Didn't get to shoot much today, had to handle a lot of image editing from photographers and work here in the Main Press Center. However this evening I was able to shoot the press conference for two time gold medal winning snow boarder Seth Wescott.
Seth won the gold twice now for Snowboard cross - out of the two years it has been an Olympic sport. The press conference was a normal presser - but he was cool enough to let me take him outside in the light rain for 2 min. for a quick lit portrait behind the bay here. Awesome to work with and totally fine with getting a little wet.
Seth was lit by a single 580EX II strobe with a 1/4 CTO gel and Omni-Bounce - shot on a Canon 1D MkIV @ 6400 ISO. The blue lights from the International Broadcasting Center made for a great rim light and a splash of color.
The beauty of using speedlights, being able to shoot quickly, even in the rain, without causing any trouble or hauling a lot of gear around like big strobes.
Tomorrow should be an early start, but more shooting hopefully and if I get a chance, I will start working on my multimedia project about Canadian fans.
After getting back to the MPC from shooting the Finland - Russia women's Ice Hockey game last night, my editor gave me a last minute assignment - a portrait session with the first team USA gold medalist, Hannah Kearney. I left the MPC and made my way up 6 blocks to the Team USA House on Seymour.
Hannah was super cool, totally happy and excited about her win in the moguls skiing. However, she has been swarmed since her win with press, interviews and excitement from her Gold medal win, so not much time to make some pictures and only a press wall or the lobby of the Team USA house as available portrait locations.
I ended up borrowing a 50mm f/1.2 and a Canon 5DMKII from my editor Ruaridh, this was a perfect combination with a 580EX flash off camera with a 1/4 CTO warming Gel. USA Staffer Garrett Hubbard was an awesome lighting assistant holding the flash off camera for me [I returned the favor after]. We only had about 3 min. to do the shoot before she had to get another interview - but the setup was great and Hannah was a lot of fun to work with. The medals are really cool, each an individual piece of artwork unique to every medal.
Days have been pretty long - going to bed at 3am, waking up just a few hours later and hauling around a huge pack of gear the entire time, but this experience has been awesome so far and continues to get better.
Swimmers dive into the chilly Pacific Ocean during the 58th annual Polar Bear Swim at Cabrillo Beach to welcome in the New Year, Jan. 1, 2010 in San Pedro, Calif.
Got back out to shoot some more surfing today - however I got to do a little swimming this time.
Prepared.
The Tokina fisheye lens on the camera was set to infinity, otherwise it could scratch the dome port on the housing. Not so good for self portraits.
Fun.
It was a beautiful morning to be out in the water, cold, but not bad for December, good thing the waves were not too intense, as it was my first time out trying to swim with a camera.
Close.
Next.
After seeing this, I dived down, then felt a surfboard leash run over my ear. My buddy thought the surfer took my head off!
It's been at least a year since I've shot any surfing pics [we don't have much of it in Missouri].
Must say I miss it. Only having a 300mm + 1.4x teleconverter is a bit limiting at times, but its still a blast to watch great waves.
The size of the waves vs. the Redondo breakwater rocks vs. man is pretty nuts - if you fall and get pulled into the rocks you are basically done for.
With some sweet waves breaking on the rocks, got the 16-35mm out to see what the view was like as the surfers launched out.
A friend of mine here has a surf housing, hopefully I will be able to use it soon to shoot from the water! Thats the perspective I think is the most interesting for surf pics.
Full gallery - click on it or use the buttons to scroll through all 50 some pics.
Looking back at what has happened this year, I thought it might be good to write about my experiences from SportsShooter Academy VI.
The Sports Shooter Academy is a memorable opportunity for students and professionals striving to move their sports photography to the next level. Like with any great photojournalism workshop, you'll make some new friends, see some old ones, and have experiences you won't forget - but here, its about sports and great pictures. Robert Hanashiro and the rest of the SSA faculty have put together a cool workshop featuring three intense days of shooting college basketball, volleyball, soccer, swimming & diving, water polo, track & field, softball and tennis.
The chance to shoot sports completely new to yourself - but with the coaching of experienced photographers - is fantastic, plus the faculty is great about encouraging students to think differently about their work, to make frames that you would not normally make for a "daily newspaper" - to get creative and shoot pictures that you want to shoot.
I am particularly grateful for the SSA experience as one of the images I made at SSA VI was part of my sports portfolio that won bronze in CPOY this year. Beyond just the pictures I made then, I learned a lot more that I have yet to express in my images. The experience from the workshop continues with you into every assignment you have after that week.
There is not a set way of shooting at SSA - you can shoot how you want to, but you can also get advice and ideas from other students, you start to think more about how you see the world and sports - the emotion, relationships, and moments that happen on and off the field. The workshop doesn't just deal with the technical [though a lot of that is available], it teaches you about how you think about sports photography as a whole, making every picture mean something.
I really cannot say enough good things about the workshop and would encourage other students and professionals to apply, you will find it time well spent. I did not apply this year, but I will certainly do so again in the future.
---------------------------------------------------- For more information about the Sports Shooter Academy, or to apply for SSA VII check out SportsShooterAcademy.com
Horse racing remote camera set up under the fence with the help of LA Times' Wally Skalij at Santa Anita Park.
This afternoon presented me with an interesting challenge - a sports feature about a new tradition within the Parks family - tattoos.
The initial assignment sheet was confusing, since the 'climax' of this story - getting the actual tattoo - had already happened. This looked like a portrait situation was in order, but little time or gear was available. The concept was to feature the tattoos, but to also show a sense of family.
With Nikon SB-800 on the SU-4 Slave Mode, I could get a second speedlight off camera, with no extra pocketwizards or radio triggers, just the flash from my Canon 580EX II on a TTL cable.
Stopping down the lens and using low ISO, with the flashes close, I aimed to create a studio look inside a living room with lots of distractions and clutter in a small working environment. Knocking down the ambient light made my flashes the only source of light.
Since this was in a tight space, the "strobist" style lighting was perfect, Dynalites would have probably been too big.
I would have appreciated some additional light modifiers like grids and gobos, to block off more of the light and the addition of a reflector perhaps to try and get an additional hair light.
Shot with a Canon 1D Mk. IIN at 35mm, 1/250th sec., f/22, 50 ISO
Ultimately I think this was a success, though looking through the take, I am seeing how I would like to try some things differently in the future and improve my lighting in the new year!
Had a good afternoon getting some time shooting the Mizzou Spring Football game. It was fun, uncrowded, and got to make some nice pictures. Shot with the D3 and 400mm f/2.8 - handholding it most of the time. Sweet lens, but I wanted more reach.
Follwing image looks best in Safari, since it handle's color profiles and shows the depth of the greens wayy better than FireFox.
Finally, a field goal picture I actually like!
And some fans and the players interacting after the game:
