Golf Shoot

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm going to shoot a golf tournament tomorrow. As part of that, I've got to shoot a bunch of team photos. Any advice?

From past experience, I know that most of the golfers will be wearing caps. I also know that people standing on grass with caps have really green shadows. Because of that, I think I'm going to use a flash.

Here's the setup I'm thinking I want to use:

1) Stand the golfers in the shade. I don't want to carry enough gear to battle direct sunlight.
2) Put the camera in manual. Set the aperture around f/8. Set the shutter speed around 160. Set the ISO at whatever gives a 1 stop under exposure for the background.
3) Use a strobe on the camera in ETTL.
4) Stick another strobe on a light stand about 8 feet away.
5) Set the ratio at 1:2 with the on camera flash at 1 and the off camera at 2. The off camera will be my key and the on camera will be my fill.
6) Start with FEC of -1 and play around with it until I get the right balance.

I thought about bringing some modifiers like an umbrella or octabox, but it'll be outside and I don't want to worry about the wind.

 

[JoeDif]

If you have someone to assist you then you can put an umbrella or softbox on a monopod and have them hold that as a VAL

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm flying solo. There are three of us shooting it, but we're each going to cover a set of 9 holes.

 

[zackiedawg]

Stand the golfers in the shade. I don't want to carry enough gear to battle direct sunlight.
2) Put the camera in manual. Set the aperture around f/8. Set the shutter speed around 160. Set the ISO at whatever gives a 1 stop under exposure for the background.
3) Use a strobe on the camera in ETTL.
4) Stick another strobe on a light stand about 8 feet away.
5) Set the ratio at 1:2 with the on camera flash at 1 and the off camera at 2. The off camera will be my key and the on camera will be my fill.
6) Start with FEC of -1 and play around with it until I get the right balance.

I shoot a golf tournament annually, and use some of the same methods you mention above, with a few differences. I actually like to keep the golfers in the sun - it's an outdoor sport and the sun is part of the atmosphere - I like the warmth of light and the crispness of colors it provides. I use a fairly small aperture - F8-F10. I use a hotshoe flash on camera, and control a wireless flash set low on the ground in front of the foursomes - I like to keep it about 3 1/2 feet on a low stand - no umbrellas or bounce...I usually use a wide diffuser on it to soften the light a bit - I'm actually using both flashes as fill - the hotshoe mounted flash fills shadows nicely while the lower flash helps with underhat shadows - the two different angles tend to cancel out any throw shadows from golf clubs in hand. Because I'm outdoors in good light, I stick with aperture priority - shutter speeds aren't an issue, and I like to let the camera handle variances in light or cloud cover.

I usually shoot the whole tournament solo - so I'll pick a spot I like on the course, and let the foursomes roll through, shooting each as they hit my hole - it's usually shotgun start, so everyone will come through every hole on the course in about the same amount of time. Once I finish the foursomes, I'll ride around in the cart and catch some 'action' shots of swings and play...then cover the dinners and auctions after the tourney, which will usually be just my camera and hotshoe flash handheld, walking around the crowd and getting candids and spontaneous event shots or group shots for media coverage.

 

[ukcatfan]

I did it once for my company. The main thing I can tell you is that one set way of shooting will not work since the time of day is going to change over about 4-5 hours of time and the setting of each group is likely to change. Even if you plan to stay in one place to get all groups coming through, it probably will not happen because 4+ hours in one place gets BORING!!!! The biggest problem I ended up having was needing flash to fix shadows, but with the bright sunlight keeping the sync speed fast enough to prevent overexposure was almost impossible. An overcast day would help a lot! Count on needing the flash on pretty much every shot due to everyone wearing hats. I have to say that RAW helped. I was able to pull up some shadows in PP. Don't forget sun block and water.

 

[ukcatfan]

Now that I think about your original plans more, really put some thinking into those hats. An offset flash of even a foot or two could cause some strange shadows on the faces. Also, you only get once chance at each group and they are not going to be that interested in getting photographed. One LAST piece of advice. Find out ahead of time where the beer is because they are going to ask you. They always seem to think every volunteer can provide it.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I usually shoot the whole tournament solo - so I'll pick a spot I like on the course, and let the foursomes roll through, shooting each as they hit my hole - it's usually shotgun start, so everyone will come through every hole on the course in about the same amount of time.

Our plan was to do something like this. The course has 27 holes and the teams were arranged into 3 "flights" each covering 18 holes. We planned to have one photographer post up on a hole on each flight and shoot them as they came. One of the photogs canceled at the last minute, so we scrapped that plan. Instead, we split up, picked a couple of holes and worked our way backwards. That enabled us to get the group shots done earlier, but the downside was that each one was done in a different location. We were also in a hurry because there was a tournament following ours.

My quick and dirty approach was to just place the sun (there was very little shade) on the side of the golfers so that it wasn't in their eyes or my frame and used an on camera flash for a fill. If I'd thought about it, I would have dropped my second flash on the ground between us. I like that idea.

As far as wanting sun for the warmth of the light, that's OK for the early morning shots. By late morning, sunlight is just harsh and nasty. If you want warmth with a flash, that's as easy as slapping on a gel. I have a Honl gel holder with a pair of every gel I think I'd ever want. I strongly recommend it.

Personally, I hate doing the team shots. It's the candid shots that I enjoy. The problem is that the golfers expect team shots. When you walk into their offices, that's what they have on their desks.

Maybe next year we can set up a nice location near the clubhouse for team shots. We'll get everything idiot proofed and stick a volunteer on it so that they can do the boring work.

I have to admit that I was outgunned. I had a 5D, 7D, 24-105 f/4, 70-200 f/2.8, and a 300 f/2.8. I also brought a 24 f/1.4 and a 15mm fisheye for a few fun shots. My partner brought a pair of D3's, some smaller lenses (not sure which), a 70-200 f/2.8, and a 200-400 f/4. I can't wait Canon's new 200-400. I sure hope it comes in at a reasonable price, but the way things have been going, I kind of doubt it.

Find out ahead of time where the beer is because they are going to ask you. They always seem to think every volunteer can provide it.

Sage advice. I got asked all day long if I had beer or water. Fortunately, both were provided liberally by drink carts roaming the course.