Camera Strobes/Flashes

First of all, let me say, I will call flashes strobes.  Strobes are a way of adding light to a scene.  You can either have a strobe on camera, or off.   Have it light part of a scene or all of a scene.  Use one or multiple strobes.  It is up to you and what you want to do.  You can purchase very cheap strobes and do a lot with them or spend thousands of dollars on top of the line strobes and be limited to what you can do with them.

First thing you should do, before buying any type of strobe, is check out the Strobist website.  A lot of great information can be found there.  Infact, just about anything you want to know about shooting with strobes can be found there along with contests and assignments.  A great resource.

Since I shoot sports a lot, I thought I would just scratch the surface of using strobes for sports.  We would all love to have that perfect light outdoors, but there are times we need a little extra.  A good example is night time football.  You can only get away with using flash with football in high school and bellow, but thankfully, most college and pro venues have enough light that you do not need a to add any light.

With football, one thing you want to avoid is on camera strobes.  With long lenses, having your strobe on camera will give you very bad red eye.  There are ways around this though.  A flash bracket for your camera, or one that mounts on your lens tripod ring is a great way to do it.  When I shoot with a 300mm lens, I am always using a monopod and I mount two, Vivitar 283 strobes about 16 inches bellow the camera on the monopod and fire them wirelessly.  By having the strobes set to 1/4 power using a Vivitar VP-1 power adapter for the 283's, I get good recycle times and a lot of light being thrown onto the football field.  I have talked to another photographer who uses Vivitar 285's in the same way but he has one of the strobes set to around 50mm (on the head of the strobe) and the other set to a telephoto setting (I believe 100mm +/-).  This gives him one flash that is illuminating a wide view and one giving him a throw of light further away.  I have also seen photographers set up a light stand on the sideline with a studio strobe or two or three and even seen strobes mounted up in the bad high school stadium lights.  Another fun way to shoot with a off camera strobe is a strobe on a stick.  Mount your strobe and pocket wizard on a monopod and have an assistant stand about 10 yards from you, following the action with the strobe and when you fire, bam, nice 45 degree side lighting.  It does not work perfectly, but it is pretty fun when it does.

The above set up will work with just about any field sport.  LAX, football, soccer.  But do not, I repeat, do NOT use this with baseball.  Umps, coaches and players do not want a strobe going off that could distract someone as a ball is flying at them at 60mph or faster, and you do not want your strobe going off at the instant a play is made that blinds the umpire so he can not make a call.

Now for indoor sports like basketball, the set up is different.  Some high school's do not allow strobes or on camera flash.  Check first to see if it is ok.  And do not use on camera strobes on the baseline.  Basically, you want your strobes out of a direct line of site for the players.  I mount my strobes about 20 feet in the air at the corners of the court.  I have the strobes set to a wide angle covering from the baseline to about mid court.  You want a strobe that recycles fast and puts out at least a guide number of 200.  The Vivitar's are fine for this, but you may find that studio strobes will be a better option.  There are a lot of discussions on various forums online about what strobes to use and how to use them.  Bounce, direct, sports reflectors, ISO's, etc.  Best thing to do for you is practice practice practice.

Now.  After going over this, you are more than likely thinking, "That's great, but I need fast shutter speeds to freeze the action, and my flash will only sync at 1/200th of a second."  That is all you need if your strobe is powerfull enough and has a fast duration.  Over powering the ambient light is key here.  If you over power the ambient enough, your strobe is the main light source.  And if you have a strobe with a duration of 1/2500th, then even though your shutter is only set at 1/200th, you are capturing the action at 1/2500th of a second.  Think of it as your strobe is now your shutter.  Take an exposure reading for the strobe, set it to your camera and you are good.  If ambient light is 1/125th at 2.8 and your strobe gives you a exposure of 1/200th at 5.6, then set your camera to 1/200th at 5.6 and you are good to go.  Images will be captured at 1/200th but because your strobe is doing the actual work of the shutter, it will freeze the action and make it apear that you used a super fast shutter speed.  So, using a hand held light meter is important.  With my Minolta Flashmeter V, I set the camera shutter speed flash sync, which for my 1D is 1/500th and 1/250th for my 1D Mark II, and I start with an ISO setting of 400.  I then take a reading from the basketball court of with the strobe.  For basketball, I shoot for around a F4-f5.6 reading.  If I get that, I am good to go, but if I get an F8, I will drop my ISO or if I hang around F2.8 I will increase the ISO to 800.  Set your camera to what your light meter says and you are good to go.

So, when buying a strobe (flash), decide what you need it to do, what you want it to do, and research what will work with your camera and what will fit in your budget.  Canon makes speedlights that scratch $400 - $500 and Vivitar makes flashes around $100.  Canon's will be fully compatible with their cameras and have all sorts of features, where Vivitars will be a basic full manual strobe.  

My final advice was aready touched on.  Read Strobist.com

Lens selection.

Lens selection.

We all know, or should know, that you need a lens or set of lenses in order to take photos with any SLR camera.  What you shoot and your level of experience should dictate what lens or lenses that you get.  Do not get a lens just because you have enough money to get the very best and it is the same lens that your favorite photographer uses.  Just because you might have the same gear as that top Sports Illustrated photographer, does not mean you will get the same quality photos that they do.  Experience, knowing your gear and what it is capable of and what it is not, and how to use it to it’s fullest extent is key to great photos.

