shooting college v-ball?

troutstreaming

Hi all,

I have an opportunity to shoot some division 2 college volleyball matches and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what lenses make or break college v-ball shooting as well as minimum shutter speeds for various activities (serving; digging; hitting/bocking at net.) At my disposal I have a 20D with battery grip; 70-200 2.8 IS; 85 1.8; 16-35L; 50 1.4; sigma 30 1.4; and Tamron 28-75 2.8 (and a canon 1.4 II teleconverter), but to date I have only shot youth (U9) Volleyball, so really have no feel for how and where to photograph action at the net. I have played extensively in the past, so have a good feel for the game flow. For the U9 I stayed towards mid-court at floor level where I could get serve receive (prefocus and track the player I thought most likley to receive the serve) and the server (AI servo tracking) for the near court team using the 85 1.8 at 1/320 - 1/500 and ISO 1600, as light was terrible. This gym is supposed to be decently lit, so I am hoping that the 70-200 2.8 can be the work horse. There is a local rental place, so I could rent longer tele's if 200 on a 1.6 is not likely to cut it or a 135 2 (supposedly they even have a 200 1.8, but that same rumor has it impossible to reserve for mere mortals.)

Any thoughts on lens selection, court positioning, shooting styles, and minimum shutter speed would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Andy

stephiewilliams

Andy, sounds like you have it covered...just have to play around with the settings once you get there. I use an external flash when I shoot volleybal. I try to shoot in aperture priority mode and just let the cam pick out the shutter speed. With your 200mm reach I would say sit in the stands on the opposite side of the net from your team (tham facing you...) or if you are going with a shorter lens mid court alone the line would be prefferable. Depends on your cam but I know for me anything over 800 ISO is noise galore so if you can, try to avoid going too high. Oh and post your shots so we can see how they turned out!

troutstreaming

stephiewilliams wrote:

Andy, sounds like you have it covered...just have to play around with the settings once you get there. I use an external flash when I shoot volleybal. I try to shoot in aperture priority mode and just let the cam pick out the shutter speed. With your 200mm reach I would say sit in the stands on the opposite side of the net from your team (tham facing you...) or if you are going with a shorter lens mid court alone the line would be prefferable. Depends on your cam but I know for me anything over 800 ISO is noise galore so if you can, try to avoid going too high. Oh and post your shots so we can see how they turned out!

Thanks for the thoughts - a couple of question arise - are you shooting direct with the flash or trying to bounce it off the gym ceiling - i.e. just how much light are you trying to add and what is your experience with hitting the players with a strong direct strobe during competition? I played a little bit with bouncing my 580 off the ceiling to try and drop ISO below 1600 in the grossly underlit gym and thought that even the bounced flash was too much of a distraction when I was shooting from the sidelines. I guess if there are a number of other photogs covering the matches and they are utilizing flash I would be willing to pull one out, but can't see myself using it during the action if I am the only photographer. Maybe for sideline stuff - I will throw one in the kit just in case. The second - Are you using a high speed sync mode on the flash (or are you shooting one of the Nikon bodies that will do 1/500) or (and maybe this answers the prior) are you trying to hit it hard enough to freeze the motion with the strobe and shooting in 'normal' flash mode at 1/200-250?

I will be happy to post shots (depending of course on how they turn out...)

Thanks again for the tips,

Andy

stephiewilliams

Andy,
I am shooting with a Nikon and using the iTTL which lets me shoot around 1/250 with my ISO under 600. Parents will be flashing, so I usually don't feel to bad about it. Although I am usually being paid for my shots so there is more of a vested interest in me getting a keeper...I will sit in the stands with a telephoto most of the time from a high perspective and aim my flash direct. My telephoto at this time is complete crap (f4-5.6) so although they are not as bright as I would like they are useable.

Here is one from my last game...like I said not amazing but my employer purchased it...

JoeL

Thats a great shot with on camera flash for sure, I would correct the eyes on the spectators so they dont have red or zombie eyes, that would be the only suggestion I can make.
(I do like the girl asleep on the bench, thats too funny.......)
I have been lucky so far being able to shoot V-ball with strobes inside the gym/arena for the colleges I cover.

stephiewilliams

JoeL - Thanks...I wish I had strobes to use these gyms get darker and darker it seems. Volleyball and Night time football are the worst for me. I don't feel like I have a good grasp on flash sports photography. Feel like I am always winging it lol.

illuminati919

Setting up strobes just seems like a pain to me, I would shoot with out any kind of flash, maybe a speedlite but thats about it and only if i was up close like courtside. If you have a camera with good noise reduction I think you're set. But thats just my opinion.

JoeL

Strobes work great if you will be shooting in the same place a lot... I only have strobes set up where its at least a 2 day a week or entire weekend shoot and it pays enough to make it worth the risk of leaving all the equipment hooked up and ready to use when I get there, that way all I have to do is turn the power on and put the pocket wizards on the cameras and shoot away .

No matter what, Stephie, you did an awesome job getting the images you did with the equipment you have on hand, I would be very happy with images that were as good as yours with an on camera flash, they are clean and clear and will look great in print.

Being able to make great images on the fly with limited equipment is what seperates the good from the best, you are doing great and your clients will love you for being able to adapt and produce the great images you have.

As far as night or low light prep football,, good luck... thats a pain in itself.

I use a couple SB800 flashes, one on a D1H body with a 80-200 f/2.8 and the other on a D1H body with a 300 f/2.8 with a "Better Beamer" flash extender and monopod, it keeps the images clean and clear so they look good in the newspaper I work for.

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