FSN Boxing

SnapLocally

StevenSzabo

good stuff...are you using external flash? I'm assuming yes, just curiosity.

SnapLocally

Thanks. No, I don't use flashes or strobes for shooting fights. It's not allowed by neither the network nor the commission.

StevenSzabo

I see, thanks for the insight.

SUMGUY

Thats it!!! I cant look at your images anymore, I now have a sharpness addiction with my fight photography. The fighters say mine are sharp, But yours look crisp! Well done mate.

cheers, Scott

Erbeman

Incredible pics as always my friend.

tjk60

wow! some of the best I've seen especially the last four...

SnapLocally

Funny stuff, Scott. Thanks, guys.

SoonerShawn

Man your shots are always top shelf! The colors jump off the screen!

aktse

I love you boxing images. Always have

Can you share some of your processing techniques that you use?

SnapLocally

Thanks.

Well, I'd say my most important "technique" is to shoot it right in the first place- proper white balance and exposure- and the little post-processing that I do use tends to pop. I just do basic stuff- cropping, color correction if needed, noise reduction if needed, a little sharpening, and maybe give it a bump of contrast. I have most of my settings for saturation, sharpness, NR, and contrast already set in my camera for the results I like, so I'm not doing as much post production as many expect.

SUMGUY

Do you have your settings set for each venue? or do you shoot the same settings at all your events? excluding ISO and shutter... I have have been getting the courage up to "play" with my saturation, contrast etc in camera. To me all your shots look consistant, thats why I ask.

cheers, Scott

SnapLocally

SUMGUY wrote:

Do you have your settings set for each venue? or do you shoot the same settings at all your events? excluding ISO and shutter... I have have been getting the courage up to "play" with my saturation, contrast etc in camera. To me all your shots look consistant, thats why I ask.

cheers, Scott

I don't change the settings in the "Picture Styles" ie. the saturation, sharpness, contrast and such, no. Through extensive playing, I've found the balance of settings where I like them, and leave them where they are. But seeing as how every venue is different, I do a custom white balance when needed, but never ever trust AWB.

TNTATC

what was your set up shooting these shots. Did you have to use much photoshop to get the colors you got?

SnapLocally

TNTATC wrote:

what was your set up shooting these shots. Did you have to use much photoshop to get the colors you got?

Actually I had to reduce the saturation for my last event. No, the colors are the result of doing a proper white balance. I shoot everything in jpeg, so if I don't get it right the first time, everything will be off.

SUMGUY

Do you ever have to leave your WB on auto? I have ALOT of trouble dealing with those lights they have in gyms ( I think USA calls them Y.M.C.A?) they seem to recycle and change colour on all of the money shots, 9 out of 10 times they are yellow! I shoot jpeg also.

cheers, Scott

StevenSzabo

sorry if this makes me sound like a dick...but reading the thread helps before asking questions...it's THREE posts above yours

SnapLocally wrote:

but never ever trust AWB.

SnapLocally

I know what you mean- those are florescent lights, and yeah, they can be quite difficult to shoot in. Yeah, in certain situations in use auto white, such as blended lighting situations and when they use silly prop lights that look tailor made for a magic show.

StevenSzabo

awe...looks like he's serenading him :P

SnapLocally

To further clarify, I use AWB as the exception rather than the rule. If I know I'm going into a venue that has tungsten based lighting for example, I would in no way shape or form trust AWB. There was another venue I shot in that had alternating tungsten and florescent lights, and each shot turned out with a different color cast. That would be an acceptable instance for AWB. Last night I shot in blended lighting as well- florescent lights were primarily used to illuminate the venue, and tungsten based lights were used to light the ring. I chose to do a custom white balance on the tungsten lights, which I think turned out well. A competitor of mine used the florescent for his balance, and his shots turned out pinkish orange.

So yes, when possible either dial in the color temperature, or do a custom.

StevenSzabo

if you don't mind my asking...why not shoot raw in a situation like that?
Is it just a speed to delivery thing? card capacity? I shoot raw all the time, but with offering large prints I sort of have to.

SnapLocally

Fuck RAW, I don't even shoot in high quality JPEG. Why? Space and speed.

I have no intention to incite another version of the RAW vs JPEG wars, but it's simple- if I shoot with the proper exposure and white balance to begin with, I don't, won't, and can't reap much benefit that RAW provides over JPEGs anyhow. Granted, my shots might look 3-7% better, but at 15x the space and the extra processing? No thank you. That's just more work that I don't get paid for.

StevenSzabo

I just meant specifically in cases where the lighting is inconsistent.

SnapLocally

I must admit, the one event I shot in RAW where I knew I'd be shooting as much as 2 stops underexposed I did appreciate the latitude RAW provided; shooting 2 stops under at iso 3200 on a 40D tends to obliterate the red channel. If I were working for guaranteed pay and had to come up with X number of quality shots in a similar environment, sure, I'd consider it. But as it stands, I generally shoot 300 shots on the low end, and as many as 2000 per event. When I do make sales, I rarely sell prints and push photo cd's instead. I used to offer poster prints, but between printing, inspecting, shipping and the potential technical difficulties that can and have arisen in the process, unless I can make top dollar, I just dislike and avoid the whole print process altogether.

StevenSzabo

I hear ya. I shoot raw primarily because I don't want to have to fight with my white balance every time the sun goes behind the clouds. But also I do quite a bit of printing, and recently secured my own epson 9900 for printing purposes. For printing BIG jpg just doesn't cut it.

SUMGUY

I shoot around the 1500-2000 shots per event, If I used RAW I would be forever missing the action due to messing around with a large pile of cards. I shoot jpeg fine (the highest quality jpeg on a D300) and find its great "most" of the time. I only offer 8x10 images in print, so I think I can get away with a lot more than offering larger prints such as posters etc..

Steven, when you shoot a major boxing event you are trying to fit 10 photographers in the space just big enough for 2! So trying to change cards more often is a mission, and if you move or blink say good bye to your spot!

I just noticed in the most recent shots you put up (other thread) SnapLocally that those lights that started this WB thing are visible in a couple of shots. This is where I have been using AWB, Did you do a custom WB setting for this event?
cheers, Scott

StevenSzabo

or buy bigger cards :P I shoot about 2000 shots a day as well...I use a 32 gig card in the D300...in the D3s I will be running dual 16 gig 60 meg/sec cards...so pumped...even in raw that's 1560 images or so on the D300.