So, speaking to you with the thought that you are a new photographer, learning the craft, what I am saying is, if you need a 300mm lens, do not run out and spend $4000 on a Canon 300 2.8 IS L lens.  This is a heavy lens, expensive, and one that beginning photographers would not likely use to its fullest extent.  There is a special learning curve for large lenses, in fact, there is a learning curve for most lenses, but lenses that way 5 to 20 pounds are much different to use than a lens that ways 2 or 3 pounds.  Canon makes a variety of lenses in the 300mm range from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand.  If you want to try a 300mm lens, go with a zoom, like a 70-300 to start with.  Typically these are slower lenses, but they will get you a feel for the focal length and you may find that you do not need 300 as much as you thought.

For anyone starting out in photography, learning about apertures, depth of field, shutter speeds and such, a inexpensive kit can be built that can be used in various shooting styles and allow you to grow as you need to.

Most digital cameras that consumers buy like the Digital Rebel Xti or 30D, have a kit lens that come with them.  For Canon, that is the 18-55 3.5-5.6 lens.  On the 1.6x APS-C sensor these cameras have, this is similar to a 24-70 lens.  While it is a cheap, plastic lens, it is actually a very nice little lens.  Light weight, and a great lens to build around, and when you are ready, a good lens that has good alternatives.  To go along with this lens, Canon makes another inexpensive lens, the 55-200.  Not too big, again, plastic, and a little slow, but a good focal length and lightweight.  A good lens to learn with as you start out.  Another lens to add to this set is one for low light.  When you start shooting in low light situations like parties, museums, and the like, the kit lens and the 55-200 will not give you shutter speeds fast enough to stop the action.  Adding a 50mm 1.8 lens, which runs around $100 is a great choice.  It also is a cheap plastic lens, but for the price, you can not buy a better lens.

As you get more experience, you will notice what lenses are holding you back and what focal lengths you use more.  Before selling that 55-200 for a $1600 70-200 2.8 IS L, you can look at alternative choices.  Like third party lenses, F4 versions, and the like.  As you start looking for lenses to replace the ones you have, you will get an idea.  One suggestion I have for you is, other than the kit lens, stay away from the EF-S mount lenses.  While their focal lengths might be very desireable, like the 10-22 or 17-55 2.8, if you get to the point that you want to shoot a different Canon camera like a 1D, 1Ds, or 5D series, these lenses are useless.  They are designed for the APS-C sensor and can not be mounted on any other body.  An 18-55 can be replaced with a 17-40, 16-35 or a 24-70 2.8.  Also, Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron makes some very good lenses at a fraction of the cost.  A Canon 24-70 2.8 lens might cost $1200, and a Sigma version will run under $400.  While the Sigma will not be as good as the Canon, it is still a great lens and another great lens to learn with.

If you are looking into a all in one lens, one that will be small and lightweight for hiking, or camping, where weight is an issue, there are some lenses from Sigma and Tamron that may work for you.   28-200 and 300mm that are small work great for giving you a lot of focal lengths in one lens, but it comes with a drawback.  Lenses like this are not the sharpest, and are typically not for low light shooting.  Also, lenses that are more than 10X zoom, like the 28-300 should be avoided.  They just are not a lens that produce good images.

When you start shooting sports, especially youth sports which may be played in the evening, or indoors, you are kind of stuck.  Fast lenses are they way to go.  Fast shutter speeds to stop the action and large apertures, like 2.8 or faster are needed to throw your backgrounds out of focus and separate your subject from the background.  But, when you can spend $200 on a 55-200 or $1600 on a 70-200, it starts turning into a major investment.  Again, Sigma should be looked at as an alternative.  A 24-70 and 70-200 from Canon could run over $3K, where the same lenses from Sigma are around $1300-$1400.  A full $1600-$1700 you could spend on other lenses, or flashes, or memory.  Not a bad idea if you are on a budget, and they perform very nicely.  In fact I have had numerous photos published in major newspapers and magazines like ESPN the Magazine taken with a Sigma 70-200 2.8.  

Now, the last thing I want to touch on is IS.  IS, or image stabilization, is honestly a luxury, and should not be over used.  In fact, not one of my lenses have IS.  On long lenses, like the 400 2.8 or 600 f4, IS is great, because of the length of the lens, the weight, and possible vibrations or lens shake, it helps, but at 300 or less, as long as you can keep your shutter speed above the focal length (If you are shooting at 200mm keeping your lens at 1/250th or higher), you do not need IS.  However, if you are in a low light situation, that you just can not use a support like a monopod or tripod, IS can be a life saver.  Otherwise, in my opinion, all it does is suck your battery down quicker.

In closing, do not buy the best of everything if you can, but focus on learning how to take the photo, develop your eye, and upgrade your gear as you need to, you will become a much better photographer over time.

Find reviews of lenses, and other gear at www.fredmiranda.com

Next tip..Flashes….on camera and off….

Photo Tips

I have to say, I get more questions from people than to seems like I sell photos some times.  So, I got to thinking, since I do hold workshops from time to time, maybe I should start a little tip section.  I will start out things pretty basic and move on to more advance things as weeks go by.  I will cover things from equipment to lighting to how to shot specific things.

To start off, lets be real basic.  To take a photograph, you need two things.  A camera and someone behind the camera.    That person who is behind the camera, you, needs to understand how the camera works in order to capture photographs.  So my tip, as basic as it may sound, is one that many photographers, or people with a new camera for the first time do not do.  Read your manual.  Beyond reading the manual, look at maybe picking up a special guide just for your camera.  A company out there produces books called the Magic Lantern Guide which is esentially your camera manual on steroids.  It should give you a better understanding of what your camera is capable of doing and what it is not.  Familerize yourself with each of the functions of the camera, and either keep your manual in your camera bag, or make a little cheat sheet of things you may need to know when you are out taking photos.  This could be basic settings to custom functions.

