UD women’s volleyball: August & September

Here are a few favorites from the University of Dayton women’s volleyball team’s games from late August through mid-September at the Frericks Center.

Photo nerd note: Exposure is around 1/500th at f/2.8 at ISO 4000. To top it off, the lights cycle which makes for even more fun frame-to-frame. To overcome the technical challenges, on my Nikon D300s, I shoot with a 70-200mm almost exclusively. I shoot in manual always staying at f/2.8. I activate auto-ISO with a limit of 3200 which is way higher than I’d like, but there’s no getting around it considering how dark the building is. With those set, as the play develops and where it’s happening, I scroll through shutter speeds from 1/160-1/500th. I dial in a custom WB of around 3230K and shoot RAW (as usual) to deal with the WB shifts. There are few angles with clean backgrounds that allow me to get faces and expression without distractions in the BG. Needless to say, it’s a very challenging place to make pictures.

Volleyball-wise, it’s a great environment. The Red Scare is loud and energetic, and it’s a cozy place overall. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to be ranked in the top-20 either.