Typical Beach Shot Ex.: Nice to look at, but the water isn’t “adding” anything to the shot.

Nice beach shot…but the water isn’t doing anything to “add” to the photo

Let’s explore some tools to make water “work” for you!

Blurring water the “Old School Way”.  Many different types of water features can be presented better using long exposure photography.  The three composition variables that impact the proper length of exposure:  1.  speed of water flow  2.  vertical decent (how far/fast is water dropping)  3.  what features exist at the bottom of these drops, how do they shape water flow.

slow moving water, small vertical decent

slow moving water, moderate 12 ft drop

Slow moving water, multiple cascading drops

Fast moving water, large 30 ft drop

• Slow, medium & fast moving water (can require different shutter speeds to properly blur).
• Tripod provides stability for long exposure (w remote shutter release). Remember to turn image stabilization off (note some new lenses allow)!
• Your shooting in RAW…right! Always shoot in RAW!
• Water shoes can come in handy for certain strategic camera locations…puts you in the “thick of things”.
• Mirror lock up engaged for SLRs. Nikon has electronic shutter option (even better)!
• Polarizer benefits:
  • 2 stop ND filter
  • Allows removal of leafy reflections/glare
  • Dial water reflection “on” or “off” to show bottom features or not.
• Typically shooting on cloudy day/dusk/dawn…crop out sky (which is often “blown out”).
• Goldilocks: Too much blur, too little…Just Right!
  • Aperture Priority (start with test shot at lowest ISO, F18).
  • ISO: Lowest setting helps slow shutter speed.
    • Canon that’s 100 (option to cut to 50),
    • Nikon 100 or some 64 (option to cut to 32).
  • Review test shot to see if exposure compensation (+ or -) is required. Use LED image, histogram and “blinkies” as tools. Typically camera adjusted auto exposure is ok (in diffuse light…easy for camera light meter to get “right”).
  • F18 is the smallest aperture that won’t create significant distortion.
  • Try shooting at F16, F11, F8. Each successive larger aperture will shorten the shutter speed and reduce the “blur”. Pick your favorite. Don’t go less than F8 (you’ll loose depth of field). Simply raise ISO if you need shorter shutter speeds after F8.
  • If you need to lengthen the exposure (F18 won’t do the trick) you have the option of trying a smaller F stop (f22 …) or adding an additional ND filter (sunglasses for your lens). Note that when stacking a ND & Polarizing filters on your lens…focal lengths under 24mm will vignette.
  • Rules of thumb: river: 5-20 seconds, small waterfall 3-10 seconds, fast moving waterfall 1-6 seconds. Experiment…break rules…hard to generalize.
  • If going over 20 seconds, cover the viewfinder opening!
• Post processing (getting water right v surroundings):
  • May often incr color temp slightly to “warm”.
  • De-saturate water, often boost green sat, hue.
  • Dodge reflective water surfaces (don’t overdo).

Blurring water and showing sky

To blur water on brighter day I add ND filter

• On a moderately brighter day I may need to add an additional ND filter behind the polarizer to sufficiently slow down the shutter speed, blur the water. You can often bring out the sky in Lightroom/Photoshop by using selective brush (burning in).
• You can also try HDR. While the shutter speeds and blurring differ among shots, the merged image looks fine!

Stopping water in its tracks (strobe like photos)!

offers great way to isolate water illuminated in sunlight against dark background.

water looks entirely different when “stopped” in action

small flow offers op to isolate droplets

• Water is actually not solid. It’s made up of thousands of droplets.
• When using a shutter speed of 1/8000 the water appears to separate…magic results. Slower shutter speeds don’t work!
• Great for shooting water in direct sun.
• Typically requires ISO 800+ and large aperture (not great depth of field) to support 1/8000^th shutter speed.
• Remove polarizer (you can’t afford to lose 2 stops).

Blurring water in direct sunlight (Multiple exposure). For more detail, see my dedicated blog post on Multiple Exposures.

Multiple exposure…3 photos, stacked atop of each other in one in camera digital image

New: Blurring using multiple exposure.

Old school blurring with long exposure (.5 sec)

• Overlaying multiple shots (on top of each other) creates the illusion of blurred water (plus shows individual water droplets)
• Mount camera on tripod with remote shutter release.
• Take test exposure @ 1/400^th of a second (shoot in manual mode). Adjust aperture exposure + or – as needed to get right.
• Activate “multiple exposure” on your camera.
  • Select a “series” of photos (turn off when you’re done)
  • Select “10” as the number of shots. For Canon “9” is the max.
  • Turn “auto gain” off. Ergo…each shot will overlay atop the previous one (making the image successively brighter).
  • Set the drive to high speed continuous. Set the shutter speed to 1/4000^th (10x faster than test shot).
  • Depress shutter release. The camera will bang off 10 shots (9 for the canon) & automatically stop.
  • Review your handiwork. Adjust exposure if required.
  • Note: If your camera can shoot at 1/8000^th, try dialing in your test picture at 1/800^th (for maximum droplet effect).
• Hold on there. Did you check your camera’s color space? sRGB (256 colors only) can create trouble, you may want to choose AdobeRGB(especially if your using Lightroom?). Otherwise your multiple exposures may have a magenta tint!

Using a polarizer to adjust reflection on lakes.

polarizer turned so lake is a giant mirror.

Rotating my polarizer to show bottom detail in Glacier Nat Park

Lake above Banff, Canada

Lake showing bottom features of shoreline

• Sometimes tweaking the ratio of reflected surface to bottom visible can enhance the photo.
• Early am (pre sunrise) is a great time for still water…means reflections.
• Don’t forget to consider a fun foreground element. Small F stop/big depth of field (tripod may be required in low light…if lens image stabilization can’t handle).

Clouds are your new best friend shooting coastal scenes.

Clouds can help diffuse a bright sun to create wonderful sunset/sunrise ops…reflections of sun off water!

Earlier morning creates great light and still water for great mirror images. Interesting foreground elements make a good pic great!

Clouds create the op for spectacular color just before sunrise or after dawn. Window of op can be only 10-15 mins. Be ready!

Openings in clouds create great shot ops during midday sun

• Clouds create ops for spectacular color (sunrise/sunset) and diffuse direct sun (allowing better exposure).
• Shooting when sun is “in the sky”. Direct sun is hard to shoot. Starbursts are overrated? Clouds make a great diffuser.
• Polarizer? No need…shooting into the light…no impact.
• Shooting when sun is below horizon: Best ops for “color” are often just before sunrise, just after sunset (colors may only last 10 minutes at peak or less/be ready!).
• HDR vs ND Grad (Cokin or Lee).
  

  3 stop hard grad ND is my tool of choice

  

  Here’s how filter and holder attached to your camera

  

  Filter holder easily detaches.

  • Three stop hard grad ND is my fav tool of choice.

  • 

    I used the grad ND to darken the sky . Now you can see the foreground!

  • Throw in a Little or Big Stopper for even longer exposures!

• 

  I combined a 3 stop grad ND and a 6 stop little stopper to get a 30 second exposure. That blurred the wave action to create the surreal imagery.

• Remember to cover up viewfinder opening!!!
• Blur clouds, surreal water scenes…great in rough seas!
• How to set exposure: Use the included table or a phone ap.

• • Polarizer will vignette @ less than 24mm.
• Post processing: Often useful to dodge (lighten) reflective surfaces. Be careful not to overdo…can look overcooked.

Don’t forget those night shots!

• Stars out? Crescent moon low in the sky light paints background with stars reflected off water. Woooo!!!
  

  Reflecting stars off the water!

Snitzer Photography 5/30/16

Most new SLRs have the ability to create “in camera” multiple exposures.  Ergo, that taking multiple shots and stacking one atop of the other in one image file.  The image below is an example.  Previously the only way to create this effective digitally was to combine imagines outside the camera in a photo editing program (Photoshop for example).

Multiple Exposure Example

Now it’s easy…your camera does all the work!

We can use this new “in camera technology” to create the illusion of blurred water.  Essentially recreating the look of a “long exposure” photograph while providing additional details (shows water droplets frozen in time).

Old school: Blurring water using long exposure .5 secs.

New Approach: 10 Shot Multiple Exposure!

Here’s the workflow to create a multiple exposure photograph.

Step One:  Place your camera on a tripod and hook up your remote shutter release. Set your drive mode to high speed.

Step Two: Take a test shot using the camera’s manual mode to determine the correct exposure.  You’ll want to select 1/400th as your shutter speed and an aperture of F8 (for good depth of field).  Try setting your ISO to 200 and use the light meter to fine adjust ISO as need for proper exposure.  Once you get the “right” exposure your ready to activate the camera “multiple exposure”.  Nikon example given below.

Step Three:  Go into the shooting menu, scroll down and select multiple exposure.

Go to Shooting Menu, choose Multiple Exposure option.

You’ll have the opportunity to activate this mode. Select “On (series)”:  The camera will stay in multiple exposure mode until you turn this feature off.

Select “On (sereies””

Once you select “on (series), you’ll be directed back to the previous menu. Then Set the number of exposure to 10.

Select 10 shots (Canon only goes up to 9).

Set the Autogain to off.

Your now going to take 10 photos in rapid succession, with each photo stacked  on top of the other in one “in camera” file.  To accomplish this your going to take the shutter speed used in your test shot (1/400) and divide by 10 (1/4000).  Why?  Your taking 10 shots, that’s 10x more light.  Each shot therefore needs to let 1/10th of the light in.  Trust me on this…try it…it works!

