Night Lax in Fla...

David Evertsen

Okay here are some of my shots from last Friday night.. Let me know how I did, lights where good and action was a little slow and after the JV and Varsity game I was frozen even here in Fla.. Still had fun and lets hope I learned something..

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4.This was at twilight..

BlueHoseJacket

David..nice shots considering the lighting that you find at high school stadiums. Do you mind sharing your camera settings for these shots...my daughter starts her season tomorrow night under the lights. Thanks and keep up the nice shots

David Evertsen

BlueHoseJacket wrote:

David..nice shots considering the lighting that you find at high school stadiums. Do you mind sharing your camera settings for these shots...my daughter starts her season tomorrow night under the lights. Thanks and keep up the nice shots

Thank you, I still have alot to work on that is for sure but, that is why it is so much fun!! I shot these at ISO3200 between 320/400 on Manual and with AWB set on a Canon 50D with a 70-200 2.8L non IS. The twilight shot was 1600 1/800 and AWB on Manual. I try to err on the side of caution using 320 so I can get under the visor on the helmet and not really have too much blur. I try to keep it at 400 if at all possible though with good lights to not blow out the home jerseys. That does not always work. I have some really bad lights around here and in the winter, horrible fields from lack of water and over use that don't reflect light. One game last week was shot at 3200 1/250 AWB on manual and the cycling of the lights was horrible. Some of the shots that game were still dark, glad it was only Varsity. Please check my galleries for Boone High School 2008-2009 and my shots I have the camera info set to display..

As for the lights setup in this field it was four sets of poles with lights on each side with fewer lights but gave much better/even lighting than 2 poles on each side of the field. The lights being out on a few of the groupings caused a little cycling but not bad and the field was only used for games so it was still green and for games only not practice, which is a luxury down here in Florida.

Have fun and good luck to your daughter!!

KED

If you are happy with your camera's performance at ISO 3200, or with your ability to fix the noise in post using Noiseware (or other), then I would think you could push shutter speed, or at least maintain it at 400 minimum. I've shot with these settings for football and a little lax, and while your in-camera meter will show you being underexposed (because you are), but if you shoot RAW you can fix that in post too. You ARE shooting RAW aren't you?

I didn't study your posted images under a microscope, but I didn't notice any motion blur, but in general I still think 400 is the bare minimum to be safe. It becomes literally athlete-specific: some kids are too quick to be captured even at 400 in my experience.

You and I have corresponded on a few lax threads lately, but this is the first time that I noticed that you are in Florida -- I'm really happy to see that lax is attracting serious interest there. The sport is growing like crazy (CO, CA, TX, OH) but this is the first evidence I've seen that it has come to FL. Interesting . . . at the youth level, when lax takes root, it's at the expense of baseball -- that will be an interesting dynamic in FL.

Firemann

David,
Very nice shots. I primarily shoot lax games also in Texas. I have a 40d and use the same 70-200 2.8 lens as you. I find our home field is lit well enough for good shots, but some of the fields we visit have horrible lighting. I've had to drop to 1/250, ISO 3200, 2.8 quite often and try to concentrate on getting pics of players moving directly toward me when there isn't as much motion blur. I now have a son playing college lax, so I'm expanding into the college lax photography some.

Richard
www.lonestar-photography.com

David Evertsen

KED wrote:

If you are happy with your camera's performance at ISO 3200, or with your ability to fix the noise in post using Noiseware (or other), then I would think you could push shutter speed, or at least maintain it at 400 minimum. I've shot with these settings for football and a little lax, and while your in-camera meter will show you being underexposed (because you are), but if you shoot RAW you can fix that in post too. You ARE shooting RAW aren't you?

I didn't study your posted images under a microscope, but I didn't notice any motion blur, but in general I still think 400 is the bare minimum to be safe. It becomes literally athlete-specific: some kids are too quick to be captured even at 400 in my experience.

You and I have corresponded on a few lax threads lately, but this is the first time that I noticed that you are in Florida -- I'm really happy to see that lax is attracting serious interest there. The sport is growing like crazy (CO, CA, TX, OH) but this is the first evidence I've seen that it has come to FL. Interesting . . . at the youth level, when lax takes root, it's at the expense of baseball -- that will be an interesting dynamic in FL.

I am not shooting RAW but was looking to do that and see how it goes. I have two single game days in a row and plan to try Thursday and Friday with two schools I have shot Football at this school year. There are a few schools that 320 was too dark this season at 3200. I had to shoot 250 because of the lights cycling on me really bad just to get some light. I have Noiseware Pro Standalone and that seems to do a nice job for me. The lights around here a questionable at some schools during the evening to say the least, I am finding wildly different setting on my camera just based on the condition of the field from Football season to now. Our home field is a joke after Football is over and others continue to shine. I don't know how I shot Football with an XT..

