Ok, I admit it, the nomination has gone to my head a bit! It is really very satisfying to have the recognition of even the nomination. From the outset of the project our goal was to create an inspirational book for teenage girls by showing them these great role models and as such it to have this recognition from the Women's Sports Foundation is amazing.
When I was shooting the book and spending so much time with the team, I often told them that while I may be the publisher and the photographer, Portrait of Passion is really their book! Just in case you haven't see our website, below is a brief slide show of these amazing women.
Take a Picture of Me Smiling was composed by our Creative Director - Carl Franzen.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Nominated for 2009 Billie Award for Journalism
Indeed it has been an interesting year shooting, producing, publishing our book about the members of the US Women's National Team. As many of you know, I traveled with the team for the 2007 FIFA World Cup in China. Our book with my photos and stories of these amazing athletes written by Gail B. Stewart, Portrait of Passion (http://www.portraitofpassion.com) was released on March 7, 2008.
Although we have not yet received all of the details of the nominations or the decision process, I am pleased to pass on our news. Take a look at the Women’s Sports Foundation website for more information. Billie Award.
Portrait of Passion has been nominated for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 2009 Billie Award for Journalism. Named in honor of it’s Founder Billie-Jean King, the Award is Based on insightful portrayal of women in sports, originality and overall quality of work.
Although we have not yet received all of the details of the nominations or the decision process, I am pleased to pass on our news. Take a look at the Women’s Sports Foundation website for more information. Billie Award.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Work for free? Yeah, Right!
I just finished reading David Hobby’s latest Strobist entry of Four Reasons to consider to Consider Working for Free. In fact, I read it twice just to make sure that I didn’t misunderstand something. Although, I have only been shooting professionally for the last 7 years, I have had a long career working with financial and consulting clients. We always had the adage, if you do something for nothing; people perceive that is exactly what it is worth.
While I don't agree with all of David's comments, there are times when it is entirely appropriate to strategically adjust pricing.
As you know if you have seen the Competitive Image website or read our limited blog entries, we shoot endurance sports and work with teams, events and magazines. I shoot on a regular basis for Inside Triathlon and Triathlete Magazines. I have been fortunate to be at high profile races with World-Class athletes. In this case I will share any of my images of the Pro Athletes for use on their websites. I always joke with them that I will not do it for less than free. Is this going against what I said? No, strategically this is the fastest way to get my images in from of the athlete’s sponsors, and is somewhat of an endorsement of my work by the athlete. The strategy has led to my images being used by: Toyota; Wheaties; General Nutrition; Litespeed and others. In addition, I only give up the right for the athlete to use the image on their website, everything else has to go through me.
It is always easier to maintain an existing client than get a new one. With that in mind, if I want to try something new, I will generally try it with an existing client. I will discuss it with the client and get their approval to move ahead. If it is something that is untested, I will not charge them for it. A great example of this is the finish line shot for the TC 1 Mile, which was written about in our July 13th blog. There were hopes that it would work, but only nominal expectations by our client. If it didn’t work, there was nothing negative with our client and if it did work – well only positive things would happen. No risk, high reward - sounds good to me. Did I charge extra for this? No. But it did give me full access and control. In addition, it gave me something to show off to potential clients.
Many of the events that we shoot are put on by non-profit organizations. Although many of them start with that concept when trying to negotiate, I have spent many years in my consulting practice working with non-profits (see Making Critical Decisions - A Practical Guide for Non-Profit Managers). Just because these organizations have a social / community agenda instead of a profit motive, doesn’t mean that you have to give your services away. Keep in mind; they are also in it for the money, because without the margin, there is no mission. They are running businesses just like you and I are.
With new clients, I will typically use a reduced fee for the first year, moving up to my standard rates over the subsequent year or two. This is my investment in the relationship. This is always agreed to in advance, since if you don’t tell them they are getting a good deal, they will never know.
A couple years ago, the race director of a ski race called and started the conversation by saying: Paul, frankly I just don’t put much value in having good photographs. I responded, fortunately that will not have an impact on what I charge. Well, actually it did, if they had hired me to shoot, I would not have decreased the initial fee because there would have been no long-term benefit to do so.
Will I ever work for free? Sure. Last spring two of my favorite people called to invite me to lunch, both were associated with one of my biggest clients and both were working on a major Twin Cities annual medical fundraiser. They asked if I would donate my services for the event. They did not ask if I would work for free, but if I would be a benefactor. I shoot the event, was listed as a middle level sponsor and had a great time.
All this being said, pricing and strategy go hand in hand, but if you tell someone you will shoot for FREE, it is very hard to move them to a fee-paying mode.
While I don't agree with all of David's comments, there are times when it is entirely appropriate to strategically adjust pricing.
As you know if you have seen the Competitive Image website or read our limited blog entries, we shoot endurance sports and work with teams, events and magazines. I shoot on a regular basis for Inside Triathlon and Triathlete Magazines. I have been fortunate to be at high profile races with World-Class athletes. In this case I will share any of my images of the Pro Athletes for use on their websites. I always joke with them that I will not do it for less than free. Is this going against what I said? No, strategically this is the fastest way to get my images in from of the athlete’s sponsors, and is somewhat of an endorsement of my work by the athlete. The strategy has led to my images being used by: Toyota; Wheaties; General Nutrition; Litespeed and others. In addition, I only give up the right for the athlete to use the image on their website, everything else has to go through me.
It is always easier to maintain an existing client than get a new one. With that in mind, if I want to try something new, I will generally try it with an existing client. I will discuss it with the client and get their approval to move ahead. If it is something that is untested, I will not charge them for it. A great example of this is the finish line shot for the TC 1 Mile, which was written about in our July 13th blog. There were hopes that it would work, but only nominal expectations by our client. If it didn’t work, there was nothing negative with our client and if it did work – well only positive things would happen. No risk, high reward - sounds good to me. Did I charge extra for this? No. But it did give me full access and control. In addition, it gave me something to show off to potential clients.
Many of the events that we shoot are put on by non-profit organizations. Although many of them start with that concept when trying to negotiate, I have spent many years in my consulting practice working with non-profits (see Making Critical Decisions - A Practical Guide for Non-Profit Managers). Just because these organizations have a social / community agenda instead of a profit motive, doesn’t mean that you have to give your services away. Keep in mind; they are also in it for the money, because without the margin, there is no mission. They are running businesses just like you and I are.
With new clients, I will typically use a reduced fee for the first year, moving up to my standard rates over the subsequent year or two. This is my investment in the relationship. This is always agreed to in advance, since if you don’t tell them they are getting a good deal, they will never know.
A couple years ago, the race director of a ski race called and started the conversation by saying: Paul, frankly I just don’t put much value in having good photographs. I responded, fortunately that will not have an impact on what I charge. Well, actually it did, if they had hired me to shoot, I would not have decreased the initial fee because there would have been no long-term benefit to do so.
Will I ever work for free? Sure. Last spring two of my favorite people called to invite me to lunch, both were associated with one of my biggest clients and both were working on a major Twin Cities annual medical fundraiser. They asked if I would donate my services for the event. They did not ask if I would work for free, but if I would be a benefactor. I shoot the event, was listed as a middle level sponsor and had a great time.
All this being said, pricing and strategy go hand in hand, but if you tell someone you will shoot for FREE, it is very hard to move them to a fee-paying mode.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Strobists at the Finish Line - Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
Continuing our effort to deliver the best images to our clients, given the low and anticipated back light at the finish of the Twin Cities 10 Mile, we once again applied Strobist techniques to our sports photography. Jacob Gibb and Kevin Coloton were in charge of our finish line work. Here are Jacob's comments on the day!
Cold, dark and wet...
For those of you not familiar with Greg Brown, those are they title lyrics to a great song. However, in this case it applies slightly differently.
The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN was the first weekend in October. It was cold, dark, and wet. Seems to me it's a perfect candidate for some off-camera lighting. However, let's back up a hair and set the stage.
I received an email from Kevin Coloton a few weeks ago, asking if I'd be interested in working together with him and the Competitive Image crew at the finish line of the US Women’s 10-Mile Championship, which was run in conjunction with the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. The 10-mile starts at 7:04 am, and finishes approximately 50 minutes later (yes, that's ten miles in about 50 minutes) - with the sun just peeking and the finish area in shade. Read: flat, boring light. Kevin and I set out to change this, by adding strobes to create that pop that we wanted.
Enter 5 strobes, 6 Pocket Wizard Multi-Maxes, and some creative fixturing (we would have used more light, but we had exhausted our PW supply). We visited the scene the day before the marathon to set up our lights and determine our exposures at the estimated time of finishing in order to leave the guesswork out of race day.
Saturday dawned sunny and beautiful. The initial plan was to use the PW Speed-cycler function to create two groups of flashes (with 1/4 CTO gels on each, to try and match the sunrise). This will allow us to shoot multiple frames a second and get flash pops for each. The first try was clamping to the TV bridge which went over the road 15 yards behind the finish line. Unfortunately, this distance required the strobes to be at 1/4 or 1/2 power, and when firing at 5 or 6 frames per second, it would only yield two or three correctly exposed images.
View from the bridge: Final strobe location is circled.
The next likely location was a nearby broadcast tent just off the finish line, yielding 1/8th power pops on heads mounted, aimed, and zoomed to cover the general center finish line area. We had two banks of strobes, one front and one rear. The Speed-cylcer groups were set up to fire a front and rear strobe together (we actually had 3 strobes in the rear group, so one channel had a little extra light). Test fires at 6 frames a second yielded consistent pops. Perfect.
Final Finish Line Setup
Finish line with lighting
With our general malaise set and ready to go, we were ready for race day.
5:30 am: Driving to pick up Kevin. Was that rain on my windshield? Nah, car in front of me must have been using their washer fluid. Wait... it’s 5:30… I'm the only one on the road. Drat.
6:30 am: Dark. Cold. Damp. Cloudy. Rain impending, but just spitting for now.
7:40 am: Finishers coming in 10 minutes. Light is off about two stops from yesterday with no sun and thick cloud cover. Strobes are hot and not giving us an even ambient/strobe balance. Typically, this would be an easy adjustment; shutter speed would be slowed two stops (from 1/250th of a second to 1/60th of a second) to allow for extra ambient. Unfortunately, we need as much shutter speed as we can get to effectively stop the motion of the bullet trains about to cross the finish line. I quickly try to make adjustments to 5 strobes wrapped and gaffer-taped into Ziploc-baggies.
7:42 am: A group of race officials decide to stand in front of the lights (we had them as high as we could get them). Run crowd control.
7:48 am: Crowd control is successful. Kevin is shooting with the wizard, and I'm shooting ambient. Wanted to make a time-exposure and take advantage of the flash pop but forgot. Next year…
7:53 am: Finisher crosses uncontested – Olympian Kara Goucher wins the US Women’s 10-Mile Championship.
Kevin motors through several exposures, and all strobes fire according to plan. Lovely.
8:00 am: Downpour starts.
We hadn't planned on shooting with strobes for the marathon finish as light at that time is usually quite nice. Considering the circumstances, we left our rig up and kept blasting away.
All in all, it turned out quite well. Our background was darker than we would have liked, but considering the situation, we were pleased with the result. Depth was added to the runners, and all strobes and cameras survived the rain. I'd call it a success. Now if I could only get my shoes to dry out...
Our final shot of the Women’s 10 mile National Champion Kara Goucher crossing the finish, published on the front page of the marathon website slide show immediately after the race and on the front page of the Duluth Tribune newspaper the next morning.
Cold, dark and wet...
For those of you not familiar with Greg Brown, those are they title lyrics to a great song. However, in this case it applies slightly differently.
The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN was the first weekend in October. It was cold, dark, and wet. Seems to me it's a perfect candidate for some off-camera lighting. However, let's back up a hair and set the stage.
I received an email from Kevin Coloton a few weeks ago, asking if I'd be interested in working together with him and the Competitive Image crew at the finish line of the US Women’s 10-Mile Championship, which was run in conjunction with the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. The 10-mile starts at 7:04 am, and finishes approximately 50 minutes later (yes, that's ten miles in about 50 minutes) - with the sun just peeking and the finish area in shade. Read: flat, boring light. Kevin and I set out to change this, by adding strobes to create that pop that we wanted.
Enter 5 strobes, 6 Pocket Wizard Multi-Maxes, and some creative fixturing (we would have used more light, but we had exhausted our PW supply). We visited the scene the day before the marathon to set up our lights and determine our exposures at the estimated time of finishing in order to leave the guesswork out of race day.
Saturday dawned sunny and beautiful. The initial plan was to use the PW Speed-cycler function to create two groups of flashes (with 1/4 CTO gels on each, to try and match the sunrise). This will allow us to shoot multiple frames a second and get flash pops for each. The first try was clamping to the TV bridge which went over the road 15 yards behind the finish line. Unfortunately, this distance required the strobes to be at 1/4 or 1/2 power, and when firing at 5 or 6 frames per second, it would only yield two or three correctly exposed images.
View from the bridge: Final strobe location is circled.
The next likely location was a nearby broadcast tent just off the finish line, yielding 1/8th power pops on heads mounted, aimed, and zoomed to cover the general center finish line area. We had two banks of strobes, one front and one rear. The Speed-cylcer groups were set up to fire a front and rear strobe together (we actually had 3 strobes in the rear group, so one channel had a little extra light). Test fires at 6 frames a second yielded consistent pops. Perfect.
Final Finish Line Setup
Finish line with lighting
With our general malaise set and ready to go, we were ready for race day.
5:30 am: Driving to pick up Kevin. Was that rain on my windshield? Nah, car in front of me must have been using their washer fluid. Wait... it’s 5:30… I'm the only one on the road. Drat.
6:30 am: Dark. Cold. Damp. Cloudy. Rain impending, but just spitting for now.
7:40 am: Finishers coming in 10 minutes. Light is off about two stops from yesterday with no sun and thick cloud cover. Strobes are hot and not giving us an even ambient/strobe balance. Typically, this would be an easy adjustment; shutter speed would be slowed two stops (from 1/250th of a second to 1/60th of a second) to allow for extra ambient. Unfortunately, we need as much shutter speed as we can get to effectively stop the motion of the bullet trains about to cross the finish line. I quickly try to make adjustments to 5 strobes wrapped and gaffer-taped into Ziploc-baggies.
7:42 am: A group of race officials decide to stand in front of the lights (we had them as high as we could get them). Run crowd control.
7:48 am: Crowd control is successful. Kevin is shooting with the wizard, and I'm shooting ambient. Wanted to make a time-exposure and take advantage of the flash pop but forgot. Next year…
7:53 am: Finisher crosses uncontested – Olympian Kara Goucher wins the US Women’s 10-Mile Championship.
Kevin motors through several exposures, and all strobes fire according to plan. Lovely.
8:00 am: Downpour starts.
We hadn't planned on shooting with strobes for the marathon finish as light at that time is usually quite nice. Considering the circumstances, we left our rig up and kept blasting away.
All in all, it turned out quite well. Our background was darker than we would have liked, but considering the situation, we were pleased with the result. Depth was added to the runners, and all strobes and cameras survived the rain. I'd call it a success. Now if I could only get my shoes to dry out...
Our final shot of the Women’s 10 mile National Champion Kara Goucher crossing the finish, published on the front page of the marathon website slide show immediately after the race and on the front page of the Duluth Tribune newspaper the next morning.
Which D-SLR Should I Buy?
Without a doubt this is the most common photography question that I get this time of year. As we approach the holiday season and the amazing D-SLR technology continues to decrease in price, more and more people are considering a purchase of a D-SLR. Based on my totally unscientific conversations, my sense is that this group is made up of people that have previously owned a film SLR and also have a digital point and shoot.
These are the people who want a bit more creative control over what they are shooting, as well as additional flexibility in lens choices and quality.
There are very few instances when I can offer advice and unequivocally know that it is good advice, but here it is –
1. First decide how much you are going to spend –
• Put a total dollar limit on the amount you want to spend since it is easy (and I mean VERY easy) to get carried away with an additional lens or two, memory cards and a card reader. Based again on my totally unscientific research, I think about the minimum you will need to spend is $600. This can increase rather quickly if you have the interest and of course the money.