Focus on your subject, lock the focus and full depress the shutter button.  Your camera will rapidly fire off 10 shots in rapid succession.  Then look at your photo on the camera’s rear screen.  Feel free to adjust the aperture up or down as needed to fine tune the exposure.

If your photo has a magenta tint to it, odds are your color space is set incorrectly.  Make sure it’s set to AdobeRGB.

Enjoy!  Remember to turn off the multiple exposure option when done

Digital Focus Stacking is a technique that allows you to get tack sharp images of close up (ergo Macro Photography) objects.  The image below illustrates the problem most shooters encounter while trying to capture “close in” objects.

I’ve taken great care to get critical focus.  My camera is mounted on a tripod with a remote shutter release. I’ve turned my Macro lens to manual focus and used live view to get a better look.  I additionally use the “zoom in” option for live view all the way up to 10x, which makes manual focusing easy! I also remember to use my camera’s mirror lock up option as it’s a slow exposure, to avoid excess vibration ruining the sharpness.  Even shooting at F16, while the front of my BBQ’s knob is in focus the rear is very fuzzy.

Using a digital focus program called Helicon Focus, can solve this problem and get you great results.

Next step: I’m going to take three additional photos of this knob, each time turning my focus knob to shift the focus point back, until my last photo has the back of the knob in critical focus.  One way to get a good feel for how much to turn your manual focus dial, is to look at the depth of field gauge on your lens.

My second shot above has shifted the center focus area slightly away(back).

With my third shot above, the front of the knob is getting pretty “out of focus” and the markings on the back are starting to look more legible.

My final photo.  The rear of the knob is tack sharp, the front is “way” out of focus.

Now for the MAGIC.  I’m going to use Helicon Focus (a specialized focus stacking program) to merge these images into one perfectly “in focus” pic!

Woooo!!!! Our final result is one bad ass photo with everything in focus.

Hold on…I’m not done yet!!!  This technique isn’t only for Macro work.  There are times when your trying to get extreme depth of field for landscape photography (& shooting at small apertures isn’t giving you the desired results).

This shot is taken at F16 (90mm lens).  The flowers and shovel handle in the front of the picture are sharp, but the white begonias in the rear are very soft.  I also don’t want to use a smaller f stop, because the lens will start to distort at anything past F16.

Using the same technique as illustrated above, I’m going to take another shot, shifting the focus point back.

Above is photo #3.  The flowers in the rear are starting to come in focus…the one’s in front are now fuzzy.

Here’s our fourth and final shot (above).  Now it’s time to merge the four.

Our result.  Everything is tack sharp!!!!

In these examples I’ve merged 4 photos.  Helicon can merge as few as two or over 30 images.  Typically 4-6 does the trick.

Below is a link to Helicon’s website.  You can try Helicon Focus free for thirty days.  The product comes with an included plug in to work with Lightroom.

http://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconsoft-products/helicon-focus/

Photos, like the one shown above, combine two disciplines executed during a single exposure:

1. Photographing stars as fixed objects
2. Lighting an interesting foreground element using the moon or light painting techniques.

Step #1: Where/When to go

• Stars are obscured by the surface illumination of urban and suburban areas. Places like Southern Utah (Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon), South Texas (Big Bend National Park), Nevada (great op to shoot ghost towns…) or portions of Northern Michigan all offer clean, dark night skies.
• The locations also offer interesting foreground subject matter to make your photos more memorable.
• Is the moon your friend? Generally not. You’re typically trying to shoot into a jet black sky. Even a modest crescent moon overhead can ruin an otherwise great night sky.
• The Photographers Ephemeris is a great tool to find the days each month, at a specific location, which will provide either a new moon, or a time when the moon isn’t visible during the evening hours.
  • Most people can actually see the Milky Way Galaxy (a great source target for your photo) once their eyes acclimate to the night sky. If you can’t, PhotoPills is another application that help locate the Milky Way for you.
  • http://photoephemeris.com/
  • http://www.photopills.com/
• Moon occasionally your friend? A 5-15% crescent moon, low in the horizon is a good source to illuminate foreground objects providing your shooting away from it (moon). Great for very large objects (mountains….). Will usually lower the required ISO by 500-1000.
• Time of year? Many different opinions. My take: You’ll be out for 3-4 hours (it’s fun/addictive). Go late winter/early Spring or late fall. It gets dark earlier. You might actually get some sleep. It’s cold but not freeeeeezzzing. Factor in location. Arches is great in February, Bryce another great spot will be ice cold.

