Advice needed for Sumo tournament

Aaron1971 · 01-24-2009, 04:09 PM

Fellow photogs I am in need of some help. My son and I are attending a sumo tournament today and I really want to get some good shots. I am a novice and have been learning. I have a 16-45 and 135 and a 50/1.7. I want to ensure my settings are straight. I have not really messed with ISO settings before. How would you adjust for lighting conditions? I am sure our seats won't be the greatest. Any insight would be appreciated.

rfortson · 01-24-2009, 05:03 PM

Is your 135 an f/2.8? If so, I'd say that's your best bet. I'd also take the 50/1.7 along. Being indoors, I imagine the lighting will be tough.

With the K10D, I'd try to keep the ISO to 800 or below, but you can try higher and then see about cleaning up the noise later.

I'd try the TAv mode with the aperture wide open (for maximum light) and then set the shutter speed to 1/60 or 1/125. I don't imagine the action is that quick, but I could be wrong. You could also time the shots for when the wrestlers are stalking each other, which would be a little slower on the action. In TAv mode, the ISO will float to where ever it's needed, but you need to have the Auto ISO range set wide enough.

I'd spot meter to get the proper exposure of the wrestlers. Also, make sure not to underexpose as that will make the noise worse. Increase the EV +0.3 or +0.7 (or whatever it takes). Also, make sure to shoot raw to have the maximum exposure lattitude, and so you won't have to worry about white balance.

Good luck! Take lots of shots at a variety of shutter speeds and ISOs. I suspect you'll always be shooting wide open aperture, though, due to the lighting.

EricT · 01-25-2009, 09:32 AM

If you're allowed to use flash, then I would definitely consider that. I've found that in low light with my K10D, I've often had to go to f1.4-1.7 and iso1600 to get fast enough shutter speeds to freeze action. At this point, there is a lot of noise and the shallow depth of field makes focus difficult. If you still use wide apertures and iso around 400, you will let in enough ambient light that the flash pictures look good. Your 540 should be powerful enough even if you don't have very good seats (I don't know the size of the stadium...)

rfortson's advice to take pictures when the action is slow is good. I imagine you could get some great pictures just before the wrestling begins at as low as 1/15s-1/30s. Also, definitely bring your 50 f1.7 as well as the 135. Even if you can't get very close, you can always crop after the fact. I do this all the time with my fast 50.

Oh, and we would love to see the pictures here afterwards!

Aaron1971 · 01-25-2009, 02:04 PM

The tournament was awesome....my photography not so good. I will post once I have a chance to go through the photos. Thanks guys.

ghost · 01-25-2009, 03:02 PM

I am interested in your results!

Aaron1971 · 01-25-2009, 04:12 PM

Here are a couple. I haven't had time to do much PP so if you have any suggestions let me know.

another....

code4code5 · 01-25-2009, 04:59 PM

That first one came out great. Nice work!

EricT · 01-25-2009, 09:24 PM

Yeah, the first one really shows the action! Very cool

What f-stop did you use? I only see f/0 in the EXIF data. I would maybe use a wider f-stop to blur the people in the background.

I see a couple more photographers there with flash, I'm assuming you also brought one?

Aaron1971 · 01-25-2009, 10:16 PM

I shot these with my Vivitar 135mm manual lens. I think these were taken at f4.0. I did take my flash but we were so far away from the action it made no difference. These are cropped way down. I was so wishing I had just fed my LBA and bought a good long(-er) and fast(-er) lens man.......it was a really fun day. Thanks for the compliments.