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.
Runners take off down Congress Ave at the start of the Nike Human Race in Austin, Texas.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/2000
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 400
- Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM (at 95mm)
Composition and Processing
- Here’s a challenge: 100 yards in front of these runners are three pace vehicles, a motorcycle and half a dozen other photographers (see the additional shots below). Then on top of that is some clown on a bike who decides he’s going to ride out in front of everyone. Getting this shot meant running out into the street the second the cars had passed by, waiting for the other photographers to clear, then staying slightly off at an angle in an effort to clip the cyclist from the frame. Total time to shoot: 1.5 seconds. This is one of those cases where the 10 fps of the 1D really helps (I managed 15 shots in that span).
- I might have bought more time with a shorter focal length, but I really wanted the compression of a longer lens (making the already crowded field look denser). 95mm was as far as I could stretch it– I pre-measured how much the runners would fill the frame when they cleared the photographers, how much distance there was likely to be between the cars and runners, and set for that.
- Did I mention there was one other requirement for this shot? I wanted the Capitol building in view, but not obscured by the overhead crane or the 5th street stoplight. I actually planned to Photoshop them out later, but in the final black and white shot, they’re not major distractions (they even help tighten the frame a bit).
Original:
Before the start (various obstacles):
Mr. Bicycle:
March 03 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 runner is doused by one of the street showers during the Nike Human Race last fall.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/2500
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 800
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Composition and Processing
- I took quite a number of shots of runners as the ran under this street shower, but from most angles the water was hard to see against the light to medium tones of each subject. I ultimately decided to shoot in the general direction of the sun; at that angle the water lit up nicely and stood out against most of the other elements in the scene. The shower became a broad pattern of drops, disrupted by each runner that entered. At that point, it was just a matter of timing.
- Moving water is one of those things where shutter speed is critical. It’s not just a matter of being fast enough to freeze it– there’s a huge range of possible interpretations depending on what you’re trying to convey. My normal preference would be to shoot just slow enough for the drops to streak, since that gives the impression of motion and direction. In this particular instance though, I also had to contend with a separately moving entity: the runner. I’ve mentioned it before, but as a general rule I try to shoot most sports above 1/2000 to insure a sharp image, with some latitude based on distance from the subject (or rather, how much of the image they’re occupying). I was fairly close to the subject here, so I erred on the high side, freezing the water in place. I did consider shooting the runner while tracking him (blurred background would have been nice to suggest motion, but then the water would have been streaked in one direction and blurred again in another — incorrect — direction).
- The only other interesting challenge to this shot was how to focus. Auto focus would frequently pick up the water instead of the subject. Not necessarily a bad thing unless you’re shooting wide open (which I was, due to the the low light and shutter requirements). The alternative is to manually preset the focus to a specific distance and just take the shots there, although that’s also a challenge to get right at f/2.8. There’s no right answer, and I ended up trying both.
Original:
February 27 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.
Some runners from the Nike Human Race show off their new shoes.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/2500
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 800
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM (at 16mm)
Composition and Processing
- Sometimes the original looks very little like the final product. When I took this shot, I wanted to emphasize the sheer volume of runners. Using a super wide angle lens allowed me to capture the largest possible number in the frame. However, by shooting at street level I thought I’d effectively double my crowd: there are twice as many feet as people, and at this level the feet are the primary subject. What I didn’t expect was to turn this into a panorama during post processing, where the feet (and legs) became the entire focus of the shot.
- I intentionally lined up the lower edge of the final image along the crack in the pavement. I though it made a great border to the shot and really emphasized the platform the runners are on (not to mention almost lifting the image itself off the background). It does look a little out of place compared to the other three sides though, so I burned in the edges a bit to offset. It doesn’t solve the problem, but does reduce it.
Original:
February 23 2009 | Photography | No Comments »