Step #2: Getting the stars “right”

•  The night sky is constantly in motion, rotating around the North Star. In order to get a sharp rendition of the Milky Way, & avoid star trails, your exposure time is generally limited to between 20 & 35 seconds.
• The Exposure Rule: Divide the lens focal length into 500. Ex. 14mm lens divided into 500 yields a maximum exposure time of 35 seconds. Longer lenses require shorter exposures.
• Dialing in other exposure dets. Auto exposure won’t work on a dark evening. You’ll need to rely on your histogram (see below for target exposure…bulk of your histogram about 25-33% across the lower axis).  Generally speaking, you’ll need to be 1 – 1.5 stops below a neutral exposure to keep the ISO reasonable and the shutter open for less than 35 seconds.  You’ll fine tune/boost exposure in post processing.
  

  Given the dark sky, your histogram may show significant clipping on the left.

• A good starting point: 35 second exposure,  aperture of F2.8 and an ISO between 2,500 and 4,000. You’ll need to generate several test shots to dial your exposure in.
• I generally set my color temp to 4000K.
• Given it’s dark, you may find it hard to frame your photo in the viewfinder or using “live view”. Each test shot, allows you to check your histogram and your framing to micro adjust the camera angle.
• Long exposure noise reduction is IMP.  To save time, turn it off (while taking test shots) until your ready to take the final shot (saves time).
• Don’t forget to use your mirror lock up option to reduce vibration.
• How long after sunset? It generally takes about 2 hours after sunset for the sky to darken sufficiently to get optimal images.
• Forget about autofocusing or even manual focusing. Too dark! Set your lens to manual focus, turn the ring to “infinity” and your done. Remember that most lenses have an infinity focus mark next to the infinity logo…make sure you get that right!  PS. When you move the camera between shots, it’s easy to inadvertently change your focus…check it every time you move the camera to a new location!

Step #3: Selecting Camera/Lens

•  You’ll obviously be shooting at very high ISO settings were “noise” is a big issue. Full frame cameras offer a real advantage.
• If you don’t own a full frame camera, the Canon 6D (now avail for $1,399) may be an option worth considering (for this & other aps). Offers practically identical image quality as the 5DMkIII ($2,500), lower weight for hiking, albeit inferior focus ability. For nature photography and portraiture, where fast focus isn’t critical, it can be a good fit. The 6D offers better tonal range and ability to utilize wide lenses as compliment your crop sensor camera.
• Nikon full frame cameras are also great, although more costly (v the 6D) and ironically provide worse low light performance. See comparison of noise between Nikon 810 and Canon 6d.

Nikon 810 (left) vs Canon 6D (right) both at ISO 6,500. The Canon has less noise.Fast wide lenses are the ticket to capture the celestial heavens and the Milky Way.

• Fast wide lenses are the ticket to capturing the celestial heavens and the Milky Way.
  • 14mm is my lens of choice offering a great view of the Milky Way (wider is typically better when capturing the night sky). The small focal length also has a short hyperfocal distance. At F2.8 everything from 20ft to infinity will be in focus. Ergo, your foreground object will be tack sharp…as will be the stars.  I also shoot occasionally with a 24mm F1.4 (about 10% of my nighttime shots).
  • Lens choices: Canon 14mm F 2.8 $2,250, Nikon 14mm F2.8 $1,600, Rokinon 14mm F2.8 $349
    

    Rokinon 14mm F2.8, avail in Nikon or Canon mounts

  • Which lens? The fully manual Rokinon matches the others for edge to edge sharpness and has the lowest coma (the tendency of a lens to turn stars from round pin point objects into egg shaped blobs). Save the money. Set the Rokinon to F2.8, Infinity focus and fire away.

• Remote trigger
  • You’ll need a remote wireless shutter release (to light paint your subject away from the camera).
  • Velo FreeWave Wireless Remote Shutter Release $35.
• Tripod
  • Use whatever is in your photo gear bag.
  • If considering something new: Slik Sprint Pro II. $90 Lightweight 2 Lbs. workhorse, plenty tough for your lightweight celestial set up…”go to” tripod for long hikes.
    

    Slik Pro II Tripod: Lightweight, affordable workhorse

Step #4: Tools to Light Paint your foreground (MacGyver to the rescue)

•  See at night. Get the “hat”. Digital After Dark’s hat has both white and red (to preserve night vision) LED lights in the visor. $35 Great way to see what your doing, while keeping your hands free.
• 
• http://www.kadamsphoto.com/catalog/digital-after-dark-night-vision-with-white-leds-p-82.html
• Light painting flash lights (right tool for the job)
  • Color made easy for smaller nearby objects. Coast TX10 Quad Color LED light $23.  Select buttons offer red, blue and green light…no gels required!
    • http://www.amazon.com/Coast-Color-LED-Light-Lumens/dp/B000P70RVA
  • Workhorse for near to medium size objects. Olight M10 Maverick. $40. Small, 3 options for brightness, one 350 lumens!
    

