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Archive 2014 · Worst lit field ever...

  
 
JimBowman
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Worst lit field ever...


Really experienced what was quite possibly the worst lit and setup football field I have ever been on last night. The endzone was completely dark - standing in the back of it was like standing in a black hole. Managed to get lucky with a few photos and a ton of work in PP but man it was bad.

I was shooting with a D7100 and 70-200 f/2.8 VRII - had the ISO up to 6400, shutter was at 1600 handheld. Had it setup to single focal point with the first band of surrounding focus points enabled. Set to 11 focus points instead of the 51. Messed around with exposure and even tried the 1.3 additional crop mode to get a bit more reach because of the way the field was setup (I was on the sidelines but getting to my normal spots was difficult and the field itself was a dome shape instead of flat.

Honestly I am just venting because it was one of those nights where you feel like you have no idea what you are doing at the end of it looking at the results. I simply wasn't prepared to deal with the horrible conditions and adjust properly. But I am moving on to next week back at our home field where the lighting and field conditions are not perfect for what we do but they are more than adequate.

Funny part is the two newspaper photogs there pretty much left pissed off after the sun went down because it was that bad.



Aug 30, 2014 at 03:33 PM
Eric Smith
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Worst lit field ever...


You were shooting at 1/1600 at 6400 ISO and you say it was a black hole or did you mean 1/160?


Aug 30, 2014 at 05:16 PM
Matt OHarver
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Worst lit field ever...


Man I'd love 6400ISO F2.8 and 1/1600. Heck I'd probably wet myself with joy.


Aug 30, 2014 at 06:15 PM
gchappel
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Worst lit field ever...


Heck
I was at ISO 12,800. F2.8 just to get 1/400 - 1/640 shooting hs football last night
D4 handles it pretty well. Focusing not a problem- with practice.
Colors not great, especially with the white balance changes related to the light pulsing.
A lot of these go straight to b&h.
Gary



Aug 30, 2014 at 06:16 PM
Carlos Salcedo
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Worst lit field ever...


My worst field in Phoenix (will remain nameless to protect the innocent) so far has been ISO 25,600 1/500th at f/2.5-2.8 (end zones 1/3 stop darker than 20-20 yard lines). Colors were just just horrible.


Aug 30, 2014 at 07:38 PM
rolette
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Worst lit field ever...


Most of us would kill for that sort of light in the end zone at HS football games...


Aug 31, 2014 at 08:34 AM
Grantland
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Worst lit field ever...


Matt OHarver wrote:
I'd probably wet myself with joy.


TMI



Aug 31, 2014 at 08:54 AM
JimBowman
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Worst lit field ever...


Eric Smith wrote:
You were shooting at 1/1600 at 6400 ISO and you say it was a black hole or did you mean 1/160?


You would have really had to see it to believe it. Not sure how the players even saw the ball being thrown. Probably just looking for the white stripe on the ball.

The problem definitely was not my gear it was my ability to adapt quickly and thinking what works at one field will work at every field. Lesson learned =)




Aug 31, 2014 at 09:19 AM
schlotz
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Worst lit field ever...


JimBowman wrote:
You would have really had to see it to believe it. Not sure how the players even saw the ball being thrown. Probably just looking for the white stripe on the ball.

The problem definitely was not my gear it was my ability to adapt quickly and thinking what works at one field will work at every field. Lesson learned =)



So....1/1600 was correct? Since for the most part football is not any faster than soccer, I suggest trying 1/1250 or possibly 1/1000 when on dimly lit fields. You can get good action shots below that speed but keeping it at or above 1/1000 is always desirable.

Matt



Aug 31, 2014 at 10:50 AM
JimBowman
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Worst lit field ever...


Yes 1/1600 was correct. I rarely dip it below that mark and tried 1/1250 and 1/1000 a few times but ended up with a few blurred images (poor panning on my part).


Aug 31, 2014 at 01:17 PM
JimBowman
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Worst lit field ever...


As an aside to the discussion has anyone tried or shoot regularly with the focus point at the top of the box instead of the middle for sports? I shot the 3rd quarter of the game with the focus point at the top and go decent results with it mainly to make sure the area in focus was the player heads. It made more sense to me to have it at the top but I am not sure how reliable it is after only using it for one quarter of play.


Aug 31, 2014 at 01:20 PM
Ralph Thompson
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Worst lit field ever...


You have no idea what bad is.... I shoot at a field lit with temporary lights. 5 generator driven construction light trailers on each side... I could not get remotely close to ISO 6400 with 1/1600 at F/ anything..... Even "IF" you could get enough light, the cycling kills you because there aren't enough light heads to even out the lights. I shoot at ISO 10K+ and fill flash it....
http://www.maxpreps.com/photo/thumbnails.aspx?photogalleryid=cea823a9-b1f9-4041-b2bd-1664aed4154a



Aug 31, 2014 at 02:01 PM
SargentRay
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Worst lit field ever...


JimBowman wrote:
As an aside to the discussion has anyone tried or shoot regularly with the focus point at the top of the box instead of the middle for sports? I shot the 3rd quarter of the game with the focus point at the top and go decent results with it mainly to make sure the area in focus was the player heads. It made more sense to me to have it at the top but I am not sure how reliable it is after only using it for one quarter of play.



