Just a reminder that the next two Mondays have events expiring on the proofing website. I have been trying to post them here on the blog more often to give as much notice as possible. If you want to have your email on our mailing list, I will also be sending out reminders there. Signing up on the proofing site will add you to the same list. If you are not sure, you can also sign up below. It won’t send duplicate emails if you use the same address.
Tomorrow is the expiration of the Salsa Bachata Throwndown photos, Monday the 26th is the expiration of the Marsha Bonet Showcase photos. This upcoming week, I have some recent photo shoots to edit and post on the blog, so there will be lots of new photos coming soon. Thanks to those that responded from the email list for some sports portraits, it has been fun to make these photos, and I think you will enjoy the results.
In a previous post, I wrote about a sports photographer that I observed while shooting from the sidelines of a professional football game. Another photographer that I have seen through online videos and blogs is Dave Black. He has been published in all the major sports magazines and has covered the BIG events. These include multiple Olympic Games and championship finals. Not only is his photography portfolio stocked with amazing images, but he is a big proponent of sharing his knowledge with fellow photographers. Through educational workshops, he openly shares from his experiences to help other photographers improve their skill level. Here is one of the lessons that he emphasizes when I have seen him teach.
Photographers have to be in the right position
The audience is there to experience the action and performance of athletes. It is the photographer’s job to record their performance and convey the story of the action to viewers that are not at the event. Even though you can be right on the sideline, there can be many distractions that can get in the way of capturing the moment, so photographers much anticipate this, and prepare to be in the best spot.
Sometimes you are lucky, and the action comes directly to you, and sometimes, it is halfway across the field. The background in the action is also especially important – it cannot be too distracting, or it will take viewer’s eyes away from the subject. For me, I am looking to see where dancers will be holding their lines to the audience. This is where the best photos will come. Sometimes, though, it will be to the opposite side of the ballroom, but I must take my best guess as a sports photographer.
Dancers will sometimes repeat the order that they do their figures. Additionally if they are in multiple heats, or there are quarterfinals, semifinals, etc. you can have a chance at catching them in the next round. It is really satisfying to catch a moment in a routine that I saw in a previous dance. Perhaps I missed it because I was focused on another dancer. Or I was not in the right position with respect to the dancers. I remember these moments long after the weekend is over, and more than likely keep those photos in my portfolio.
This last week, I flew on an airplane for the first time in a long time. My travels of late have all been by car, especially for business where I have to bring so much equipment. This is the first airplane trip I have taken with my iPhone, and I took advantage of having a decent camera on a bright daytime flight. The plane was an Airbus A321, and we were lucky to have seats in the last row! Actually that’s lucky only if you are interested in make photos from out of the window. Being this far back, there was no obstruction to the views below from the wings or engines.
The first thing you notice even without looking through the camera lens is that you do not have that large a field of view out of the window. Use the technology built into phone apps to help. This first image was taken with the panorama feature with the default camera app of the iPhone. It was not a very wide panorama, but you can get a much larger view than in one shot with the normal focal length lens, and small window. The only editing needed was to crop the ends to remove the edges of the windows.
You will have opportunities near the takeoffs and landings to see so much of the surrounding landscapes. During the middle of the flights, the deep blues, and billowy clouds will fill the frame easily. You cannot get the same deep deep blue in the sky taking photos from the ground. Being above the clouds, and in the thinning air makes for a nice minimal background in case other objects come into view like the moon, or other nearby planes.
Another challenge in getting clean photos out of the plane is the reflections from the multiple panes in the window. Two things that help – cup your hands around the lens to block extra light coming from inside the plane from getting to the lens. The second, is to wait until the sun is closer to overhead than at an angle to you. If it is lower, the light can more easily bounce around the window and create flares in the photo. But sometimes, the subject trumps a perfect photo. I tried my best, but with the lowering sun, these have too much flare, but it was a beautiful view of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center complete with launch pads and the huge Vehicle Assembly Building.
