Sports Photography – How Most Pros Work |  |
- Sports Photography – How Most Pros Work
- New: Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop
- Top 10 Zoo Photography Tips
| Sports Photography – How Most Pros Work Posted: 05 May 2013 04:35 PM PDT In sports photography, access is key. Without access, you won’t succeed even if you have the most comprehensive array of lenses out there. So if you have access, you’ve already improved your chances of success by at least 40%. The other keys to success? You have to be able to anticipate and concentrate for long periods. Being knowledgeable and following a variety of sports, not just the popular ones, is crucial. And finally a good ounce of luck doesn’t hurt either. What exactly should you be looking for besides shooting great action?  “Rally Azzano” captured by Leo Gesess (Click Image to See More From Leo Gesess) FacesBack of heads are not terribly engaging. I think we are so in tuned to seeing faces, we don’t realize it. We do want to see faces of athletes whenever possible. Grimacing faces add to the drama and excitement. Unfortunately some athletes hardly show any emotions even when they win. Faces in sports can be the difference between a good picture and a great picture. TimingPeak action is probably what you’re after. There may be some luck involved but a softball picture without a visible ball is not as exciting. The ball, be it a hockey puck or shuttlecock tells your viewer what sport it is. Without the ball, you don’t get a sense of how close the play was, how bad the throw was et cetera. With baseball and softball, the play at a base has to be close. If the throw is early or too late, the ball is either in the glove or out of your picture. But that’s not your fault. It’s just how the game goes. So the element of luck is there for sure. A Different ViewpointStrive for a different viewpoint to surprise your viewers and to give them a fresh look of a “tired-looking” sport. This may be something as simple as shooting when weather is not so good sometimes.  “Lance” captured by Dean Deming (Click Image to See More From Dean Deming) Or even simply being creative with your photographic technique. It may mean working harder by bringing in more equipment but your efforts will be rewarded. If it it doesn’t work, you’ll at least learn something new. BackgroundsRelated to viewpoint but just as important is backgrounds. Shooting with wide open apertures on long lenses can only do that much sometimes, so be on the lookout for what’s behind the subject at all times. If you’re serious about sports photography, you should try photographing different sports. GolfJust the same way most Americans don’t get soccer, I don’t get golf. I do know I would enjoy the sport if I play it. It’s more interesting to play than to watch. That said, I don’t particularly like covering golf. Here’s why: • expect to be hauling at least a 300 mm lens with a monopod and 2 bodies, maybe a flash, and a 70-200 mm zoom. • you will be walking all 18 holes, more if it goes into playoffs. • you don’t get to hang out with just the same foursome • if the leader boards are not kept current, you will be in a world of hurt trying to find a certain golfer when the lead changes suddenly.  Photo captured by Bogdan (Click Image to See More From Bogdan) • besides that, the light is usually extremely harsh. Faces are inevitably shielded by visors or baseball caps. You’re never close enough to be able to fill flash or anything of that sort. • Restrictions. You can’t stand directly in the line-0f-sight of the golfers. You can’t trip your shutter until they actually hit the ball if they’re on the green during the short game. Don’t forget you have to be absolutely quiet. • if the game goes into playoffs, all those “great pictures” you took in the early rounds don’t mean much anymore. It’s like starting all over. SoccerMy favorite sport soccer happens to be pretty tough to shoot because of the lens requirement. A 300 mm lens is probably the minimum and a 400 mm is more ideal. But that also depends on the sensor size of your camera body. If you’re shooting with a camera with full frame sensors, you might even need something longer. Most of the time, depending on the lens you have, you park yourself on the field and just hope you’re in the right place at the right time. So covering soccer is not as physically demanding as covering golf or football. You might move around when there’s a chance for a set piece like a free-kick or corner kick. It helps if you understand terms like “in-swinger” on corner kicks. The rest of the time, because the action is non-stop and the ball moves around the pitch so quickly, it’s difficult to physically move around.  Photo captured by Stephen Pacinelli (Click Image to See More From Stephen Pacinelli) BadmintonAnytime you step indoors to cover a sport, you are heading into low light and very limited options. The world’s fastest racquet sport is also hardest to photograph because of the lighting conditions and how the indoor stadiums are lit. Understanding how a game like badminton or tennis is scored is crucial. How else would you know when it’s the “critical match point’ or the significance of a tie-break? ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed & White BalanceUp till this point, I haven’t mentioned these camera settings because these are variable depending on the lighting conditions and how well your camera handle digital noise. Generally speaking, the newer your camera, the better it handles low ISO and digital noise. Most sports photographers have at least a 300mm f2.8 lens at a minimum. They will also carry a 70-200 f2.8 lens and most likely that has built-in image stabilization. And the majority of sports photographers take their pictures at f2.8 to blur out the background but also to get the highest possible shutter speed to freeze action. Every now and then, they may need more depth-of-field but very rarely. That by the way, is why under the one of the Auto modes, you see the icon for Sports or someone running. It’s also exposure mode that favors high shutter speed, Shutter Priority or Tv (Time value according to Canon) So 2 camera bodies are pretty standard. One body is attached to the long telephoto which is mounted on a monopod for support. Depending on the camera body, the image sensor may be full frame or may have a 1.6x, so a 300mm will be 480 mm lens.  “Sports” captured Ray Valdovinos (Click Image to See More From Ray Valdovinos) To successfully hand hold a lens like that with little camera shake would require you to make sure you have a minimum shutter speed of 1/500 sec. But even professionals don’t handhold long lenses, they use monopods. The one good thing about shooting in artificial lighting like a soccer stadium at night is this: once you have the exposure down, it doesn’t change very much, unlike a daytime game. In day games, you have to keep an eye on light levels especially if the game is in the evening. The other advantage is the crowd in the stands are not lit, so they aren’t as distracting. Since “Sports Photography” is a highly specialized field, there is just too much to cover in one article. These tips will hopefully get you on your way to getting better pictures. About the Author Go to full article: Sports Photography – How Most Pros Work |
| New: Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop Posted: 05 May 2013 01:50 PM PDT This new Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop has been designed from the ground up to teach photographers a simple and systematic approach to capturing professional couples / engagement photography in natural light. In this workshop, they show you that professional results can be achieved with just your camera, a simple reflector and your photographic eye. Discounted 20% for the launch sale, found here: Natural Light Couples Photography They split the Workshop into 2 video files totalling nearly 8 hours instruction (*note the total file size is 12 GB and will take a while to download). The first half covers the planning and the actual shooting of the couples photography session while the second bonus half includes all of the post production to turn our raw files into beautifully produced images (for those of you reading this by email, the trailer can be seen here). Topics Covered:Chapter 1 – Introduction and Preparation In Chapter 1, they start with preparing for the shoot. Through why it is important to convince wedding clients to do a pre-wedding portrait session, about recommendations on professional makeup and styling for the shoot, optimal shoot lengths and planning for the potential what-could-go-wrongs. But the meat of this chapter is in discussing and planning the client's vision for their portraits. They show a planning session with an actual client where they discuss the style and concept for the shoot, cover potential locations and discuss appropriate wardrobe considerations. Chapter 2 – Gear, Camera Settings and Advice In Chapter 2, they move on to discuss their favorite gear and camera settings for couples photography. They discuss necessary equipment, shooting and metering modes, as well as go over a "pre-click checklist" to think through prior to snapping each photo. Chapter 3 – Lighting Techniques Chapter 3 introduces the basic lighting techniques that they will be using throughout the workshop. Showing you how to create amazing imagery with just a simple reflector and the natural light around you. They will show examples of using the reflector as a key light, fill light, gobo and scrim. Chapter 4 – Posing and Communication Posing and Communication is such a huge part of any portrait session and any successful portrait photographers skill set. So when they get to Chapter 4, they demonstrate how to pose and guide the male and female subjects individually prior to each shoot. Most portrait photographers are shooting clients that don't have previous modeling experience. Rather than using professional models, for this entire workshop they are demonstrating these techniques with Ryan and Jackie – actual clients who have no modeling experience prior to this shoot. Knowing how to quickly and confidently communicate and guide your subjects into different poses is crucial to the portrait photographer's success. Chapter 5 – Foundation Posing Shooting begins in Chapter 5 as they teach you their system for posing couples which they refer to as "Foundation Posing." Foundation Posing is a framework they created that enables photographers to quickly move clients in and out of various poses within just seconds. After learning the Foundation Posing framework, you will find that you can shoot 10-20 different looks and poses within 1-2 minutes. More importantly, you will never be on a shoot pausing trying to come up with "new poses"  Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop (Click to Learn More) Chapter 6 – 9 – The Shoots After Foundation Posing, you will be able to tag along through our entire portrait session with Ryan and Jackie. In Chapter 6, they start off the session at the Willow Tree location where they do a basic set of sitting portraits. After a mini-portrait session, they move into creating a Picnic scene from their moodboard. They then end this location with one of his favorite types of shots referred to as the "Peeping Tom." In Chapter 7, they hop to their next location where they shoot an entire tandem biking scene. They instruct and guide Ryan and Jackie in order to help capture fun and natural biking shots. They finish up this