On Thu, 2 Mar 2000 21:47:32 -0000, John Palmer wrote:
>Somewhere in the thread about mega-flashguns and guide numbers, Barry BB (I
>think) said he likes to shoot sport at around f/8 to f/11 for depth of
>field.
That was me.
>This is interesting. I do a bit of sports photography, and I reckon that
>depth of field is no friend to the sports snapper. Much better to shoot wide
>open and get differential focus to isolate the subject. ISTM that stopping
>down gives only marginal improvement in usable subject sharpness, but shows
>up the background much more clearly. Some clown in a bright red jacket on
>the far side of the pitch is distracting enough when he is just a total
>blur. Give him a bit of sharpness and he's far worse.
It's all a matter of positioning and approach. I prefer to isolate
the athletes with light, but have enough depth of field to keep the
whole player in focus, and be able to worry more about composition
and timing than focus. By shooting basketball with relatively slow
film (100-200) at F/8 or f 5.6 with my Sunpack433D on auto (GN
40/120), for instance, I can count on well lit players 15-20 ft out,
and an auditorium that is otherwise 1-3 stops underexposed.
I'm also able to use positioning to my advantage. In most gyms, I'm
able to shoot directly under the goal, or within 10 feet of the goal.
Most of my shots line up longways down the court, meaning there is
often nothing but empty court and the opposite end of the gym (100 ft
moreor less) behind the players. Even if I do shoot at an angle, I
try to get enough angle that the crowd is 20-50 ft behind the player
in my line of sight, so thy're well out of focus.
When I have to shoot directly across the court, I do use a wider
aperture for the reason you suggest, but I miss a lot more shots that
way. Basketball is a fast game, and players move in unpredictable
ways. I have a lot of otherwise great shots that are unusable because
my focus was 3 feet in front of or 3 feet behind the player at f/2.8
That doesn't happen at f/5.6, f/8, and f/11.
The other sport I shoot a lot of is baseball. To date I've always
shot it with available light, but the same principle applies. Unless
I'm shooting home plate, I can use a smaller aperture, because the
action tends to happen in isolated areas. What's going to distract
within 5 or 10 feet of 2nd base?
>Also - how do your sportsmen react to being shot by flash?
They don't even notice. At tournament games, there may be two school
photogs, three or four newspaper photogs, and a couple of parents
shooting flash throughout the game. Ask the players later if it was
distracting, and they always give the same report: "you were using
flash? Never saw it." Remember that they';re already tuning out
hundreds or thousands of people in the stands, pretty cheerleaders on
the sidelines, banners on the wall, people screaming at them, etc.
Your flash is a miniscule distraction compared to all that.
> I've never dared
>try it for fear fo distracting them (and since I usually shoot rugby players
>I really do mean "fear"!),
I can understand your fear.I played rugby and lacrosse in high school
and college. Big angry sweaty guys who just injured an opponent
aren't the guys you want to hack off.
I've seen other people using p-and-s's with auto
>flash get told off by the match officials.
Were they being toldoff because they were amateurs without the
appropriate pass/access/demeanor/etc, or for using flash? Press and
amateur rules can often be strangely arbitratry.
BBB
-
B.B. Bean - Have horn, will travel
bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Peach Orchard, MO
http://www.beancotton.com/bbbean.shtml
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