Roller derby was a phenomena of my youth. It occupied a space in my childhood bounded by Bob Luce, Dick the Bruiser, Andre the Giant and a gaggle of old school wrestlers on one side and a sand lot game of slow pitch on the other. Roller derby, featuring the likes of the L.A. T-Birds and little Ralphie Valdez (the living legend Ralphie Valdez, I'll have you know) occupied a special place in my 10-year-old Sunday afternoons.
That in mind, I was thrilled to receive an invite from a FaceBook friend to watch her roller derby team - Chicago's own Hell's Belles - in action at the UIC Pavillion.
In brief, it was a really fun evening. The match was actually a double header - The Fury vs the Manic Attackers in the first match and the Bells vs the Double Crossers in the second. If you're interested in reading up more on the matches (or just want to learn more about Windy City Rollers' derby action in Chicago) you can read up by clicking right here.
All I can say - non photographically - of the evening is that I plan to attend another of their matches and recommend you do too. My only warning is that if you intend to go, smuggle in some snacks or food. Unless you enjoy buying a $1.29 bag of Cracker Jacks for $4. But hey, it's your call.
Some words about photo conditions
If you shot this event and shot successfully, then I'd like to know how you got it done. No really... I would appreciate any hints you can give on how to make the shots work under roller derby conditions.
This was my first time trying to catch such an event. I noticed from the pictures on the derby's web page - http://www.windycityrollers.com/ - that graininess seems to be inherent to shooting derby pics. I can accept shooting at 1600 (the fastest my current camera can shoot). In fact I love it. However, from their pics I also see that they likely shoot with a faster telephoto lens than I have access to. My best is a 28-250/4.0-6.3 Tamron lens.
Frankly, if I sweated cash instead of salt water, I'd hit the elliptical and in an hour or so have enough cash to buy this lens -----> Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
This one would be acceptable, though not ideal -----> Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
The upside here is that I'd only have to spend thirty minutes on the elliptical.
The upside here is that I'd only have to spend thirty minutes on the elliptical. I think with either of these lenses I could gain another 1/100 of a second and thereby get shots like you see on the Rollers' home page. No motion blurring like in so many of my shots.
Three last thoughts -
1) if you have a chance to shoot this event DO NOT use the al servo auto focus function. I did this on the first 3/4's of my set. The action moves too fast and too unevenly for that function to be effective. Your reward for trusting al servo will be blur and nothing but.
1) if you have a chance to shoot this event DO NOT use the al servo auto focus function. I did this on the first 3/4's of my set. The action moves too fast and too unevenly for that function to be effective. Your reward for trusting al servo will be blur and nothing but.
2) I am going to try and get the Bell's to give me a floor pass so I can try another lens, a prime lens, to get better focus and exposure. Of course they will be given use of any good shots. But they also need to know that if I am not sure if this other lens will work. This will be another experiment - either we soar together or we flop together.
3) and last... If you are a wealthy patron of crazed photographers please feel free to buy me either of the above lenses. But please know I would really appreciate the first lens, the 2.8. Not to be ungrateful, but it's my delusion, so I want to make sure it is th right one.
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