My next tip will be on lens selection.

Photographer Gets Injured

There have been a couple injuries as of late that I want to touch on.

 

Alexandra Boulat of Agency VII suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm while on assignment in Israel.  She is currently in a induced coma but, had a successful 5 hour surgery, according to doctors.  For more information, check for updates on the VII website and to see some of Alexandra's work, take a look at http://www.viiphoto.com/photographer.html

 

Also, at the AST Dew Tour this weekend, BMX Vert champ, Chad Kagy went down hard while trying a triple tailwhip.  Chad, while being one of the best BMXer's out there, is also a talented photographer and member of the Fred Miranda Digital Photography Forums. www.fredmiranda.com. Chad is not new to injuries, but at each contest he is in, I am cheering him on, and when he goes down hard, I worry for his health and his family.

 

I am heading into my last week of Little League Baseball for 2007.  No All-Stars this year, but it will give me a chance to focus more on helping my mother in her recovery from heart surgery a little more.  Maybe get her back on her feet quicker.  It will also give me the chance to photograph some other things I have been putting off.  For the last two years I have really missed the Eagle River  Bear Paw celebration in July, and have not really had a chance to shoot any Alaska Baseball League stuff.  So this summer you should find me out and about at some Buc's and Pilot games, as well as the Alaska Wild's last three games, Bear Paw, the Eagle River 3^rd of July party, and some Eagle River and Chugiak American Legion games.  While Little League is one of my favorite things to shoot, having a short season this year will be nice with everything else going on.

 

 

What Is This?

A self portrait? No, not really. I have been toying with using remotes for a while. Last year when the Globetrotters were in Anchorage I tried one with my Rebel Xt and got ok results, but this year, I have gone all out. As you can see with the above image, I have a high tech remote stand. A wheel barrow wheel from Wal-Mart, a Bogen ball head, my original 1D, and my 70-200 2.8.I am triggering it with a remote I got off of ebay. It is not the little remotes we use for strobes, but one that is really a cable release that comes with a little key chain FOB that will trigger it from about 100 feet away. Typically, I will set it up looking up at third base from behind home plate and prefocus on the area around home with a large DOF to get plays at the plate. In the above picture, I set it up to get batters at a coach pitch game so I could focus on the field action for some sportraits. It is not the best for getting hits, because, unlike Pocket Wizards, there is a major shutter release delay, but for action at the plate, when I see someone rounding third, I start mashing the shutter around the time they get half way to home. Seems to work pretty good for that. As you can see in the image below, the low angle really adds to the image.

Yes, that is me in the lower left of the image. I moved over to third base to photograph the pitcher, and did not realize I was in frame.

So, why a remote for little league? A remote is like having a second shooter with you at each game. While I am only shooting one game, and my real life second shooter is covering another game, this remote gives me the ability to capture images that just are not safe or practical for me to try to grab during the game. It also offers parents and players something that other photographers just are not doing....at least yet...

Another Season Begins

Today was the official kick off for Little League Baseball in Eagle River with Knik Little League having their Opening Ceremonies followed by a lot of games. Every field had at least one game going on today, but more on that later.

The Opening Ceremonies were very well done. A sad moment came when I found out that Jeff, a Knik board member, coach, and umpire instructor will be moving mid season. He will be impossible to replace. The coolest thing from the Opening Ceremonies was the announcement that the Anchorage Glacier Pilots are teaming up with Anchorage area Little Leagues with fund raisers and free baseball camps. Growing up in Seattle, I got spoiled with the Seattle Mariners sponsoring both Little Leagues and Boy's and Girl's clubs, the Sonics setting up outdoor courts for the community, and so on. Coming up to Alaska, with the ABL, the ECHL and UAA, I was disappointed to see very little community outreach to the youth leagues beyond the Glacier Pilots Little League Day at the ball park. Hopefully this will push the Aces into a more active roll and when the Alaska Wild get their issues all sorted out, hopefully they will be a supporter of Pop Warner and high school football.

While I have a second shooter this year, she will only be helping me Monday through Thursday, so I was left to cover as much as I could by myself today. That was fine. The first games are usually a time for the players, managers/coaches and umpires to shake off the winter cobwebs, and it gave me a chance to get my baseball grove on. Starting next week, we will be working a specific shooting schedule that will ensure that we get each team at least twice during the season. We fully expect to photograph each team more than twice, but there are times that we may not be at the ball park. We will be floating with the T-Ballers and Coach Pitch, basically covering them off and on through out the season, but with Minors, Majors, Juniors, both baseball and softball, we will typically shoot at the minimum, 1/2 the game when we are there, unless there is not another game on another field. So, if the lower softball field has a game at the same time as the upper softball field, we will shoot 1/2 of both games. This will be the same for both baseball and softball. So, if you do not see a photographer at your game, do not worry, we will be there this season.

We also have something new this season. We can take most any action photo from this seasons games and turn it into a cut out photo on a heavy duty material that can be safely stuck to almost any wall, and moved or repositioned as many times as you want. See the main site at www.digital-eos.com under the Knik LL tab for more information and ordering instructions for this awesome new product that will be a great memento for your 2007 Little League Season.

