Strobists Beware – Leave the Flash at Home for Roller Derby

Roller derby is fast paced with multiple sets of wheels attached to some pretty athletic women who speed along a hard surface in a roughly oval-shaped track.  That may be stating the obvious, but as a photographer determined to capture a roller derby match in all of its’ glory, the potential exists to thoughtlessly fire away at the endless stream of fast moving players, looking to freeze the moment with a properly aimed flash.  A flash firing in a dimly lit venue is capable of producing a blinding swath of light that can disrupt any event, especially in sport and theatrical environments where a momentary lapse of intense concentration (from a bright flash firing) can cause one to lose their place or worse, crash.  Cause an accident on the track floor because of an errant flash, and not only could you wind up sending a player to the hospital, I guarantee that you may not get an invitation to return for another event.  I don’t use a flash during roller derby (at least during track activities), and these few tips can help you survive to shoot another day at the roller derby.

I am not saying I don’t like flashes.  I love them!  Flash photography can convey emotion, drama, and set the scene in a way that natural lighting can not achieve.  I am saying that flash photography is not always appropriate for every subject, especially when the explosive burst of light emitted by one or more flashes can create a hazardous situation for the subject of your composition.  Roller Derby is one of those situations, especially around the track.

Roller derby, as in most indoor, modestly-lit venues, can be a challenge to photograph, especially for the budget minded photographer who does not possess fast zoom or even faster prime lenses that are capable of snapping away at shutter speed that can freeze the action when desired to get that tack sharp athelit portrait worthy of a magazine cover.  Indoor photography is a challenge on its’ own without trying to freeze track action that is moving at 15-25 miles per hour.

When I shoot roller derby, I am aiming for a shutter speed of at least 1/200th of second, and optimally faster (1/320th or more) if possible.  How do you achieve this speed on a modest budget?  One way to do this is to raise the ISO setting on your camera.  Don’t be afraid, boost the sensitivity of your sensor.  Most modern DSLRs can easily achieve ISO 3200 or even higher, and when ISO settings are used effectively, they can stop action with even the most modest kit lenses that have a minimum aperture in the f/4 or f/4.5 range.  Got a faster lens?  Even better.  I typically use zoom lenses with a minimum aperture of f/2.8 (24-70, 70-200), and fast primes capable of  f/1.4 (20mm, 50mm, 85mm).  I also use other lenses that are not so bright, like a 10-20mm f/3.5, and the wider the lens, the more forgiving the aperture.

I normally start out at most indoor (non-flash) sporting events at ISO 3200.  Seems high, and while nobody would ever want to take a beautiful portrait shot at this setting, it is more than acceptable for sports photography.  The goal is to capture the image, a little noise is more than a sufficient trade-off when the alternative is an underexposed or blurry image.  Some of the best derby shots I have seen were shot at ISO 4000, 1/320th of a second.

I didn’t forget the aperture; For derby, I leave that to the camera.  I normally set my camera to Tv (shutter priority on a Canon), start at 1/200th of a second and let the camera figure out the rest.  For those brave at heart, go Manual, but keep in mind that you are bouncing around the venue shooting into light, out of light, and changing angles so frequently that a fixed manual setting may not provide the best overall exposure for the whole space.  Stick to Shutter Priority, and as you gain confidence, flip the dial to manual.  You can also compensate a bit by adjusting your exposure compensation a bit (stay at +1 EV or less).  You will generally know you are underexposing when your lens has a hard time autofocusing.  It does happen when the subject is too dark for the lens to align properly on its’ own, and you may decide to switch to manual focus occasionally for the more challenging shots.

Focus is always an issue, but is purely subjective and based entirely on what you are trying to highlight in your composition.  Are you looking for player expression?  Focus on the eyes.  A skate? Aim for the skate.  It’s your choice, but tell the story of each image pointing your viewer to the sharpest part of the composition.

Another reason that I like to use shutter priority is that the setting allows me to easily increase or decrease the speed that I want to expose the image.  Roller derby is an incredible photography playground, with stop motion drama, individual portraits of both players and audience, and the all elusive motion blur shot.  I love experimenting with deliberate motion blur during derby events, because you can achieve some really interesting effects by slowing down the shutter and following the action.

So, in a nutshell, for roller derby photos:

No Flash!!!
Set camera to Tv (Shutter Priority)
Start at 1/200 (or higher).  Slower lens? Sharpness is possible at 1/160th if it is all you can get.
Boost the ISO (3200 or more if possible)
Leave the aperture to chance unless going for a critical shot.  Face it, you are going to be shooting a minimal apertures, like f/4.5 and below.  Focus on the subject at hand and take the shot!)
Image Stabilized Lens?  Turn it off.  The fast shutter speed is your ally to a sharp image, and remember your handheld reciprocal rule (shoot at a shutter speed that is the inverse of your focal length, i.e., 1/200 for a 200mm lens, etc.)
Feel free to experiment.  Drag that shutter and try your hand at motion blur.  Your friends will call you “artsy”!

Another thing to consider is your color balance.  Do your images look a little too orange? A little too reddish?  Auto White Balance may not work so well in the sports venues, because the camera will try very hard to guess at the dominant color temperature in the room.  If you are focusing on a pink jersey, the camera will most likely get it wrong, and indoor lighting is rarely daylight balanced.

Most modern DSLRs have the ability to set a specific color balance into the camera.  I always color balance for the venue, and I have tools for that that assist me.  I have found that many indoor locations tend to use either flourescent or tungsten lighting, and these are usually available as color balance settings in your camera.  When in doubt, try each setting for the most accurate result.  If you have a white balance tool (white disc, gray card) to set the balance, better, but one of those two will normally work in pinch.

If you have the ability to shoot in RAW format (not JPG), go for it.  RAW images will give you the maximum ability to manipulate your images in post if you find that you need to adjust a little.  With RAW, you can, for example squeeze almost three stops (+/-) of exposure out of an image with the right software.  I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom , but there are many.  You can also tweak color balance.  Shot the whole bout in flourescent light, only to realize that it should have been tungsten?  If you shot in JPG, you are going to have issues getting the color straight.  With RAW, just change the image to a tungsten balance, and voila, the image (and all 999 others) are instantly corrected.  Tradeoff – RAW files are much larger than JPGs, so you can shoot less images per memory card (about 40% of what you can shoot with JPG Large Fine).  Again, a matter of personal preference, but from experience I will tell you that it is better to shoot RAW and own a few more memory cards than spend hours trying to repair a lot of JPGs that are just not quite right.

Noise bother you?  I mentioned shooting at a high ISO, which means that you will have some noise issues to contend with.  75% percent of the time, you will barely notice the noise produced by a modern DSLR using ISO 3200 in a sports shot.  The other 25% of the time, you might want to reduce the noise a little in post.  Some cameras have the ability to do in-camera noise reduction.  I leave this turned off most of the time, only because the time the camera takes to perform the internal image correction annoys me when I am trying to take a series of high speed shots in rapid sequence.  Again, Lightroom is my friend and can eliminate most noise with minimum loss of sharpness, with the added benefit of reducing minor skin flaws that exist in even the most beautiful of women rolling around the track.

I hope at least one person finds this useful.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 11:17 pm. It is filed under Photography, Tips and Tricks and tagged with action, ambient light, flash, indoor, photography, roller derby, sport, theatre, tips, tricks, venue. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.