My first Roller Derby

 Well the other night I shot my first Roller Derby, it was my first bout. It was between the host team/league, Reign Valley Vixens and the visiting Armstrong/Okanagan Raggedy Rollers. It was the opening bout to kick off the season. It was held at the Abbotsford AG Rec Centre.

 

This being my first roller derby I was not sure what to expect when I showed up. When I walked in what I did see was all the sisters, friends and family  setting up the event. From laying out the track, to lighting , to putting chairs out for the spectators. They also had concessions, a beer garden and merchandising booths. These girls did it all and this was before they got ready for their season opener. It was  impressive to say the least.

Partial proceeds from the event went to  support the local  food bank and they raised 760 bucks Way to go girls!

If you have never been to a roller derby
bout I would encourage you to go out and watch one if your area has it. Well worth the price of admission and remember that these girls do it for the sport and to have fun and not about the money. Reign Valley Vixens are a non profit organization and they give back to the community.  For more info on the match and about the Reign Valley Vixens head on over to their website for more information.

Ok here are a few images from the evening. To see more go to the Roller Derby section in the galleries.

At the end of the evening when all was said and done it was the Reign Valley Vixens who came out on top. All in all it was great fun and opened my eyes up to the world Roller Derby.

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So now on to the photography side of things. Having shot Arenacross I knew lighting was going to be a challenge. Shooting in a rec centre always is. When I arrived the house lights were on and they were also setting up their own lighting. As you can see below house lights were on.

f2.8@160, iso 1600

 But then the house lights went off and were off for the remainder of the evening.

f2.8@160,iso 3200

So now it went from being tough enough to oh oh. Well not really but it now meant for me anyway flash was going to have to be used for most of the night. Not how I wanted it  to go down but that is the life of a photographer. Play the hand that is dealt to you the best way you know how.
As you can see with no house lights on it was really dark, and their lighting was constantly changing from blue,purple green you name it.

I used both the  580exII and 430exII mounted on either my 1D Mark III  or 5D Mark II. I also quickly setup a Vivitar 285hv with pocket wizard remotely. I would just take off flash and put on pw when needed. . As the bout went on I tried a few different things and in the end things did not turn out to bad but looking forward to shooting another one to dial it in even more.

It was tough but I think I did manage to come away with some great images . Anybody have any insight on what you would have done or have anything to add  please feel free to comment below.