Strobed basketball

The Lonoke Jackrabbits basketball team opened the 2009 season on Monday night then played DeWitt in their conference opener on Tuesday. The 2008 Lonoke team, which won the Class 4A state title, http://markbuffalo.blogspot.com/2008/03/state-champs-1.html was honored prior to the start of the game.

Most of the time, I shoot baskeball with the 70-200 2.8L but I tried something different by using a 16-35 2.8L lens from the corner of the court. I had the Alien Bee B400 mounted in the ceiling. I used a set of PocketWizard Plus II to trigger the flash. I was able to get some good stuff with the wide zoom and I will probably try it again sometime.


(Canon EOS 40D, 16-35 2.8L zoom, 430EX flash


(Canon EOS 40D, 70-200 2.8L, Alien Bee B400 with PW Plus II)


(Canon EOS 40D, 16-35 2.8L, AB B400)


(Canon 40D, 70-200 2.8L, AB B400)


(Canon 40D, 16-35 2.8L, AB 400)
I ran this picture in the Lonoke Democrat this week at six columns wide

Har-Ber 21, Cabot 17

The Har-Ber Wildcats rallied from a 17-7 deficit to beat the Cabot Panthers 21-17 in the second round of the Class 7A state playoffs on Friday night.
And it was cold...freakin cold. This was the coldest football game I've covered in several years.
I was disappointed to see my team Cabot come up short. I think a lot of those kids... they deserve all the accolades they get. but now I get to see my alma mater, Carlisle, play in the playoffs next week at Bigelow.


Cabot's Spencer Neumann returns a kick against Har-Ber


Har-Ber scores the game-winning touchdown against Cabot.
Both photos were shot with Canon 40D, 70-200 2.8L, 430EX flash set a 1/16 power. Camera was at 1600 ISO, 1/250 sec. at 2.8.

Overdue update

It has been almost a month since I posted an update. I have been very busy with football and now basketball is starting up. I shot two nights of basketball then had to worry about rain for football on Friday night.
On Wednesday, I had three Cabot kids sign national letters of intent. During the ceremony, the shutter went out on my Canon EOS 40D camera. I called Canon, overnighted it there that afternoon and got it back on Friday afternoon, just in time for the football game and rain.


Carlisle's Monie Cohen goes up for a shot against Bald Knob. It was shot with the 40D and an Alien Bee B400 aimed at the top of the key. I used PW Plus II

Same setup as the first shot.


Carlisle opened the playoffs with a 35-8 win over McCrory. As you can see, it was raining and it was annoying. I set the camera on 3200 ISO, 1/250 sec at 2.8 on my 70-200 lens. It wasn't ideal but I didn't want to use the flash since I had forgotten my poncho that I use for my flash setup. But the photo will be usuable for the paper and I kept my camera dry!

Bison vs. Des Arc

The Carlisle Bison lost its first game of the season on Friday as the Des Arc Eagles won 16-12. As most of you know, I cover Cabot, Lonoke and Carlisle and it really stinks that the two best games I've been to this year, both Cabot and Carlisle lost!






This should have been a sign

Photos from Sept. 9-12

After getting to shoot the Razorbacks with Nelson's lens on Sept. 6, I had a variety of assignments the following week. I shot high school football, tennis, volleyball and jr. high football. I also shot some Minor League Baseball. It was just not the same using my 70-200 and a 1.4 extender after using the 300!
I also got a new 430EX flash and it is a big step up from the 420EX and the Sigma flash I was using. The sigma did have manual and the 430EX does as well. You can tell which pics were flashed and I'm trying to the hang of using manual or E-TTL. It is a great flash.


I used the 430EX here and I think I had it on manual and I was too close and it is a big hot but I still think it is my best high school shot this year. The pic is going to run 4 1/2 columns in this week's Carlisle paper


Normally, when I shoot volleyball, I use my Alien Bee B400 flash and the pocketwizards but I didn't have time to set the flash up and tear it down before going to a jr. high football game. So, I shot with with the 430EX and it looks pretty good.


Same as above!

This is Hank Conger of the Arkansas Travelers -- a AA minor league team, which was hosting the Texas League Championship Series on Sept. 10. It was the first baseball I had shot since my mother died on July 28 so I was a bit rusty.

This was shot with the 70-200 2.8 and a 1.4 extender. I enjoy tennis but getting a clean background can be a challenge because of matches going on on other courts and there is no wind screen. Luckily, this match was being played on the end court so you can see cars in the background but they are blurred out pretty well.


I got this shot with the 70-200 and the 430EX flash. Not bad. It is one of the better shots I've taken this year. The defender was called for pass interference but the reciever held on for the ball anyway.

I'm going to try to update with a few new photos each week. That is my goal--at least.

Mark

The Hogs pull one out

The Arkansas Razorbacks rallied from a 24-6 deficit to beat ULM 28-27 on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. I shot the game using a 40D and 20D along with a 300 2.8L USM lens that I borrowed from the greatest photographer in the world -- Nelson Chenault. It was only the second time I had used a 300 and it was the first time I got to use it for more than a quarter. It was difficult to say the least, the learning curve is very high but I had a lot of fun doing it.


40D, 300 2.8L


40D and 70-200 2.8L


40D and 300 2.8L


40D and 300 2.8L (I hate the crown in the field)


40D and 300 2.8L


40D and 300 2.8L

I had to include the band!


40D and 300 2.8L

Thanks again to Nelson for his lens and the use of it. With all that had been going on with my family and the loss of my mom, it was fun to shoot again, especially since I was using Nelson's lens and it was my alma mater.

Mark

Lonoke Season Opener

For the first time since Cabot played in the state title game in 2000, I was able to shoot varsity football in the daytime and it was a pleasure to do so. I would have liked it to have been a little brighter but we, in Arkansas, were getting ready for the remnants of Gustav.

I shot more than 1,100 pics during the game, including pregame and halftime. I used my 1.4 extender during the first half and took it off in the second half when it started getting a bit darker but it was good to not have to worry about a flash. I'm one that if I can get something good at 3,200 ISO, I'll do it and not worry about using a flash.







The Lonoke Jackrabbits played the first game of the Arkansas high school football season on Monday in the Hootens.com kickoff classic at UAPB. The Jackrabbits won 35-20.

All photos were shot with the 40D, 70-200 2.8L and a 1.4 extender. It was fun to finally shoot a real football game.

Mark