My turn at the high school football thing.

[EIngerson]

Borrowed a friends 300 F2.8. I'm going to sell my house and buy this lens. I hope the wife forgives me. lol . I under expose by 2/3rds to a full stop to keep the whites from being blown. On these I used CS6 and Lightroom 4. In CS6 I play with levels only. In Lightroom, I bring the shadows up and bump the exposure some. Slight bump in Clarity, Reduce the noise as much as it will go, Drop the highlights until the texture in the whites are legible. Then sharpen.

NOTE: When sharpening noisy photos, I hold Option on a Mac and move the "Masking" slider to about 90%. Holding option allows you to see what's being sharpened. (I think it's "alt" on a PC) This prevents you from sharpening the noise.

That's Eric's secret formula for poorly lit high school football games.

On my 70-200 F4L I'm shooting at 12,800 ISO. A bit extreme but The 5D MK III keeps it acceptable.


1. F2.8, ISO 6400, 1/1000 at 300mm
Varsity-5 by Eric Ingerson, on Flickr

2. F2.8, ISO 6400, 1/1000 at 300mm
Varsity-8 by Eric Ingerson, on Flickr

 

[EIngerson]

One thing I noticed after posting. I should have dropped the green and yellow saturation to remove the tint on the helmets and other whites on photo 1. but oh well. Live and learn.

Note: That trick does not work under LED lighting. Only halogen.

 

[JacaRanda]

Well the quality, clarity etc. are great enough for me.

I'm telling you man. That is my favorite lens ever and I have never used one I could do something really crazy to get that lens; do I really need this pinkie toe?

 

[EIngerson]

Thanks JacaRanda. I could get myself in a heap of trouble over that lens too. lol

 

[Derrel]

I read on-line that a guy can donate a testicle and receive $34,000 for one...

Really NICE noise reduction work on that first image EIngerson! Looks very smooth, yet has decent detail still!

Yeah, a 300/2.8 is a wonderful optic.

 

[JacaRanda]

I read on-line that a guy can donate a testicle and receive $34,000 for one...

Don't tempt me man

 

[EIngerson]

I read on-line that a guy can donate a testicle and receive $34,000 for one...

Really NICE noise reduction work on that first image EIngerson! Looks very smooth, yet has decent detail still!

Yeah, a 300/2.8 is a wonderful optic.

Hmmmm, a testicle you say? lol

Thanks. The 5DMK III really handles noise well.

 

[vintagesnaps]

First even thinking about selling the party patio, now this?? your poor wife... lol

My solution to low light football was to shoot low light hockey instead. Nice set by the way.

 

[JacaRanda]

I read on-line that a guy can donate a testicle and receive $34,000 for one...

Really NICE noise reduction work on that first image EIngerson! Looks very smooth, yet has decent detail still!

Yeah, a 300/2.8 is a wonderful optic.

Hmmmm, a testicle you say? lol

Thanks. The 5DMK II really handles noise well.

TMI probably, but they've been snipped for years. I'm getting closer to making a decision here.....oh the creamy bokeh is within reach

 

[BillM]

You made that look much easier than it really is

 

[astroNikon]

Don't try the 400/2.8 either ...
you might have to sell more body parts

 

[sm4him]

I read on-line that a guy can donate a testicle and receive $34,000 for one...

Really NICE noise reduction work on that first image EIngerson! Looks very smooth, yet has decent detail still!

Yeah, a 300/2.8 is a wonderful optic.

Hmmmm, a testicle you say? lol

Thanks. The 5DMK II really handles noise well.

TMI probably, but they've been snipped for years. I'm getting closer to making a decision here.....oh the creamy bokeh is within reach

Remove "probably" and you're spot on.

 

[EIngerson]

Thanks all.