location with a few prop driven portraits featuring their tandem bike. In Chapter 8 they take a short hike to their Grassy Hill location where they proceed to capture a large variety of images. Here they took advantage of the scene and lighting to create beautifully fun and candid walking shots, a wonderful set of soft portraits of Ryan and Jackie sitting in the grass, and ended the location with a hilariously goofy set of piggy backing and frame-it shots. Finally, in Chapter 9 they conclude the couples photography session with dramatic environmental portraits at Sunset Ridge. In total, they end up with nearly 200 amazing images to wow their clients. All shot within just a few hours, at a single location – a local park in Orange County, California. Post Production Section Includes over 190 Full Resolution 5D Mark III RAW exercise files and all of the post production video tutorials to take our RAW files and turn them into breathtaking images. From culling to basic developing to advanced vintage and black and white processing and effects, this 5 hour Bonus section covers all of the post production from start to finish. Launch sale here: Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop Go to full article: New: Natural Light Couples Photography Workshop |
| Posted: 05 May 2013 11:30 AM PDT Are you happy with the photographs you took last time you went to your favorite zoo? Photographing animals at the zoo affords the photographer many unique experiences to get up close and personal with a variety of animals, but, as with any type of photography, it’s not as easy as just aiming your camera and shooting. To help you get started, these are some basic tips to improve your zoo photography experience.  “Untitled” captured by Megan Marcinkus. (Click image to see more from Megan Marcinkus. ) 1. Fill the FrameSome animal exhibits are nicer than others, but even in the nicest ones, photography composition can be tricky. Sometimes either the angle is a little complicated, or there is a fence to remind us that these animals are in a zoo and not in the wild. So when this happens, the best advice is to zoom in or crop the image so you can fill the frame with the animal and not what is around it. 2. Capture Animals’ Interaction with Each OtherPortraits are nice, however the cutest images are when you see a family together. A mom’s tenderness for her baby is always a good reminder of love in the animal kingdom. There are also happy gestures among siblings or other family members as well. 3. Try Different AnglesWhen we approach a new animal exhibit, we always think first of the most obvious composition, but moving around is the key to open a lot more possibilities. Some animal exhibits are great because they allow you to move fully around the animals; you may have to hunch down to be at their eye level, but it pays off! 4. Choose the Zoo CarefullyThe best zoos for photography are definitely the more modern ones. It helps when they have nice decorations, with scenery of plants, rocks, or even sand that replicate the animals natural environment. 5. Quality VS QuantityIts easy to enter a zoo and want to see it all. That is a good idea for a first visit; however, if you want to get cool photographs, you must limit yourself to spending more time with few animals. That is how you make sure you get really good shots.  “Shadow Hunter” captured by David Hobcotte. (Click image to see more from David Hobcotte) 6. Be Patient and the Animal May Look at YouThese beautiful creatures are cute when they are sleeping, eating, playing, but I have to admit that it’s magical when they look at the camera. Patience is really a virtue when photographing animals. Please behave and don’t shout at them, start jumping, or waving to get their attention–that doesn’t help anybody. I’ve seen people doing that and animals turn around or walk away. Some seem used to being annoyed like that, so they just ignore that kind of human behavior. My advice is to stay still and quiet, they might be curious at some point and look straight at you with sweet eyes.  “Untitled” captured by Lilia Tkachenko. (Click image to see more from Lilia Tkachenko.) 7. Avoid CrowdsAnimals are annoyed by crowds and when this happens they just go hide. So choose wisely the day and time when you go to the zoo. If going on weekends is more convenient for you, just go in the morning. Try to go as soon as they open the zoo to take advantage of some of the best lighting conditions of the day. 8. Focus on the EyesPeople say the eyes are the window to the soul and that could be the very essence of a picture. Camera manufacturers are aware of this which is why the latest cameras often detect the eyes when focusing on faces. Some animals have unique eyes and it’s important to have that part of the photo sharp focused. 9. Animal TexturesSometimes animals won’t do much. Sometimes they are resting in a position that isn’t flattering to a photograph. So what can we do about it? Well, since we cannot persuade them to pose for our camera, we have to pay attention to what we are looking at. What if we do a close up so we can capture textures? Those texture photographs can be beautiful. You could be surprised by how nice they look and if you do that, you will see a different beauty in animals. 10. Zoo Etiquette for PhotographersPhotography is welcome in most zoos, but you need to follow these etiquette guidelines:
 “Eye of The Lizard” captured by Warren Steffey. (Click image to see more from Warren Steffey.) Some of these guidelines may seem like common sense, but it is not always the case. I’m sure this will help you next time you take your camera to the zoo. About the Author: Go to full article: Top 10 Zoo Photography Tips |
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