Help for competitive all star cheerleading

Tacoman222

My daughter is active in competitive cheerleading. All of her competitions are indoors under varying lighting conditions. Most of them are very dark with just the floor lit up. I have been shooting in aperture priority mode and have had some success. I shoot with a Nikon D50 with a Qauntaray AF 70-300 1:4-5:6. Please help!!! I read another post about shooting gymnastics with a sigma 70-200 2.8, would that help?

beetle8

yes, a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 will help.
Do they allow flash during these competitions? If so then that would help

Tacoman222

beetle8 wrote:

yes, a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 will help.
Do they allow flash during these competitions? If so then that would help

Yes they do, I only have the in camera flash. Usually the groups that have the photos for sale have remote flashes on stands with gels.
I borrowed a friends nikon speed flash (sb 60 I think) and it did not keep up with the action.

rainbow

I shoot with a Canon. I shoot a lot of indoor sports (volleyball, basketball) and similar poorly lit events. My lenses of choice are my primes (135 f/2 or 85 f/1.8). I also bump the ISO up to 1600 or 3200 and shoot in RAW to give me latitude to set the white balance afterwards. I dislike flash because of the red/white eyes that ruin many shots along with shadows on the far wall or reflections off the bleachers.

So consider a prime lens instead of an f/2.8 zoom as the extra stop to f/2 often is needed (or even f/1.8 or f1.4). Justify it in that your daughter is your subject (and I bet the cost of the lens is small compared to her cheerleading costs).

MT Stringer

@Tacoman,
I don't have any cheerleading pics but here is an example of youth basketball in a not-so-bright-gym.

It was taken with a Canon 1D MK III w/ Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens, 1/400 sec at f/2.8, ISO 2500.

Hope this helps
Mike

This pic was cropped considerably from the original.

lords8n

I used a hand held Canon 40D with Canon 70-200 f2.8L non-IS for these.
Av mode set to f2.8 @ ISO800 no flash.

I think the last one was taken with a Canon 50mm f1.4 right up on the stage.

Sorry for the large images...too lazy to resize.





A little photoshop action here obviously.

tonsofpics

Here is one of my fav's that we took at a Cheersport competition. It was intense! We had never taken a cheerleading competition before, but we really enjoyed it. What a challenge especially since you only have 2-3 minutes to get the pics.

Let me know what you think.

11-23-08 Cheersport 1184 (1).jpg

Jamie
www.actionjunction.com
D300, 70-200 2.8

Rocketman766

Shooting indoor sports can be tough. I started shooting last year and can't wait for the next season to start. I am currently using a Xsi (although about to step up to a 1D MKII) and have used a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 USM NON-IS, a Canon 100mm f/2.0, a Sigma 50-150 f/2.8 and a Canon 17-55 f/2.8....... have NOT used a flash yet, but at the 2 events that I am scheduled to be the event photographer for, I am considering using remote strobes. Take a look at some of my shots from my site in the sig below, as always, I welcome coments.. but this is your thread so I hope you get the help you are looking for here. Lots of experience from the pros here (no, I am by no means a pro...) Good Luck.