Photgraphing a school event

[haunteddoc]

OK, This is not really Disney related, is there such a thing as not being Disney related?, but Tim said I should go ahead and post this question anyway.

I want to shoot my sons participation in a winter percussion competition. They are usually held in a high school gym under mercury vapor lights or sometimes just plain old tungsten lighting. (thankfully they are not held outside in Feb in Indiana!!!)

Any tips on getting some good shots. For some of these events I will be able to be on the "bench" while others will be from the public seating area but close to the floor. Would this be a good place for custom white balance? I assume I want a fairly fast shutter speed. One shot I had in mind was a pic of a line of snare drummers standing still but having their drum sticks blurred as they are playing.

Any tips would be great. I have a canon 75-300 mm f/4-5.6 III and a 28-70mm f2.8-4.0 on a canon 30D. I am also open to renting any lens that would be better suited, provided it would not break the bank. Although a three day rental is usually fairly well priced.

Any comments/tips appreciated.

Besides, anything I learn from this can always be applied to my trips to Disney, right?!?!?!?

 

[gary]

you are going to need fast lenses, minimum f2.8, the 70-200 f2.8 IS is handy in this, not knowing the distances involved it's kind of hard to reccommend a prime, try a custom white balance, and try the tungsten setting
do you shoot in raw?, that gives you the most latitude for post processing color balance, it's been my experience that what little indoor gym stuff i've tried has been tough, although it's been all plays/graduations not sports
check out www.fredmiranda.com, the sports forum has some top sports shooters contributing, people who shoot hockey and nba/college hoops on a regular basis
gary

 

[haunteddoc]

Thanks Gary.

I checked and I can rent that lens at a fairly reasonable cost. I think I'll rent it and try it at one of their practice session to see how it goes before doing it at one of the competitions.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I second 70-20 f/2.8 IS. It's my walkaround lens. For white balance I just use iCorrect Editlab Pro 5.0; the new toy I found last Xmas.

 

[Tim]

i agree with gary on that lens suggestion. also, my suggestion would be to take way more photos than you think you might need so this way even if some arent so great you still have plenty to choose from.

try to mix up what you are shooting. take some pics of the instruments, then the player's faces, then some wide angle and some closeups and i am sure you will be happy. good luck with this.

 

[vantonni]

hej. how did it work out. what did you do? how was the recital. were people okej with you showing up with a bazooka? you may also want to rent a TC 1.5 or 2x extender. because if its in a gym you might need the extra length.

you should post a few of the results to see how they came out.

 

[haunteddoc]

Actually, it isn't until the 17th. So we will see.