This is the continuation from Part 1 of the wrestling team poster project done using a green screen. In part one, I explained how I used a green screen to put together a team picture.

The next stage was to provide some sample background images to be selected for the final poster.  I submitted for review, ten different images, from pastures to buildings, for potential candidates for the final poster. Coach Watson and his staff settled on the stormy clouds version. In addition, he let me know that one of the original wrestlers has transferred to another school and would need to be removed. With the removal of that wrestler, I then rearranged the other guys to balance it out.

Coach Watson wondered if I could add a bolt of lighting to the sky. I played around with Photoshop after Googling for help inspiration and technique from others. I personally like the poster without the lightning, but the coaches loved it, and wanted it included.

The final step was to add the text, and get the final OK.  Once approved, it was time to send the final image to the lab to print the posters.

This was a fun learning experience, and would gladly accept another project that could utilize the green screen.

In fact, I am going to start utilizing this technique for doing T&I (team and individual). No more ugly bleachers or gym stages in the backgrounds. Another benefit is that there is no need for everyone to wait around for the entire team to show up — I’m sure the parents will appreciate that aspect.

-30-

If you are a sports photographer and frequently shoot high school night games of football, soccer, or lacrosse, you have probably experienced poor lighting.  Some of the newer fields have decent lighting, but a majority of the ones I visit are marginal at best.

Prior to Bel Air High School being remodeled, if I shot a game without flash on the old football field, I would usually come away disappointed with my results.  The light reading on that field was ISO 3200 f/2.8 1/250 on the best lit areas of the field. The team wears dark blue uniforms and shots from the endzone and sideline would be horrible, unless you shot at 1/60.

If you shoot at night with a flash sitting on-camera, you will end up with a majority of your subjects with red eye or ghost (white) eye.  Pupils are dilated and the light from your flash is so close to the lens axis that red eye is unavoidable in that situation.   To use flash without getting red eye, the flash needs to be distanced from the lens axis.  One way would be to put the flash up high above your camera.  Well, in doing that, you being nimble and having the ability to move up and down the sidelines quickly is probably hindered.  What I do is put my flash below my camera. This allows me to move up/down the sidelines pretty much the same way I would without flash. The flash below keeps the weight low to the ground and doesn’t affect my shooting ability.

// Read the rest of this entry »

If you are anything like me, it seems as when you need something, you can never find it, or the item is always in a location that you are not.  Well, this used to happen to me a lot with me when I wanted to clean my lens.  I either had my lens cloth in another bag, or I left it in the office, or I just couldn’t remember where I put it last.

My solution — a chamois.  Yes, the same type of chamios that you would find in an auto supply store for drying your car.  Purchase a large chamios and cut it up into several 3 to 4-inch squares.  Now you can put them in every bag you own, in the car, in the office, you name it.   They work great.

-30-

Taking photographs of fireworks is fun and relatively simple.

Last night I brought my camera, 70-200 lens and a tripod out to see the fireworks from South Hampton Middle school in Bel Air, with my family. I setup my camera to shoot in “bulb” mode (which means the shutter stays open for as long as my finger is depressing the shutter, and shuts as soon as I let off), ISO 100 and f/11. Set the lens to manual focus and waited for the show to start.

Once the first few projectiles hit the sky, I could then point the camera in the right direction and get my focus set. At that point, it was just a matter of holding down the shutter for as long as one, two, or several explosions appear in the sky. If your camera doesn’t have “bulb” mode, set your exposure time long (4-10 seconds).

I know there are many cities and towns shooting fireworks off tonight, Saturday, July 5th — so there is still time for you to try this out for yourself, rather than having to wait a whole year.

-30-

Go to any high school or recreational league where sports are being played, and you’ll find parents, grandparents, and friends with cameras.

From my observations, I see many folks whip out their pocket camera or digital SLR and just snap away when “Little Johnny” hits the field,  most likely capturing many pictures of his back, or becoming unrecognizable because he is so far away and just shows up as a blip on the picture.

With some planning and keeping in mind some of my tips below, you can transform yourself from a sideline snapshooter into a quality sportsshooter, and create photographs worth looking at over and over again.   Creating better images will not only make you proud of yourself, you will have cherished images to complement your memories.

// Read the rest of this entry »

To those that are regular readers of David Hobby’s Strobist website are intimately familiar with the motto, LESS GEAR, MORE BRAIN, BETTER LIGHT, however, that tagline has been recently replaced with LEARN TO LIGHT.   The enormous popularity of David’s website over the past two years has caused hundreds of thousands of photographers to take their on-camera flashes, off-camera and create awesome images using relatively inexpensive equipment.

With the knowledge he has given to the photographic community with regards to small flashes, David is now expanding his Strobist site to discuss the use of other lighting equipment — mainly studio strobes.

As David wrote in his post Birthdays, Heresies and Watt-Seconds:

I don’t care if they are using speedlights, Profotos or magnesium powder. Light is light. And we may as well be learning from the folks who are working at the highest levels.

Year three of Strobist should be filled with more interesting reading and learning.

-30-

Ah, summer.  You remember those days as a kid don’t you?  Being out of school and running out of the house in the morning, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face, wondering what that day of fun would bring.

Unfortunately, I’m not a kid anymore and those days of three months of vacation are only a memory.  However, I can relive those moments watching my kids experience it as I once did.

No matter what type of camera you own, keep it handy, and take photographs of your family.   You, your family, and future family members will appreciate it in the future.

-30-