Goalies +

[wmstumme]

I know everyone was suffering from field hockey withdrawl... :wink, so I thought I'd post a few from some recent indoor games. The gym the girls play in is lit with what seems like two candles and a flashlight with dying batteries. I used a 30D with a 50mm/1.8f and shot these mostly at ISO 3200, at f 2.0 or 2.2 using aperture priority which ended up with shutter speeds around 1/320 to 400. I find this lens to focus a bit slow--so I tend to just stay aimed in on the goalie and wait for action to come to her. Appreciate any C&C...

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/234847056-M.jpg

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/234847885-M.jpg

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/234846080-M.jpg

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/233689665-M.jpg

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/231404196-M.jpg

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/233690813-M.jpg

http://willspix.smugmug.com/photos/231645334-M.jpg

[PhotoHound]

Well done, especially with the conditions and limitations. Candles and a flashlight is right! I think your method of focusing on the goalie is the best thing that you can do under the circumstances. The 50/1.8 is a decent lens, but fast focusing is not a possibility. If you can spare an extra ~$300 you should take a look at the 85/1.8 - very fast AF.

As far as color and lighting goes, the first 3 (and #6) look pretty good; there is a distinct blue cast to the others. This is often caused by the cycling of the fluorecent lights. There isn't a whole lot you can do about this, unless you start using strobes... However, this can be fairly easily fixed with editing software. The only other comment I can come up with is try to get higher if you can...it will give you a better (at least to me) angle on the action.