• With your budget in mind, go to a camera store! Not Best Buy, not Wal-Mart, and not Target. This is your opportunity to become a more informed consumer, so you want to talk to sales people who understand photography. You want to talk to people who are passionate about photography and particularly those who want you to have a successful photo experience. If you have a friend who is a photographer and they are willing to join you, invite them along!
• Within your price range, look at Canon, Nikon and one or two other brands. Make sure that you are comparing apples to apples when you compare them. Some may have several lenses and other things included in a kit, but you should be looking at comparable priced cameras – this should be below your total budget.
2. There are a few key features that each of these cameras must have:
a. Inter-changeable lens;
b. At least 8 Mega-Pixels;
c. Ability to control shooting modes, beyond programmed modes, including: Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual.
• Don’t worry much about the additional features such as, frames per second, start up time, number of focus points, ISO range and others, at this point you are likely only comparing things that will have nominal importance to you.
3. Finally, here is the deciding factor, which camera feels the most comfortable in your hands, the most intuitive and the easiest to use? Pick it up, see how easy it is to access the controls, see if you understand it or immediately feel compelled to pick up the manual.
I shoot Canon and I have for years. The functional set up of the camera is completely natural to me. It is easy to pick up and shoot. Nikon’s are in many ways set up exactly opposite of Canon. I am not advocating one over the other; both are great cameras, just different.
Most of these cameras are sold as Kits, with a zoom lens that is typically a moderate wide angle to a medium telephoto. If you are considering getting an additional lens with your camera, instead of getting a longer lens, consider getting what has always been considered a normal lens. A 50mm, f1.4 lens from Canon is about $320 and is really a great value. Although, the zoom included as part of your kit will give you the same magnification as this lens. However, an f1.4 lens will let in almost 8 times as much light as an f4.0 lens and will dramatically expand your ability to get good photos in low light situations.
Right now I think the best value on the market is the Canon 40D, which I have seen listed at $999, including an 18 to 55mm lens. Last summer the 40D was selling at about $1,500, however with the introduction of the Canon 50D, they have reduced the price of the 40D. This is NOT a discontinued model and continues to be featured in current Canon advertising.
Where to buy your D-SLR? If you are an online shopper, consider B&H Photo Video or Adorama. However, for the first time D-SLR user, many local camera shops offer classes with the purchase of a camera. This will go a long way toward having a successful experience with, and ultimately getting the most value from your new camera
The good news is that the technology has come so far that you can’t really make a bad decision. Have fun with what ever you decide upon, always remember keep shooting, those photons are free!
Somehow I couldn't post to the blog without including a photo, so here is one of my favorites from this summer. It is the start of the Hy-Vee Womens' ITU Triathlon last June.
These are the people who want a bit more creative control over what they are shooting, as well as additional flexibility in lens choices and quality.
There are very few instances when I can offer advice and unequivocally know that it is good advice, but here it is –
1. First decide how much you are going to spend –
• Put a total dollar limit on the amount you want to spend since it is easy (and I mean VERY easy) to get carried away with an additional lens or two, memory cards and a card reader. Based again on my totally unscientific research, I think about the minimum you will need to spend is $600. This can increase rather quickly if you have the interest and of course the money.
• With your budget in mind, go to a camera store! Not Best Buy, not Wal-Mart, and not Target. This is your opportunity to become a more informed consumer, so you want to talk to sales people who understand photography. You want to talk to people who are passionate about photography and particularly those who want you to have a successful photo experience. If you have a friend who is a photographer and they are willing to join you, invite them along!
• Within your price range, look at Canon, Nikon and one or two other brands. Make sure that you are comparing apples to apples when you compare them. Some may have several lenses and other things included in a kit, but you should be looking at comparable priced cameras – this should be below your total budget.
2. There are a few key features that each of these cameras must have:
a. Inter-changeable lens;
b. At least 8 Mega-Pixels;
c. Ability to control shooting modes, beyond programmed modes, including: Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual.
• Don’t worry much about the additional features such as, frames per second, start up time, number of focus points, ISO range and others, at this point you are likely only comparing things that will have nominal importance to you.
3. Finally, here is the deciding factor, which camera feels the most comfortable in your hands, the most intuitive and the easiest to use? Pick it up, see how easy it is to access the controls, see if you understand it or immediately feel compelled to pick up the manual.
I shoot Canon and I have for years. The functional set up of the camera is completely natural to me. It is easy to pick up and shoot. Nikon’s are in many ways set up exactly opposite of Canon. I am not advocating one over the other; both are great cameras, just different.
Most of these cameras are sold as Kits, with a zoom lens that is typically a moderate wide angle to a medium telephoto. If you are considering getting an additional lens with your camera, instead of getting a longer lens, consider getting what has always been considered a normal lens. A 50mm, f1.4 lens from Canon is about $320 and is really a great value. Although, the zoom included as part of your kit will give you the same magnification as this lens. However, an f1.4 lens will let in almost 8 times as much light as an f4.0 lens and will dramatically expand your ability to get good photos in low light situations.
Right now I think the best value on the market is the Canon 40D, which I have seen listed at $999, including an 18 to 55mm lens. Last summer the 40D was selling at about $1,500, however with the introduction of the Canon 50D, they have reduced the price of the 40D. This is NOT a discontinued model and continues to be featured in current Canon advertising.
Where to buy your D-SLR? If you are an online shopper, consider B&H Photo Video or Adorama. However, for the first time D-SLR user, many local camera shops offer classes with the purchase of a camera. This will go a long way toward having a successful experience with, and ultimately getting the most value from your new camera
The good news is that the technology has come so far that you can’t really make a bad decision. Have fun with what ever you decide upon, always remember keep shooting, those photons are free!
Somehow I couldn't post to the blog without including a photo, so here is one of my favorites from this summer. It is the start of the Hy-Vee Womens' ITU Triathlon last June.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
What do you mean Summer is over already?
I know the snow flurries, the neighbor’s Christmas lights and the studded tires on my mountain bike should be a give away, but it’s still had for me to believe that summer is over already. It has gone by in a flash, with some great events and trips to show for it as well. It is easy to say that you are committed to keeping current on a blog, but doing so is quite another matter. My hat is off to those who do this both professionally and personally! It is a challenge for me to find the time. I have been keeping a spiral binder with some great topics, but it seems that too has just been a collection of notes.
Both to try to get caught up and provide somewhat of a Readers’ Digest version of the summer, I am going to just include a few of my favorite photos and some notes and thoughts. Nothing too extensive, but I hope you enjoy it.
The Hy-Vee ITU Race in Des Moines was the qualifying event for the final spot on both the Mens' and Womens' Olympic Triathlon Team. The spring and early summer flooding almost make it look like it would be a tri, without a swim! With the high water levels, also came high bacteria counts. A change in venue, some luck and the event was a great success! Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins claimed final tickets to Beijing.
Next up on the tri scene was Life Time. Always a great event, with the weather ranging from a downpour in 2003 to oppressive heat in recent years. Emma Snowsill continued with a win and another outstanding performance in what turned out to be a prelude to her Olympic Gold. The most amazing performance was Andy Potts finishing third after breaking one of his aero-bars.
The next big tri was Accenture in Chicago. I recall driving down and trying to figure out why I was so far behind on everything. Counting in my head, I realized this was the 7th or 8th tri that I was shooting and that since May 1, I had also shot 2 running events, 3 bike races and over 25 soccer games!
I like Chicago. My mother lives there and my son is living there while he is finishing school. It was a beautiful weekend and the Cubs were playing at home at Wrigley Field. As luck would have it, Jonathan works at Wrigley Field and was able to get me a pass to shoot. After moving around the outfield, I settled in to the photo-bay on the first base side. Even though I don’t understand the subtleties of the game, I was able to get a few fun shots.
With over 8,000 athletes, covering the Accenture Chicago Tri, offers many challenges. I did get to meet Sarah Reinertson and get a few shots of her.
Two weeks after Chicago, I was back in Madison at the Ironman. Another beautiful day and a great race! Both the men’s (Chris MacDonald) and the women’s (Hilary Biscay) winners had just raced at the Louisville Ironman the week before, each with a finish near the top!