I look forward to seeing you all at the ball park this season.

Carl

Gearing Up

Being in Alaska, we tend to be slower on some things than the rest of the US. On May 5th we start our Little League Baseball season. So I am starting to gear up for it. Not with camera gear though. Shooting for a league can really wear you out and getting yourself prepared for the upcoming games is important. Clothes, shoes, food, water, etc. They are almost as important, and in some cases more important than any camera gear.

Shoes. You want to be comfortable, but have shoes that will allow you to take off running to the next field if you have too. I like light weight shoes, and the best I have found, and have been wearing them for years (not the same pare), are of all things, soccer shoes. I really, really like the Adidas Samba Classic shoes. They are light, breath well, and while an indoor soccer shoe, give me the reliability on all but rain soaked grass.

Clothes. It is summer time. Shorts, tank tops, beach...of wait...baseball. I will wear shorts to about 95% of the baseball games I shoot, but weather dictates what kind of shorts. Cool days with a breeze, I will probably go with a pair of cargo pants with the zip off legs. warmer days, any number of cargo shorts. Only cargo shorts. Those extra pockets are a necessity. Shirt wise, again, weather dictates what it will be. Normally just a tshirt, but on windy days, we might go for a long sleeve tshirt, and most definitely have a wind breaker with you just in case. And lastly, a hat. something lightweight that will protect your dome from the sun. Sitting out on a baseball field for 2 or 4 or 6 games can really burn you, so protecting your head and neck is important.

Speaking of sun... Suntan lotion or sun block. You will need it. Period.

Bugs. Do not want them at all. A good, deet free, bug spray. Deet will eat into the plastics of your camera, so steer clear of them. There are also some sun blocks with bug repellent added in. So you can kill to bugs with one lotion....

Food. Long days at the ball park can make you crave snack shack dogs, or something worse for you... I will usually have a small cooler in the trunk of my car with 3 or 4 power bars and maybe a sandwich to hold me over between games. Stay away from junk food. It will just bog you down.

Water. Lots of it. Especially on hot days. When it is hot, and you are sitting in that boiling hot sunlight, you are sweating a lot. You need to replenish the water you are loosing or you really risk your health. If you are shooting with a belt pack, like a Think Tank Speed Belt, have water in one of the pouches. It will be your best friend.

Besides this type of gear, taking care of your body in other ways is a good idea. Do not sit in the same place all day long. Move around. Stretch your legs. Take a 5 or 10 minute break. Also, something that is good for the body, or at least the butt, is a bleacher seat. Nicer than sitting on dirt for 5 hours straight, and keeps your pants relatively clean...

4 days and counting til my opening day.....

Photojournalism on a budget

Someone recently asked me what kind of gear they need to start out in photojournalism, covering breaking news and feature work.

This is a pretty good question. And in reality, you can do it pretty cheaply, to start with. Any digital SLR camera will do. Even a cheap Digital Rebel Xt or Nikon D50 will do. The kit lenses, even though they get a bad rep at times, will work fine, and you can pick up a cheap longer zoom, like a 70-300 or 70-200. A basic flash, like a new Vivitar 285 and a lot of memory and batteries will complete the camera gear. With this set up, you can cover quite a bit. And this gear should be well under $1000. If you want to do it right though, from the start, Canon 1 series bodies, and at least a 16-35, 24-70, 70-200 and 300mm set of lenses, all in 2.8 versions, along with a fast prime or two like a 50 1.2, 85 1.2, or 135 2.0, and this can run you more than 10X what the basic kit will, maybe closer to 15 or 20X.

But it is much more than just the camera gear. A laptop that you can transmit your images quickly on, meaning either you need a wifi or internet location to hook up to or a cellular phone card to connect to the internet to transfer files, software to quickly edit the images and caption them and a ftp program. And to find the news, you need to be connected with press releases, keep a police scanner near you, and create relationships with newspaper editors in your area. You could get away with spending as little as a couple thousand dollars to close to $100K on "tools of the trade".

But whether you have the Rebel or a 1D Mk III, and all the computer gear and software you need, you still have to be able to capture the news, and that means knowing your gear and understanding what makes a news photograph newsworthy. College classes on journalism and photojournalism, as will as journalism workshops help greatly here. Very few people can make a career out of photojournalism with out having some schooling in it. Starting out with a local weekly paper can give you some experience, but the knowledge is not as great as you will get with actual higher education. So, look at spending another $50K on tuition to Brooks Institute or another credible photojournalism school.

It is a very tough business, and you can make it if you work hard at it. Good luck.

Snow is gone...almost

It is still a little chilly out, snow that was piled up over the winter is still melting, but at last check, the fields in Eagle River are clear. Clear, but not ready for baseball....not yet at least. This Saturday, the 28th of April, will be the Knik Little League clean up. Finally we are starting to get ready for the short, but extremely fun little league baseball season.

I started shooting Knik in 2004. Mainly because my nephew was on a majors team and I went to just about every game. I followed him through majors and juniors, and in 2005 and 2006, I photographed the entire Knik Little League season (almost all of 2006) and all of the All-Stars and State Tournaments that Knik hosted for 2006. I even umpired in 2005 for All-Stars and had a blast doing it. I am so looking forward to getting out of the high school gyms and the Sullivan Arena for some great baseball action.

