10/52 - One for the Ashes

Cricket - One for the Ashes

I thought I'd do a "Cricket" shot this week as the Ashes are in Sydney.

The fifth test got underway in front of a packed SCG yesterday. The weather didn't look too promising and I wasn't sure if there would be much play. Although the cricket was alright, the atmosphere at the ground was terrible. I actually wasn't too disappointed when rain brought an end to the days play a little while after tea. Although there were a huge number of English supporters in attendance, I can't recall hearing the Barmy Army actually singing. I guess the fact that the Police were escorting supporters out of the venue at the drop of a hat didn't help matters in that regard.

Read on for lighting info and setup shots.

Cricket - Setup shot

Two strobes were used to light this one.

A canon 430 EX II was fired at 1/64th into a white foam-core board on the right of the camera. The board was used to bounce the light onto the subject. A second foam-core board was placed just out of frame on the left of the camera to bounce the light back onto the other side of the subject.

A canon 580 EX II was fired at 1/128th (zoomed to 105mm) along the left edge of the bat. This light was used to define the edge and create a bit of separation form the background.

I didn't have a black foam-core board to use as a background so I placed the bat and ball on a piece of glass. The background appeared black as there was no light coming in from under the glass.