Strobed or ambient?

tjk60

Poll: Strobed or ambient?
<hr style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> Just a quick poll to see what people like here. Same rink, same shooting location, same color unis, same everything except one is ambient on D700 and one is strobed (at least as well as I know how with my SB800s)

Pic one:

Ambient, ISO 4000, f/2.8, 300 2.8, 1/500


pic two

Strobed, ISO 800, f/2.8, 300 2.8, 1/250

johng

Strobed gives a bit more pop to the colors. But I guess it depends on how much of the rink you have strobed. I'm also not convinced it's enough of an edge to give up the burst.

I think strobing is much more effective in basketball where lighting is inconsistent and the ability to close down the aperture for sharper / more detailed results

Based solely on these shots alone, I doubt I would incur the penalty of using the strobe for a little added pop in the colors.

MDalby

Tim,

I voted with the strobed!

cmkultradome

I voted "strobed". I think it makes their faces clearer.

Stephanie

Travis

Kind of hard to tell but it appears that the strobed image did stop the action better and thus eliminated the slight (and I mean slight) motion blur in the first.

kenyahudson

My immediate preference was the strobed image, but I think that is more due to the composition than to the lighting and the resolution. There does seem to be slightly more definition for the strobed image. For me the move to strobing (or attempting to strobe) basketball games was about getting lower ISO images that I felt more comfortable printing large. If your primary concern is prints, you might make some sample prints before coming to a final decision.

Kenya

tjk60

ok, couple more to help you out. same two games... same equipment, no PP other than crop and same sharpening action...

ian408

I voted strobed but then I wondered what your settings for the strobes was (and what strobes you used).

rwells

Hey Tim,

Yes, the strobed shots make the colors pop more, but the ambient is good also.

So, I would have to ask:

* It the extra color pop worth the effort to setup the lights at a rink?

* The lights do give rise to liability issues, and/or theft of lights that your not next to. Especially small speedlights.

* Do you have enough lights to light whole rink effectively?

* If your lights aren't mounted up in the rafters, your going to have to deal with shadows on your subjects from other players in the light path.

* I'm not seeing it here, but you always have to watch for ghosting with strobes, especially smaller/weaker speedlights.

* I'm not a fan of shooting burst, but if you are, Johns comments have merit.

Either way, looks like your going to produce good images.

tjk60

I use 4 SB800s mounted 2 each on Brewer Brackets, clamped as high as I can get them on the wall beams. triggered with pocketwizards.

I don't really worry about liabilty (although insured), they are normally mounted on the bench side of rinks, so really no traffic.

They take me around 3 minutes to set up, don't need external power and give me pretty even coverage of the ice. I angle them up to bounce off the rinks reflective ceiling. This can occasionally cause hotspots near the boards next to where they are mounted, so I just have to push to f/4 at times...

Some rinks aren't good enough for even ISO 6400, f/2.8 and 1/500 so I'll need some light, and this has proved to be a decent solution over the past year+. I just had a few people on other forums that say always ambient, and wanted other opinions...

I wish I could set up AB1600s, but for the most part rinks don't have a lot of outlets to choose from. and it's a lot more intrusive and labor intensive.

Here's what one of the setups looks like:

ian408

Thanks for the view of your setup.

You can run the AB's with battery power. I've not tried that but it is offered.

rwells

Sounds like you answered your own question then.

tjk60 wrote:

I use 4 SB800s mounted 2 each on Brewer Brackets, clamped as high as I can get them on the wall beams. triggered with pocketwizards.

I don't really worry about liabilty (although insured), they are normally mounted on the bench side of rinks, so really no traffic.

They take me around 3 minutes to set up, don't need external power and give me pretty even coverage of the ice. I angle them up to bounce off the rinks reflective ceiling. This can occasionally cause hotspots near the boards next to where they are mounted, so I just have to push to f/4 at times...

Some rinks aren't good enough for even ISO 6400, f/2.8 and 1/500 so I'll need some light, and this has proved to be a decent solution over the past year+. I just had a few people on other forums that say always ambient, and wanted other opinions...

I wish I could set up AB1600s, but for the most part rinks don't have a lot of outlets to choose from. and it's a lot more intrusive and labor intensive.

Here's what one of the setups looks like:

aktse

i think both are good and it really depends on the audience that you are aiming for and if you need the burst frames.

I do have to admit that you (and others) are making me want to attempt strobed sports.