Use of strobes vs ambient light in a sports venue

I was first introduced to strobe sports photography by David Black in the Sports Photography Workshop in Colorado Springs in 2004. David gave us the opportunity to shoot swimmers using strobes in the US Olympic Training facility. Several of us stayed around to help David take down the strobes and rigging – a informal but effective lesson on the critical safety elements when using strobes.

Once I saw the difference strobes could make I was hooked. While I enjoy the opportunity to shoot sports I doubly enjoy it when I can use strobes given most interior venues. The lighting in most arenas leaves a lot to be desired in terms of light and color balance. When contrasted with the use of ambient light the impact of strobes in terms of contrast, color saturation and depth of field is really noticeable.

In the last two weeks we’ve recently worked with UAF Athletics and Physical Plant staff to relocate 4 Elinchrom strobes (RX 600s) to light up the basketball and volleyball courts. The strobes had been unused for close to two years after having been in regular use for about 6 years. It was a complex situation better left undiscussed.

In the last couple of weeks we were able to move the strobes to locations close to each of the 4 corners of the BB court where the light would be more closely vertical to the playing surface. Since we were significantly closer to the court we were able to substitute 60 degree reflectors for the 50 degree “long throw” reflectors used when the lights were significantly further away. Since the new location would not be easily accessible we had to equip at least one of the Elinchroms with an AC powered transformer – a piece of equipment much more difficult to locate than initially anticipated. We were under some time pressure especially with a volleyball tournament only days away.

Below is an example of custom color ambient light image shot of UAF Nanook women’s volleyball along side an image from last weekend using the strobes.

The ambient light image (left above)  was shot with a Canon EOS 1D MK IV, manual, 1/800, f 2.8, ISO 3200, Custom white balance, 200 mm

The image on the right was shot with Elinchrom strobes 600 RXs with a Canon 1D MK IV, on manual, 1/250, f 5.6, ISO 640, 5600K, 120 mm as were the images below.