Has ANYBODY ever shot Roller Derby?

Shooting my 1st one in a week - I'll have one practice but am

wondering if there are any tips. LOL I can hear you all Roller

Derby??

Roller derby must be entering a big comeback...I was going to shoot one this past Sunday, but had a time conflict. I don't have any tips yet, but I was planning to shoot wide and closeup...probably a mix of flash and avaialble darkness...I'd be using my D100 which is not the ideal sports camera. As such I'd stick with medium sized JPGS so as not to fill the buffer too quickly. (The final use would be web and small prints).

 

Have fun!

Yep, I was thinkin' "Roller Derby?????" but at the same time was thinking "Cool!!!!" I can imagine that would be a heck of a lot of fun to shoot...hmmm, as I think about it, the usual "use a long lense with a fast shutter speed" comes to mind, but as someone who also likes to do the exact OPPOSITE of what everyone usually does and see what happens, here are a couple if ideas to try (results may be abysmal or great, who knows)...

 

1. A wide angle lens, as close to the skaters as you can get, trying to get the ambiance...be careful not to get a background that is TOO busy though.

2. A tripod and ?? lens, using a longer shutter speed to capture the motion, maybe even a rear curtain sync flash get motion blur, but freeze it at the end of the exposures (sharp images WITH motion blurs).

 

I dunno if you are shooting these for a client or ?? but I'd do a little experimenting and breaking the sports photog "rules" anyway, just to see what happens (errr, but then again, I'm the kind of person who when he runs across a "rule" will take a few shots to see if it is possible to break said rule and still get a good shot :-) ).

Good idea with the "rear curtain sync" I LOVE YOU GUYS. The sweet thing it's an all woman event and I tell ya - some are in SWEET shape, although they tell me they look like battered woman under their . . .outfits. <p> It's their 1st event - they have had a couple film guys try photos with no luck, I'm at bat I guess!<p> I'll have one practice session the night before that will help. <p> It's my 1st "indoor" event I've ever done, Nikon D70, 17-70mm 3.5 70-300mm 4.0 100mm 3.5 50mm 1.8 SB600 - notthe greatest sports set-up but . . . .

For get the tripod, monopod and the long lenses, its moving too fast for that crap, and you would have lots of depth of field problens. Go for ISO 1600 with out the flash, spot meter on their faces during the trials and make note of the arenas lighting configuratons.

I'd use focal ranges in the way of 35 to 70mm and the fastest glass you can get your hands on, like f1.2, 1.4 glass if possible. I would also shoot at 1/125th and let the f-stop fall where it may with regard to the arenas lights and your predetermined spot metering on their faces. If you shoot faster then you might as well just take some still shots in the studio; the very slight movement blur at 1/125th is where your photos will stand out invoking fast paced action.

Another thing to watch for is if some of the heavy action like being thrown over a railing seems to happen at the same area all the time, you could bring a spare body and wide angle prefocused to that spot for some quick shots. I do that at the basketball arenas at the net with prefocused shots that always work out.

I haven't seen this roller derby since I was a kid, where are they having this?

One last thing, maybe the most important, bring a single red rose for the babe flying over the railing, she may appreciate it; or then again, she may plant it, where da sun don't shine........

post yer shots buddy... good luck.

ewwwwwwwwwww, i just noticed your 35 to 70 is only a f-3.5....

it may be a REAL problem for indoor arena lighting, not being fast enough. You might want to look into a 'fast' rental lens or try

http://www.keh.com/hmpg/index.cfm

 

for a fast lens. Typically when i shoot indoor like that, the lighting conditions dictate 1/125th at f2.0 to f2.8 at best, for spot metered face metering using the Sekonic L-508 spot meter, although, a meter is a meter...

 

I really suggest looking into trading out of that slow lens into a faster one if your budget and shooting venues allow.

i mean your 17 to 70.

 

i better make some coffee.......

hey man, just looked this up and found teams playing in Austin Texas, looks like fun!

 

Learn the rules and position designations for a better idea of anticipating the action. Also, shoot a milisecond before you think somethings going to happen or it'll be too late.

 

http://www.txrd.com/rules.htm

http://www.hkphotography.net/bggw/sxsw/pages/DSC_0372.htm

AS they say - if you see it - you missed it. Thanks!!

If I'm shooting at 1600 I'll havea lot of noise right? Does Noise Ninja or other software help make 1600s more workable?

Since you have a 'slow' lens, you better bring along a flash.

 

i don't have any experience with the noise reduction software, however , you can't expect the same results that you would get outdoors. You have to make the best of the lighting situation.

From a few other websites on Roller Derby it looks like it's a common problem with All-Girl Roller Derby clubs!

Oh yeah, I remember watching Roller Derby on black & white TV, live from the Olympic auditorium in Los Angeles on KTLA with Dick Lane calling, and other nights with boxing and wrestling with Jimmy Lennon, Sr., as the ring announcer.

 

Speed Graphic anyone?