Friday Night Lights
OK – I am a noob to posting but have been lurking (and learning) here for a while. I am going to take Andy up on his suggestion to contribute to the site.
The picture I am posting is of action from almost 3 weeks ago (I will post action shots from last Friday Night later) shot under the lights of a small town football field. I have to pay the bills too so I work when I have to and take pictures and post when I can.
Hope you enjoy:
Shutter Priority @ 400/sec – ISO 640 – Canon 50D with my Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and my Canon 430EX Speedlite.
The picture I am posting is of action from almost 3 weeks ago (I will post action shots from last Friday Night later) shot under the lights of a small town football field. I have to pay the bills too so I work when I have to and take pictures and post when I can.
Hope you enjoy:
Shutter Priority @ 400/sec – ISO 640 – Canon 50D with my Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and my Canon 430EX Speedlite.
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Comments
Thanks for delurking and sharing a pic. Looks really good.
The Canon speedlites can sync at 1/400? Being a Nikon shooter I've been used to a 1/200 flash sync limit.
You mentioned you're using a 70-200 f/2.8 was this shot at f/2.8?
Something I'd like see is if slowing down the shutter a bit (say down to 1/125) would let the ambient light come up a bit. If it did it might reduce some of the shadows created by the flash.
by the way, you might want to avoid the black text in posts. In the past that has been the cause of invisible/hard-to-read text in some of the vbulletin skins
Thanks for the +feedback . . . I appreciate it.
It depends on which speedlite you use . . . the old 220EX does not have high speed sync but the 430EX and the 580EX does.
Yes, this was shot at an Apature setting of f2.8
Sorry about the black text . . . I will try to figure it out next post. I also would like to figure out how to post at least 4 images in a post. The image manager will only let me post 1 image to a post.
When I am shooting sports I never go below 350 on the shutter speed . . . if my images are too dark I can always brighten them later but if my images are blurry there isn't too much I can do with them. And I also like to get it "right" at the event . . . I don't like spending time in front of the computer doing a lot of post processing.
As far as making the image lighter, I also use either a 50mm f1.8 or an 85mm f1.8 from time to time . . . mostly for basketball. Here is a shot from last season using my Canon 50D with my 85mm f1.8, no flash, shutter speed of 400/sec, ISO of 640, and no flash.
However here in NE SD at the small town football fields I am forced to use my Sigma 70-200 with my flash though . . . the lighting just isn't there and I am not right on top of the action.
Thanks for the compliment.
I actually have been shooting for an area small town newspaper and the smaller area schools for some time now and I now have a press pass. If you have some experience shooting at higher shutter speeds and you know of a small town paper or area schools that could use some action shots, talk to them and see if you can have access to the sidelines at the fields and courts at local games. The closer to the action you can get the better.
Thanks again -
Mark
It looks like you added your image to your post as an attachment. As you found, you can only have one attachment per post. Take a look here for info on how to add images to posts without using attachments.
I completely understand wanting to get everything right in the camera vs. in post processing
And believe me I've had my share of unusable, blurry sports shots. I was just curious if the shutter speed was dropped down a bit would the flash freeze the action well enough to get good crisp details
Thanks for the hint at uploading photos . . . its going to take some time to get the hang of it. I will try my hand at another thread maybe tomorrow.
I see what you are getting at with slowing down the shutter speed, but with the "middle budget" equipment I use I think I am pushing the limits to what I can do with the lighting I have. Last fall I got to cover a beautifull" Saturday afternoon high school playoff football game and I was in 7th heaven. I sure envy some of your shots of the race cars that you have on your web site . . . now that's freezing the action!
And speaking of your web site . . . I was poking around and looking at your pictures and something caught my eye . . . see if this photo looks familiar . . . I do believe its the same Outback Steakhouse across the street from the hotel in Cancun (Grand Caribe Royal) that my wife and I stayed in during our 1st trip to Mexico in 2007. It's a small world after all!
Actually in SD you don't need a press pass until the tournaments/playoffs start. I got my start by being asked to shoot some shots for the basketball team . . . the newspaper editor saw my work . . . liked what she saw . . . and worked out a deal with me to cover the games for her. She then secured a press pass for me so I could be on the silelines for the tournaments too. Check around, I am sure someone would appreciate you covering a local high school team for them.
