February 18, 2005

Obligations

We all have obligations. Whether they are to our families, our jobs, our communities, or even ourselves, we all have them. Photographers, professional and amateur alike, have the added obligation of sharing the knowledge they’ve amassed with others who share an interest in photography. Perhaps it is something about technique, perhaps it is something about understanding light, or film, or the noise associated with digital sensors that cause noise; no matter the specifics, we have an obligation to share information.

Such obligations exist for several reasons. First, helping others learn about and share a love for the art of photography helps ensure that the art form will continue even after we’ve all stopped creating images. Second, it is an opportunity to give something back, and to repay the kindness of the more experienced photographers who shared their vast knowledge with us and helped us become the photographers we are. Third, sharing photographic knowledge with another photographer may give us the opportunity to learn something new. When we impart our knowledge to others, we may achieve an understanding of that knowledge that enables us to do something never before considered. Likewise, when we share information with others, we encourage them to take our ideas, develop them with a new viewpoint, and share them with us. Either way, we are likely to learn something more and add to the base of knowledge we previously had.

I was fortunate enough to be able to share some information this week. An English teacher who also serves as the yearbook advisor for a high school posted a message on a message board seeking advice for lighting a basketball court. He was looking for advice so that his students could use what equipment they had to shoot a basketball game the way that the professionals would. Once you’ve learned how to light a basketball court with strobe lights, there’s no real magic to it. I am still somewhat disappointed that more people didn’t take the time to respond, or to lend some suggestions. At least I was able to spend a few minutes with the advisor on the phone, and give his students some suggestions for working with the equipment they had.

The photographic masters shared their insight, technique, and tools with us, whether directly or indirectly. The least we can do as photographers is attempt to emulate the people who made us want to be photographers.

Posted by slewis at 7:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2005

Timing (Take Two)

Details: ISO: 100 | Exposure: 1/15 at f/7.1 | Focal Length: 35mm

Timing is more than determining when to catch the precise moment. While snapping the picture is more than mere dénouement, decided how much light to catch is equally important, if not more so. While using a very short exposure--1/500 sec. or less--may enable a sports photographer to freeze a baseball in flight, the opposite is often true for other subjects.

Posted by slewis at 7:24 AM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2005

Timing

Chris Perez pitching against USF in Miami's 9-4 win on Sunday.
Details: ISO: 200 | Exposure: 1/1600 at f/5.6 | Focal Length: 450mm


Jon McLean pitching in relief against USF on Sunday.
Details: ISO: 200 | Exposure: 1/1600 at f/5.6 | Focal Length: 450mm

According to the old adage, "timing is everything." Few things continually prove that adage as much as photography. Indeed, not only is the amount of light captured dependent upon a measurement of time--more often than not, a fraction of a second--but the timing of the shutter release--when the light is captured--is equally critical. If one or the other is off, the moment and image is lost.

All sports photographers know this all too well. Take, for example, a baseball pitcher's motion. The pitcher follows roughly the same motion again and again, inning after inning. A sports photographer trying to catch the ball as it comes off the pitcher's hand can shoot the same movement twenty times and catch twenty different poses. Digital photography--and the ability to review an image immediately after it has been made--provides immediate feedback of how well the photographer has timed the picture.

When everything is timed out property, the ordinary can be transformed into something more.

Posted by slewis at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)

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