Wrestling Competition Official
Piping Competition
The 54th Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans was held at MacRae Meadows from July 9 – 12 2009. Over the past few years I have only been able to go for a few hours on one day, but this year I was able to attend both Saturday and Sunday.
I find the biggest challenge at an event like this is to isolate the subject from the often cluttered background. Because there can be many events going on all at the same time, there are people everywhere, with a full spectrum of bright colors, together with poles, fences, ropes, tents and other items in every direction. I try to use the longest lens that is practical for the image I’m trying to capture. Most of the time it will be a zoom lens set at 200mm and aperture between f4 and f5.6. These examples show that with a subject fairly close to the camera, this setup together with soft light, can produce very appealing backgrounds.
Parade of Tartans
Parade of Tartans
This year the weather added an extra challenge, alternating between brilliant sunshine, then lovely soft diffused light from an overcast sky, and dark times of pouring rain. This kept me guessing not only with camera and lens settings but also with white balance. In case of rain my camera bag has a fold-out weatherproof cover and I have a lightweight PVC poncho stored in one of the pouches. I also carry a small absorbent cloth to dry any equipment that might attract a few drops of water. So when the rain came, I just covered up and stopped shooting, and when it let up, shook the rain off the covers, mopped up any drops and continued shooting.
View photos from the weekend here. They are grouped into albums by athletes, bands, clans, dancers and miscellaneous (mostly children).
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Duncan Moody
www.sabelaimages.com
Charlotte Rollin' Bobcats wheelchair basketball
Photography, as with life, is full of surprises and I was priviledged to experience a pleasant one a few weeks ago. Triad Trackers Wheelchair Basketball team played an away game against Charlotte Rollin’ Bobcats at the Academy Rec Center in Concorde, NC. I arrived at half-time of the 1st game of a double-header. After setting up the camera, with fast zoom lens and tripod, I took a few shots, but soon realized the lighting was impossible. Bright sun was shining directly through a row of skylights along one side of the Rec Center, lighting the court from one end to the other with blinding rectangles of light and leaving the rest of the court in seeming darkness.
Triad Trackers wheelchair basketball
I packed my camera away thinking that was the end of my day, photographically speaking. But then I noticed the bright areas were slowly creeping across the court towards the bleachers on the opposite side. I waited patiently for the hot spots to move off the court. This didn’t happen until the 2nd game, but when it did the most amazing indoor lighting fell into place. For more than half a game the effect was like a giant diffuser giving me bright, soft, directional light instead of the fairly dull overhead lighting typical of an indoor court. I went ahead and covered the game in my usual way looking for nice action shots but with a bit more freedom than normal. Later while processing the images I was delighted to find a few gems that I wasn’t really expecting – portriats, in sharp focus and highlights in the eye.
See the rest of the pictures from this game.
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Duncan Moody
www.sabelaimages.com
Have you ever wondered how many spectators in the stands actually get satisfactory pictures at large night-time sporting events? You know, that familiar scene when thousands of flash bulbs are popping in the stands? Problem is the flash on a typical point-and-shoot camera can only light a scene up to about 12 feet. Even powerful professional grade flash units can’t send a sufficient blast of light from the stands to the middle of the field. It’s because of that ubiquitous “inverse square law” you may have heard about in high school. For example, an object 2 yards from the camera will only receive ¼ of the light compared to an object 1 yard away. And 4 yards away will receive 1/16th of the light, and so on. You can do the math if you want, but the fall-off is pretty rapid and an athlete 100 yards away isn’t getting much benefit from the tiny pin point of light on the camera. The opposite is also true. If you push your camera right into someone’s face and take a shot, not only will they be annoyed, but chances are the picture will make them look like a ghost.
If you have your camera’s manual you should be able to find the minimum and maximum flash distances. What’s that you say, no manual? Not a problem. A little experimentation is all it takes. In a darkish room place a willing subject a few feet away from a wall. Oh, and ask them to close their eyes for this exercise. Take several pictures from 1 ft away, then 2ft, 4ft, 8ft and 16ft. Unless you have a really big room, you might have to do the last pictures outdoors. Discard the images that are too bright and too dark. You now have a guide to the distances where your camera and flash work best.
Back to the night-time sports event. If your camera has a night-time or dusk setting, try it. Keep your camera steady (more on this in a future discussion) and squeeze the shutter release. The flash probably won’t fire, but the camera will do its best to get the picture. The light out on the field may just be bright enough to record that historic event.
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Duncan Moody
www.sabelaimages.com