Ladder Golf

This past Wednesday, I played Ladder Golf with my friends after work. What's Ladder Golf? I don't know, but check out the first 20 seconds of this video and it will kinda make sense. I wanted to toss the balls around, but I really wanted to just take photos of everyone else. Determined to make the most of the evening, I wrote out a list of things to try out on this shoot. I also tried to apply some of the lessons I've learned in the last few months.

I wanted to experiment with the Creative Lighting System on my DSLR. This system allows my camera's popup flash to communicate with my external flash without wires or third party remote triggers. Unfortunately, I didn't try out this feature from the comfort of my home beforehand, so I ended up just connecting my external flash to my wireless remote trigger. Full disclosure: the flash power was about a stop too high, but I was able to lower it in Lightroom. I'm also happy to report that my aim has improved since I first tried hand holding a flash with my left hand. :-)

I also created a shot list. I didn't want to repeat my usual mistake of missing important shots. I also envisioned a few shots that I thought would look cool. As usual, I didn't take all the shots I wanted, but I'm glad I wrote out a plan and tried to stick to it.

1. Take panning shots of the balls moving through the air. This was an unbridled failure. I overexposed the photo. Also, the balls rotate as they're flying which prevents them from being completely frozen in midair. 2. Take panning shots of arms as they're tossing the balls. Unfortunately, I didn't try this.

3. Foreground: balls on ladder. Background: people out of focus. It would have helped if my lens had a shallower depth of focus. I could have stepped in closer to the ladder, so the background would have been more defocused, but I was very scared of getting hit by the balls!

4. Balls dangling from side of person, frame the shot from the waist down to knees, and shoot from behind. I like these photos even though the framing isn't what I originally envisioned.

5. Shoot everybody twice. I made sure to shoot my buddy Debbie multiple times, but I wasn't able to do that for everyone. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time.

6. Group shot. This shot's okay. I didn't know most of the people there, so I didn't feel comfortable asking everyone to line up for a group portrait. Also, it seemed a bit cheesy. Looking back, I wish I had asked them anyway.

You can see all the photos here.