Nikon SB-800 Speedlight + Sports Photography

[lukas_jenkins]

I have recently become affiliated with a sports photography website. At the moment I have

been shooting indoor high school basketball, which includes the poor lighting in all its

glory. My 70-200mm f/2.8 was not fit for the job even at iso 1600. The poor detail in the

shadows (under players arms) was not pleasing due to the overhead lights and high iso.

Since these pictures have the potential of being printed 24x36 iso 1600 is not optimal. I

feel I have come along quite well so far but I am still not receiving the professional results

that are capable. In more recent games I have began to use my 50mm f/1.8 and Nikon

SB-800 Speedlight. With this set up I had the flash on a Stroboframe Pro T flash bracket as

well as using a green gel made by Nikon to match the flash color balance. The use of the

50mm f/1.8 lens resulted in a iso of 800 to be about -2/3 under the ambient reading at

1/250s f/2.2. Overall I was happy with the sharpness and color reproduction, of course I

would love to shoot at iso 400 but I do not know if I want the flash handling that much of

the lighting. My real disappointment was that overall the white jerseys of the basketball

players reflect a lot of light (some times close to becoming washed out in areas) due to the

direct flash. So should I use the dome diffuser that came with the SB-800 to try and soften

the light? Or is off camera flash a better alternative? I only have 1 SB-800 but I might get a

SB-600 if off camera flash is the only way. Note: I am currently using the D200 which has a

built in commander mode which would allow both flashes to be used off camera. My one

concern about off camera flash is where to put the flashes so they will not get stepped on

or hit by a out of bounds basketball.

 

The picture below is a sample of the best results I am currently able to achieve. It

demonstrates the reflected light off the jerseys, which is why I have attached it.

However, if you have any other suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Lukas<div></div>

[brad_w]

Hi Lukas,

Off-camera flash is always better, but rarely convenient. Budget solutions are available -

a pair of vivitar 283's or 285 with wein peanut slaves (or SB26's which have built-in slaves)

is much cheaper than a single SB800 and can be triggered by the SB800 on camera. If you

can afford the units, iTTL allows control of the remotes from your master, which is nice,

but not really necessary - setting the strobes on manual is adequate.

 

Mount the flashes near the corners of the court, as high up as you can, but not so far from

the action that they're useless. I've used cheap lightstands and tripods strategically placed

out of the line of fire and gotten adequate results. A set of clamps is best, as these can

attach to railings and the like. Be aware that clamps, 1/4-20 adapters, and shoe adapters

can cost as much or more than the cheap flashes.

 

You'll get nice light from the strobes, so you can use ISO 800 or even 1600 with good

results. Sometimes I'll run up the ISO in order to reduce recycle time and get more flash

pops out of the batt's. If you're not already, use NiMH batteries, they recycle the fash

faster and have mroe mAH than alkalines.

 

-b

[basarab]

I don't know if you can move around the field or not. If not then you have to be stuck in a standstill position. In this case you would have to be using a 70-200 otherwise you're photos will only be general population and duels at the basket. No dribling in the middle of the field. If you can move around then you can use the faster 50mm lens but will have to use an on camera flash since you can't exactly carry the others with you.

 

Anyway, in either case if it is possible to find good spots around the playfield it would be greate to use off camera flashes.

 

Another solution would be simply to improve the lighting system in the gym altogether. But that's another story.

[lukas_jenkins]

Thanks for the info. I have definitely found gelling the flash to yield excellent results. As

far as using the cheaper flashes I think I'm not going to be able to do that since I'm not

always the only photographer. So far the other photographers that I photograph with and

the ones that shoot for the paper donﾒt use wireless flashes or they have the Canon set up.

