# Monster Jam 2011



## bvukich (Jan 18, 2011)

Went with my kids to Monster Jam for a Cub Scouts outing. I don't exactly have the gear for sports shooting in a nearly dark stadium, so it was pretty much spray and pray.

XSi 50/1.4 & 430EXII (that nearly melted)

It was dark, smoky, and everything was moving fast. My poor 430EXII was doing full pops all night long, changed batteries twice, both times they were almost too hot to touch, and the flash was starting to get a funny smell. At least I didn't let the magic smoke out  But even then, the flash was only firing for every 5-6th shot, and out of 1700, only about half were properly exposed. Of those, my panning was only close enough on about a quarter of them, and out of THOSE only about half were well composed/interesting. (thats about 100 left for those following along with the math)


----------



## kubelik (Jan 18, 2011)

looks like a good time! kind of impressed that the 430EXII was actually useful for something of that size at that distance; what did you have the flash zoomed to? and did you have the 50 at wide open aperture? 

really like the shot of the guy on the ATV, great colors and use of pan/blur.

still wondering when canon's 600-series flash is going to come out ... would be handy for things like this


----------



## bvukich (Jan 19, 2011)

Of those, the first is the only one where the flash fired.

1: f/4 1/60 iso400 flash
2: f/1.4 1/50 iso500 no flash
3: f/1.8 1/60 iso200 no flash
4: f/2 1/80 iso200 no flash

In retrospect, I guess the lighting wasn't that horrible when the trucks were out. But when the quads & bikes were out, pretty much the only light was from the LED display that wraps all the way around (looks like a band of yellow in those shots).

Last year I didn't use a flash at all, I just shot manual, 50mm f/1.4 1/50 iso400. I got _some_ decent shots, but not a ton.

The attached that follow are all no flash, wide open, 1/50 iso320-500.


----------



## bvukich (Jan 19, 2011)

f/4 1/60 iso400

One of the few from the quads/bikes where the flash fired, and resulted in a decent shot. In most of them (and you can see it in this one too), the flash reflected off the smoke and made the shot look hazy.


----------



## bvukich (Jan 19, 2011)

kubelik said:


> looks like a good time! kind of impressed that the 430EXII was actually useful for something of that size at that distance; what did you have the flash zoomed to? and did you have the 50 at wide open aperture?
> 
> really like the shot of the guy on the ATV, great colors and use of pan/blur.
> 
> still wondering when canon's 600-series flash is going to come out ... would be handy for things like this



Flash was zoomed to 18m. I only had the 50 wide open for the non-flash shots.

I'm also kicking myself, because this would have been the perfect opportunity to do some second curtain shots, but I didn't think about it till afterwards.


----------



## kubelik (Jan 19, 2011)

I gotta say, after seeing the haze in the one where your flash went off, I actually kind of like the ambient-lighting ones better in terms of color. not the most accurate color, but it's fitting for the mood of the event.

seeing your metadata is interesting to me because I realize we have very different comfort zones in terms of ISO; I think with the XSi I might have left it at ISO 800 to gain some more flexibility in shutter speed and aperture, but of course that's totally personal preference.

again, great shots!


----------



## bvukich (Jan 19, 2011)

I don't really like going above iso 400, although if I would have gone up to 800 I could have kept the shutter speeds in the 1/60-1/80 range, an maybe stop down the aperture by an extra 1/3-1/2.

My main problem with the XSi (besides the poor low light performance), is the poor LCD making it very hard to see if noise is a problem at a given ISO. I've almost pulled the trigger on a T1i/T2i upgrade a couple of times just because of this. I always end up changing my mind because I'm going to be getting a 5D2 in spring, and it would only delay the big upgrade.

Thank you for the feedback.


----------



## kubelik (Jan 19, 2011)

I like the decision to go for a 5DII; I remember hating to go even to ISO 800 with my 30D; and with my wife's t2i I don't like going past ISO 800 still. With the 5DII I am definitely comfortable with ISO 1600 and with significant noise reduction 3200 is easily usable for web publishing. Pair that all with a 135 f/2 and I bet you could get some really stunning monster jam shots!


----------



## Admin US West (Feb 21, 2011)

*Monster Jam Spokane*

Although I am far from being a big fan of monster trucks, I have a family friend that drives one called "Captain USA". He rolled it last weekend, so the paint is scraped up, they were lucky to get the roof repaired in time for this weeks show.

He was in town this weekend to drive in the show, so I took my camera down to try my hand at photography. I went down early and tried a couple of lenses, and mistakenly decided on one that might not have been the best choice. Light is definitely a real struggle, and I wanted a fast shutter speed as well.

I'll let the experts tell me which lens it is. It is a "L" lens on a 1D MK III, so thats a good start.


----------



## bvukich (Feb 21, 2011)

Wow, those look infinitely better than mine.


----------



## Admin US West (Feb 21, 2011)

Thanks. this is the first time I've tried any sports type photography. Plenty of errors were patched up in post production. I've been editing for the past couple of hours.

I wish I had went yesterday, and then again today to be able to take the right lens as well as lessons learned. I was going to meet the official photographer, and ask him for some tips, but he went back home and wasn't there today.

What goes up ...





must come down ...






A nice shiny car for a snack ...






This is a extreme crop, not many pixels left.


----------



## kubelik (Feb 21, 2011)

scales, can't tell which lens you're using for sure, but I'm going to guess the 135 f/2 L, mainly because that's probably what I'd bring if I were traveling light and shooting low light


----------



## Admin US West (Feb 21, 2011)

It was the 35mm L, not the 135. I took my 5d MK II up into the stands in the morning while they were setting up and tried the 35 and the 135 on the cars parked around the arena. I could barely get one in the freme. Since I planned to use the 1D MK III, I was worried that it would be way to long, so I took the 35mmL only. 

Here is a 135mmL shot from the stands with my 5D MK II. You can see that i was worred about the additional 1.3 crop on the 1D MK II bringing me so cloose that i could noot get the whole car in the image.

I should have brought my 50mm 1.4 or 85mm 1.8.

At 1/1000 sec, ISO 1600 the aperture seldom exceeded f2.8, so a 70-200mm f/2.8 would have worked if i went a little higher into the arena, I was at the back of the lower level.

Right in front of me from the back of the lower level.





Diagonally accross the field


----------