I also spent a bit of time in the studio working on a few set up shots. Certainly more fun than products. Julie, my friend and favorite victim / model came over to help. Julie also shot with me at Wisconsin and at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. In addition to having a good eye for composition, she has great eyes for intensity as well! (Although Julie races at an elite level, this is as much of a race face that you will ever see.)
Back at home, there is the Aflac Iron Girl Duathlon - one of their biggest events in the country.
The final clue that the summer was really over should have been the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. If the Get in Gear 10K is the annual rite of spring, this is certainly my rite of fall. In total we had a crew of 15. Eight photographers, six drivers and one coordinator (not me). The Saturday 5K and kids events were great, bright sunshine and big crowds. Marathon Sunday was another matter, with the rain starting at about 8:30 and continuing for the next two hours. We were cold, wet and most of us had equipment issues. Having said that, we did shoot over 16,000 images that weekend and delivered 1,800 to our client for promotional and marketing use. Similar to at the TC 1 Mile we did some very special early morning lighting. More on that later in a separate blog post.
This one is by Matt Moses -
I know I could have posted more images, passed on more stories about the incredible people I have met along the way, and provided more technical information, but then it would be another month to get it completed. So, there you have it, a thumbnail of the summer. It has been a good year! More soon - I promise!
Both to try to get caught up and provide somewhat of a Readers’ Digest version of the summer, I am going to just include a few of my favorite photos and some notes and thoughts. Nothing too extensive, but I hope you enjoy it.
The Hy-Vee ITU Race in Des Moines was the qualifying event for the final spot on both the Mens' and Womens' Olympic Triathlon Team. The spring and early summer flooding almost make it look like it would be a tri, without a swim! With the high water levels, also came high bacteria counts. A change in venue, some luck and the event was a great success! Hunter Kemper and Sarah Haskins claimed final tickets to Beijing.
Next up on the tri scene was Life Time. Always a great event, with the weather ranging from a downpour in 2003 to oppressive heat in recent years. Emma Snowsill continued with a win and another outstanding performance in what turned out to be a prelude to her Olympic Gold. The most amazing performance was Andy Potts finishing third after breaking one of his aero-bars.
The next big tri was Accenture in Chicago. I recall driving down and trying to figure out why I was so far behind on everything. Counting in my head, I realized this was the 7th or 8th tri that I was shooting and that since May 1, I had also shot 2 running events, 3 bike races and over 25 soccer games!
I like Chicago. My mother lives there and my son is living there while he is finishing school. It was a beautiful weekend and the Cubs were playing at home at Wrigley Field. As luck would have it, Jonathan works at Wrigley Field and was able to get me a pass to shoot. After moving around the outfield, I settled in to the photo-bay on the first base side. Even though I don’t understand the subtleties of the game, I was able to get a few fun shots.
With over 8,000 athletes, covering the Accenture Chicago Tri, offers many challenges. I did get to meet Sarah Reinertson and get a few shots of her.
Two weeks after Chicago, I was back in Madison at the Ironman. Another beautiful day and a great race! Both the men’s (Chris MacDonald) and the women’s (Hilary Biscay) winners had just raced at the Louisville Ironman the week before, each with a finish near the top!
I also spent a bit of time in the studio working on a few set up shots. Certainly more fun than products. Julie, my friend and favorite victim / model came over to help. Julie also shot with me at Wisconsin and at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. In addition to having a good eye for composition, she has great eyes for intensity as well! (Although Julie races at an elite level, this is as much of a race face that you will ever see.)
Back at home, there is the Aflac Iron Girl Duathlon - one of their biggest events in the country.
The final clue that the summer was really over should have been the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. If the Get in Gear 10K is the annual rite of spring, this is certainly my rite of fall. In total we had a crew of 15. Eight photographers, six drivers and one coordinator (not me). The Saturday 5K and kids events were great, bright sunshine and big crowds. Marathon Sunday was another matter, with the rain starting at about 8:30 and continuing for the next two hours. We were cold, wet and most of us had equipment issues. Having said that, we did shoot over 16,000 images that weekend and delivered 1,800 to our client for promotional and marketing use. Similar to at the TC 1 Mile we did some very special early morning lighting. More on that later in a separate blog post.
This one is by Matt Moses -
I know I could have posted more images, passed on more stories about the incredible people I have met along the way, and provided more technical information, but then it would be another month to get it completed. So, there you have it, a thumbnail of the summer. It has been a good year! More soon - I promise!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Great Use of Remotes or Is Timing Really Everything?
From the department of we don't need no stinkin' remotes (although we did use one in the net). Take at look at these three amazing shots, which are from the Timing is Everything Department, with special assistance of the You've Got to Get Lucky (but luck favors the prepared mind) Department.
I had the top shot from the far end line. Phil Bowen is next from the right at the top of the box and finally, Matt Moses was at the end line near the left corner.
The Burnley F.C. arrived in Minneapolis Tuesday for an exhibition game against the Minnesota Thunder. Both teams were strong defensively, but Burnley bested the Thunder 2-0, with the final goal coming in added time.
I hope you enjoy the images, more will be available soon on Competitive Image.
I had the top shot from the far end line. Phil Bowen is next from the right at the top of the box and finally, Matt Moses was at the end line near the left corner.The Burnley F.C. arrived in Minneapolis Tuesday for an exhibition game against the Minnesota Thunder. Both teams were strong defensively, but Burnley bested the Thunder 2-0, with the final goal coming in added time.
I hope you enjoy the images, more will be available soon on Competitive Image.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Competitive Image Meets a Strobist
I know it doesn’t have the same ring to it as Alien vs. Predator, but the thought of combining endurance sports photography with relatively simple (simple as in elegant, not necessarily easy) off-camera lighting presents interesting opportunities.
It seems that every few weeks I get a call from someone wanting to shoot with me. Some are just starting in sports and want experience; others have the impression that after shooting a few youth soccer games or friends running the marathon, they are ready to move up.
Shortly after returning from China last fall where I was shooting the US Women’s Soccer Team at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and also shooting the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon five days later, I was still suffering from jetlag, cultural re-entry and needing to pour through thousands of images for Portrait of Passion (a book we produced about the incredible Women on the US Team Portrait of Passion ), I received a call from Kevin Coloton. I put Kevin off – told him to call back in a few weeks. Not only did Kevin call back in a few weeks, but he called back every few weeks. We would talk about his background, his interest and his favorite website Strobist. For those of you who aren’t familiar with off-camera lighting wizard David Hobby – you have to go check it out! Strobist
The good news was that Kevin really sounded like a great guy, everything that I look for in someone who shoots with us. The bad news was, I still didn’t have time to meet with Kevin. Finally in February Kevin got his chance, a trial by fire so to speak, if you consider the conditions at the 2008 Mora Vasaloppet Cross Country Ski Race at 35 below zero, a trial by fire! A good guy, great fun and in spite of the conditions, a great attitude (I was however, nice and warm in Chicago at my mother’s 90th birthday!).
As we got to know each other and sharing ideas, we immediately starting talking about how to best blend our combined interests to creatively resolve some of the issues that I have faced at races.
Two events immediately came to mind. First the ING Georgia Marathon that has a pre-dawn start, and the Medtronic Twin Cities 1 Mile, which has their Championship wave finish just before sunset. To date, the solution we used in 2007 in Georgia was only marginally acceptable (Air Star Helium balloon based movie lighting), and expensive. For the Twin Cities 1 mile, we had not previously even tried finish line shots. As with any shot, you should know when obtaining a good image is only a remote possibility.
Enter Kevin and a ton of new ideas about how to shoot the Twin Cities 1 Mile. We were in the fortunate position that if it didn’t work we would still have the images that we would typically capture of the event. If it did work, well it could make a big splash.
In the following paragraphs, Kevin describes our objectives, his process and the hurdles.
A Flash at the Finish Line – the Stobist Approach to Race Photography!
As Sports Photographers, our objective is to capture images that reflect the excitement, drama and spirit of an event and the athletes, regardless of the situation and in spite of whatever limitations may exist.
But what if the objective is to capture the finish line of a high-profile road race with the following challenges and requirements?