Here in SC, you don't necessarily have to have a press pass to get on the sidelines, but it definitely helps. If you are taking them at home games only, you can probably work something out with the principal and athletic director. I have started covering my HS games(home & away when I can get to them), but all without flash. I got a press pass from the local newspaper in exchange for a few photos to use in the paper. I will start a new thread with some pics so you guys can give me some C&C.
Great shots,
www.focusedonyourmemories.com
What you see depends on what you're looking for.
That's some good advice. You have to start somewhere . . . it can't hurt asking a few schools for access to their sidelines.
Just this morning I bumped into the head coach for a local high school football team. I inquired about shooting pics at a game and he was more than happy to help out.
I'll quickly say this and then get off my soap box: if all the paper is giving you for the photos is the pass, you really need to rethink things. Those photos have monetary value. The pass costs them nothing. Exchanging photos for entry on an ongoing basis really helps erode the business and will earn you the ire of most any working photographer. Lots of whom are responsible for providing help and advice so people new to this can learn how to do it. Don't pay them back by working for free.
I'll step off the soap box now.
Point well taken . . . BUT I think each situation is different. I can't speak for others but with my arrangement I do get more than "exposure" for my work. That being said, if your not doing this without expecting something in return then I guess you really can't consider it a "hobby", can you?
As for taking away work from a "professional" photographer . . . let me say this, if I wasn't on the sidelines taking pictures for the local paper and schools then nobody would be taking pictures. With the smaller schools in the area there isn't a "professional" photographer around that ever showed up at any of the games unless it was well into the playoffs/tournaments.
Yes it could be different in other locals, but in my situation I am just filling a need that nobody else has bothered to fill.
There, now I will get off my soapbox.
This specific paper is a "weekly" edition, by subsription paper located in the same town as the school. The paper always covered the local sports team but just did not have an experienced photographer to obtain any "quality" pictures.
I do not ask what the increase in sales is when the paper has pictures to go with the stories . . . that part of it is none of my business. All I know is that I have been doing this for about 10 years now and the editor has never approached me about ending our agreement because it is no longer profitable for the paper.
Like I said before, I am just filling a need nobody else ever wanted to so by no means did I ever take any money away from a "professional" photographer. In all these years I have neve once seen the "professional" photographer that gets paid to take the "posed" team and individual sports pictures for the school at any of sports events.
www.focusedonyourmemories.com
What you see depends on what you're looking for.
Jimmie - here's the question you need answered: Does the paper pay for ANY photography? I worked for such a paper - same model you're talking about. Turns out, they STILL paid photographers. So, find out if they're paying any photographers at all. Find out what that rate is. If that rate is less than or equal to the discount you're receiving for advertising, then it's a good business deal on your part. But, don't assume they don't pay other photographers. At the very least, you may be able to position yourself for a better discount. But, there's a high likelihood they're merely taking advantage of your desire to get access and do something you love - saving you $20, while getting $150 in free photos (if they would be paying another photographer that much for the photos). And, by the way - when talking to your editor, don't make the distinction between sports photos and non-sports photos. There's a good chance they're paying someone for photos - either a staffer or another freelancer. At least that was the case in the weekly paper I worked for.
73Rocks, where do i know that name!!? cool pic. just remember that you dont need as much flash at night as you do during the day. dial it back a little and it will definitely even out the shadows a bit.
http://redfishphotography.net
RedFish71 . . . I don't know where we would have met . . . in person or on the net?
Yeah . . . I've been told to dial down the flash. My next game is Thursday night, I will make sure to cut the power by at least 1/2. I'm still learning . . . still willing to take cc in order to get better . . . thanks!
http://redfishphotography.net
I guess my point is that I agree with JohnG - if you don't ask for payment, you'll never know if the paper can truly afford the going rate. And, yes, I've had some higher-paying gigs because of my work that's been seen in the paper, such as shooting one game exclusively for several kids @ $50 each and delivering CDs the following week. That was the quickest $250 I've ever made.
www.rfcphotography.com