Lacrosse in Florida is definitely a new deal, there are a ton of youth clubs around but High School sanctioning for the sport is only in it second year. Last year was the first year it was sanctioned by the FHSAA and had a State Championship. I have only known about it for a few months and have really enjoyed learning and shooting the sport down here. I am finding a ton of Basketball and Football players are playing it, Baseball runs concurrently here in Fl on the HS level so not to many of them can mess with it.

Thanks so much for the insight, I will definitely put it to use!

David Evertsen

Firemann wrote:

David,
Very nice shots. I primarily shoot lax games also in Texas. I have a 40d and use the same 70-200 2.8 lens as you. I find our home field is lit well enough for good shots, but some of the fields we visit have horrible lighting. I've had to drop to 1/250, ISO 3200, 2.8 quite often and try to concentrate on getting pics of players moving directly toward me when there isn't as much motion blur. I now have a son playing college lax, so I'm expanding into the college lax photography some.

Richard
www.lonestar-photography.com

Thanks, nice to see someone else shooting Lax at night... Great stuff on your site!! Best of luck to your son playing in College..

JESTER

First of all folks, let me tell you what a nice guy David is. I ran in to him the other night at a girls LAX game. We probably have a lot of photos that look alike because we spent so much time standing next to each other talking. His only drawback is that he was shooting a Canon.

David, I just saw those photos on your site. Great job! I'm sure the girls and parents will be pleased. Freedom has fairly good lighting. Hopefully I will see you around soon as Boone and Freedom aren't too far from each other.

JustPlainMe

I grew up in a lax hotbed (Annapolis---Navy and University of Maryland alum, sis went to UMBC, friends at Hopkins . . . and so on).

My husband (who had never heard of lacrosse before he met me) and I are looking into alternative sports here in Louisiana because our kids will be in a very small private high school too small to field varsity sports teams.

At the 9- and 10-year old community football and baseball levels in our parish, coaches are already sitting kids down who won't be feeding into the public school sports powerhouses because if the coaches can't groom them for a particular team, the kids are considered a waste of time. A friend with a son good enough for All State-level baseball now rides the bench because he's in our private school and won't be "contributing" to the parish's reputation. It's really sad.

So we are hoping, hoping, hoping, that girls and boys lax, rugby, crew, or something (preferably lax) will pick up in the next 5-10 years here so our kids have something to do. Hearing that it is exploding in growth in unorthodox places around the country is very encouraging to me.

Keep up the great pictures, I'm enjoying seeing all the action shots!

Sarah

David Evertsen

JESTER wrote:

First of all folks, let me tell you what a nice guy David is. I ran in to him the other night at a girls LAX game. We probably have a lot of photos that look alike because we spent so much time standing next to each other talking. His only drawback is that he was shooting a Canon.

David, I just saw those photos on your site. Great job! I'm sure the girls and parents will be pleased. Freedom has fairly good lighting. Hopefully I will see you around soon as Boone and Freedom aren't too far from each other.

Thanks Jester!! It took me a while to get them squared away after shooting RAW. It was great to meet you, shoot lacrosse and talk photography. Your photos are great as well. Anyone out there that has to the opportunity to get together with other grinners in your area and shoot some. Go for it!! Hope to see you soon Jester!!

Also JustPlainMe, what I am seeing in the Orlando area is somewhat similar. I don't have kids that play sports they dance. However, meeting parents taking sports photos the 24/7/365 sports cycle of some sports mostly Basketball and Baseball is taking its toll. They are looking for something more fun without the huge pressure of those to do it year round our be out.. Good luck on your shooting..

Firemann

JustPlainMe wrote:

I grew up in a lax hotbed (Annapolis---Navy and University of Maryland alum, sis went to UMBC, friends at Hopkins . . . and so on).

My husband (who had never heard of lacrosse before he met me) and I are looking into alternative sports here in Louisiana because our kids will be in a very small private high school too small to field varsity sports teams.

At the 9- and 10-year old community football and baseball levels in our parish, coaches are already sitting kids down who won't be feeding into the public school sports powerhouses because if the coaches can't groom them for a particular team, the kids are considered a waste of time. A friend with a son good enough for All State-level baseball now rides the bench because he's in our private school and won't be "contributing" to the parish's reputation. It's really sad.

So we are hoping, hoping, hoping, that girls and boys lax, rugby, crew, or something (preferably lax) will pick up in the next 5-10 years here so our kids have something to do. Hearing that it is exploding in growth in unorthodox places around the country is very encouraging to me.

Keep up the great pictures, I'm enjoying seeing all the action shots!

Sarah

Sarah,
Lacrosse has really exploded in Texas and Louisianna as well. Louisianna was part of the Texas High School Lacrosse League until this year when they formed there own Louisianna State League because of the increase in teams in the state. There's a couple tournaments held in Louisianna as well. Good luck!