The game was difficult, but not impossible. Of course, shooting this on a D2x or D200 would have been impossible. The D300 REALLY helped me out on this one.
I showed up at 6:45, pulled out my gear and figured out that my lighting was exactly where I thought it would be.
1/125-1/160 sec. F2.8. ISO 3200-High 0.3.
I was shooting the 80-200mm from the sidelines. My victim for the evening played defense. mid-field. If she had been a little closer to me I would have been great, but 200mm simply does not reach to mid field! To top it off, she only had possession of the ball 12 or 13 times during the game. It was a challenge.
and I LOVED it!
I ended up getting some printable shots, certainly nothing going in the portfolio though. The best action shot I managed is this:
Miraculously, she ended up with the ball and she ran in my direction. I fired 8 frames a second for the entire time she had the ball. This one isn't too bad, but I'm going to leave any cropping up to the photo editor.
After the game (we won, 1-0) I caught her and very politely asked if I could shoot some portrait style pictures. I pulled the whole "If I don't load something good tonight my editor is really going to chew me out," which I didn't even need to do. Kayla was extremely helpful and on top of that she said "I am really photogenic." She was.
I popped off a quick 5 or 6 pictures with the SB600 off camera and thanked her for her time. I definitely could have gotten away with a few more. Ah well.
I should have done a few more, because the white balance between my flash and the sodium vapor lights is.... well its icky. That is a word I have used a lot recently. Icky.
Still, it is way better than not having any portrait at all.
That is all for now. I'm going to be taking a little 4 mile bike ride today through the MUD!
Enjoy your weekend!
-Matt
