Spring Training #1

After photographing "Mr. Red Whatever", JD and I headed to watch the big boys at spring training.  

I took various shots of their practice and then decided to use a little flash and try something different.  I usually carry two SB800s in my camera bag and since I recently watched the DVD of Nikon School presents A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting, I wanted to try-out some of the things that Joe McNally did in the DVD.  I used my Nikon D700’s built in commander as the control unit and two of the boys as my VALs.

This turned into a lot of fun both for me and the boys.  The boys would line-up to run through the drill and then line-up to be the VAL for the next boy doing the drill.   The boys followed my instructions to the “T”, except for the oohs and aahs that I got after each time the units flashed.  Being a VAL for a six year old boy is a real treat!

According to the history books, Ty Cobb sharpened his cleats before each game.  Looking at this young, budding-star, I think I see the same thing in him.   Look at that face.   Does that not look like the face of a person who will win at any cost?

I had one SB800 on each side of the boy sliding into home plate at a 45 decree angle.  I set my camera at   -1.0EV and the SB800’s were programmed to TTL mode at +0.3EV so that I would get a nice fill but not completely light-up the whole area.  I instructed the VALs to point the SB800s about 2 to 3 feet in front of the subject so that the light would be somewhat feathered.  To make it easy for them, I placed water bottles down on the ground where I wanted them to point the flashes.   My VALs did a great job!

Enjoy

Camera settings:  Nikon D700, 70-200 f/2.8 at 200mm, shot at ISO 800, f/8 and 1/125 of a second.

Post Processing: 

Lightroom—set white and black points, adjusted white balance and added clarity and vibrance.

Photoshop—used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add local contrast to the image except on the boy’s face and arms.