    Olight-M10

    • http://www.amazon.com/Olight-Maverick-Compact-Tactical-Flashlight/dp/B00CDROGVC/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1428673063&sr=1-1&keywords=olight+m10+maverick
  • Max power for the big jobs! Z96 LED Panel, provides an area of 96 LED lights which can be dialed in to any brightness. Comes with tungsten diffuser…perfect for painting rocks/mountains (1,000 lumens+)…etal. $86
    • http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UCGDSS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • Color gels to modify Olight. $3. You’ll use black gaffing tap to build a small gel holder to filter your LED light. See photos below.
    • http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/45184-REG/Rosco_950SBCNG0103_Cinegel_Swatchbook.html
  • Creating a gel filter/cap for your Olight flashlight:  Having some different colored gels that you can quickly deploy to modify your flashlight is a huge winner.  Let’s face it…white light for most light painting scenes looks pretty hard..ruins an otherwise great opportunity.
    • Get a roll of black gaffing tape (B&H Photo carries).
    • Cut a piece and wrap around the front of your Olight, with the stick side facing OUT.
    • Your then going to cut a small gel piece the approx diameter of the Olight with some small “fins” sticking out to the side.
    • You now attached the gel by sticking these fins to the sticky part of the gaffing tape.
    • Final step is to put another layer of gaffing tape (this time sticky side facing IN) to hold your gel in place.  These homemade gel filters allow you to quickly change the color of your light painting wand.

Step #5 Time to Light Paint

•  The key: Light objects from the side (like portrait photography), not straight on. More interesting shadows.
• Keep your light moving in circular painting brush like strokes. I usually avoid painting the ground area between the camera and the foreground object.  If you get some light spillover, you can always darken this area in post production.
• Less is more! You don’t need much light to properly illuminate your subject, unless your doing far off mountains and such. Selecting the right light source and luminosity setting so you can paint for the full exposure time will help provide more even results.
• Remember to turn on your long exposure noise reduction for the final shot (once your settings are fully dialed in).

Step #6 Post Processing

•  If using Lightroom or Photoshop, you’ll be taking your initial image and increasing the contrast, along with exposure of the night sky (use layers or magic paintbrush to make these mods selectively to the sky area only).
• Also try experimenting with your color controls, to boost the saturation levels, luminosity & range of the red, orange, yellow &/or blue channels. These colors will often present themselves at the lower part of the nighttime sky. Again apply these changes to the sky area only.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with tweaks to the color temp.
• Splitting hairs: I’ve found that Apple’s Aperture program provides less celestial chromatic aberration than Llightroom (no idea why). Lightroom often yields stars that are occasionally bright red. If you have this problem, consider trying Aperture (assuming you have an Apple Computer).

Case Studies

Saint Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park

• Canon 6D, 14mm Rokinon @ F2.8, 30 sec, ISO 4000, color temp 4,000k.
• Coast Tx10 flashlight placed inside test (red). Light painted with Z96 Panel & tungsten diffuser.
• Post Processing: Increased sky contrast, boosted red channel (saturation, Luminosity & range). Dodged cliff areas to the right. Burned in foreground area between camera and lighted painted area (blacked out).
  

  St Elena Canyon, Big Bend National park

  

  Canyon shot before post processing

Arches National Park, Utah

•  Canon 6d, 14mm Rokinon @ F2.8, 25 sec, ISO 1600, color temp 5,300
• Mountains lit by 15% crescent moon 15% above horizon (opposite direction of camera facing).
• Post processing: Dodged mountainous subject areas. Sky: contrast, black point, red and purple channels increased.
  

  Arches National Park

  

  Arches before post processing

North Window, Arches National Park, Utah

•  Canon 6d, 14mm Rokinon @ F2.8, 25 sec, ISO 2500, color temp 4,800
• Arch lit by a red gelled Olight, held under the arch (facing up).
• Post processing: Dodged the arch, Increased contrast, exposure and red channel for the sky.
  

  Arches North Window

  

  Arches before post procesing

Turret Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

• Canon 6d, 14mm Rokinon @ F2.8, 25 sec, ISO 2,500, color temp 3,700
• Lighting by red gelled Olight.
• Post processing: Increased exposure, increased red channel for subject.
  

  Turret Arch

  

  Turret Arch before post processing

There are pros & cons to choosing prime over zoom lens. Generally primes can be sharper edge to edge, faster and provide better resolution.  These differences have narrowed over the years.  Current zoom lenses are pretty close in image quality (remember it depends what specific two lens you’re comparing…a very good zoom beats a lower quality prime).

A lesser known advantage of primes however is the ability to render great images when shooting into the sun (either directly or when partially obscured by an object).  The image above was taken with a Canon L Series Zoom (17-40mm @ F16).  Great lens…however you’ll notice that there is considerable flaring around the sun.  That’s detracting from an otherwise good image.