• Competitors finishing in the evening (8:00 PM) with limited ambient light
• Significant shadows cast by surrounding buildings
• World-Class athletes traveling across a finish line at over 20 ft/sec
• Having less than 1 second to capture the “shot”
• One photographer needs to set-up and get the shot independently
• Capture the logo of the race sponsors on the finish line tape
• Create a dramatic finish line image
Welcome to our challenge in shooting the finish line of the Medtronic Twin Cities 1 mile race in downtown Minneapolis on May 8, 2008. We were fortunate to overcome these obstacles and capture the image that resulted in a recent magazine cover.
In the following paragraphs, we will share with you more detail on the specific challenges, the solution we created, a video of the scene and set-up and of course the unexpected problems, and the resulting images.
The Challenge
An important event in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon race series is the TC 1 Mile race, whose prize purse for a one-mile road race is second only to the Fifth Avenue Mile in NYC. The race has over 2,500 participants, large crowds, outdoor restaurants and bars lending to a carnival-like atmosphere. Competitive Image has been shooting the race since its inception and yet had never attempted a finish line shot due to very low light at the finish line area. As we had done in prior years, one photographer was shooting the leaders of each wave (8 in total) from the back of a Moto. In addition, three other photographers were along the course including one from a roof-top, to capture the runners as well as the spirit of the event.
A key to any good photograph is the quality and quantity of light available, and this was our most significant barrier to getting a finish line photo.
These World-Class athletes were trying to break a 4:00 mile (22 feet / second) and win a $25,000 bonus for doing so.
The speed the runners were traveling gave us less than 1 second of time to capture the image before the runners crossed the line, so there was no margin for error.
Lighting Considerations
We spent several weeks evaluating our options for addressing our lack of ambient light at the finish line. Our evaluation of potential lighting solutions included a number of options including:
• Use a high ISO setting on my Nikon D3
• On-Camera Hot Shoe Flash
• Light Balloons
• Studio Strobes
• Off-Camera Hot Shoe Flash
Using the high ISO capabilities of a Nikon D3 or Canon Mark III would allow us to capture the shot, but we would have difficulty separating the subject from the background due to the consistent (and limited) flat light.
The on-camera hot shoe flash was a solid workhorse option, but would create direct (and unflattering) light on the subject and would not provide us with effective recycling times to capture multiple shots of the finisher.
The light balloons are awesome for lighting a finish area, but are very expensive and light an area uniformly, which is limiting for separating the subject (in our case the lead runner) from the background. This would likely still require some off-camera strobe.
Studio strobes are a high quality lighting option, but barriers to this option include extensive set-up, and require external power sources.
Lastly, and our selected option, was the use of Off-Camera Hot Shoe flashes.
Set-Up
We are big fans of the Strobist, David Hobby. David, the Wizard of off-camera lighting has built an impressive community of devotees. The Strobist approach to lighting allowed us to set-up low profile, self-contained hot shoe flashes triggered remotely. His blog has awesome information on how to light everything off-camera with impressive results. Check out Strobist if you have a chance.
To capture this image, we set up 4 off-camera flashes arranged in a rectangle pattern around the finish line and were triggered wirelessly from my camera to create a “zone of light” around the lead finisher.
The flashes were placed on Bogen Nano Lightstands and were stabilized with sand bags to prevent them being knocked over. We also “zip-tied” the lighstands to the metal gates placed at the finish line to prevent them from “walking” during the event.
This lighting technique separates the runner from the background and focuses the attention of the viewer on the winner of the race celebrating as they cross the finish line. Take a look at a short video of the set-up we used for the race.
Off-Camera Flash Settings
To ensure we had more than 1 shot at the finish, we set all of the four flash units at 1/16th manual power, which greatly reduces the recycle time and provides us with the opportunity to capture several images in the 1 second that the competitor is within the “zone of light”. A key challenge is the delicate balance of having enough flash power to enhance the declining ambient light of the evening, while still allowing us fast recycling times. To address this challenge, we positioned the 2 front “key lights” at exactly 5 feet behind the actual finish line, aimed at 45 degree angles towards the center of the finish line. The 2 rim lights (also at 1/16th power) were positioned 10 feet in front of the finish line (see diagram below) and were also positioned at 45 degree angles directed toward the center of the finish line. Often rim lights require a lower manual power setting than your key lights to effectively separate the subject from the background but not blow out your highlights. Flash power can be controlled in a variety of ways including intensity (flash power setting) or distance. In our case doubling the distance from the finish line (10ft vs 5ft for the key lights) reduced the power output on our subject to an acceptable level. Having the rim lights 10ft in front of the finish line also gave us almost a second to capture the competitor as the enter the zone as compared to 5ft in front of the line would only give us ½ a second to capture the image.
In regards to the flash zoom setting, we used trial and error in setting up the flashes and decided upon the 35mm settings on all of the flashes to cover the finish line area in light. The 5ft key lights and 10ft rim light distance allowed us to capture the finisher, separate the finisher from the background, and not blow out the highlights. For this race we used 2 Nikon SB-800’s and 2 Canon 580 flashes. We used the SB-800s as the Rim Lights and the Canon Flashes as the Key light. We used these high capacity flashes due to their faster recycling time. There is no strategy to using a mixture of Nikon and Canon flashes, and the only reason we used 2 Canon’s and 2 Nikons is that half of our team shoots Canon and the other half shoots Nikon and we had these flashes on-hand.
Remote Flash Triggering
We triggered the flashes with 4 Pocket Wizard MultiMax units (1 receiver per flash) and 1 on-camera MultiMax trigger. We use MultiMax’s due to the higher number of available channels, which prevents interference from other photographers using PocketWizards at the race.
Camera Settings
I used a Nikon D3 with a Nikkor 70-200mm, f2.8 lens to take the finish line shot. I set my camera to manual mode the maximum synch speed of 1/250th (which was too slow, more on that later), and my aperture to f8 at an ISO of 400. I shot the images in a RAW +.JPG setting to have both a quick delivery of the images to our client, and the RAW files for post-processing. A Nikon D3 has the ability to fire at 9fps (or 11 fps in crop mode), but this far exceeded our flash recycling time. To address this, we set the D3 to fire at a maximum of 7fps, which we had previously tested.
Shot Approach
My approach was to stand approximately 20 feet back from the finish line and I stood in the center of the finish area. This position allowed me to track the athlete head on, be positioned to capture the race sponsor logos on the finish line tape, and being well behind the finish line prevented me from being run over by the finishers. In practice, we were able to obtain 5-7 shots per second with the flashes set at 1/16th power. That said, we had frequent misfires due to recycling time, but we were able to capture a few quality images in each burst. Due to the lighting zone being 10ft x 5ft around the finish line, I would depress the shutter when the finisher crossed between the first two lights, and would finish the burst just after they crossed the line. With their rate of speed and the relatively small size of the lighting zone, I had about 1 second to capture the lead runner. Fortunately, we had 7 heats of races leading up the Men’s elite race to practice and fine-tune the flash positions and settings.
Unexpected Challenges
I encountered a number of surprising challenges in shooting the race.
1. The first was a dead flash… Our key light at camera left died during the first heat of the race. The LCD was completely dead, and the flash would not respond to resets or a change of batteries. This left us with a single key light at camera right to shoot the rest of the event as we had no spare flashes available. This added an element of interest to the unidirectional key light, but adversely impacted any finishers running down the opposite side of the finish line.
2. The second was the spectator and volunteer positions during the race. On several occasions, spectators and volunteers would be unknowingly standing directly in from of one of the flashes, which would obviously impact the quality of light in the finish line area.
3. During the course of the event the volunteers and sponsors holding the finish line tape would regularly back away from the finish line. The migration farther and farther back from the actual finish line presented us with a challenge in lighting the finish line tape (and the sponsor logos). Despite our best negotiation attempts, the finish line tape remained significantly behind the finish line and not in the lighting zone.
4. Free falling ambient light. The flash settings and camera settings functioned very well for the first six heats, and then the ambient light began to drop rapidly. In retrospect, I should have bumped my ISO up to 800, but I only had a couple of minutes before the finishers would be crossing the line, and I didn’t want to miss the shot. The decreasing light made auto focusing more difficult, and the resulting image out of the camera was a little dark, but a simple fill light adjustment of the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom greatly enhanced the image.
