Shot my first wrestling match the other night

nipprdog

Instead of shooting the girls Bball game, I ended up moving to the wrestling match, since it was their last home match. (the girls play again on Monday)
I didn't have much time to experiment with my flash placements, so I placed my two SB600s at opposite ends. In hindsight, I think it would have been better to move them closer, and bounce off the wall. Struggled with wanting to stand while shooting to keep the crowd out of the shots, but shot mostly down low.

Btw, these wrestling crowds are intense!!!

1/250, f2, ISO 800
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10


Thanks for looking, and comments welcome.

manganos

Great shots. You got some great facial expressions in a bunch of the photos. I remember wrestling in high school. FUN FUN!

attorneyjay

I enjoy the intense crowds. Makes the event more exciting for me shooting. The more intense the more interest in my photos too.

Good shots. I think the lower you get the better they look. As long as the lens will blur the background I think it's a much better shot down low.

I struggle with cutting off limbs to get a closer crop. I prefer not to but if cropping off at the knee or thigh makes a big difference in emphasizing the critical element of the photo, then I do it.

Jay

nipprdog

manganos wrote:

Great shots. You got some great facial expressions in a bunch of the photos. I remember wrestling in high school. FUN FUN!

Thanks.

nipprdog

attorneyjay wrote:

I enjoy the intense crowds. Makes the event more exciting for me shooting. The more intense the more interest in my photos too.

Good shots. I think the lower you get the better they look. As long as the lens will blur the background I think it's a much better shot down low.

I struggle with cutting off limbs to get a closer crop. I prefer not to but if cropping off at the knee or thigh makes a big difference in emphasizing the critical element of the photo, then I do it.

Jay

Thanks, Jay.

Again, the intensitey of the crowd, was overwheming.

As to cropping, it's limited when shooting with a prime lens, 85mm. Maybe next year I'll use my 80-200 2.8.

johng

Some real nice shots. Only problem is inconsistent WB - which may be a result of your flash placement.. Otherwise very good stuff.

femsista

My nephew wrestles and yes the crowds can be intense and he is only 10. He actually wrestles for the state title this weekend.

I never have luck getting good shots of him. But I don't have a great camera (point and shoot) so I end up with horrible lighting.

Any pointers on how to get the best lighting in gyms like that? I have a Fuji Fine Pix 7.1 right now and I can never get my manual settings right to shoot in that gym lighting and auto comes out so dark and grainy.

One day I will upgrade...I think I can I think I can I think I can!

jdryan3

Nice pictures. I agree the WB is off even for those goofy sodium lights. What you may want to is get the WB on one (the gray on the refs patch if yo can't shoot a gray card) and then use that as the baseline. Even go as far as finding that one you nail the WB on and then tying it to the maroon uniforms since those are in all the shots.

Some tourneys and other sports don't even allow flash photography from the stands much less the floor, so I have had to work on my low-light/ no flash technique.

I'm not sure what lens you are using, but at f/2 the background is nicely blurred. You may have to go longer if you want it to be more OOF.