Compare the image below taken on the same Canon Full Frame back and a Zeiss Prime 16mm (also at 16mm). Very little lens flair and much better defined sun.

This time using a Zeiss 16mm prime

Why the difference? When shooting into the sun: light bounces around inside the lens, off of the various elements inside. To dumb it down…prime lenses have fewer elements…and offer fewer ops for light to be reflected inside your lens. The advent of new lens coatings has help reduced flair additionally.

Bottom line: Shooting into the sun…grab a prime.

CROP VS FULL FRAME CAMERAS

One or the other or both?

DSLR technology has come a long way, but no one camera can yet do it all. Crop and Full Frame (FF) cameras are very different tools geared for different subject matter.

WHERE CROPS RULE (Sports, Long Glass, Candid Street photog):

Crop sensor cameras in effect make your lenses “longer”. Most Canon crops (60d, 7d, 70dd, 7d MKII) have a 1.6 factor. Your 70-200mm zoom will behave like a 112-320 zoom while maintaining the same maximum aperture. Less expensive than buying longer glass.

Ex. Cheaper to purchase a 70-200 f2.8 zoom ($2,000) on a crop than a 300mm f 2.8 ($7000) on a FF camera. Both set ups can produce similar magnification (& great images). The former lens is also lighter and easier to carry.

Crop sensors cameras are also able to fire off pics rapidly. Ex. The 7d MK II can take 10 photos/sec; it’s buffer holds approx. 25 photos before it slows down. (PS, I’ve tested the 7d MK II with both compact flash and SD cards. The firing rate and refresh rate is identical…contrary to popular folklore. The SD card can fire 22 pics before slowdown, the compact flash 25).

WHERE FULL FRAMES RULE?

Full frame cameras have better dynamic range/superior image quality to their Crop brethren and tremendous low light performance. FF cameras can comfortably shoot low noise photos up to 2500+ISO (great for celestial photog), whereas Crops start producing noticeable noise over 600+.

FFs are the perfect tool to go wide! Without the crop factor, FFs are well suited for nature photographers (especially in mountainous areas). Canon’s 17-40mm zoom is a common lens of choice to pair with these cameras (or the 16-35mm if your on a pro budget). Some flagship primes produce jaw dropping results on these back. Ex. the Zeiss 20mm F 2.8.

FFs are also the tool of choice for most wedding and portrait photographers.

Drawbacks: Full frame cameras bog down when taking high speed bursts of photos. Most can only drum out 4-6 photos/second and the buffer often runs out of gas after 5-9 shots. Very frustrating for sports photography (exception Canon 1Dx).

Some have slower focus tracking as well. On the other hand, most nature or portrait photographers don’t need lighting fast focusing for moving objects. Not a big issue.

WIDE ANGLE FOR CROP USERS?

Crop owners now have some good options to go wide however.  Specific APS lenses (designed only for use on crop cameras) which are good options include the Canon 10-18 F4.5-5.6 ($299) and 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 ($649) and the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 (My fav of this bunch $525).  If you want wide angle performance and have budget concerns, these are great options.  Each of these three lenses with a crop factor of 1.6 will behave (plus offer similar IQ) as a 17-40mm lens (on a FF camera).

CAN YOU OWN BOTH FF & CROP + AVOID BANKRUPTCY?

Instead of buying the 5d MkIII FF($3,300) or the new 7DMK II Crop($1,800) consider opting for the 6d FF ($1,600 on sale) and the 7d Crop ($999) for a total of $2,600. The later two cameras will perform almost exactly up to their new brethren and together open a huge array of photographic possibilities.

5DMkIII vs 6d: Both cameras have nearly identical image sensors and image quality. The former has better focus tracking and slightly more robust construction (& greater weight). As I said, focus speed isn’t that critical for portrait/nature…don’t worry be happy.

7DMKII vs 7d: The Mk II has better focus tracking and slightly better low light performance. Worth twice the price (unless you’re a pro shooter…Nope). Learn single focus point and back button auto focus techniques which trump any minor improvements in the MK IIs focus system.

Closing comment: Yes the author actually owns this stuff (6d, 7d, 7d Mk II, 1Dx) and has tested extensively with a variety of glass (Canon L series: 17-40mm F4.0 zoom, 5omm F1.8 prime, 24-70mm F2.8 zoom, 70-200 F2.8 zoom, 300mm F2.8 prime, Zeiss 20mm F2.8 prime, Rokinon 14mm F2.8mm prime, 24mm F1.5 prime).

Taking game pics like banging your head against the wall? You expect “Sports Illustrated” and instead get out of focus images where your subjects are the size of ants!

