John_A_G wrote:
ryan2007 wrote:
kramericaman wrote:
First time shooting youth football at night. Shooting around 6:00pm-7:30pm PST. Using a 7D, 70-200 2.8, and a 430ex II flash.
Two Questions:
1- What are some optimal settings for both camera and flash?
2-What is the best location for the flash (1/2 way down monopod v. camera)?
Thanks.
Any flash is only so powerful. It will only work if you are less than 15 feet from the subject. You will also run into slow flash recycle to full power resulting in potential underexposure.
That is ridiculous. We are not talking about HSS here. There is no reason to use HSS so you've got plenty of reach at higher ISOs.
The best thing to do if you have to use flash all the time is shoot like a wedding photographer. Get an external battery pack. For example Quantum Instruments. Remember too many flash bursts at full power can burn your flash under extreme use. Point is their is a limit to how much you can push the flash.
Yep - an external battery pack is good. But, a lot depends on how much you're going to do this type of work. If it's only a game or two a year, it might not be cost justified. I use a 580exII to shoot.
In addition, no professional sports photographers shoot action with flash it will slow you down, a monopod and a fast lens 2.8 minimum like you have is the trick. Just do a Google search.
Sure they do - for HS games. For NCAA and pros, flash is prohibited. HS depends. But plenty use it for the same reasons I do - because you get better facial detail. But it is a creative choice - you do give up burst.
A shoe mounted flash is for fill only at close distance for the flash to reach and matter. If the lights of the field are more powerful than the flash and they are again the flash does not matter for subjects farther than 15 feet I would say.
Well - you don't mount on the shoe, you use an off-shoe cord and mount on the monopod. The lights on the field will NOT be more powerful - that's the whole point. You need to use the flash power to freeze the motion.
If you use flash the camera settings should follow what the flash sync speed is for the camera. Any faster and the expose will be half black/blank half image if your lucky. It is typically between 125 and 250 shutter speed tops with flash.
Since motion is the important part start with shutter priority and use the cameras rapid fire. I advise Not to use continuous focus but lock on with rapid fire. Using Continuous focus will get more out of focus images if the subject moves ever so slightly.
Completely wrong - shoot in manual, not shutter priority. The flash burst freezes motion. Of course, I'm actually speaking from hands-on experience and not just theory:
Now, it's not fool-proof. You can get some ghosting/blur as you get an exposure within 2 stops of ambient. But no worse than the motion blur you would have if not using flash.
I suggest pre focusing in front of where the play will go and start shooting. You can also zero in on one person and use rapid fire with single autofocus to get their step by step movements.
Nonsense - use AI-Servo to track the subject - but you'll only get about 2 shots with a 430 so you only have a short burst. That is definitely a down-side vs. ambient.
But, perhaps you can show us some of your ambient-only night-time football shots so we can see how your advice works in the real-world.
