lighting. Always, always, always, tell the coaches and ADs you are going to use flash.

    Don't ask them, tell them.

    No flash, no pictures.
     
  2. Cameron Frye

    Cameron Frye Member

    An even cheaper option is a 50mm f1.8, for about a hundred bucks. That was the first lens I ever bought, and it's something that everyone should have in the bag. I've shot available light basketball in some caves with that lens.

    Your D1H will sync at up to 1/500, but you can get away a little slower than that. But the lower your shutter speed, the more likely you are to see ghosting when using a flash. I wouldn't use TTL on the Vivitar - if it even has that option. The D1H looks pretty good even at 1600 ISO. I would set the ISO at 1600, the shutter at 1/250 and the lens at 2.8, or whatever the smallest (widest) f stop available. Set your flash to 1/8 power. If that's too bright or too dark, adjust the flash from there. If you see ghosting, bump up the shutter speed and the flash power.

    Unfortunately, you can't zoom in on the LCD with the D1H to get a close look at the photo, so familiarize yourself with the histogram.
    This is a decent primer on how to use the histogram - http://www.basic-digital-photography.com/how-to-use-the-camera-histogram.html
     
  3. chazp

    chazp Active Member

    ISO of 1600 is grainly as hell, but will give you more light and it's better than get no shots at all in a badly lit gym.
     
  4. Cameron Frye

    Cameron Frye Member

    On the D1H, 1600 is actually really good. I never hesitated to set it that high. Unfortunately its successor, the D2H, is crap at 1600. But I shoot Canon now, so I can shoot 3200 without a worry.
     
  5. MilanWall

    MilanWall Member

    I can't tell you the number of times this has saved me. Yeah, the photos look a little fuzzy afterwards because PhotoShop sometimes has to "guess" at the color, but if someone complains you can just blame that on the printwork. *shifty eyes*
     
  6. Oggiedoggie

    Oggiedoggie Well-Known Member

    You'll get the best results if you hang a couple of Speedotrons Black Line units with 105 quad tube light heads. You might have to hard wire the synch cord because radio remote systems sometimes don't work with all the steel and other interference in some gyms.

    You can shoot at 100 ASA so it won't be grainy. Shutter speed doesn't matter much because the flash duration is what determines the exposure. Just be sure to use a high enough shutter speed to eliminate ambient light ghosting.
     
  7. Cameron Frye

    Cameron Frye Member

    You'll also need several thousand dollars to pay for that all.
     
  8. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    I think Flash would advise you that posting self portraits on SportsJournalists.com might cause a ruckus.
     
  9. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    List price, $1,160 each, plus portable power supply, $2,100.

    Plus, you have to climb up in the rafters to place the strobes.

    Plus, after the game is over, you have to go up into the rafters and take it all down -- unless your paper is OK with leaving several thousand dollars of equipment unguarded in a public school. ::) ::)

    Probably be a little simpler to use a flash unit attached to the camera itself.
    A cheap one costs $20-$30 -- an expensive one, $100.
     
  10. SoSueMe

    SoSueMe Active Member

    List price: $1,160 each
    Portable power supply: $2,100.
    Starman's advice: Priceless (as always).

    Always one of my favourite posters.
     
  11. Cameron Frye

    Cameron Frye Member

    Those Speedotrons are waaaaay overkill for high school basketball, but I do know of papers with lights installed in high school gyms. You could easily light half a gym for under a grand. Of course, a paper willing to invest that kind of money probably wouldn't expect its reporters to pull double duty, so it's a moot point here.

    Another tip that came to me (I haven't shot high school basketball in over a year, so it wasn't fresh in my mind) - If there is a wall near the baseline and the flash head pivots, point the flash back towards the wall, and point it up about 45 degrees. You'll need to bump up the power on the flash. That will give you a much softer light. This works best with a white wall - otherwise, you'll need to fiddle with the white balance.
     
  12. Walter Burns

    Walter Burns Member

    Must be nice...here we can't use flash for volleyball (although the state athletic association is allowing for strobe installments), which leads to some fun and interesting (by which I mean grainy) photos.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page