Once again, I am going to be shooting the Action Photos for Knik Little League, and this year, the coverage will be even bigger. I have added some great new gear to my camera bag, longer, faster lenses and two super fast cameras. On top of that, I will be playing around with some remote cameras and a brand new technique for Knik, the Pole Cam. The pole cam will debut at the opening ceremonies, and will make appearances throughout the season. Also for 2007, I will be bringing a new photographer in to help me cover all the teams. It is a tough job trying to be at 5 fields at the same time. During the 2006/7 high school basketball season, I started mentoring a high school junior at Eagle River High School and she will be assisting me during the Little League season. She will mainly be covering the softball games, but you will see her at a few of the minors and majors baseball games and she will definitely be shooting some of the T-Ballers and Coach Pitch games. She is a very talented young photographer that will go on to very big things. We are very lucky to have her on board for this season.

We are also proud to announce a new product. Well, actually a few new products this season. We will debut some new magazine covers, and special trading cards as well as Photo Tickets throughout the season. These items will all be special order, so contact me for ordering information. But the biggest addition is really exciting. I am sure that many of you have seen the commercials for FatHeads, the life size photos of professional athletes that are cut out and stick to your wall, and can be moved and re-stuck over and over again? Well, we have that this season. They are very cool and start out at under $90, not including shipping. We can take any photo from our 2007 archives for Knik Little League and make it into one of these wall cut outs. These are great for your kids rooms, or for decorating your game room or media room. And they can be moved very easily. See http://digital-eos.com/knik.html for more information.

I look forward to seeing all of you in the coming weeks.

Alaska Goes Wild

Alaska welcomed professional football to the state for the first time on April 12th 2007. The Intense Football League, or IFL, kicked off the seasons for the new pro team in Alaska, the Alaska Wild, facing the Frisco Thunder. The IFL is mainly based in the Texas area, and Frisco is located around the Dallas area, although, a lot of the Wild fans at the Sullivan arena for the game thought it was San Fransisco, CA, not Frisco, Texas. Here we see Delvin Myles of the Wild trying to pump up the Alaska crowd but it was not enough as the Wild could only score 33 points against the 46 points by the Frisco Thunder in both teams first game ever. Originally, the Wild were to play in the AF2, a development league for the AFL, or Arena Football League, but due to lack of funds, and a lack of a team at the time, the owners pulled the plug and decided not to have a season until 2008. Then after loosing their first coach (why coach if the games and team are not there), the IFL invited the Wild into their league and once again football was on for the 2007 season. A new head coach was hired and a team was quickly put together. A couple hours after the Wild lost to the Thunder, the ownership of the team announced that the 2nd head coach had been let go for various reasons, one of which was trying to bypass the IFL salary cap to get more money for at least one player. So, heading out on the road, for only their second game ever, the Wild are on their third coach.

The Hogs are Back

The snow is hardly off the pavement and the rumble of two wheeled beasts are already filling the spring air of South Central Alaska. Even with the shorter than normal motorcycle season in Alaska, there are die hard riders that will brave the gravel covered roads and the risk of freezing rain or hail, to feel the wind in their hair for as long as they can. Here we see a biker heading up Eagle River Road to the Eagle River VFW on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007.

It Happens Every Spring

Every Spring in South Central Alaska when the snow melts the clean up begins. Here we see Ben, an employee of the Eagle River Holiday Gas Station sweeps up the gravel that once covered the icy parking lot. South Central streets and parking lots are now covered with dust and gravel and the next few weeks will be a massive cleanup from individual businesses, homes, and the Municipality of Anchorage. In order to keep the air quality high, the only thing people can do is sweep by hand or use street cleaners, hosing the gravel down first to keep the dust from getting airborne. Leaf blowers and air compressors are illegal for cleaning the gravel and Anchorage Police are out in force writing tickets for people who do not follow the rules during cleanup time.

Spring Thaw

Keith Oistad, a member of Joy Lutheran Church in Eagle River, Alaska, uses a shovel to cut through the ice in his church parking lot. Each Spring, as the warmer temperatures come, the back parking lot does not drain correctly and floods the church. Members chip away at the ice, trying to force the water to drain away from the building. The Men of Joy, at work group that meets once a month to do fix it projects around the church plan on digging up around the foundation to see where the water is coming in, and attempt to seal the leak, but currently, the church is very low on funds and is relying on weekly contributions from members just to try to pay the normal operating costs to stay open. Ideally, regrading the parking lot and adding better drainage would be the answer, but besides the leak, parts of the roof need replacing, furnaces need replacing, the building needs new carpet in a majority of the building, and the front parking lot needs to be sealed. But none of this can be completed until many bills are caught up and a reserve fund is built up. The church, a member of the ELCA and the Alaska Synod, is trying to bring in new members every week, but is finding it difficult as many new residents to the Eagle River area are either military and here for a limited time, or buying houses further and further away from Anchorage and Eagle River and going to churches closer to them.

Update

Well, here it is, the last couple hours of St. Patricks Day, and I finally have found some time to update the blog. It has been a busy time between shooting and taking care of my mom after her heart surgery. At 82 years old, and having major surgery like two valves replaced, she just has not recovered as quickly as we hoped. She is getting better, but just slow. About a month ago she took a fall, not bad, but something that caused complications and ended up sending her to the hospital in an ambulance. But she is improving, although, we are visiting the hospital about once a week and she can not be left alone for too long because she can not move around the house without someone here. So, my shooting has taken a back seat. I finished up high school basketball, missing a bunch of the girls games, but I made it to all but one boys varsity game. Thanks to a great member of Fred Miranda, I also have added a Canon 1D Mark II to my arsenal and it is most welcome. I was able to shoot the starts of the 2007 Iditarod, but unfortunatly had to give up my plans shooting along the trail since mom needed a caregiver. Now I sit here watching March Madness wishing I was sitting courtside shooting away. I get to cover a UAA gymnastics meet this Sunday against Ball State, and at the end of March I will be shooting 4 days of the US Ski Team Alpine Championships at Girdwood and Alyeska Resort. I also have some Alaska Aces games coming up and I am also counting down the days until the Alaska Wild start playing indoor football. My biggest job will take up most of the summer though. I have once again been signed to do the action photos for Knik Little League which, honestly, is a blast to do.

