First try with a fog machine

[wilgk]

I asked a friend & her daughter over to have a try with the fog machine.
I did see what you mean about the haze but it did clear quite quickly in our garage anyway.
The centre where I am to take the photos, has had a renovation in the foyer & they have smoke detectors that will work as sprinklers if set off, so cannot use it there in that area!
That is where I planned to do the Individuals. The Manager said I could use the fog in the on court stadium area, where the teams are to be, but working that in with so many people I think is a bit ambitious.
Anyway, here are some e.g's to share, the backdrop is just playing around with a black sheet and a bit of vinyl 'contact' stuck to plastic, seeing if the idea of a graffiti wall might work.
Before…



After..

[Shadowman]

Nice effort, I know it's just a setup but if the team name is important and the jerseys are that slack you may have to add text in post processing.

[Colin Southern]

Nice effort, I know it's just a setup but if the team name is important and the jerseys are that slack you may have to add text in post processing.

I can read it perfectly - "Tingray5"!

[Shadowman]

I can read it perfectly - "Tingray5"!

And that's exactly what they'll be called on Facebook.

[allenlennon]

even though its a test shot but i love the last one. I to was considering getting a fog machine when aldi had them for sale, and for photography aswell. Nice job

EDITED PART:

And i believe the graffiti would work well. Have you considered photographing a graffitied wall by it self and place it there in pp?

[AB26]

Kay,

I really like it but the graffiti wall spoils it for me. Maybe if all of the background was a graffiti wall? Then again, it would look like basket ball in the slums.

[John 2]

Nice set K. and some appropriate poses. It all works well for me.

[deetheturk]

Nice set Kay,great first attempt!

David

[Loose Canon]

Hi Kay!

Looks good! Especially the color in the fog bank. Makes for a cool effect and one I think the players would like.

If you go with the vinyl brick BG I think I would try to light it such that it doesn’t produce a glare. Kind of a dead giveaway!

Laser lights look good in the fog (too many rock concerts)!

[wilgk]

Thankyou Gentlemen for your comments and suggestions, always appreciated.
The warmup top was a loan for practice, so it was way too big for my friend, but I will keep an eye on the singlets.
The idea of the graffiti wall I agree would work better if it was bigger & not showing the glare/reflections, but then it might be too busy, with logo, fog etc.
I look longingly online at British and American background sales sites, that we just don't have here.

I would love a very very big, old looking brick wall!...

& John, thanks for mentioning the poses, I think that really is the thing one can forget, we get carried away, thinking gear, lights etc, but when you have a large group of people looking to you to tell them how to stand it can be quite daunting.
Obviously holding the ball helps, the hardest thing is to think what to do with their hands.
I also researched as many sites as I could and printed some credit card sz pics, laminated them and put a hole punch through them & put them on a key ring.
I don't bring this out & study it in front of the people of course, but I flick through them when I have a chance, just so some relevant poses come to mind quickly.
Thankyou all again for your time and comments.

[Shadowman]

Greenscreen backdrops are popular.

http://www.123videomagic.com/green-s...dware-kits.asp

[Colin Southern]

Greenscreen backdrops are popular.

http://www.123videomagic.com/green-s...dware-kits.asp

They're harder to use than you'd think - you need to light them separately, and then try to deal to the area where things like fine hair won't extract properly.

[wilgk]

Yes I did look at them & on some of the team BB pics I looked at , that did have the whole group merged onto a new backdrop, they looked less than ideal.
I know I couldn't do better, but the areas where they show the feet as well, on the new backdrop a lot looked as if they were standing in mid air. Waist up a lot looked great, but with BBallers it is so about the shoes... I need ground up.
All learning :-)

[Shadowman]

Kay,

I know this suggestion would be an impossibility for your intended project, but how about the use of the fog machine with some double exposures or fast shutter speeds with ball dribbling?

[wilgk]

Great idea John,
In between teams today, I had a chat with one of the club guys about taking a few players, from the range of juniors to seniors, male/female & doing some more creative different shots that I could have some fun with & they could use for publicity.
So we will see what comes of that.
I will post some of this weekends ones as well when I get a chance, and hope others can learn with me.... That is of course when I recover from a close encounter with a red back spider as well yesterday!

[Shadowman]

Great idea John,
In between teams today, I had a chat with one of the club guys about taking a few players, from the range of juniors to seniors, male/female & doing some more creative different shots that I could have some fun with & they could use for publicity.
So we will see what comes of that.
I will post some of this weekends ones as well when I get a chance, and hope others can learn with me.... That is of course when I recover from a close encounter with a red back spider as well yesterday!

Kaye,

Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Hope all is well with your encounter?