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 p.1 #3 · Indoor Sports (HS and below) ---> Flash Photography Distracting? | |
I'd start off talking to your school's coaches for the sports you want to try this and maybe set up something during a practice to work out the logistics of where to locate the lights. It would be a good trial run to figure out coverage, power output requirements, exposures, etc. And for the athletes to give feedback on how distracting it might be for them.
From my experience doing this for university level basketball, no one complained. When their minds are in the game, it seems they don't notice these things. But those gyms were also large enough for proper stand seating with an upper level concourse where I could set up lights. That said, it's a possible excuse for coaches, particularly visiting teams to use if/when their team is playing poorly.
I never tried it for volleyball, but would have a bit more concern here because players are constantly looking up, jumping and timing when to hit the ball. It could be possible that a flash right at a key moment could be distracting. (For this reason I generally avoided shooting basketball free throws on strobe, at least when it really mattered to a game's outcome).
As already suggested, by bringing in lighting equipment, you change the dynamic of it being a relatively unobtrusive photo-enthusiast parent photographing their kid's games to requiring additional space on the gym floor, possibly causing hazards and the resulting liability questions that might be raised. I agree with others. It's almost to the point where I wouldn't bother unless there was enough room.
You also have to consider your shooting technique will change drastically. You'll be timing everything for one shot and won't be able to rely on high fps bursts. Meaning, you'll have many fewer total images and possibly many fewer keepers, too.
In terms of equipment, key factors for the strobes you use are: short (fast) flash duration, sufficient power, quick recycling. Also: battery or AC power?
Battery powered offers a lot of simplicity and eliminates the potential hazard introduced by cables. It's possible you'd have to run extension cords, or end up running AC powered lights off battery powered inverters (such as Paul C Buff's Vagabond Mini). But while most of these battery powered strobes have pretty good endurance, you could run into a situation of having to change out a battery at an inopportune time. That said, with HS sports this might not be a factor.
There are a lot of battery powered monolights on the market now, but pretty much all of them have relatively poor (slow/long) flash duration at their higher power settings. That said, all that are TTL capable are IGBT controlled, which means as you reduce power output, flash duration shortens considerably. And of course, recycle time improves. Basically, you'll probably want to get units that are overpowered for your needs and use them at a medium power output to benefit from faster flash duration and recycle time. Bigger units also have better heat management and are less likely to prematurely shut down due to their internal thermal management systems.
You want short/fast flash duration times because this is effectively your shutter speed, and when shooting sports, you want as fast a shutter speed as possible to minimize motion blur. Keep in mind there are a couple ways manufacturers report flash duration times. There's t.5 and t.1. For example, 1/1000 t.5 looks better for marketing, 1/1000 t.1 is technically more difficult to achieve at the same power output (more expensive equipment). Strobe output typically has a quick peak and then tails off. IIRC some of this is dependent on flash tube design. Some have a very sharp initial peak with most of the output at the very beginning, while others are have a more gradual peak and a longer tail of significant output after the peak. There are benefits to both, but for what you want to do, shorter/faster flash duration at or near your camera's normal flash shutter sync speed is preferred. This is complicated by IGBT because it effectively quenches/cuts off the tail-end of the strobe's light output, which is why flash durations get shorter with these types of units as power is decreased because the flash tube's output is cut off sooner at lower power settings (this is also how all TTL capable Speedlite type flash units work).
It's probably easier just to read the info at this link: https://www.paulcbuff.com/Flash-Duration.html
IMO, you probably want faster than 1/1000 t.1 output to really freeze motion (but the question of when is 'good enough' good enough comes into play because you can chase perfection here, like with all things photography, and just end up spending a lot more money for marginally better technical results). A lot of these units will also do HSS (high speed sync), allowing you to shoot above your camera's normal maximum flash sync shutter speed. HSS works by pulsing output rapidly - like stroboscopic mode on Speedlites - to maintain an even output as the shutter opening travels across the sensor. This could also be an option for what you want to do, but HSS typically results in reduced exposure relative to the actual output and puts more thermal strain on the strobe. Meaning again, you'd probably want an overpowered/larger unit to be sure you had enough power, fast enough recycle times, and it could sufficiently manage the potential thermal issues.
Power output/exposure is also a fine balance between just enough and too much or too little. Too much and you're potentially wasting battery endurance. It could also be more of a distraction for athletes and spectators. Too little and you'll get too much ambient light mixing in, which will result in ghosting and color casts in areas shaded from the strobe exposure. The general rule back in the days was you wanted strobes to be three stops more powerful than ambient. So for your ISO 20,000 at 1/500 ambient, you'd want to be working at around ISO 1250 at 1/250 (camera's max normal flash sync speed). You could also experiment with going into HSS at 1/500 ISO 2500 or 1/1000 ISO 5000.
As for how to position the lights.... I think you'd want a minimum of two, but more will better light up a full court. Not that you will be shooting action on the full court, but when you have just one or two lights set up, you will usually end up with dark backgrounds, which can look unattractive. If you can only put the lights on stands on the gym floor, then at least get quality 13' light stands, and if possible, bounce the light off a white/light colored wall or ceiling (another reason you'll probably need more powerful units). If you're able to put lights up in an elevated position, such as bleachers off to the side, then you could experiment with more direct lighting. But my preference would still be to bounce, if possible, for more even, diffused illumination. Oh, and you want to attach some weights/sandbags to the base of the stands to prevent them being knocked over, especially if you're hoisting a 5-6lb light up to maximum height. Remember that flash tubes and their protective housings are glass and shatter on impact. 
Edited on Oct 21, 2021 at 03:36 PM · View previous versions
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