As you all know by now, Canon has announced the Mark III version of the 1D... I encourage you to take a look at the Canon USA website for more info. It will be a great camera for any sports photographer. In my opinion, PMA was a letdown, except for the Mark III. Well, Sigma did announce a 200-500 2.8 zoom lens, which tops 35lbs and while cool, is not going to impact our business too much. I was really hoping Canon would release some new lenses like a 200 1.8 IS and a 100 - 400 f4 IS and a couple other things....but guess we will have to wait a little longer.

One of my next projects will be a total website redesign, which I hope to launch in time for football season (high school this fall).

Anyway, I will do my best to keep things coming here...expect more reviews and tips and tricks.....

Later
Carl

Welcome to 2007

Well, first off, let me say to everyone, Happy New Year. I hope all has been good for you so far. While there have been lots of events going on locally, like the Alaska Aces, UAA Seawolves sports, my time and priorities have changed a little, well, a lot.

On January 3rd, my mom went in to have 2 valves replaced in her heart. Surgery went very well, and she is recovering nicely so far, but needless to say, instead of hanging out at the sports arenas, my time has been mostly spent at the hospital. I may be able to swing a college basketball game in this weekend, but I am not counting on it at all. I will be shooting my second high school game come Monday, and then will have some time off to visit mom before she comes home and then again I will be quite occupied while she is on the mend. Thankfully, everything is good right now.

I am, during this off time from shooting for me, scheduling a very big shoot that will more than likely have national exposure. I will not tell you exactly what it is, but it is something that was shown on local news up here not to long ago and after viewing it, I decided this needed national coverage, and off went an email to my agency who is now shopping the idea around to some of the top publications. Once we have the details all lined up, I will share the info with you in more detail, but this could be a very big deal.

My best wishes to all of you for 2007.

Lens or In body IS?

So I am sitting here during some rare free time, and I am reading a discussion on why Canon should put IS in body and I am kind of laughing to myself and decided to share some of my thoughts about IS here. For those who do not know, IS stands for Image Stabilization.

First of all, in my opinion, IS has limited uses. It is absolutely necessary, in my opinion, in long lenses starting at about 400mm. Even on a tripod or monopod, the lenses are so large and heavy that some camera movement is bound to occur, even at higher shutter speeds. Having IS in these lenses helps cut that down greatly. But having IS in other lenses does only two things.

1. Drain your battery quicker.
2. Empty your wallet quicker.

Now, I do very little landscape photography and focus mainly on action and news, but I honestly believe in the 1/focal length rule for the most part. What ever lens you have on, as long as you can keep the shutter speed at least at or above the focal length, a 200mm lens would be 1/200th shutterspeed, you are going to have a sharp photo. Using slower shutter speeds than this can introduce camera shake....if you are not careful. Holding your breath, using a wall, table, or chair to steady yourself, or using a bean bag, monopod, or tripod is going to be cheaper and do a better job. Most landscape shooters will use a heavy duty tripod, cable release, and set their camera up for mirror lockup. People seem to think that in camera IS will solve that problem, but it wont.

In order for the in camera IS to work, the sensor has to move around to adjust for camera movement. While this movement is only a millimeter or two, you are now making your sensor even smaller. What if you are trying to fill the frame with something specific and the sensor shifts that 2mm, and suddenly along the edge of your image there is something that you do not want, or, worse yet, looking through the viewfinder, you can not see that the IS is going to do this because it is no longer OPTICAL. With in lens IS, you can see the IS smoothing the bumps out. In camera, you will see nothing.

Also, in lens IS is more accurate. IS from a 600mm lens is different than IS from a 400mm lens. The 400mm is tuned to give the best possible results from the 400mm focal length. You put the 400mm IS into a 600mm lens and compare it to a 600mm lens with the 600mm IS mechanism in it, the one with the 400mm IS will be less accurate. Basically, in lens IS is fine tuned for the lens it is in. In camera, you are either going to have IS that falls short compared to lens based IS or you are going to see camera's that either loose some features to make room for the IS software and mechanics. There is only so much room inside the cameras for all the data they need to work, and only so much room for the processors that make this data work. So, you have a Canon 30D. Pretty good AF, quick, accurate. Buffer clears out ok, not super fast, but better than previous models. Suddenly Canon releases a 35D, basically a 30D with in camera IS. You think great! A camera that is killer already, now is even better. You go out and switch that IS on and the first thing you notice is that the autofocus is moving a bit slower, not too noticable, but it is a tad slower, and not locking onto subjects as quickly. Take a burst of 4 or 5 RAW photos and suddenly you notice the buffer is taking for ever to empty as the images are written onto the memory card. Now, I am not saying that this would happen, but in all honesty, the 30D has one main CPU to handle all the cameras processing. 1D series has two, one for AF, one for everything else. Adding in body IS is going to slow down the camera slightly.

