p.1 #1 · Strobed HS Basketball with New D4 Settings
I had been struggling a little with all of my shots being tack sharp. I made a couple of settings changes and I am more happy with the results. I use BBF so I only have the shutter for release and not focus.
Nikon D4 Settings
A1 AF-C Priority Selection: Release
A2 AF-S Priority Selection: Release
A3 Focus Tracking with Lock-on: 2 (between Normal 3 and short 1)
A4 AF Activation: AF-ON only
A7 Number of Focus Points: 21 Points
A8 Assign AF-ON Button: AF-ON
A9 Assign AF-ON Button Vert: AF-ON
Sharpness: 6
AF-C D9
p.1 #3 · Strobed HS Basketball with New D4 Settings
What was the ambient exposure? I'm sure you are aware that you generally need to have the ambient exposure be 2-3 stops below the flash exposure to ensure that the flash can completely freeze the action.
It looks like the ambient exposure was higher than that, so it is quite possible that you got motion blurring due to the 1/250th a second shutter speed. That was enough to freeze most of the action, but there are body parts that moved faster than that and it caused some slight blurring.
p.1 #5 · Strobed HS Basketball with New D4 Settings
Beautiful stuff! I've taken your advice from another thread and am going to try the strobed. Switched to D600's and now have the Einsteins. Questions I have for you is exactly how you used you strobes, position, bounced or not, your strobe settings?
As I said on MP facebook, I have one shot at shooting a practice and they will make a decision based on what the shots look like and wheither the players were bothered by the strobing. I really have to make this 1st practice shoot perfect with some great results.
p.1 #6 · Strobed HS Basketball with New D4 Settings
Take your laptop to practice with you, and download what you shoot, and make adjustments as necesary until you get what looks good. Practice probably last a couple hours, should have time to dial it all in.
p.1 #7 · Strobed HS Basketball with New D4 Settings
Anita,
Strobes can take a little experimenting with to get things right. You have to look at the angle of your light, where you mount the strobes, the power of the strobes etc. I shoot direct because I think it adds depth to the players. Bounced looks flat to me. To me, direct has more color and contrast. The key on the strobes is to be about 3 stops less than ambient. To make the process easy, just set up your SS at 1/250, set your ISO to a starting point of about 400 and your f/4.0. Just take some test shots without your flash and just using ambient. You should have virtually no ambient. You don't want it pitch black but you want it with very little ambient light. Then have your strobes go off and see if you get the lighting that you want. If the flash is too strong, dial it down a bit. Your Einsteins are designed that the lower the power, the shorter the flash duration. The shorter duration, the better ability to freeze the action. I generally have my strobes at 1/6 power but you will need to play with it to get the right settings for your gym.
You don't want the strobes to be too strong to cause problems for the players. I point my strobes from the corner and aim towards center court.
There are many others in this forum that are much more accomplished than I am and I am sure they will have some good advice for you. Drop me a PM if you need any help.
