ILH Varsity Girls Volleyball + Photo Talk

On Saturday, I attended the Iolani-Kamehameha girls varsity volleyball playoff game at Kamehameha Schools. I like the lighting in that gym a lot. It's the best I've shot in except for Stan Sheriff at UH. The better lighting allows me to shoot at higher shutter speeds with greater depth of field. What's that mean?

In a fast game like volleyball you need a fast shutter speed to stop the action, 1/250 is a bare minimum, 1/500 is optimum. To get a fast shutter speed in low light you need a lens capable of a large aperture. Lots of people think that 2.8 is big. For Kamehameha that's probably ok. At Iolani, I use 1.8 and 2.0, so when I go to Kamehameha I can either stop down my aperture and get a large depth of field, or keep my lens wide open and get a faster shutter speed. What I did was stop down a little and increase my shutter speed a little, so I end up with better settings on both.

What's depth of field? If you study my photos at Iolani gym, you will see that usually only one player is in focus. That's a shallow depth of field. As you close down your aperture, the depth of field increases, so you might be able to have the focused athlete plus another one a few feet behind still in focus.

Anyway, enough photography! It was a great game! The Raiders had many opportunities to win, but at the crucial times, the Warriors found a way to do it. Particularly worrisome was a terrible fall that Chelsea Hardin took. It looked like a very bad sprained ankle. I hope she's ok. If you'd like to read a more detailed recap of the game, please visit the Iolani Events website.

Another huge game is on tap for tonight, this time against Punahou. I have been confused about how the playoffs work, but finally, I believe I have an explanation that I can understand and makes sense. From one of the athletic directors at Iolani:

1. The first round is over. Kamehameha captured one of the ILH's berths to the state tournament, but not the overall ILH championship. Punahou and Iolani tied for second.

2. The second round is a single-elimination tournament. Kamehameha is the top seed. Iolani plays Punahou tonight at 6:30 at Punahou in the semi-finals. Kamehameha plays HBA in the other semi final. The winners will advance to the finals.

3. The winner of the second round tournament is also guaranteed a State tournament berth. If the winner is a team other than first round champ, Kamehameha, then there will be a play-off to determine the overall ILH champion. The overall ILH champion will get the seeded berth in the state tournament.

4. If Kamehameha wins the second round tournament, then Punahou and Iolani will play a single play-off match that covers their first round tie for 2nd and the results of the second round (regardless of who placed higher in the second round). The winner of that potential playoff match will receive the remaining State Berth.