Well, those of you who have seen my stuff over the past months and years probably have noticed that most is "available light". I have the opportunity next week to do the Team and Incdvidual pictures for our new local Pro Indoor Football league team, the Everett Hawks. We were supposed to do this last Tuesday night, but luckily for me all the uniforms didn't show up on time. This ain't NFL type budgets don't you know.
So, I get to the field which is basically carpet laid over a hockey rink. No risers, the owner of the team wants the team to be sitting in the stands. I am going to have somewhere between 30-50 people total if all the cheer-leaders and coaches show up. My "normal" lighting setup is my SB-800 on the camera or connected via cord to a flash bracket. 2 SB-26's bounced into umbrellas. I set this up pointed at the stands and to be quite frank I got better images without the flash at ISO 800, 1/50, f2.8.
So, given that I have until next week I plan to go to our local Pro Lighting place and rent some lights. Question is, what to get? Do I get a couple of mondo 1200 watt Daylight balance HMI's or am I better off with strobes? My thought is to go with the HMI's, as then I am looking at what I am shooting all the time and the balance might be easier. I also think that setup will be easier as I don't have to worry about remotes and power packs. Also, given that I expect this to take up 5 or 6 rows in the stands, any thoughts on how high the lights should be? Should I also get a platform so that the camera location is at about mid-height, rather than shooting up from the floor? Man, I wish I could get in there and do a day or 3 of testing.
So, for all of you folks who really do know, unlike me, what you are doing in this area, I'm all ears. For the Individuals my "mini-setup" will be fine. By the way, Sam Adams of the Buffalo Bills, former Seattle Seahawk, owns the team. He is a REALLY big guy and I don't want him angry with me...
So, I get to the field which is basically carpet laid over a hockey rink. No risers, the owner of the team wants the team to be sitting in the stands. I am going to have somewhere between 30-50 people total if all the cheer-leaders and coaches show up. My "normal" lighting setup is my SB-800 on the camera or connected via cord to a flash bracket. 2 SB-26's bounced into umbrellas. I set this up pointed at the stands and to be quite frank I got better images without the flash at ISO 800, 1/50, f2.8.
So, given that I have until next week I plan to go to our local Pro Lighting place and rent some lights. Question is, what to get? Do I get a couple of mondo 1200 watt Daylight balance HMI's or am I better off with strobes? My thought is to go with the HMI's, as then I am looking at what I am shooting all the time and the balance might be easier. I also think that setup will be easier as I don't have to worry about remotes and power packs. Also, given that I expect this to take up 5 or 6 rows in the stands, any thoughts on how high the lights should be? Should I also get a platform so that the camera location is at about mid-height, rather than shooting up from the floor? Man, I wish I could get in there and do a day or 3 of testing.
So, for all of you folks who really do know, unlike me, what you are doing in this area, I'm all ears. For the Individuals my "mini-setup" will be fine. By the way, Sam Adams of the Buffalo Bills, former Seattle Seahawk, owns the team. He is a REALLY big guy and I don't want him angry with me...