Intro/summary-Three elements of winning shots

1: Composition & story telling

• Do it like the great film directors. 
• Ex. My journey to a tough neighborhood…shooting youth basketball (having swagger when you’re scared sh-tless). 
  
• Looking up: “taking the shot before you take the shot”. Size lens, orientation to subject, depth field. 
  
• Warming up the crowd…becoming part of the show. 
• Are you telling a story or simply showing action? Does your pic provide a window into mind of the athlete. Tech stuff (background out of focus? Where’s you eye drawn to?) 
• Yogi Berra: “It ain’t over till its over”. 
• Not just for Sports! Tech transfers over. 

2: How to get in position to get the great photo.

• Hint: don’t shoot into the sun.
• Moving around like a pro…amongst pros.

3: What gear do I need to get started?

• Digi SLR (ideally one that can shoot 5+ shots/second)
• Good 70-200 zoom lens (good optics, at least F4 aperture, fast focus).
  • Ex. Canon L Series 70-200mm F4 $700
  • Why your stock zoom lens won’t cut it! Slow focus, small aperture.
• Monopod: to reduce camera shake (& look official)

Chapter I: Soccer-What’s a good sports picture

• Tells a story.
• Get you “in the head” of the participants. Conveys emotion (frustration, animosity, concentration, joy, anger…)
• Captures a “defining moment” in the action.
• It keeps “your eye on the ball”. Ergo; Subjects typically “in focus”, background out of focus.

How to think like a sports photographer (is that different?)

• Anticipate where the ball’s going, be ready to capture the moment. That means pre-focusing on your subject before they get the ball! We will talk about how below.

Where to be on field

• Sun at your back (so faces not in silhouette)
  • Typically on coaches/players side: Look like a pro/get treated like a pro. MONPOD your admission ticket.
  • Shooting your team (or both)?
  • Noon sun bad for sports? Side field sun vs. facing a goal (early/late day)
• Travel along sidelines (face on coming action), don’t sit still.
  • Allows shots directly at players, plus side on shots
  • Behind goals (best if your team controlling the ball…pummeling the opposition), otherwise you may be lonely waiting for the action to come your way.
• Zones of play
  • Defense (dominant team, hard for def to clear): your down between midline & goal
  • Transition (midfielders fighting for ball): your moving off midline
  • Attack (your moving towards goal stopping eventually between goal and midline)
• Don’t forget to “smell the roses”
  • Shots of the coach inspiring the kids
  • Kids celebrating after a win

How to set up equipment (general)

• Use a monopod: reduces camera shake.
• Shoot in RAW mode (discuss why), Aperture priority, try f4 (throws background out of focus, reasonable depth of field to achieve focus).
• Adjust ISO so that shutter speed at f4 is over 1/800 (3x max focal length), ideally north of 1/1000 (to stop action). On a sunny day that’s easy with ISO of 200. Cloudy days 300-400, pre twilight 600-800).
• Drive mode set to multi high-speed burst.
  • You’ll want to hold button down some times and get multi shots.
  • Example: game sequence (best shot?)

How to setup for Focusing
FOCUS IS KING (toughest part).

• Even slightly out of focus creates noise…blows up otherwise good photo.
• Depth of field with tele lenses very small. Example (crop sensor camera):
  • 40mm lens, shooting f5.6, subject 20ft…14ft to 34 in focus (DOF 20ft).
  • 200mm lens, shooting f4.0, subject 20ft…19.7 to 20.2 ft. in focus (DOF 5 inches!)
  • Canon cameras generally enlarge 1.6 times (unless full frame)
• Set autofocus for single point only (lot’s of movement, need to have bull’s-eye).  Select the point directly above the “center point” to place the subject’s chest area in the crosshairs.  Most DSLR will allow this point to be set individually for both hoirz and vert oreintation.
• Al Servo mode.
• Remember if your lens has image stabilization…TURN IT OFF!!! It will slow down your focusing and mess you up.
• WHAT’S THE CATCH…LIKE LEARNING TO HIT BASEBALL…YOU’LL NEED TO PRACTICE THE STUFF BELOW.
• Suggest engage “BACK BUTTON AUTOFOCUS”. Separate button autofocus, allows you to focus on a zone of field and then shoot multiple shots without changing/losing focus (see photo). If you have “radar lock” on subject while running you can depress focus button and track with AL Servo. Great articles below describes this option in more detail.
  • http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/backbutton_af_article.shtml
  • http://digital-photography-school.com/back-button-focus/
• How to use Both Eyes!! One for the viewfinder, one to track action.
• Typical game assume you’ll take 300+ shots (have a 32 gig memory card or greater with you), high “throw away rate”, don’t get discouraged (1 winner for every 20 shots).

