NinjaKour Event Shot

[JustJazzie]

@CherylL - Thank you for taking the time to look and share your thoughts with me!

@Jeff15 Thank you!

@Designer - Definitely something to think about! Thanks.

@Derrel - I think you just solved what happened! I was shooting in general around 6400-8000. In the ones where my flash didn't fire, my ISO was bumped to 12,800 ish- maybe the speed light thought it didn't NEED to fire at that setting. I think I remember I was trying to avoid that harsh back shadow so I tried bumping up iso to compensate. Clearly that didn't work out for me well.... I've been looking at some modifiers and the light sphere seems to have less back shadow than the flash bender. Have you used the light sphere?

#4 is definitely in my top favorites! I wish I would have been able to achieve that more consistently.

And yes, I suppose my standards are pretty high for myself. But how else does one grow to achieve excellence? Really, the ones I posted I am pretty happy with, its my keeper rate that makes me cringe. It almost feels like I get these by accident. LOL But its not like kids running wild in an open gym is really a predictable thing. I am just lucky I don't shoot film.

 

[Designer]

In the ones where my flash didn't fire, my ISO was bumped to 12,800 ish- maybe the speed light thought it didn't NEED to fire at that setting. I think I remember I was trying to avoid that harsh back shadow so I tried bumping up iso to compensate.

I'm glad you realized why your flash didn't fire in some shots.

 

[Derrel]

I have not used the lightsphere. But I have used the StoFen Omni-bounce and have also tried a white styrofoam coffee cup.

On the one shot of the kid performing a backflip I thought that the secondary outline actually added to the photo rather than detracted from it. If the lighting is really that dim you might have to use a really slow shutter speed to match the ambient exposure and if so you might wish to explore using second curtain sync.

 

[Derrel]

Look through your Rejects and figure out what settings don't work, and look through your keepers and determine which settings are the best ones.

 

[JustJazzie]

Well, they seemed to be happy with them- and that is what is important. So I will call this shoot a success with potential.

@Derrel- thanks for reminding me about rear curtain sync! I will definitely try that next time. This time around it looks like iso 6500-8000 had the right amount of flash/ambient mixture and thats the range most of my keepers were in. Near the front of the building I can turn that down a touch if I need to. I ended up needing quite a bit of noise reduction- but these are just being used for social media- so I don't think it will be relevant to their usage.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Derrel]

It is amazing to see how far we have come in terms of acceptable quality at ISO levels that were simply unimaginable just a few years ago ISO 6000 to 8000 ... just incredible. I would never have guessed that you shot at such high levels just going by how clean the results look.

 

[Granddad]

I too looked through your whole set and was surprised. From your write up I didn't expect to be impressed - but I was. I can't add to what has been said about the images but I will add one thing: if you go to work for the company make sure the issue of copyright of images taken while you are working for them is settled and in writing. Some companies claim that copyright of work done while in their employment belongs to them and you could find yourself banned from using your own images. Maybe you have a good relationship with the management now but that may not always be the case and managers change.

Good luck and VERY well done!