So using the sb-800s and sb-600s is necessary so my flashes are only fired by me. But

now that I think of it even this may not work because the flashes work off of light pulses

so other flashes still might trip them... I'll have to experiment with some of my other

inferior digital cameras. I have the D70 as well as the D200. The D70 is not the greatest

thing when it comes to noise at iso 1600 but I think in the near future I might put the

70-200mm f/2.8 on that and keep the 50mm f/1.8 around my neck on the D200. I still

am curious about the effect of using a flash diffuser such as the provided dome that

comes with the SB-800 to lessen the harsh reflected light if a remote flash system will not

work out. The championship games that will occur in the coming weeks are not at my

home court so I am definitely unsure of being able to use wireless flash in those facilities. I

will look into the vivitar flashes because they are inexpensive and I'm sure I could use

them for many other things. As you can see from the picture the walls of the gym are

cement block and that is pretty much the same all the way around. So I might need to

come up with some kind of suction cup idea or something to temporarily stick to the wall

in order to get flashes up at decent heights. I was definitely having some issues shooting

at iso 1600 with ambient lighting. I was able to obtain pretty close to proper exposure but

just the variance in color balance from the lights power cycle and the position really

brought out a lot of noise that resulted in a fair amount of lost detail after a run through

noise ninja. I wish the school(s) would have better lights, it would make it much nicer. In

the future I'll end up taking pictures of college basketball games which will probably be

more pleasant since the arenas are brighter.

 

I can move around but not 100% freely. The referees do not like photographers sitting

under the basket. So I pretty much shoot from the corner of the baseline and sideline and

sometimes push the envelope and drift in about 3 feet from the sideline so I'm behind the

basket a little more.

 

I can't wait till outdoor sports start, a new set of challenges but the lighting is not as much

as a concern.

 

I have attached a image shot in a different gym which is a little brighter than the other

gym which the first picture posted was taken in. This shot was taken with the 70-200mm

f/2.8 at f/2.8 1/250s iso 1600 without flash. Exposure was increased about 1.5 stops in

Photoshop from a JPEG file. This image was taken before D200 support of Raw files in

Adobe ACR. As you can see it is acceptable but flash would have made it better since I

probably would have shot at iso 800 instead of 1600.

 

Lukas<div></div>

[lex_jenkins]

Indoor school sports (other than at some colleges) is a challenge to photograph because the lighting is usually pretty poor. There are large gaps between the lights so there can be a full stop difference between the pools of light and shadow. You can meter for the brighter areas and risk underexposing the darker areas, or vice versa, or split the difference and try to fix it in post processing.

 

When I use flash I use the pop-on diffusion dome on the SB-800 and aim the flash head nearly straight upward (I'll tilt it forward one or two notches). Otherwise it'll project harsh shadows on the walls, which are usually within a few feet of the basket, and, as you've noted, blow out highlights on the shiny white jerseys.

 

A couple of folks on the photo.net Sports Photography Forum have illustrated the results they get using two or more flash units operated remotely. The Nikon CLS wireless system would make this pretty easy. All you'd need is permission to fasten the flash units to some convenient supports via Bogen/Manfrotto or other brand clamps.

 

If you go this route you'll need to take at least two precautions:

 

1. Theft protection. I would have some kids in my family sit by each flash unit to ensure nobody swipes 'em. I routinely ask the kids to watch my gear so I don't have to lug my bag while I move around the gym. I buy 'em treats during or after the game.

 

2. Safety. Besides the clamps, use some sort of safety tether and/or tape to secure the rig. At a recent press conference President Bush made a wisecrack about a remote controlled camera mounted overhead that had come loose and was dangling by the neckstrap used as a safety tether. I'm sure the photographer is mightily embarrassed but at least he/she had enough sense to use something as a backup.

 

There's usually at least one place to mount a flash. The hand rails at the ends of the bleachers. From overhead, tho' you'll need a ladder or lift truck. Light stands, assuming it won't present any hazard to others.

 

BTW, you might experiment with the FV lock option and see whether it gives you more consistent results. I'll zoom in on the primary subject, set the FV lock, then adjust the zoom as needed. As long as the focus distance is more or less the same the results should be fairly consistent.

 

I switch back and forth between using my zooms with flash and a 50/1.8D AF Nikkor and 85/2 AI-S Nikkor without flash. It's a tossup as to which photos are better. If I could afford it I'd use nothing but the fastest primes and skip the flash. Yeh, in my dreams. The 85/1.4 AF Nikkor costs, what? $1,000? The plastic-fantastic 85/1.8 is closer to my budget. I guess it can't be any worse than the 50/1.8 AF Nikkor, which really is a pretty darned good lens for the money.