Lighting for sports/ motocross photography

[Aakajx]

Hi, well Im getting into sport photography. mainly dirt track and motocross.

What do you think the best set up is for lighting? Will one 600ex flash do? Ive seen some say have four but its just very pricey.
Im mainly shooting in daylight.. and somedays under lights. Like if one is useless no point just having one.. but if one flash helps with shadows ect it will be worth it.

 

[AceCo55]

I would be double/triple checking that you are allowed to use flash at the venues you intend shooting.
Motor sports and flash could be a recipe for a disaster.
Some gyms allow flash ... others forbid it (Basketball, gymnastics, volleyball etc)

 

[tirediron]

Assuming that as Ace points out, you are allowed to use flash, no, I don't think one speedlight would be sufficient for dirt-track sports, unless you've got a really, really good vantage point and the ambient light is favorable. My preference would be to have a couple of monolights suspended above or on each side of the track so that I could illuminate the whole width evenly (think two 'bikes neck and neck, one on the outside, one on the inside).

 

[runnah]

My preference would be to have a couple of monolights suspended above or on each side of the track so that I could illuminate the whole width evenly (think two 'bikes neck and neck, one on the outside, one on the inside).

Sorry but that is crazy. You'd end up with two broken lights by the end of the day.

A private session is one thing but a race/practice is another. I would make sure you get yous exposure right and bring up any dark spots in post.

 

[vintagesnaps]

In my experience in the US you'd have to find out from the venue if they would allow a photographer to come in and set up lighting. Most of the time it's not allowed or is only done by experienced photographers/building staff that know how to rig up the equipment because of safety concerns.

It could potentially be extremely dangerous to have a light fall from a great height such as up on a catwalk. I went to a sports photography workshop once where we learned a little about it; you have to know what you're doing and have the proper equipment to anchor it securely. There's also the liability involved.

If you're shooting daytime you should have enough light; under the lights you'd probably need to go early and do some test shots so you can figure out what will work with the existing light. Maybe think about what vantage points would be where the track is lit the best.

 

[tirediron]

My preference would be to have a couple of monolights suspended above or on each side of the track so that I could illuminate the whole width evenly (think two 'bikes neck and neck, one on the outside, one on the inside).

Sorry but that is crazy. You'd end up with two broken lights by the end of the day.

A private session is one thing but a race/practice is another. I would make sure you get yous exposure right and bring up any dark spots in post.

Hence my suggestion of monolights; they can be moved back far enough to provide the needed fill and still stay safe. I didn't mean a couple of Cowboy Studio stands on the edge of the track....

 

[Aakajx]

Some tracks allow you to. I know a lot do. I've mainly seen a lot of tracks when the light are on the photographers use flash. I've just seen the quad flash brackets used at some private shootings. I want to be able to fill in some of the shadows in the day light and brighten the rider. I would always ask the track first if the allow it.

 

[Scatterbrained]

I would be double/triple checking that you are allowed to use flash at the venues you intend shooting.
Motor sports and flash could be a recipe for a disaster.
Some gyms allow flash ... others forbid it (Basketball, gymnastics, volleyball etc)

They don't even notice it (unless you aim it in their eyes of course )

 

[JClishe]

I used to race motocross and I've easily been to tracks hundreds of times either for practice, races, or attending a pro race as a spectator. I've never once seen strobes or any off camera lighting being used. An on-camera speedlight for fill, yes. OCF, no.

 

[EIngerson]

For the fill you're talking about just mount a speed light and shoot on camera. It'll work fine. You'll only need it in mid day high sun light.

 

[Aakajx]

Eric but what about with the shutter speed? I can't get my flash to go past 180 I think it was. I ave a 568ex yongnuo.

 

[curtyoungblood]

You will have much more success looking for angles where the sun doesn't create harsh shadows than trying to fill with an on camera flash. If you're shooting in daylight at a safe distance, it is unlikely to help a lot.

 

[TCampbell]

There's a difference between photography at an event which is not supposed to be all about the photography... and an event occurring specifically FOR the photography.

If you're attending a sports event which is not centered around photography, don't be surprised to find all kinds of restrictions on what a photographer is permitted to do and what equipment they're permitted to use.

On the flip side... if what you're doing is shooting photos (perhaps for articles, promotional photos, etc.) then it's also not unusual to have a date/time setup (not a regular event with a competition, live audience, etc.) where the athletes are there SPECIFICALLY to be photographed in the performance of their sport. In those situations you might have all kinds of gear and all the rules are different -- the photographer isn't interfering, the event is FOR the photography.

I bring up these two scenarios because whichever scenario applies to you will COMPLETELY change the answer to the question.

If you're in the latter category (the athletes are performing specifically so that you can capture photos -- e.g. for promotional material, etc.) then you can switch to lighting setups for high speed flash and continuous burst photography. To make that work, you'll have clusters of your 600EX-Rt flashes, probably an ST-E3-RT on-camera, and perhaps 6 or more flashes going off at the same time. Incidentally... you "rent" these because it would probably not be practical to own 12 600EX-RT units unless you're doing this sort of thing all the time.

See: Canon DLC: Gallery: Action Photography with the Speedlite 600EX-RT Radio System

That video you should give you some idea of how they're capturing action photography outdoors using flash and competing with the sun. The idea behind clustering the speedlites is that your power is SUBSTANTIALLY reduced when you kick on high-speed sync mode. By combining the power of lots of flashes you still have the ability to do rapid shooting and high speed sync and get enough light.

Again... if these are regular sports events (competitions) and you just happen to be there shooting... then I can't imagine you'd be allowed to use that kind of gear.

 

[EIngerson]

Eric but what about with the shutter speed? I can't get my flash to go past 180 I think it was. I ave a 568ex yongnuo.

I'm not much help to you on that. I've never used the Yongnuo speed lights. If it's capable of high speed synch, do that.

To the masses, Most motocross tracks will allow you to get out there and shoot with a flash. It doesn't do anything to hinder the riders what-so-ever. I haven't been to a track yet that had a problem with it. (except sanctioned events by the AMA and Monster energy) Amateur and local races I've never had a problem.