Another item that people tend to over look is flash sync. I do not know why this is, but it appears that in camera IS reduces the flash sync. Most Canon cameras are either 1/200th or 1/250th of a second flash sync, with the original 1D at 1/500th of a second. Adding in camera IS will change this. I do not have the specs in front of me, but I remember the Minolta 5D had a 1/160th of a second X-Sync without IS, turn IS on, and that dropped to 1/125th of a second. Shooting in studio and using studio strobes to shoot high school sports, 1/500th on my 1D and 1/250th on my backup XT (I know it says 1/200th, but I have successfully strobed at 1/250th) is a major necessity for me. If in camera IS is going to slow down the X-Sync, then there is absolutely no way in the world I will get a in camera IS body.

I do see how IS can be useful for some sports shooters. Shooting a baseball game under sunlight and having to drop your shutter speed down to about 1/60th to quickly take a shot of someone in the dugout, IS would be a benefit, but for the most part, with the exception of long lenses, my opinion is that IS is a gimmick.

Some of the greatest photographs of all time were taken long before IS, Autofocus, even color film, and to get them, even if it meant having an assistant help you, a good, sturdy tripod was use, and in my opinion, there is no better reduction of camera shake out there than a good, heavy tripod with a very sturdy head.

Have SLR, can I take your picture?

With the introduction of low priced DSLR's this year, and Christmas approaching quickly, I am sure there will be a lot of new photographers on the streets. I want to give you all tips to make your new photographic trek a nice experience rather than one that could get you in trouble.

Just because you have a nice camera does not mean you can take photos where ever you want. Let's say you head out, the day after Christmas with your brand new camera to take pictures of the winter wonderland out there. You head downtown to take photos of the decorations and you have no problem. Suddenly, while framing a nice image of a decorated front of a office building, a security guard approaches you and tells you that you can not take pictures of the building. How do you handle this? Lately I have been reading about photographers who fly off the handle at security guards, screaming about public places, freedom of speech, etc. This is absolutely the last thing you should do. Apologize to the guard and tell him you were just taking a photo of the decorations and was unaware that this was not allowed. Ask him if there is someone in the building you can talk to about getting permission to take a photo. This is the absolute best way to handle this. So you are on a public sidewalk? Big deal. If you were taking a photo of a leaf on the sidewalk, he would have no ground to stand on, but taking the picture of a building, while it might be open to the public, it is owned by someone, and there may be actual restrictions on photography. Crazy, huh? Not really. Just because you have a camera does not give you a license to shoot anything, anywhere, at anytime. Let's say the same situation above occurs, but instead of you, it is a newspaper photographer. More than likely, either the photographer, a reporter, or someone from the newspaper has already made contact with the building management to get permission to photograph the building. Or, when the photographer got there, prior to shooting, they would make contact with the building management on site or with security letting them know who they were and why they were there. Even if they did not do this, if they were approached, they would more than likely have their press ID issued from the newspaper with them, identifying them as someone with a legitimate reason for being there.

Flying off the handle does absolutely nothing for you or other photographers. If you upset this security guard, the next time you or another photographer shows up, they may bypass talking to you at all and call the police. You can throw out all the freedom of speech that you want but, why ask for problems, when it is very easy to just ask for permission to shoot? If they say no, move on. Don't make it an issue. Not being a person with inside information at the building or whatever, means that you really do not know if there are restrictions. If it is a special architectural design, the architect may have copyrighted his design and to protect it, there is a restriction. I know it sounds silly, but it can happen. A while back in the Tacoma, Washington area, at the Tacoma Dome, there was a ridiculous rule about taking photos inside the facility. There was some real bad neon artwork that the artist did not want reproduced in any form. So, any photograph not taken for media use only, inside the dome, was not permitted. If I remember correctly, that did not last long, and I am not even sure if the neon is still there, but it was a rule, and security enforced it. A high school football championship was being televised and the TV cameras could not be in some positions that they wanted because the artwork would be in the background, so they had to shoot from less than desirable positions to avoid breaking the rule. While they were technically media, they wanted to avoid any possible infractions that may come later, like using footage to promote the event the next year and having this artwork in the video.

Basically, you just do not know, so when you don't know, ask. There are many so called public places that in reality are not public. Just because a park is public, there may be a group that has rented the park for a day and they may have restrictions on photography for a event or something.

Holiday Greetings

I am really not sure how many people actually come by and read this, but I want to wish the best to all of you this holiday season as 2006 draws to a close.

My schedule has been interrupted for the next month or so as my mother prepares for open heart surgery. I have been canceling shoots and taking time off each week as I take her to doctor appointments, shopping, and running errands for her. I squeeze shoots in as I can and I hope to be able to get out to shoot some ECHL hockey this week as most of the high schools and UAA prepare for their winter breaks.

I did receive some nice news recently as I got a check from Icon SMI, one of my wire services. I knew that I had a photo in a recent issue of ESPN the Magazine, but it turns out I also had a shot earlier in 2006 picked up on ESPN.com. Along with that, my other wire, Newsport emailed me that I had sold a shot from the Quad Rugby event at the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games. With not a lot going on in Alaska, it is nice to have 3 sports shots picked up for national publications.

Besides working on a review of my new 120-300 2.8 from Sigma, I am working on a full review of a couple Think Tank Photo products. I was sent a Airport Antidote and a Pro Modulus Speed belt set to put through the ringer for Fred Miranda's Digital Darkroom. Right now, after only using the gear for a short time, I can honestly say Think Tank got everything pretty close to perfect. I do have a few suggestions already, and once high school basketball and other events get going locally, I will be able to give them more of a workout.