5. The maximum synch speed of Pocket Wizards is too slow for shooting the finish line. Due to the speed the competitors were entering the finish line area, and the up-and-down motion of the finishers created a slight blur in a few of our images. In sports it is often required to have a shutter speed of at least 1/500th to create sharp images. Our hope is the new RadioPoppers with the ability to sync significantly higher will be the solution to this challenge in the future.
The Result
Below is the final shot selected for the cover of the July 2008 issue of Midwest Events Sports and Fitness Magazine. The post processing was a slight crop and a fill light adjustment in Lightroom. Other than those two minor tweaks, the shot is like it was right out of the camera. We learned a great deal from applying off-camera lighting to a race situation. We look forward to further exploring the capabilities of off-camera flash in live race situations.
We still have work to do, but the results are promising!
In addition to Kevin and me, images of Matt Moses, Kerry Yndestad and Phil Bowen are included in this post!
It seems that every few weeks I get a call from someone wanting to shoot with me. Some are just starting in sports and want experience; others have the impression that after shooting a few youth soccer games or friends running the marathon, they are ready to move up.
Shortly after returning from China last fall where I was shooting the US Women’s Soccer Team at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and also shooting the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon five days later, I was still suffering from jetlag, cultural re-entry and needing to pour through thousands of images for Portrait of Passion (a book we produced about the incredible Women on the US Team Portrait of Passion ), I received a call from Kevin Coloton. I put Kevin off – told him to call back in a few weeks. Not only did Kevin call back in a few weeks, but he called back every few weeks. We would talk about his background, his interest and his favorite website Strobist. For those of you who aren’t familiar with off-camera lighting wizard David Hobby – you have to go check it out! Strobist
The good news was that Kevin really sounded like a great guy, everything that I look for in someone who shoots with us. The bad news was, I still didn’t have time to meet with Kevin. Finally in February Kevin got his chance, a trial by fire so to speak, if you consider the conditions at the 2008 Mora Vasaloppet Cross Country Ski Race at 35 below zero, a trial by fire! A good guy, great fun and in spite of the conditions, a great attitude (I was however, nice and warm in Chicago at my mother’s 90th birthday!).As we got to know each other and sharing ideas, we immediately starting talking about how to best blend our combined interests to creatively resolve some of the issues that I have faced at races.
Two events immediately came to mind. First the ING Georgia Marathon that has a pre-dawn start, and the Medtronic Twin Cities 1 Mile, which has their Championship wave finish just before sunset. To date, the solution we used in 2007 in Georgia was only marginally acceptable (Air Star Helium balloon based movie lighting), and expensive. For the Twin Cities 1 mile, we had not previously even tried finish line shots. As with any shot, you should know when obtaining a good image is only a remote possibility.
Enter Kevin and a ton of new ideas about how to shoot the Twin Cities 1 Mile. We were in the fortunate position that if it didn’t work we would still have the images that we would typically capture of the event. If it did work, well it could make a big splash.
In the following paragraphs, Kevin describes our objectives, his process and the hurdles.
A Flash at the Finish Line – the Stobist Approach to Race Photography!
But what if the objective is to capture the finish line of a high-profile road race with the following challenges and requirements?
• Competitors finishing in the evening (8:00 PM) with limited ambient light
• Significant shadows cast by surrounding buildings
• World-Class athletes traveling across a finish line at over 20 ft/sec
• Having less than 1 second to capture the “shot”
• One photographer needs to set-up and get the shot independently
• Capture the logo of the race sponsors on the finish line tape
• Create a dramatic finish line image
Welcome to our challenge in shooting the finish line of the Medtronic Twin Cities 1 mile race in downtown Minneapolis on May 8, 2008. We were fortunate to overcome these obstacles and capture the image that resulted in a recent magazine cover.
In the following paragraphs, we will share with you more detail on the specific challenges, the solution we created, a video of the scene and set-up and of course the unexpected problems, and the resulting images.
The Challenge
An important event in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon race series is the TC 1 Mile race, whose prize purse for a one-mile road race is second only to the Fifth Avenue Mile in NYC. The race has over 2,500 participants, large crowds, outdoor restaurants and bars lending to a carnival-like atmosphere. Competitive Image has been shooting the race since its inception and yet had never attempted a finish line shot due to very low light at the finish line area. As we had done in prior years, one photographer was shooting the leaders of each wave (8 in total) from the back of a Moto. In addition, three other photographers were along the course including one from a roof-top, to capture the runners as well as the spirit of the event.
A key to any good photograph is the quality and quantity of light available, and this was our most significant barrier to getting a finish line photo.
These World-Class athletes were trying to break a 4:00 mile (22 feet / second) and win a $25,000 bonus for doing so.
The speed the runners were traveling gave us less than 1 second of time to capture the image before the runners crossed the line, so there was no margin for error.
Lighting Considerations
We spent several weeks evaluating our options for addressing our lack of ambient light at the finish line. Our evaluation of potential lighting solutions included a number of options including:
• Use a high ISO setting on my Nikon D3
• On-Camera Hot Shoe Flash
• Light Balloons
• Studio Strobes
• Off-Camera Hot Shoe Flash
Using the high ISO capabilities of a Nikon D3 or Canon Mark III would allow us to capture the shot, but we would have difficulty separating the subject from the background due to the consistent (and limited) flat light.
The on-camera hot shoe flash was a solid workhorse option, but would create direct (and unflattering) light on the subject and would not provide us with effective recycling times to capture multiple shots of the finisher.
The light balloons are awesome for lighting a finish area, but are very expensive and light an area uniformly, which is limiting for separating the subject (in our case the lead runner) from the background. This would likely still require some off-camera strobe.
Studio strobes are a high quality lighting option, but barriers to this option include extensive set-up, and require external power sources.
Lastly, and our selected option, was the use of Off-Camera Hot Shoe flashes.
Set-Up
We are big fans of the Strobist, David Hobby. David, the Wizard of off-camera lighting has built an impressive community of devotees. The Strobist approach to lighting allowed us to set-up low profile, self-contained hot shoe flashes triggered remotely. His blog has awesome information on how to light everything off-camera with impressive results. Check out Strobist if you have a chance.
To capture this image, we set up 4 off-camera flashes arranged in a rectangle pattern around the finish line and were triggered wirelessly from my camera to create a “zone of light” around the lead finisher.
The flashes were placed on Bogen Nano Lightstands and were stabilized with sand bags to prevent them being knocked over. We also “zip-tied” the lighstands to the metal gates placed at the finish line to prevent them from “walking” during the event.
This lighting technique separates the runner from the background and focuses the attention of the viewer on the winner of the race celebrating as they cross the finish line. Take a look at a short video of the set-up we used for the race.
Off-Camera Flash Settings
To ensure we had more than 1 shot at the finish, we set all of the four flash units at 1/16th manual power, which greatly reduces the recycle time and provides us with the opportunity to capture several images in the 1 second that the competitor is within the “zone of light”. A key challenge is the delicate balance of having enough flash power to enhance the declining ambient light of the evening, while still allowing us fast recycling times. To address this challenge, we positioned the 2 front “key lights” at exactly 5 feet behind the actual finish line, aimed at 45 degree angles towards the center of the finish line. The 2 rim lights (also at 1/16th power) were positioned 10 feet in front of the finish line (see diagram below) and were also positioned at 45 degree angles directed toward the center of the finish line. Often rim lights require a lower manual power setting than your key lights to effectively separate the subject from the background but not blow out your highlights. Flash power can be controlled in a variety of ways including intensity (flash power setting) or distance. In our case doubling the distance from the finish line (10ft vs 5ft for the key lights) reduced the power output on our subject to an acceptable level. Having the rim lights 10ft in front of the finish line also gave us almost a second to capture the competitor as the enter the zone as compared to 5ft in front of the line would only give us ½ a second to capture the image.
