More Volleyball

rockcanyonphotos

ok, a few weeks back several of you gave me advice on shooting Volleyball and I finally got out and did it for the first time last night. Attached are a few samples of the results. CC the living daylights out of them. I was pretty disappointed overall. I knew volleyball was hard but damn!!

I used 2 setups.
1dm2 with a 85mm/f1.8
1dm3 with a 200mm/f1.8

I set them up both the same: ISO1600, f2.0, SS 1/500

used Expo disk on the 1dm3 to set custom WB and went Auto WB on the 1dm2, single pt AF on all.

For PP: I cropped, lab color, noise removal, sharpen

if you care to look at the ones I liked even less... the gallery is located at: http://rockcanyonphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/6176550_4Zxjb#389468303_pnegc

regards, Kevin

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Jzazzi

When using the expodisc, what were you aiming at? I imagine it makes a slight difference aiming at the golden wood floor vs straight up at the lights. Do you aim towards your intended subjects about eye level?

I realize you can't see actually see through the viewfinder when using the tool, hope you hear what I'm trying to say.

-Justin

rockcanyonphotos

Jzazzi wrote:

When using the expodisc, what were you aiming at? I imagine it makes a slight difference aiming at the golden wood floor vs straight up at the lights. Do you aim towards your intended subjects about eye level?

I realize you can't see actually see through the viewfinder when using the tool, hope you hear what I'm trying to say.

-Justin

I aimed at the lights just above the net which was going to be the primary area I was shooting at. Also, used a SS of 1/60 which several people recommended to eliminate the problem of light cycling. It was definitely nice not to have the constant changing of WB from frame to frame which typically happens to me in a gym.

regards, Kevin

JESTER

Hi Kevin, These look great with exception of the WB. I can't believe you got such great action shots at ss 1/60!!!.

With an expodisc aren't you suppose to take the reading from the area you are photographing back to where you will be standing and taking the photos? That's what I read. So try to get there early so you can walk out on the floor and do that.

My photos were turning up too "yellowish" with auto WB so I tried several different WB setting. Incadescent seems to work best for me. Our gym is a dungeon and has a mixture of different lights including florescent. It would be nice to have a photographer help in planning of building gyms these days. What a nightmare sometimes.

Volleyball is one of the hardest sports to photograph and I think you did a great job of it. Keep up the good work and show us more when you get it tweeked the way you want it.

rockcanyonphotos

JESTER, Thanks. I realized after I made that last post that I should have been a little clearer. I took the expodisc WB shot at 1/60 not the action.. those were at 1/500.

re: expodisc.... I hadn't heard that you shoot from the court to where you will take the photos. I will have to look into that a bit more. I just went down on the court with my 85mm and shot up at the lights over center court.

As for WB on these photos, I have gone back and forth on the results. I have put them in PS and used white point selection on the ball and I still get pretty much the same results.

thanks, Kevin

jonh68

Nice sharp action!

johng

Kevin,

First may I please borrow the 200mm 1.8? It's a dream lens for gymnastics. I like the action and the sharpness. I might suggest a couple of the faces are a little bright - 2, 4 and 5. Nothing to worry about. But if they were going to print you might try a dodge tool to tone them down. Not something I would worry about if they're just in a gallery for general sales. But if they were going to go in a portfolio say or be submitted to an editor. The dodge/burn tool is a favorite of mine for that very reason. I won't do on the whole gallery but it can be a nice final touch.

Really nice work here.

rockcanyonphotos

johng wrote:

Kevin,

First may I please borrow the 200mm 1.8? It's a dream lens for gymnastics. I like the action and the sharpness. I might suggest a couple of the faces are a little bright - 2, 4 and 5. Nothing to worry about. But if they were going to print you might try a dodge tool to tone them down. Not something I would worry about if they're just in a gallery for general sales. But if they were going to go in a portfolio say or be submitted to an editor. The dodge/burn tool is a favorite of mine for that very reason. I won't do on the whole gallery but it can be a nice final touch.

Really nice work here.

Good eye!! I actually did overexpose just a bit on purpose. I thought about toning them down a bit but with the blending of the uniforms and the floor (gold on gold) I just could decide which way to go. In this case they are just for general sale and but on my next go round I may try and shoot closer to proper exposure.... just a bad habit from always shooting helmeted sports :-)

I have never really thought of using the dodge/burn tool in my flow... I use it all the time on my poster work... don't know why it never occurred to me to do it here.

as for the 1.8... that one is my baby :-) I take here everywhere I go indoors!!

regards, kevin

MSCampbell

I looked at your photos and see what you mean about the disappointing shots but the ones you posted are fine, except the yellow. Your instincts are good however, you just need to work on using your ExpoDisc a little better or, with a bit more investment, you might want to buy some strobe lights (4 per court) – I use Elinchrom 600RX's – that you could bounce off the ceiling (assuming it's white). The 85 and 200 are great lenses for volleyball although these days I confine myself to the 70-200 f2.8 which gives me all the flexibility I need. But your real problem seems to be the lighting, which you can easily individually or batch correct in Lightroom.

Incidentally, I thought you did a good job on those posters on your website.

Michael

rockcanyonphotos wrote:

ok, a few weeks back several of you gave me advice on shooting Volleyball and I finally got out and did it for the first time last night. Attached are a few samples of the results. CC the living daylights out of them. I was pretty disappointed overall. I knew volleyball was hard but damn!!

I used 2 setups.
1dm2 with a 85mm/f1.8
1dm3 with a 200mm/f1.8

I set them up both the same: ISO1600, f2.0, SS 1/500

used Expo disk on the 1dm3 to set custom WB and went Auto WB on the 1dm2, single pt AF on all.

For PP: I cropped, lab color, noise removal, sharpen

if you care to look at the ones I liked even less... the gallery is located at: http://rockcanyonphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/6176550_4Zxjb#389468303_pnegc

regards, Kevin

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