Roller Derby Practice

[drummingpariah]

I went to a local roller derby team's practice this week to get some practice in of my own. The lighting in hockey rinks is really challening me, combined with the speed of the skaters and complexity of their movements (quite often, they're cooking along at 10mph relative to the background with each arm/leg swinging in opposite directions relative to their bodies). I dug up a few shots that came out reasonably well (I'm firmly planted in the amateur photography class), but I'm still not wow'd. I'm looking for pretty much any feedback anyone here is willing to offer on what I could've done better here, and feel free to pick it apart and be as brutal as you'd like.

If you're feeling REALLY generous with your critiques, click the picture to go to the full gallery, I'm happy to take advice/feedback/suggestions on any/all of these photos.


Camera Nikon D70
Exposure 1/100 sec
Aperture 1.8
Focal Length 85mm
Flash Used false

Thanks in advance!

[Jim Bryant]

Your Derby Practice photo with the three women is a much better photograph than the one posted. Try to get up higher in the stands and get a overall photo, then take pictures as you move down floor level.

[drummingpariah]

Thanks! I had a few others that I had considered asking for critiques on, but this was the least blurry (I'm really fighting against blur vs noise pretty hard right now) of the set. I'm having a really hard time with white balance, and definitely don't have the hang of it yet at all.

In this particular venue, there are no stands that I can gain access to, but I definitely like the idea of getting some overview shots.

[Michael_nine22.com]

Derby photos are tough! All the venues I've shot at has been low light. Low light and motion don't mix unless you add flash, and that is what you have to do to get good photos, unless you want to do panning shots.

Most derby photogs use small strobes or studio strobes off track around 4 corners triggered with pocket wizards.

[drummingpariah]

Originally Posted by Michael_nine22.com

Derby photos are tough! All the venues I've shot at has been low light. Low light and motion don't mix unless you add flash, and that is what you have to do to get good photos, unless you want to do panning shots.

Most derby photogs use small strobes or studio strobes off track around 4 corners triggered with pocket wizards.

That makes a lot of sense, and that's consistent with what I saw when I went down to shoot the big Boston bout I did last month. It sounds like it's way out of my budget range though, so I'm just focusing on getting the best results I can with minimal equipment. If nothing else, it's really forcing me to work on my panning, focus (only manual for me), posture, and stability in huge ways. Even if the images I get are only so-so, I'm gaining a lot skill-wise.

[rotty022]

on a positive note, i like the dof and composition.

[drummingpariah]

Originally Posted by rotty022

on a positive note, i like the dof and composition.

Thanks! Criticism is always helpful, but hearing what's gone right is every bit as helpful. I just went through my 'old' derby pictures (from June) and compared them to my 'new' derby pictures (from this weekend) and it's such a massive difference I almost couldn't believe it (almost).

[sonysherry]

I love rollerskating and for me to get the full effect of the image, I need to see the skates. Turn your camera on it side to get a full body image. I use a 50mm 1.8 for my daughter's basketball photos. I use a shutter speed of 1/1000, f1.8, and a high iso. My stop motion is excellent and you can read the words on jerseys and the b ball. I do noise reduction on my apple computer. Do you have photoshop for that? Good luck.