The Daily Photo series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
Lambert collects a few balls from the sidelines at the 2007 God and Goddess of the Beach Tournament in Las Vegas, part of my series on professional beach volleyball. The rest of the series, so far, can be found on my flickr account.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/2500
- Aperture: f/3.2
- ISO: 400
- Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (at 195mm)
Composition and Processing
- This is one of those things that happens out of the corner of your eye and you just whip the camera around and shoot before it’s gone. I’d like to think I’m better at this sort of thing nowadays and that I wouldn’t clip the feet or could have backed off the zoom (this photo was taken almost two years ago and was my very first shoot with the Canon 1D Mark III) . But often in photography it’s better to shoot first and ask questions later (read: make adjustments). Over time quick shifts in exposure and focal length become second nature, but until then I think it’s best to just take the shot and fumble with the controls afterward.
- I used to think clipping the feet like this was horrible — you might as well toss the photo. But I used to struggle with where to crop in general, particularly when it involved chopping limbs at some point or another. I’d always ask other photographers what they did, but they always gave me a quizzical look like they didn’t understand the problem. These days I don’t much notice. I find it’s more important to focus on what’s actually happening in the scene and where the lines lead the eye. In this case the eye is immediately drawn to the brighter part of the frame in the upper half. Lambert’s gaze, movement and the direction of the dropped ball all lead the eye from upper left to lower right. You don’t even see his legs below the knee, much less whether his feet are in the frame or not.
Original:
May 16 2009 | Photography | No Comments »
The Daily Photo series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
A photographer snaps a shot of Kerri Walsh at the 2007 God and Goddess of the Beach Tournament in Las Vegas, part of my series on professional beach volleyball. The rest of the series, so far, can be found on my flickr account.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/3200
- Aperture: f/3.5
- ISO: 200
- Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (at 125mm)
Composition and Processing
- Sometimes content trumps composition. The balance in theis shot is a bit off, but the reason I took it was the photographer shooting Walsh straight down the top of the barrier. He’s simultaneously invading the privacy of the players and being held at set distance by the barrier (entirely coincidental, since he’s sitting in one of the few spots marked off for photographers to capture the game). As an added bonus, one of the AVP staff on the bench is taking a photo of the photographer with a point-and-shoot.
- I could have shot this tighter, but chose to leave a little room for cropping options later. I was concerned the subjects were lined up in a narrow strip, and wasn’t certain I wouldn’t want to rotate or try some other off-center crop in post. With a 10mp camera that’s a bit risky, but better to have options than to unintentionally ruin the shot.
Original:
May 04 2009 | Photography | No Comments »
The Daily Photo series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
Nicole Branagh spikes the ball at the 2007 AVP God and Goddess of the Beach Tournament in Las Vegas, part of my series on professional beach volleyball. The rest of the series, so far, can be found on my flickr account.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/3200
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 400
- Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM
Composition and Processing
- I’ve done some experiments lately with shooting and/or cropping volleyball shots above the ground. Normally you’d want to shoot something like this low, with the ground visible, to show and exaggerate the hitter’s jump. The closer crop, despite the odd cutoff of the legs, grants us the same perspective as the hitter. We see Branagh’s gaze in the direction of the ball and the angle of the arm in relation to the ball; we also her in relation to the net. Those are much closer, intimate relationships than her position vis-a-vis the court, which is nowhere to be found in this shot.
- It’s a small thing, but if you’re not going to show much of the face in a sports photo, it helps to have the athlete’s name visible (on a jersey, shorts or in this case, bathing suit). In addition to providing some information for fans of the sport (Branagh is one of the top beach volleyball players in the world and competed in the 2008 Olympics), it creates identity. Even if you don’t know who Nicole Branagh is, seeing her name says this is an individual, not some faceless volleyball player.
Original:
April 22 2009 | Photography | No Comments »