In regards to the flash zoom setting, we used trial and error in setting up the flashes and decided upon the 35mm settings on all of the flashes to cover the finish line area in light. The 5ft key lights and 10ft rim light distance allowed us to capture the finisher, separate the finisher from the background, and not blow out the highlights. For this race we used 2 Nikon SB-800’s and 2 Canon 580 flashes. We used the SB-800s as the Rim Lights and the Canon Flashes as the Key light. We used these high capacity flashes due to their faster recycling time. There is no strategy to using a mixture of Nikon and Canon flashes, and the only reason we used 2 Canon’s and 2 Nikons is that half of our team shoots Canon and the other half shoots Nikon and we had these flashes on-hand.
Remote Flash Triggering
We triggered the flashes with 4 Pocket Wizard MultiMax units (1 receiver per flash) and 1 on-camera MultiMax trigger. We use MultiMax’s due to the higher number of available channels, which prevents interference from other photographers using PocketWizards at the race.
Camera Settings
I used a Nikon D3 with a Nikkor 70-200mm, f2.8 lens to take the finish line shot. I set my camera to manual mode the maximum synch speed of 1/250th (which was too slow, more on that later), and my aperture to f8 at an ISO of 400. I shot the images in a RAW +.JPG setting to have both a quick delivery of the images to our client, and the RAW files for post-processing. A Nikon D3 has the ability to fire at 9fps (or 11 fps in crop mode), but this far exceeded our flash recycling time. To address this, we set the D3 to fire at a maximum of 7fps, which we had previously tested.
Shot Approach
My approach was to stand approximately 20 feet back from the finish line and I stood in the center of the finish area. This position allowed me to track the athlete head on, be positioned to capture the race sponsor logos on the finish line tape, and being well behind the finish line prevented me from being run over by the finishers. In practice, we were able to obtain 5-7 shots per second with the flashes set at 1/16th power. That said, we had frequent misfires due to recycling time, but we were able to capture a few quality images in each burst. Due to the lighting zone being 10ft x 5ft around the finish line, I would depress the shutter when the finisher crossed between the first two lights, and would finish the burst just after they crossed the line. With their rate of speed and the relatively small size of the lighting zone, I had about 1 second to capture the lead runner. Fortunately, we had 7 heats of races leading up the Men’s elite race to practice and fine-tune the flash positions and settings.
Unexpected Challenges
I encountered a number of surprising challenges in shooting the race.
1. The first was a dead flash… Our key light at camera left died during the first heat of the race. The LCD was completely dead, and the flash would not respond to resets or a change of batteries. This left us with a single key light at camera right to shoot the rest of the event as we had no spare flashes available. This added an element of interest to the unidirectional key light, but adversely impacted any finishers running down the opposite side of the finish line.
2. The second was the spectator and volunteer positions during the race. On several occasions, spectators and volunteers would be unknowingly standing directly in from of one of the flashes, which would obviously impact the quality of light in the finish line area.
3. During the course of the event the volunteers and sponsors holding the finish line tape would regularly back away from the finish line. The migration farther and farther back from the actual finish line presented us with a challenge in lighting the finish line tape (and the sponsor logos). Despite our best negotiation attempts, the finish line tape remained significantly behind the finish line and not in the lighting zone.
4. Free falling ambient light. The flash settings and camera settings functioned very well for the first six heats, and then the ambient light began to drop rapidly. In retrospect, I should have bumped my ISO up to 800, but I only had a couple of minutes before the finishers would be crossing the line, and I didn’t want to miss the shot. The decreasing light made auto focusing more difficult, and the resulting image out of the camera was a little dark, but a simple fill light adjustment of the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom greatly enhanced the image.
5. The maximum synch speed of Pocket Wizards is too slow for shooting the finish line. Due to the speed the competitors were entering the finish line area, and the up-and-down motion of the finishers created a slight blur in a few of our images. In sports it is often required to have a shutter speed of at least 1/500th to create sharp images. Our hope is the new RadioPoppers with the ability to sync significantly higher will be the solution to this challenge in the future.
The Result
Below is the final shot selected for the cover of the July 2008 issue of Midwest Events Sports and Fitness Magazine. The post processing was a slight crop and a fill light adjustment in Lightroom. Other than those two minor tweaks, the shot is like it was right out of the camera. We learned a great deal from applying off-camera lighting to a race situation. We look forward to further exploring the capabilities of off-camera flash in live race situations.
We still have work to do, but the results are promising!
In addition to Kevin and me, images of Matt Moses, Kerry Yndestad and Phil Bowen are included in this post!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Nature Valley Grand Prix – Velonews June 7, 2008
The following is the caption and image from pages 14 & 15 of the July 7th issue of Velonews
TWILIGHT GRIT
With the sun setting behind, Health Net – Maxxis riders Roman Kilun and Tim Johnson led the peloton during the stage 4 twilight criterium at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, held Friday, June 13th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Health Net’s Kirk O’Bee won the stage, his second of the race, while teammate Rory Sutherland won stage 5 the following day and took the overall classification.
It was 8:45 on Friday the 13th in downtown Minneapolis, and the Men’s Nature Valley Grand Prix Minneapolis Criterium was in the final lap. The sun was setting and with one lap to go the riders were jockeying for position at about 30 mph. The finishing straight is on 10th Avenue heading due east, which makes the finish line shot straight into the sun.
With a low angle, shooting from my knees I was down the course on the right, at a point where the riders swing left to prepare for the next right-hand turn. Although I would normally over expose by 2/3 of a stop shooting with such strong back lighting (to bring out the detail of the riders) at 1/640th and 3200 ISO, my 400 mm f2.8 was wide open!
Here is another shot, this one from the final stage on Sunday, July 15th. I was midway up the brutal Chilkoot hill that is in excess of a 20% grade. The men climb Chilkoot 18 times.
This image is again at 1/640th, f9 and 500 ISO. Again because of the backlighting here I was able to over expose by 1/3 of a stop to bring out the detail in the riders' faces.
TWILIGHT GRIT
With the sun setting behind, Health Net – Maxxis riders Roman Kilun and Tim Johnson led the peloton during the stage 4 twilight criterium at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, held Friday, June 13th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Health Net’s Kirk O’Bee won the stage, his second of the race, while teammate Rory Sutherland won stage 5 the following day and took the overall classification.
It was 8:45 on Friday the 13th in downtown Minneapolis, and the Men’s Nature Valley Grand Prix Minneapolis Criterium was in the final lap. The sun was setting and with one lap to go the riders were jockeying for position at about 30 mph. The finishing straight is on 10th Avenue heading due east, which makes the finish line shot straight into the sun.
With a low angle, shooting from my knees I was down the course on the right, at a point where the riders swing left to prepare for the next right-hand turn. Although I would normally over expose by 2/3 of a stop shooting with such strong back lighting (to bring out the detail of the riders) at 1/640th and 3200 ISO, my 400 mm f2.8 was wide open!
Here is another shot, this one from the final stage on Sunday, July 15th. I was midway up the brutal Chilkoot hill that is in excess of a 20% grade. The men climb Chilkoot 18 times.
This image is again at 1/640th, f9 and 500 ISO. Again because of the backlighting here I was able to over expose by 1/3 of a stop to bring out the detail in the riders' faces.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
How to Shoot a Great Triathlon Photo - Context, Composition and Competition – Tri This!!
As is pretty common this time of year, my weekends are filled with shooting. Last week it was three soccer games, one each night and this weekend, it is soccer, a sprint triathlon and fixed gear cycling on a 250 meter track. This week I have been shuttling between soccer games and bike races. Trust me soccer in the rain is a lot safer that bike racing in the rain.
I received my initial national attention shooting triathlons and I have many friends in the tri community, and as such shooting a tri is part work and part social. Either way, I always enjoy the spectacle of it. I enjoy the competition and there are some days that I think, if I just trained a bit more, I could do that again! But then, I regain my sanity.
In spite of the existence of a strong triathlon community and the social aspects of the races, competing is a singular effort. It is the athlete and the clock. Of course, being first across the line is important, but with wave starts, it is possible for your key competition to still be out on the course after you are sitting at the finish. The effort is intense, alone and often painful.
From a photographic standpoint, a major challenge is how do you get a photo, without having it just look like another guy out riding is bike? Albeit a very fit guy, but still just another guy out on his bike.
• How do you make it interesting?
