This month, do :: or :: diso talks with Matthew Hicks, a Kansas City sports photographer. Hicks is a man on a schedule running from match to game to athletic event, setting up his computer, racing through images, uploading them to an FTP site, packing up, and moving to the next match on his schedule. Daunting, but the perpetual smile is the hint that he would have it no other way.
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This month, do :: or :: diso addresses nothing technical. Take a breather from f stops, shutter speeds, 50% gray post production, and remotes. For a few moments, just think about subject matter and re-orientation at a game by the simple act of turning around. Sure, you are on the sidelines to shoot the game, but every once in a while, if you look away from the action, you will find the other part of the experience — to shoot. These are fun, and easy to find, images and help capture the craziness and the craze of athletic events.
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand. This month, one of the more raucous sports to shoot – Volleyball.
A Little History: Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan, an instructor at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895 as a blend of basketball, baseball, tennis, and handball. It is a truly an international sport, immensely popular in many countries. The action begins with set plays called by hand signals, much like a third base coach relays signs to a batter.
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand. This month, something we all have and admire: muscles.
A Philosophical Diversion
We admire athletes and their bodies. We dream of putting in the hard work to have an athlete’s physique. We wish we had the genes, drive, and discipline to achieve an athlete’s lean, muscled look (Vanessa Cobb, fitness model).
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand.
This article marks do :: or :: diso’s first foray into the hallowed topic of camera accessories – this time, wireless radio transmitters. This month, we discuss three accessories – Pocket Wizards, the Four Square by Lightware Direct , and a ground plate made by fplate.net.
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand.
This Issue No. 5 of do :: or :: diso covers two summer sports that are a bit “out there” — Rugby and Roller Derby. Both are fun and exciting for spectators and offer opportunities for photographers to work on some skills and maybe add a little art to the science. Matches are easy to find on the internet and unlike other sports, access to shoot is liberally granted… often for just a share of your images with the teams.
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand. This month, the only technical information is this: the shots are taken with either a 70-200mm lens, a 24-70mm lens, or a 500mm lens each at a wide open aperture often at a high ISO to permit the fastest speed the conditions will allow. The images in this article utilize post processing techniques discussed in prior issues. The rest of this article’s focus is observation and power of suggestion.
Baseball and Me
I am not sure why baseball holds such an attraction for Americans. The game is a modern anomaly, presenting a slow-paced game in an age of instant everything. Perhaps it is popular because it gives us the chance to wait for that moment in the game when suddenly, something remarkable, maybe something impossible, happens on the field; perhaps we love the game because of the infinite subtle variations it presents from game to game and moment to moment. Both could be the answer, but many feel its popularity is the connection to a slower era when, as kids, we celebrated moments with our dads, and then decades later as adults, we remember those moments with uncanny precision.
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand.
This Issue No. 3 of do :: or :: diso finishes the ezine’s inaugural trilogy of articles and shows you two ways to draw attention to the subject of the image. This month — how to control the background exposure with Speedlights (Nikon) / Speedlites (Canon), and in Lightroom.
Speedlight Tutorial Disclaimer – focus on the Creative
In the speedlight section we focus on concepts, not the technical. As Tom Bol writes in Adventure Sports Photography, “Don’t let the technical inhibit the creative. Learning flash technique can be intimidating at first. Instead of relying on the sun, you’re now creating your own light and controlling all aspects of it.”
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand.
The first several issues of do :: or :: diso are dedicated to techniques, both post processing and in camera, that help draw the viewer’s eye to the subject matter of the image. In Issue no. 1, we addressed adding light back in post-production. The eye is drawn to the lightest part of the image and if the image fails to reflect sufficient light on the subject, we can add light back to the subject matter in post processing to draw the eye so the image looks more like what you witnessed at the event.
This Issue No. 2 addresses how we compose the sports shot in camera to isolate subject of the image.
Welcome to do :: or :: diso, a monthly sports photography ezine. do :: or :: diso will address issues particular to sports photography in a format that is to the point and easy to understand. In the future, do :: or :: diso will be available for guest pieces but for now, let’s just get to Issue no. 1.
You are at a sporting event, no flash. . . just you and the arena lights or whatever light nature gives you that day. You get home and look at the image and there are shadows cast under the athlete’s eyes from the light as it rakes across a helmet, a mask, or a forehead. And, the uniforms are not nearly as bright and vibrant as they appeared at the event. I use a number of fixes and here are three: 50% gray layer; dodge and burn; and the detail extractor filter in Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4. You can see the difference these techniques make in the before and after shots below.