finding the sweet spot

Just when I though I had it all figured out, I learn something new.

Lately I realized that when shooting with my strobes, its most effective to shoot from a higher angle. Because I’m only lighting half the court, the other half disappears and I lose the “game” feeling. At a recent volleyball game I decided to shoot from as high up as I could get. It helped with the lighting but also helped a lot with getting the players faces. When shooting at net level or lower, the players faces often are obstructed by the top of the net. This problem was solved by shooting higher up. It also cleaned up the backgrounds and provided for much more focused images.

never rely on your remote camera

At the last basketball game I shot, I set up a remote camera on the shot-clock. It was a big game against our rivals, Cal State Long Beach, so I got there four hours early. I also dropped by earlier in the morning to make sure that none of the teams had an open shoot-around scheduled. From 3pm-5pm the court was clear.

I arrived at 3pm and brought all my equipment in through the court-level entrance. When I got there I was faced with the choice to either setup a overhead from the catwalks or a clockcam. I ultimately decided on the clockcam because you see more faces from this angle, and I was covering the game for the newspaper. I had only set up a camera in this position once before. It took me a little over an hour this time. I had the arena staff lower and raise the hoop several times. The hardest part about setting up a camera in this position is that the shot-clock changes position as it is raised and lowered.

I borrowed a 40D from another photographer from the paper as a second body, which I would have wanted to use as the remote camera, but since I was there 4 hours in advance I needed to use my camera because I had an AC adapter.

As for the game, it came up a little short, picture-wise. I spent a lot of time setting up my camera and making sure that everything was perfect. The only big plays that were made on the basket where I had my camera set up were made by the other team. All I can say is that its a good thing I had an extra body.

Never rely on your remote camera.

Basketball : UCI vs Oregon

I got there 3 hours early to setup a clock-cam. I was denied. When we play big team, its best to get there at least 4 hours early. I sure learned my lesson. I had to settle for a post-cam, which wasn’t too bad, but definitely not what I was hoping for. My friend Brandon Wong was at the game shooting too and he let me use his 85mm f/1.2 for a little. That is an amazing lens to shoot with.

Anyways, there was an actual crowd at the game and for once and I could finally start to feel the school spirit. Hopefully it wasn’t a one time thing.

A Step in a Different Direction

My last few sports feature photos for the paper have been pretty much the same. Player(s) standing in the middle of the frame with a blacked out background. Yeah, it looks good, but its getting repetitive and not helping me learn anything. I did a portrait of UCI soccer super star, Matt Murphy. I took him over to a secluded stair case on the back side of the Bren Events Center. I used one Sunpak 555 to the left with a mini soft-box and a Sunpak 555 from above and behind to the right. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

Here they are after some photoshop.

Arena Lighting – Strobes in the Bren!!!

I finally got my strobes setup in the Bren Events Center at UCI. Only two but better than none. I cant wait for Basketball season!

This is what I used:

• White Lightning X1600 (2)
• 11″ Sport Reflectors (2)
• Super Clamps (2)
• 3″ stud for superclamp (2)
• Miniphone-to-household cable (2)
• Add-a-tap’s
• Zip-Cord
• Zip-Ties
• Plexiglass
• Gaffers Tape
• Extension cords
• Home made safety cables

This equipment does not include the Pocketwizard remotes needed to fire everything.

Anyways, here are some pics from the day that I set them up. A journey into the catwalks…

Most people don’t know about the secret door that goes to the catwalks. This is what it looks like when you open the door (location of the door is still secret).

One you go up the stairs there are more stairs.

Then you have to duck to walk under and around a few ventilation ducts.

And yet another door.

Once through the door, you are overlooking the whole arena.

But wait! There are more stairs.

And more stairs…

We are now approaching the top.

The view from the top. There are only a few dim lights on in the arena at this time, which is why its so dark.

Here is one of the lights that I installed. As it says, its a White Lightning UltraZap 1600. All plugged in and ready to go!

Here you can see a sync cord that runs from the strobe to an add-a-tap that hooks into the brown zip-cord that is used to sync all my strobes together. It took me awhile to figure out exactly how it worked, but trust me, it makes sense and works.

Here I have a miniphone-to-household cable running from a Pocketwizard remote (set to receive) to an add-a-tap that hooks into the zip-cord sync line. So basically, when I send a signal to this pocketwizard it sends out a pulse to both of the strobes that are connected to the zip-cord sync line, and makes them fire. The Pocketwizard remote is also extended out from the metal railing to reduce signal interference.

As you can see, there is a sheet of plexiglass attached to the front of the reflector. This is a safety precaution just in case a bulb breaks. It would be bad if a bulb overheated and broke and fell all the way down to where the fans were sitting…but I got it covered. Literally. There are also holes drilled in it so that the bulb can cool better.

Home made safety cables made from supplies found at a local Home Depot can support up to 250 lbs and only cost about $2ish to make. Once again. Light falling 100+ feet down into stands = bad news.

250 ft. spool of zip-cord. Since I only had two lights, I only had to go half way around the court. I ended up with a lot to spare.

Using only the strobes, this is how bright it is.

Two strobes does a very good job of lighting half of a court.

Little orange wire-holder clips from Home Depot. I like.

I did a bunch of research before installing these strobes. Here is a small list of resources that helped me:

• http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/81
• http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=14364
• http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=25330
• http://www.prophotohome.com/forum/lighting-equipment-technique/40427-add-taps-pocket-wizards.html

I also attended the Sports Shooter Academy V (SSAV) photography workshop where I took an arena lighting class taught by local freelance photographer Matt Brown.

Goodbye ISO 3200.