Bowling Photo Op: Help me plan

[WhiskeyTango]

So I've talked the owner of the lanes where I league bowl into letting me come in before/after hours and do some shooting.

I want shots of the ball hitting the pins... the chaos, the destruction! lol

Here's my current game plan:

• [*=1]I will be setting up setting a tripod mounted D7000 up in an adjacent lane as close as I need to get to fill the frame. I think I want to be on the opposite side of the pocket the the strike ball will connect. Since my "bowler" is a leftie, that means I'll be putting the camera to the right.[*=1]I plan on shooting with a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 zoomed to 200[*=1]I think I will setup one SB-700 near camera position and one in the lane on the far side. I'm debating modifiers. My choices are small speedlight softboxes or umberellas (either shoot-through or bounce)[*=1]I know I will need shutter speeds in excess of 1/500. Depending on how much gas I can get out of the speedlights, I'd like to shoot f/8 - f/11 for depth of field, but I may need to open up...[*=1]I've considered placing a speedlight and/or an Einstein over the rack to help light the frame...

I'm open ended on schedule... There's another 6 weeks left in league, but I'm sure I could go in after that if needed. I don't know that I'll get more than one shot at it though...

What do you guys think? Suggestions, ideas, comments...

 

[KmH]

Be careful. Lane conditioner (oil) makes bowling lanes very slippery.

 

[tirediron]

What about mounting the camera above the lane? I would also look into renting/buying/borrowing continuous lighting for this, since even the shortest recycling times are probably going to mean only 1-2 shots per throw at best.

(Ps, don't forget to wear your golf shoes to avoid slipping!)

 

[KmH]

(Ps, don't forget to wear your golf shoes to avoid slipping!)

:lmao:

 

[gsgary]

How are you going to sinc your flash and camera at 1/500 ? I don't think you will be able to do it with your equipment even with you PW's i don't think your flash duration will be fast enough
You only need shutter speed fast enough to stop the ambient light your flash duration is your shutter speed

 

[tirediron]

How are you going to sinc your flash and camera at 1/500 ? I don't think you will be able to do it with your equipment even with you PW's i don't think your flash duration will be fast enough
You only need shutter speed fast enough to stop the ambient light your flash duration is your shutter speed

Good catch Gary. Unless the OP has one of those rare leaf-shutter Nikkor lenses, he's out of luck sync'ing at 1/500 (In fact with PWs, I find sync'ing at 1/250 a bit dodgy; I usually shoot at 1/200). That said, with flash, the shutter speed will be pretty much irrelevant, since the short duration of the strobe should freeze all motion.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

How are you going to sinc your flash and camera at 1/500 ? I don't think you will be able to do it with your equipment even with you PW's i don't think your flash duration will be fast enough
You only need shutter speed fast enough to stop the ambient light your flash duration is your shutter speed

You raise a couple of interesting points... the Flex/Mini triggers supposedly support high speed synch, but I've never tested it. I should probably do that. On the other hand, you may be right... I might not need it. If I can dump enough power to overcome the ambient lighting under the pinsetter, I can drop back to much lower shutter speed...

I was thinking cleats for footwear, I'm sure the alley won't mind... lol That, or I suppose I could just walk in the gutters...

 

[DiskoJoe]

So I've talked the owner of the lanes where I league bowl into letting me come in before/after hours and do some shooting.

I want shots of the ball hitting the pins... the chaos, the destruction! lol

Here's my current game plan:

• [*=1]I will be setting up setting a tripod mounted D7000 up in an adjacent lane as close as I need to get to fill the frame. I think I want to be on the opposite side of the pocket the the strike ball will connect. Since my "bowler" is a leftie, that means I'll be putting the camera to the right.[*=1]I plan on shooting with a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 zoomed to 200[*=1]I think I will setup one SB-700 near camera position and one in the lane on the far side. I'm debating modifiers. My choices are small speedlight softboxes or umberellas (either shoot-through or bounce)[*=1]I know I will need shutter speeds in excess of 1/500. Depending on how much gas I can get out of the speedlights, I'd like to shoot f/8 - f/11 for depth of field, but I may need to open up...[*=1]I've considered placing a speedlight and/or an Einstein over the rack to help light the frame...

I'm open ended on schedule... There's another 6 weeks left in league, but I'm sure I could go in after that if needed. I don't know that I'll get more than one shot at it though...

What do you guys think? Suggestions, ideas, comments...

Only suggestion would be to use a shorter focal length on the Sigma 70-200. After about 150mm the focus will tend to become softer and you want nice crispy shots here. You should be able to get a decent dof with f8 and a sppedlight positioned properly.

 

[DiskoJoe]

How are you going to sinc your flash and camera at 1/500 ? I don't think you will be able to do it with your equipment even with you PW's i don't think your flash duration will be fast enough
You only need shutter speed fast enough to stop the ambient light your flash duration is your shutter speed

I was thinking this same thing as I was leaving a response. A little bit of residual streaking might not look bad though.

 

[gsgary]

How are you going to sinc your flash and camera at 1/500 ? I don't think you will be able to do it with your equipment even with you PW's i don't think your flash duration will be fast enough
You only need shutter speed fast enough to stop the ambient light your flash duration is your shutter speed

Good catch Gary. Unless the OP has one of those rare leaf-shutter Nikkor lenses, he's out of luck sync'ing at 1/500 (In fact with PWs, I find sync'ing at 1/250 a bit dodgy; I usually shoot at 1/200). That said, with flash, the shutter speed will be pretty much irrelevant, since the short duration of the strobe should freeze all motion.

Thats why i kept my 1Dmk1 and just bought a camera with a leaf shutter that will sinc at all speeds

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Only suggestion would be to use a shorter focal length on the Sigma 70-200. After about 150mm the focus will tend to become softer and you want nice crispy shots here. You should be able to get a decent dof with f8 and a sppedlight positioned properly.

Light placement is one of the things I'm noodling on. Not sure if I should try to get "behind the scenes" and place lights up in the pin setter, or if I'm better to setup stands at/near the gutters aimed at the 7 & 10 pins... I should probably stop in and chat with the owner again to see how much access he's gonna give me and how much time I'll have...