Yup ! That's me i never have the focus point centered, always high center when shooting vertical and high to the left when horizontal in order to leave space in front of the running player while still being able to focus on him. Will of course reverse to high right if i have players running right to left in the visor but i try to avoid it as much as i can.

As for the lighting conditions i followed my son for many years in football and our home field was just horrible, with old lights from another time. I was lucky to shoot at 12,800 iso and most times it was more like 25,500 at 1/500th sec. It always meant hours of post processing but i didn't mind at the time since i had no deadline whatsoever, not sure i would ever do it again, heck i think i'd rig a monopod with a couple of flashes and Better Beamer cones or something...

Here's an example of a typical shot at our home field, but it has been run through Neat Image.



Nikon D3s - 70-200mm - 1/640th sec f 2,8 16,000 iso



Aug 31, 2014 at 02:17 PM
JimBowman
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Worst lit field ever...


Ralph Thompson wrote:
You have no idea what bad is.... I shoot at a field lit with temporary lights. 5 generator driven construction light trailers on each side... I could not get remotely close to ISO 6400 with 1/1600 at F/ anything..... Even "IF" you could get enough light, the cycling kills you because there aren't enough light heads to even out the lights. I shoot at ISO 10K+ and fill flash it....
http://www.maxpreps.com/photo/thumbnails.aspx?photogalleryid=cea823a9-b1f9-4041-b2bd-1664aed4154a


Ralph I have to say you did an amazing job with the photos in those conditions. Not sure how high the D7100 will go in ISO for sports and still produce crisp images but I am going to put it to through the ringer before this season is out and make it work =)




Aug 31, 2014 at 04:28 PM
Matt OHarver
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Worst lit field ever...


If that is your worst lit field, you have it awesome. This week I shot at the second best lit field I have in my coverage area. F2.8 8000ISO and 1/800 in the best part of the field. I hit 12,800 and 1/640 inside the 15 at each end. This photo was taken in the best lit part of the field on Friday night.


MJO_3593fm by MattOphotog, on Flickr



Aug 31, 2014 at 05:19 PM
JimBowman
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Worst lit field ever...


Eric Smith wrote:
You were shooting at 1/1600 at 6400 ISO and you say it was a black hole or did you mean 1/160?


Ok I am an idiot. I looked at the EXIF data on my shots instead of assuming what I had set for the camera was actually taking effect. So here goes:

ISO (Min): 1600
ISO (Max): 6400
Min Shutter Speed: 1600

This was all in U1 mode on the D7100. Not sure why but in the early game shots my aperture was stepping down to F4 - ISO was always operating between the limits I had set. Shutter speed was anywhere from 1/250 to 1/500. Never once did it even go above 1/1000.

My guess is the U1/U2 settings are not what I want to use and need to switch over to manual. Slightly confused right now like I just realized I have been doing something wrong the entire time =(



Aug 31, 2014 at 06:37 PM
Scott Sewell
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Worst lit field ever...


After the last post I'm a bit confused. You weren't shooting in total manual mode? Should have been. I have no idea what "U" modes are or what they do.

Beyond that, if you're shutter speeds were 1/1600, as others have said, that's FAR from the worst lit field out there. In fact, that's WAY better than the Big 12 field I shoot where (under the lights) I'm at ISO3200, f2.8, 1/640.

1/1600 at ISO6400? Must be nice.



Aug 31, 2014 at 08:29 PM
Jefferson
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Worst lit field ever...


... ...


Aug 31, 2014 at 08:41 PM
JimBowman
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Worst lit field ever...


Scott Sewell wrote:
After the last post I'm a bit confused. You weren't shooting in total manual mode? Should have been. I have no idea what "U" modes are or what they do.

Beyond that, if you're shutter speeds were 1/1600, as others have said, that's FAR from the worst lit field out there. In fact, that's WAY better than the Big 12 field I shoot where (under the lights) I'm at ISO3200, f2.8, 1/640.

1/1600 at ISO6400? Must be nice.


Actually my understanding of what was going on with the camera was cleared up on the Nikon forums. A kind soul was extremely helpful in educating me on the settings I thought were being applied vs. how the camera was actually working. Basically I was hitting the ISO ceiling on my settings and the shutter speed was stepping down to compensate for the lack of light. So I was ending up with 6400 ISO shots at 400-500 shutter speeds.

So in short I wasn't looking at my EXIF data but instead thinking that the minimum shutter speed was never going below what I had set because I didn't understand how that was all working. So...the lightbulb is on and I am a little smarter for it (albeit slightly embarrassed...).




Aug 31, 2014 at 09:57 PM
Scott Sewell
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Worst lit field ever...


JimBowman wrote:
Actually my understanding of what was going on with the camera was cleared up on the Nikon forums. A kind soul was extremely helpful in educating me on the settings I thought were being applied vs. how the camera was actually working. Basically I was hitting the ISO ceiling on my settings and the shutter speed was stepping down to compensate for the lack of light. So I was ending up with 6400 ISO shots at 400-500 shutter speeds.

So in short I wasn't looking at my EXIF data but instead thinking that the minimum shutter speed was never going
...Show more


If you've got it figured out, Jim, that's what matters!! Good luck next time out!!



Sep 01, 2014 at 06:42 PM
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