Need help shooting softball at night (sports photography)

[cajuncandb]

Ok so I have a Canon T2I and a Canon 70-200 F2.8L and when the sun sets and the stadium lights come up I want to be able to get the same quality I get during the daytime. It's of course easy to capture a nice shot when the subjects are standing still, but I want to get some great action shops of batting and fielding - so I need some help on settings to use and techniques when shooting in the evening. Most of my shots will be on the field and of course probably zoomed from 1st base line or 3rd base line - I want to try an use a high shutter speed to stop the action but then i also dont want to lose the lighting - if there is a preferred 3rd party flash that i should get to aid in the effort let me know. Thanks in advance for the help

Chris

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by cajuncandb

Ok so I have a Canon T2I and a Canon 70-200 F2.8L and when the sun sets and the stadium lights come up I want to be able to get the same quality I get during the daytime.

Just accept the fact that that won't happen. It will save you a lot of frustration.

Most of my shots will be on the field and of course probably zoomed from 1st base line or 3rd base line - I want to try an use a high shutter speed to stop the action but then i also dont want to lose the lighting

You will need a high ISO. Even if you shoot wide open at 2.8, zoomed in you will need a high shutter speed , at least 1/250 and that's if your subject isn't moving...want to stop fast action too then you need to be at 1/500 or maybe a bit higher. You'll need to push your iso hard to get there.

if there is a preferred 3rd party flash that i should get to aid in the effort let me know. Thanks in advance for the help

Why not the 580? too much coin? Then Nissin di866II @$350 - it's ittl and has enough power to throw light across the field.

[Hill Country Hack]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Just accept the fact that that won't happen. It will save you a lot of frustration.


You will need a high ISO. Even if you shoot wide open at 2.8, zoomed in you will need a high shutter speed , at least 1/250 and that's if your subject isn't moving...want to stop fast action too then you need to be at 1/500 or maybe a bit higher. You'll need to push your iso hard to get there.


Why not the 580? too much coin? Then Nissin di866II @$350 - it's ittl and has enough power to throw light across the field.

Very good information, but the use of flash may not be allowed.
Set your ISO high, select shutter priority to see how fasy you can get your shutter. Or you can shoot wide open apeture priority with high ISO and take the shutter speed you get. You can try panning techiques for the baserunners. Prefocus at a base, depending on the situation, and wait for the action to go there

[Walkere]

Originally Posted by cajuncandb

Ok so I have a Canon T2I and a Canon 70-200 F2.8L and when the sun sets and the stadium lights come up I want to be able to get the same quality I get during the daytime. It's of course easy to capture a nice shot when the subjects are standing still, but I want to get some great action shops of batting and fielding - so I need some help on settings to use and techniques when shooting in the evening.

It depends a lot on the quality of the lights. If they're bright enough, then you'll be able to get a decent shot. If they're not... then you're kindda SOL.

I use similar gear (Canon T1i, Sigma 70-200 F2.8) and end up at a lot of night football and indoor basketball games for my high school. The strategy is the same. I turn the ISO up to 3200, open the aperture to f/2.8, and find a shutter speed (at least 1/250) that gives me a decent exposure. The quality of lighting in your stadium will determine if you can push that shutter speed higher.

In this case, I would err on the side of under-exposing the photos a little in order to eliminate motion blur, and then boost the exposure after the fact in Lightroom. You'll end up with a bit more noise, but a bit of noise is better than a lot of blur. This is also why I'd go manual instead of aperture priority. I'd be disappointed if my camera properly exposed the pictures, and then caused them all to come out at 1/125th. Except for a little gradation as you move towards the middle of the field, the lighting is constant - so there's really no reason not to go manual. You don't need to worry about clouds and changing lighting conditions like you would at a day game.

For action on the field, 1/250 should be ok. If you try to take a picture of a batter, I suspect you'd get a lot of motion blur on the bat, though. You're just going to have to deal with that.

Something to keep in mind is that the lights will be stronger along the sidelines (because its closer to the lights) and dimmer in the middle of the field. So short center and second base are likely to have the worst light out of the whole place.

Good luck!

[Walkere]

Originally Posted by Hill Country Hack

Very good information, but the use of flash may not be allowed.

You'd have to ask an official at the game to be sure, but it probably is allowed. I know I read on the forum (a few years ago) that most high school sports have no official ban on flash photography. I've definitely witnessed people (usually journalists) using flashes at our high school basketball games and wrestling matches.

My concern would be about the flash recycle time, though. It might get in the way of continuous shooting, and if you click off a few frames you might find the first one or two are lit and the other ones aren't. Usually the guys that I see using lights for a basketball game use two large strobes, bounced off the walls and plugged in. This bathes the gym in a little extra light, and the direct power allows them to recycle a lot quicker than a battery operated speedlite.