Not sure what these are, but I'm sure someone will let me know.

[Tight Knot]

Hi all,

Here are a few photos I took the other day using flash in an outdoor setting.
Rather difficult to to get the light exactly where I wanted because of the movement in the game, but I'm posting the after-processing shot of each, plus the wider angle showing the whole shot.

Let me know what you think (other than the fact that his foot was cut off, I know, I admit it, It was me that cut it off, but looking for critique on the lighting).

Thanks


Set 1.




Set 2.



Set 3.

 

[Tight Knot]

Bump.

Any comments on the lighting?

 

[astroNikon]

a quick question - is that the actual color of the ball or was the lighting too bright on it ?

and on the crops make sure you don't cut off the feet (or cutting off the feet is okay by some)

When I was doing my kids soccer I basically just bumped the ISO up and up and up so I could get fast shots.
I'm not quite sure what you are trying to do here other than to start getting a hang of flash. (which I'm kinda a newbie too)

 

[Tight Knot]

a quick question - is that the actual color of the ball or was the lighting too bright on it ?

and on the crops make sure you don't cut off the feet (or cutting off the feet is okay by some)

When I was doing my kids soccer I basically just bumped the ISO up and up and up so I could get fast shots.
I'm not quite sure what you are trying to do here other than to start getting a hang of flash. (which I'm kinda a newbie too)

Hi Astro,

Thanks for your reply,

The ball really is that garish orange color.

I actually cut the foot off accidentally when taking the photo, not in post processing.
My goal was to light the subject with a diffused fill flash while outdoors, so as to light the subject correctly, while not blowing out the highlights from the outdoors sun, or to under expose the ambient light

 

[astroNikon]

I've only used my umbrellas indoors to give fixed setting light .. so I'm pushing my knowledge here.

But do you think you may have used too much flash when you look closely? his shirt is reflecting alot. I don't think you blew any highlights out but if you are looking for more fill with the ambient then you got the front of him really bright (and that orange football), but as you go further back (like his legs) they didn't get any of the flash - especially in the first photo.

I would think you could start at 1/16 and go stronger to find the right amount. And maybe try positioning the umbrella, or where he is going to be/angled, so he gets light across his entire body and not overpower the ambient light (unless you want it that way).

It would be hard though unless he was in the exact spot each time.

Ideally I would try a couple flashes, one on each side.

my 2 cents

 

[Tight Knot]

I've only used my umbrellas indoors to give fixed setting light .. so I'm pushing my knowledge here.

But do you think you may have used too much flash when you look closely? his shirt is reflecting alot. I don't think you blew any highlights out but if you are looking for more fill with the ambient then you got the front of him really bright (and that orange football), but as you go further back (like his legs) they didn't get any of the flash - especially in the first photo.

I would think you could start at 1/16 and go stronger to find the right amount. And maybe try positioning the umbrella, or where he is going to be/angled, so he gets light across his entire body and not overpower the ambient light (unless you want it that way).

It would be hard though unless he was in the exact spot each time.

Ideally I would try a couple flashes, one on each side.

my 2 cents

Hi astroNikon,

That was really the whole point of the exercise here, to use flash outdoors in a moving situation, where the subject is constantly moving (in this case jumping/diving after a thrown football). Getting the right angle, and distance is very difficult when the target is constantly moving. I tried a whole bunch of settings on the flash, and if I remember correctly, I was flashing on full power for these shots.
As you can tell from the 2nd photo in each set, I was using a flash with umbrella, but a fairly small umbrella, so that may be part of the reason for the lighting circle not being as wide as I would have liked it.
Standard outdoor shots with flash as fill in daylight are not that difficult, but as always, moving targets are a lot harder to shoot (in all cases :mrgreen.

 

[astroNikon]

That is precisely the reason i bought a fast lens - nikon 80-200/2.8 AF-D for doing my kids soccer games. It let me control the light situation better than my 75-300/4.5 and other zoom. It made a world of a difference as when I pushed ISO it really performed well even in the dark early evening.

You can't put umbrellas around a football field. You could have someone position with an umbrella holding it which could create a better picture but then there"s two moving targets.
But I totally understand the concept here. Though difficult to get right.

 

[Tight Knot]

Hi astro,

Sounds like a really nice lens.
I really wouldn't try and use lights and umbrellas in a real game, I was just trying to get a few specific shots with the subject moving/diving/jumping etc. towards the light. An exercise in futility possibly

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[astroNikon]

That's the problem, they are moving toward the light and not standing up. So what ever is closer to the light has more light.
That's where pumping up the ISO is so nice.

I'm not a total ISO convert but in the old film days I either used 200 or 400 ASA film. So digital I never wandered above 400 until I started watching what AUTO ISO was doing ... 1600 even 6400 at times. So now I don't hesitate to go to 1600. I still cringe for anything higher but todays digitals are so much better than yesterdays. I had a d70 at one time, and there was a nice ISO comparison of a d70 vs d7000 - what a world of a difference.

So add ISO with a fast lens and it's been great so far. But just experimenting/learning more about higher ISOs would really give you what you want.

 

[Tight Knot]

I shot some decent photos of a night tag football game with a 55-250 mm lens at around f4 and an iso of 6400 & 12800.
Needless to say, I had to de-noise them in photoshop quite a bit. But they still came out okay.

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