How to get good shots

• It’s all anticipating the action (collisions, headers, jumping, shots on goal…)
• Use both eyes (left eye follows general action/big pic, right eye will frame actual photo-moment of truth).
• Practice makes perfect to gain expertise “zooming”. 70 mm for players running down sidelines at you, 150-200mm for mid field action.
• Don’t be afraid to crop in tight in post processing (or use edge sharpening tool/boost def/contrast)
• Remember to capture expression of players on field (fun shots also include the bench, coach, fans….)

Chapter II Water Skiing (Importance of light)

• Light is slow (sun up/twilight), illuminates skier and water behind. Contrast between dim background and subject, water rooster-tail.
• Flat water (no boats, no wind)
• Zone focus, high shutter speed, F4.5, 300 ISO

• be ready for the unexpected.

Chapter III Crossfit Competition (Get in close) 

• Used full frame camera to shoot in low avail light.

Chapter V Cross Country 

• Large aperture to isolate subjects
• Look for interesting lighting, highlighting a few competitors.
• Easy to track subject, hold down back button focus in Servo Mode to track will firing off burst of pics.1

Chapter VI Cycling 

• Subjects moving at very high speed. Impossible to track through viewfinder.
• Zone focus beforehand, use moderate aperture f4 for slightly large depth of field.
• Keep fingers crossed.

Chapter VII Skiing

• Pre-focus on area
• Lots of light, use small f stop (f8 or greater/big depth of field),
• Over expose about 1 f stop (explain exposure compensation option). Experiment or skier will be under exposed.

Chapter VIII Basketball
(Indoor sports with high power strobes)

• Very hard to shoot with gym lighting. You’ll need ISO 2000-3000. Only way to work is with a full frame sensor with high burst rate. Very expensive camera options (Canon 1Dx). Or
• All the photos you see in SI are done with strobe lighting.
• Set up high wattage strobes in the four corners of the gym (up high 10ft +, aimed at center of 3 point line).
• Use two strobes at a time (2 for one side of court, 2 for the other). Strobes are tripped with blue tooth system (one end in your camera’s hot shoe, the other plugged into the strobes).
• The strobes will allow you to get an exposure 3 stops greater than the ambient light. The camera will only see the light generated in the strobes brief flash. Everything else is dark. Stops action!
• For more advanced work, additional strobes bounced off ceiling to create more fill lighting.
• Make sure you check with the coaches/refs beforehand? Start with low strobe settings till players, coaches eye get attenuated to flash, then turn up.
• I’m typically positioned behind the baseline (the area behind or within 10 ft/either side of the basket) and shooting with a wide angle zoom.  17-40mm (for crop sensor cameras) or 24-70 zoom for Idx (full frame).  You’ll need to be on one knee (shoot low) and use both eyes (one for viewfinder, the other to watch the action developing around you.  BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY to avoid getting slammed by fast approaching ref/players.
• The little dets:
  • I’m using Einstein strobes sets at approx 125 watt secs (action mode/flash duration < 1/2000 sec!), which allow the flashes to fire approx 7x/sec and syncs nicely with the camera’s high speed burst option.  My strobes bounced off the ceiling will be dialed up to about 400 ws.
  • Manual Mode:  1/250 sec.  I fine tune the aperture based on the cameras histogram.  Looking for about f5.6.
  • At the start of the game I dial all the strobes to half these setting to allow the players eyes to attenuate.

Chapter IV What kind of equipment

• Digi SLR
  • Ability to take at least 5 shots per second and crank off 7-10 without the camera’s buffer crapping out. That rules out most full frame sensor cameras (other than $$$ pro models).
  • Crop sensor cameras excellent for sports. Makes your zoon lens….longer. Ex. 200mm lens on a Canon 7d is the equivalent of a 320mm lens (1.6 crop ratio)
  • Canon 7D vs 7D II. Canon 5d III vs 6D. One vs two camera photographers?
• Zoom lens (70-200 range, f 2.8-f4), Ex. Canon L series $700 for f4, 2x more for f2.8, 3x more for 2.8 II series.
• Why spend the $$? Large enough aperture to blur background, Super fast focus (2 motors); tack sharp, great for people shots, candids.
• Monopod (to reduce camera shake/gets you on field-no questions).
• I want a “pro” set up. Ok you asked for it!
  • You’ll be shooting with two cameras. One on a monopod, one draped around your shoulder mounted on a BlackRapid system strap.
  • Canon 1DX as main cam body (full frame sensor, 14 pics/sec).
  • Canon 7d MKIIas 2nd body (crop sensor, 10 pics/sec).
  • Canon 300mm F2.8 your main lens (non zoom)…sharpest tele in the Canon line ($6,600) or if your concentrating on football/large stadium work consider the 400mm F4 (same price) or the 400 F2.8 (only $10,500 this month!).