• How do you create an emotional connection between the viewer and a two dimensional photo?
• How do you convey the intensity of the effort, the anguish of the athlete, as well as the competition?
• How do you evoke an emotional response from the athlete viewing the photo subsequent to the race?
For most events, there is a mass start of sorts or at least in waves. My favorite starts are where the athletes run into the water. This kicks up a reverse rooster tail of sorts and creates in image that can only truly be appreciated in a still photo. I typically shoot this with a 28mm to 70 lens and get as close as practical without getting soaked.
The high stepping start techniques, shown here by top ranked Triathletes Hunter Kemper, David Thompson and Craig Walton makes you wonder if they really are swimming or running.
For large races (Ironman, etc.) with water starts, if you can get some height for the shot, you can see patterns that can convey the feeling of the crowd.
The closer you get more you will convey the feeling of actually being part of the race.
The swim exit is another great spot to for dramatic shots. I admit, I am a long lens guy and shoot with a 400 mm f2.8. I always try (or tri) to get a head on shot if possible, which means that I am usually tucked away at the end of the exit on the way to the first transition (T1). From my prospective this is the most intense shot.
If possible my favorite is to shoot as the athletes are rising up out of the water. Here is my friend Dan Cohen (the Incredible Hulk shot), coming out of the water. A shutter speed of at least 1/500th is needed to catch the sheeting of the water.
Running into transition helps convey the intensity of the event.
Once on the bike, assuming that I am not shooting from a moto, I still prefer a straight on shot. Here you have the opportunity for both context and intensity. The first shot is Chris Lieto in the lead of the first Ironman Wisconsin. The moto on the right gives the context that whoever the rider is, is video worthy. The second shot is Minnesota based elite amateur Cathy Yndestad, coming up over a rise. (Think rule of thirds for composition.)
The Chris shot is from a moto, the Cathy shot is not.
Still using the 400mm I can get in the athletes face and show how hard they are really working.
If I am working from a moto, I can get up close and personal! As they say don't try this at home, etc. Seriously, shooting backwards from the back of a moto takes a great driver, the right bike, lots of practice AND I always wear full protective gear.
The transitions, in this case T2 also gives a chance to show how the athletes are prepare to move to the next stage - here is Tonya Miller trying to cool off before heading out on the run.
By know you know that I am shooting head on and that my preference is to try to establish eye contact between the athlete and the camera, but for the run, there is another trick to shot selection. I don’t care how lean and fit the athlete is, if you show them at the bottom of their stride, they will have a defeated look and their body will sag. Today’s amazing cameras shoot at such high frame rates, shoot in bursts! This will give you the opportunity to select the shot when the runner is at the top of their stride. Here is a photo from about the 16 mile mark of the Wisconsin Ironman in 2003. This is the critical pass where Dave Harju is overtaking Torbjorn Sindballe, notice that Sindballe looks almost defeated, mostly because he is at the bottom of his stride and Dave is at the top of his stride.
Here are two other shots from the recent Manitou Sprint Triathlon as winner Kevin O’Conner of Gear West, is coming into the finish. Again the difference in stride position is noticeable in the message that it conveys.
Similar to Kevin, Hunter Kemper looks great at the top of his stride (with a certain air of Toyota Hybrid efficiency).
I started this blog entry with a finish line shot and I will end it with one. Sometimes if you get lucky, one shot can be more that the proverbial thousand words. In this case, you can tell the weather (rain), the event (Ironman), the nationality of the winner (German), the time and the sponsor (Ford). Notice that I have shot from a very low angle in order to get the finishing banner in the top of the frame.
One final image - no matter what the level of competition, for the most part people are glad to be there and competing. Here Becca and Julie show that their game face is much different than the level of the effort once the gun goes off!
I hope you have enjoyed this post - just go out and tri it!
I received my initial national attention shooting triathlons and I have many friends in the tri community, and as such shooting a tri is part work and part social. Either way, I always enjoy the spectacle of it. I enjoy the competition and there are some days that I think, if I just trained a bit more, I could do that again! But then, I regain my sanity.
In spite of the existence of a strong triathlon community and the social aspects of the races, competing is a singular effort. It is the athlete and the clock. Of course, being first across the line is important, but with wave starts, it is possible for your key competition to still be out on the course after you are sitting at the finish. The effort is intense, alone and often painful.
From a photographic standpoint, a major challenge is how do you get a photo, without having it just look like another guy out riding is bike? Albeit a very fit guy, but still just another guy out on his bike.
• How do you make it interesting?
• How do you create an emotional connection between the viewer and a two dimensional photo?
• How do you convey the intensity of the effort, the anguish of the athlete, as well as the competition?
• How do you evoke an emotional response from the athlete viewing the photo subsequent to the race?
For most events, there is a mass start of sorts or at least in waves. My favorite starts are where the athletes run into the water. This kicks up a reverse rooster tail of sorts and creates in image that can only truly be appreciated in a still photo. I typically shoot this with a 28mm to 70 lens and get as close as practical without getting soaked.
The high stepping start techniques, shown here by top ranked Triathletes Hunter Kemper, David Thompson and Craig Walton makes you wonder if they really are swimming or running.
For large races (Ironman, etc.) with water starts, if you can get some height for the shot, you can see patterns that can convey the feeling of the crowd.
The closer you get more you will convey the feeling of actually being part of the race.
The swim exit is another great spot to for dramatic shots. I admit, I am a long lens guy and shoot with a 400 mm f2.8. I always try (or tri) to get a head on shot if possible, which means that I am usually tucked away at the end of the exit on the way to the first transition (T1). From my prospective this is the most intense shot.
If possible my favorite is to shoot as the athletes are rising up out of the water. Here is my friend Dan Cohen (the Incredible Hulk shot), coming out of the water. A shutter speed of at least 1/500th is needed to catch the sheeting of the water.
Running into transition helps convey the intensity of the event.
Once on the bike, assuming that I am not shooting from a moto, I still prefer a straight on shot. Here you have the opportunity for both context and intensity. The first shot is Chris Lieto in the lead of the first Ironman Wisconsin. The moto on the right gives the context that whoever the rider is, is video worthy. The second shot is Minnesota based elite amateur Cathy Yndestad, coming up over a rise. (Think rule of thirds for composition.)
The Chris shot is from a moto, the Cathy shot is not.
Still using the 400mm I can get in the athletes face and show how hard they are really working.
If I am working from a moto, I can get up close and personal! As they say don't try this at home, etc. Seriously, shooting backwards from the back of a moto takes a great driver, the right bike, lots of practice AND I always wear full protective gear.
The transitions, in this case T2 also gives a chance to show how the athletes are prepare to move to the next stage - here is Tonya Miller trying to cool off before heading out on the run.
By know you know that I am shooting head on and that my preference is to try to establish eye contact between the athlete and the camera, but for the run, there is another trick to shot selection. I don’t care how lean and fit the athlete is, if you show them at the bottom of their stride, they will have a defeated look and their body will sag. Today’s amazing cameras shoot at such high frame rates, shoot in bursts! This will give you the opportunity to select the shot when the runner is at the top of their stride. Here is a photo from about the 16 mile mark of the Wisconsin Ironman in 2003. This is the critical pass where Dave Harju is overtaking Torbjorn Sindballe, notice that Sindballe looks almost defeated, mostly because he is at the bottom of his stride and Dave is at the top of his stride.
Here are two other shots from the recent Manitou Sprint Triathlon as winner Kevin O’Conner of Gear West, is coming into the finish. Again the difference in stride position is noticeable in the message that it conveys.
Similar to Kevin, Hunter Kemper looks great at the top of his stride (with a certain air of Toyota Hybrid efficiency).
I started this blog entry with a finish line shot and I will end it with one. Sometimes if you get lucky, one shot can be more that the proverbial thousand words. In this case, you can tell the weather (rain), the event (Ironman), the nationality of the winner (German), the time and the sponsor (Ford). Notice that I have shot from a very low angle in order to get the finishing banner in the top of the frame.
One final image - no matter what the level of competition, for the most part people are glad to be there and competing. Here Becca and Julie show that their game face is much different than the level of the effort once the gun goes off!
I hope you have enjoyed this post - just go out and tri it!
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