Looking to capture powerful, dramatic sports portraits? You’ve come to the right place! Photographer Jaison Sterling, of Rock Town Media, shot a volleyball-themed photo session at Elmwood High School and came away with exciting, high-impact images. In this video Jaison shares some simple but highly effective lighting and posing tips that you can easily use in your own sports portrait shoots. Whether you’re new to off-camera flash or an experienced pro, these insights will help you create images that truly stand out.
Why Gym Lighting Doesn’t Have to Ruin Your Shoot
Challenge: Gyms are bright, often with fluorescent or LED lighting that can flatten your images and reduce contrast.
Solution: Overpower that overhead light using strobes like the FJ400 II and camera settings. Here’s the trick:
- Turn off the strobe from the trigger and take a test photo to see how much ambient light is hitting the scene.
- If your photo still appears bright, narrow your aperture (higher f-stop), increase your shutter speed (within your camera’s sync limits or switch to high-speed sync), and lower your ISO until the frame is mostly dark.
- Turn on the strobes. Now, your flashes become the main light source, making your subject “pop” while the gym background drops into the shadows. Powerful strobes like the FJ400II let you fine-tune or overpower ambient light with ease, ensuring your athlete takes center stage in every shot.
By mastering this ambient-cutting technique, you can transform a brightly lit gym into a stage-ready, moody arena.
Choosing the Right Modifiers
Modifiers shape your light and have a huge impact on how your photos turn out. For this shoot, Jaison used:
- Beauty Dish Switch by Manny Ortiz (36″) – Perfect as a key light for its semi-hard but flattering quality, especially on faces.
- 53″ Deep Silver Bounce Umbrella – Great for fill light, ensuring the athlete is lit from head to toe.
- Two 70° Reflectors – Used as rim lights behind the subject to create a bright edge of light, separating them from the background.
Beauty Dish as a Key Light
- One of the biggest advantages of a beauty dish is how much more focused it is compared to larger modifiers like a big softbox or a shoot-through umbrella. Instead of spilling light across the gym (and potentially brightening unwanted areas), a beauty dish directs illumination primarily onto your subject. This narrower beam helps you maintain that dark, moody background and really makes the athlete stand out.
- Using a silver interior, amps up the contrast and requires less flash power to achieve strong output.
- Placed a few feet from the athlete (usually slightly above eye level), it creates a dramatic yet polished look—perfect for highlighting intensity and muscle definition.
Umbrella for Fill Light
- For full-body coverage, the 53″ deep umbrella really helps.
- A silver interior means it’s more reflective and punchier compared to a white version, which will produce a gentler, more diffused effect.
- Positioned lower or off to one side, it evens out shadows that the beauty dish might miss—particularly around the legs and lower body.
Rim Lights for Separation
- We placed two 70° reflectors behind the athlete (one on each side or both behind).
- These reflectors give a crisp edge of light along the shoulders, arms, and hair.
- They also do a fantastic job lighting any fog or smoke you introduce, creating a “halo” effect around your subject.
A Dramatic Pose Using the Net as a Prop
One of Jaison’s favorite setups involved draping the volleyball net around Faith, our athlete. If you’re looking for a striking, dramatic portrait that demands attention, give this approach a try.
Setup and Pose
- Faith stood with the net in front of her, held by assistants about 7–8 feet away.
- She propped a spare volleyball under one foot, giving her a strong stance.
- Jaison got low to the ground and shot upward, using the net’s diagonal lines as leading lines to Faith’s face.
Lighting Steps
- Test the background: Turn the strobe trigger off to ensure the gym lights are mostly underexposed.
- Add rim lights: Switch on the two reflectors at a modest power (around 6.0 on the FJ400II strobes) so Faith’s edges are clearly defined.
- Add key light: Turn on the beauty dish and adjust its power until Faith’s face and upper body are properly exposed.
- Add fill: Finally, turn on the 53″ umbrella to soften and fill shadows on her lower body.
Fog for Extra Drama
- Jaison placed a fog machine behind Faith, off to one side.
- The rim lights illuminate the fog, creating depth and atmosphere.
- Be mindful of how much fog creeps in front of the athlete—too much can obscure your subject.
With these elements in place, you’ll have a stunning, edgy portrait that looks like it belongs on a poster or program cover.
Capturing Action: The Volleyball Pass
Sports portraits often feel livelier when you show real motion. Jaison asked Faith to demonstrate a passing move, timing our shots to catch the volleyball right before or just after it connected with her arms.
Why High-Speed Sync Matters
- Action shots sometimes call for a shutter speed faster than your camera’s default sync speed (often 1/200–1/250s).
- High-Speed Sync (HSS) lets you boost your shutter to 1/1600s (or even faster) while still using flash. This “freezes” the action, showing every dynamic moment in razor-sharp detail.
Simplified Two-Light Setup
- Key Light: The 53″ deep silver umbrella was placed in front of Faith, a bit closer to soften her face and arms.
- Rim Light: A single 70° reflector was positioned behind her to carve out that bright edge of light.
Angle Swaps for More Variety
- Jaison first shot from directly in front, capturing Faith’s focused expression as the ball neared her arms.
- Then Jaison moved to a 45° angle. The lighting looked entirely different, all without changing the main setup. The side angle highlighted more of the rim-light effect, giving the action an extra pop.
Adding Gels: Quick Way to Change the Mood
One of the simplest tricks to adding variety is color gels. Jaison placed a vivid blue FlexiGel over the rim light, instantly turning the background fog into a dramatic blue haze. In addition to adding interest to the shot, gels let you match team or school colors for a consistent brand look.
- Easy to Attach: Just slip the FlexiGel over your strobe or reflector.
- Bold Look: Great for team branding if you match a school’s colors or simply want a more stylized image.
- Fast Results: No need to move around big modifiers or drastically change your camera settings—just swap gels for a fresh color theme.
5 Tips for Success
- Work from Back to Front: Turn off your main lights and get the background how you want it first. Then switch on rim lights, followed by your key and fill. This way, you can spot and fix any issues (like unwanted reflections or hot spots) one step at a time.
- Don’t Oversaturate with Fog: A little fog goes a long way. Once it’s too thick, it can hide your athlete’s face. Let the smoke disperse slightly before taking your shot.
- Make Athletes Comfortable: Whether it’s a serious stare or a friendly smile, guide your subject with simple cues and let them settle into a pose that feels natural.
- Experiment with Angles: Even a small shift in your shooting position can produce a completely new look. Move around your subject to capture different moods.
- Stay Organized: Label your groups on the strobe trigger (A for key, B for fill, C/D for rims, for example) so you can adjust each light’s power quickly.
Final Thoughts
Volleyball photography—or any sports portrait session—doesn’t have to be complicated. A well-planned lighting setup, combined with creative posing and a dash of atmosphere, can bring your images to life. By overpowering the ambient gym lights, using a powerful key light, adding thoughtful rim lights, and possibly tossing in fog and gels, you can easily capture magazine-worthy shots that resonate with both athletes and audiences.
Ready to give these techniques a shot? Start small—maybe just a key light and a rim light—then add gear as you get comfortable. And don’t forget: sometimes all it takes is a quick angle change or a color gel to spice up your final images.
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