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March 12, 2014

Karl Alzner at Tysons Corner Center | Event Photographer

Karl Alzner at Tysons Corner Center - ©TimeLine Media

Last weekend there was an appearance by Karl Alzner, a defenseman for the Washington Capitals at Tysons Corner Center. It was great timing for his appearance as it was a day after he scored a goal in a winning effort by the NHL team.

Tysons Corner Center

The appearance was more than just an opportunity to get an autograph. Karl also taught some kids basic stick handling in a setup for shooting. There was a large setup in the middle of the mall with a target for kids to aim practice balls. Karl spent an hour giving as many kids as possible a chance to score a goal.

Slapshot, the mascot for the Capitals was also there signing autographs, and playing goalie in another ball-shooting setup. He was quite a character to photograph, and really brought the personality without even speaking a word! It was nice to see a professional athlete taking time to interact with so many small kids giving them their first chance at hockey. There were a few that definitely had some previous experience, so he gave them some other stick skills to play try before shooting.

Slapshot points to the crowd at Tysons Corner Center - ©TimeLine Media — Slapshot points to the crowd at Tysons Corner Center – ©TimeLine Media

Slapshot plays goalie - ©TimeLine Media — Slapshot plays goalie – ©TimeLine Media

After the shooting drills, Karl took an hour to sign autographs. The line was almost out the door! The fans were very patient, and everyone got plenty of time to meet him. It was another smoothly run event. Even with all the parts that had to be setup, the staff at Tysons made sure we had everything we needed. The Capitals marketing team was also very considerate, and helped me setup to get some nice photos of the whole afternoon. It is always great to work with professionals!

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

September 19, 2013

Event, Photography, Sports, Technology | 0 comment

Zoom Your Flash! – Tech Thursday

©TimeLine Media - motorcycle action photo with zoomed flash head

Of course you can zoom your lenses, but did you know you can zoom your speedlight flash? Depending on the model that you have, your flash head can be moved internally. On the Nikon SB-910, the flash head can be zoomed from 24mm to 200mm – a much larger range than their previous model, the SB-800 which had a range of 24mm to 105mm.

Speedlight Features

If you have this flash connected to modern Nikon cameras, the flash and the camera will talk to each other. They will automatically set the zoom of the flash to match the focal length of the lens that you are using by default. This is a great feature! As you use a longer focal length, the flash head will automatically zoom so that more flash power is given where you need it. Here are some example photos showing the difference in the light produced by the flash at different zoom lengths:

©TimeLine Media - Nikon Speedlight set at 24mm — ©TimeLine Media – Nikon Speedlight set at 24mm

This first photo has the flash zoomed out to 24mm. It is giving it’s largest spread of light against the wall. If you need to cover more area with the flash, this is will cover a wider area. This also corresponds to a wider area seen by a camera lens set at 24mm.

©TimeLine Media - Nikon Speedlight set at 70mm — ©TimeLine Media – Nikon Speedlight set at 70mm

At 70mm, the light beam becomes more focused. There is not as much spread of light up and down from the flash. The more you zoom in with your lens, the less that you need the light to be spread out across the frame, so this only flashes what you need without worrying about the areas that are not going to be seen in camera.

©TimeLine Media - Nikon Speedlight set at 200mm — ©TimeLine Media – Nikon Speedlight set at 200mm

Zooming Flash

The tight beam of light that comes from the flash at 200mm is the most extreme setting. If you are zoom out this far with your lens, there will be a corresponding small area that you need to iluminate that far from the camera. Having these options for you gives you creative possibilities to focus light. You can manually set the zoom on the flash apart from the focal length of the lens. This works well to create more dramatic portraits just by zooming the light you are already carrying! Try it next time and let me know how it goes.

©TimeLine Media - Racer suiting up — ©TimeLine Media – Racer suiting up

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

September 17, 2013

Photography, Portrait, Sports | 0 comment

Fire Dancer photography

Jo responded to a request I sent from the TimeLine Media mailing list. At this time, I am exploring making action photos of athletes and dancers off of their field of play. I have plenty of photos of dancers on the dance floor in competition, and sports photos of players on the field. However, what I am looking to do is make more photos of these talented people displaying their skill in different ways for the camera. In a nearby park, there was a spot that I thought would be a beautiful place for photos.

River Bank Setting

©TimeLine Media - park setting — ©TimeLine Media – park setting

There are some advantages to this area – with all the trees, any sunlight can be diffused. At this time, this setup photos was done in the late fall with almost all the leaves gone from the trees. For now, the leaves are still on the trees which blocked a lot of the light down near the forest floor. When scouting places for photos, look for these – where there is plenty of shade and even light.

Flash Setup

Next, I brought in my flash to light up Jo. I gelled the flash with an orange gel to match the light coming off his sword when it was on fire. I left the White Balance in the camera to daylight to keep the especially orange cast from the light. It matched up nicely!

One thing that I was not expecting was the sound! As Jo would turn the flaming sword around, there was likewise a great swooshing sound that really added to the effect. When I usually see these performances, there is music and other distracting elements, and the sound of the flaming sword is minimized. On this session, though, it was amazing!

I was impressed with how well he handles this flaming sword. Even touching it with his tongue! I tried to show as much of the motion and control that Jo displays at his performances. It was an amazing subject that I hope to get a chance to photograph again!

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Archive of ‘Sports’ category

Tysons Corner Center

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Speedlight Features

Zooming Flash

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River Bank Setting

Flash Setup

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