OK, a first for me ... tomorrow is the Inter City Challenge Indoor Athletics meeting and I have a press pass, but its the first time I've really tried one of these.
From my kit bag I was intending taking the 100mm f2.8, 100-400 f5.6 L and the 50mm f1.8, plus a couple of flashes in case they allow flash.
Hi Keith,
Act like you own the place and don't be timid. Do watch out to stay clear of coaches, refs and such though. Facial recognition is a must in my opinion when capturing individuals in the moment. Another thing, wrestling or not, is to study the sport. Get a feel of what is happening, where the players are projected to end up, where the facial recognition angles are best captured, and hope you are physically fit, as it requires a LOT of running around, following the competitors.
I've shot probably 15,000+ indoor wrestling tournament pics, and found if I wanted a lot of background detail to show when using flash, bump the ISO up, thus reducing the amount of flash needed: (saves flash batteries too)
If you want darker backgrounds, making the participants pop more, drop the ISO:
(all were done in full TTL flash mode)
If at all possible, getting a referee or official in it too adds a lot,
especially when the point of view supports it.
iso1250, f/2.8, 1/200, florescent WB works better than
mode for me ;-)
the bottom left was actually 1/160, the bottom right was 1/250
the two on the right were published in b&w in the RT-D's sports section; they looked pretty decent and relatively noise-free. just a shame that the blood on the face didn't really come out as noticeably in b&w...
If the lighting is fairly even (ie all the same type of light) a custom white balance may work better than Fluorescent WB (which I think assumes cool white bulbs)
Remember that your camera exposes for 17% gray, which meters correctly for Caucasian skin. If the participants have darker skin, you may want to bump the EV up a notch or two and spot meter. Or use Manual mode and set your exposure before the meet if the lighting is very even.
Shoot RAW and you can fix a lot of errors :-) And bring a ton of memory cards!