I hope you all have a wonderful time during this last part of 2006 and wish you all a great 2007.

Links from this post.
www.thinktankphoto.com
www.fredmiranda.com
www.espn.com

Sigma 120-300 2.8 Review Part One

I recently sold my Canon 300 f4 IS L lens to help fund a 120-300 2.8 lens from Sigma. Moving into the indoor sports season, I needed something fast but longer than my 70-200 2.8. So, in came the 120-300.

I have been wanting this lens for a while, or a Canon 300 2.8 or 400 2.8. The lens I picked up was used, but in brand new condition. Picking the lens up for the first time you are amazed on just how heavy it is. I have had a few Sigma lenses in the past, but this one is the biggest and seems to be built like a tank. Looking at the lens cover/cap, the first thing I can honestly say that Sigma missed the boat on is the design. The cap can only be used in the storage position, or at least used correctly. There is a little notch cut out to lock around the hood knob, but when the hood is in shooting position, forget it. I have heard a lot of complaints about the hood. It is a bayonet style hood. You thread it into a notch set up on the lens, turn till it locks and tighten the knob. I like the stile and think it works well.

So, even before I attached my camera I twisted my monopod onto the beast. Pretty good balance, but if you get an older non DG lens be sure you get the larger lens collar. Mine is on order. This is the same lens collar on the 70-200 2.8 and it is just too small and compact for this lens.

I attached my 1D to the lens and it is a nice tight fit. Headed outside into the snow and started testing out the AF. Seems to focus quickly and accurately, but it will take some testing to figure out how good the AF is, but so far I am impressed. Two days after getting it, I finally had a chance to test it out. High School JV Volleyball. Bad lighting, so I was forced to shoot at ISO 3200 at 1/400th and 2.8. The lens performed great. I missed some shots, but that I attribute to user error. I am sure as I use the lens more, it will perform better and better for me. I have hockey, wrestling, and basketball coming up, so it will get lots of workout.

The view through the lens is great. Bright, contrastiy, and clear.

Honestly, with the exception of the lens hood/cap issue, the lens itself is great.

Now the case it comes with, that is another story. The Sigma Lens case plane sucks. I am looking for a new case for it, and I am leaning towards the Think Tank Photo Glass Taxi, but for now, it fits in my Lowepro MiniTreker Classic along with the 70-200 2.8 second body and some more short lenses. I have not tried it yet in my Stealth Reporter AW650 or my Kata stuff (which is for sale), and of course the Domke is just too small for it. The Sigma case is awkward and falls off my shoulder a lot when just walking along. Not nice if you have the lens in it.

I will update the review of this lens and add pictures as I go....

Take Care

Busy time, lack of posts.

Between moderating the Fred Miranda Sports Corner, shooting and editing everything from football, volleyball, community theater, news, features, and fun stuff, I have neglected my two blogs. My apologies to the few that read this. Let me tell you a little about what is going on currently.

As many of you know, I have been the booster photographer for Eagle River High School football this season. I have shot every game in Anchorage for the Wolves and had a good time doing it. On top of that, I have been working with a local community theater and a church with some photo work. I have been working freelance with a local paper, and I have started mentoring a local high school student. Between editing, file management, shooting and more, it has been a busy time for me. And now it gets real busy. I have the big volleyball match up between Eagle River and Chugiak tonight, the Nye Frontier Classic hockey tournament this coming weekend, along with other UAA sports, and the Kelly Cup Champs, the Alaska Aces, are getting ready to start the 2006/7 season. This will lead me into November and the much anticipated Great Alaska Shootout and right into Eagle River High School basketball.

Also, as we hit mid October, the snow is on its way. I am guessing we will have a dusting soon and I have made the decision that I am going to get back out in the snow this season. My knees are not the best (the main reason I am behind the camera instead of playing the sports I love shooting), but my goal this winter is to get them stronger and get my self in better shape prior to the 2007 Iditarod. I will be getting out as much as I can to do some cross country skiing and I think some sledding. Of course my camera will be with me to document my adventures.

One of the new items I have added to my photo bag is something pretty cool. I have added a Sony minidisc recorder. I will be using this a lot for all my shooting. It will be great for high school basketball and all sports, getting ambient sounds for slide show presentations, and it is going to be priceless during news and feature shooting, freeing me from a notebook and pen and allowing me to record the information for cutlines. I am also working on replacing that great little Digital Rebel Xt with either another 1D or if football sales get better, a 1D Mark II or IIn, but I may actually go with a 30D for the crop and megapixals.

I will be liquidating some of my bags and other equipment too. So keep your eyes on Fred Miranda's buy and sell and the SportsShooter classifieds. I have about 3 or 4 bags, including my greatly loved Kata Rucksack, Torso bag, and Waist Pack which will be going on the block along with one more, maybe more. Also, I have collected so many flash cards, I no longer need my portable hard drive, so, my 20 gig FlashTrax will be on its way out. If you are interested in my Rebel at all (just cleaned by Canon), it has the box, cables, strap, body, battery, and battery grip, with box, and since I no longer have the 18-55 kit lens, I am including a 50mm 1.8. I am not ready to sell quite yet, but I may be soon after the 15th of October. I am thinking $625 for the entire camera outfit...oh, there is a cable release too.....might even find some other cool little things to add to it....

Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying the beginning of winter and remember to stay warm and keep taking pictures.