Lighthouse 1

This morning I got an early start, got myself down to the coast by Gazos Creek to photograph Pigeon Point Light House.

I prepared my stuff last night just before going to bed and, well I missed a few things. Both of the lenses I was taking with me I have been using at Stanford games. I have been using the clear filters for that and forgot to swap or pack the polarized ones, this was mistake but, I did not realize until about 30 minutes into the drive over.

The morning was chilly, outside my building was about 36F and by the time I got to the beach it was about 48F. There was no wind at all and the sky was clear.

I was about 20 to 30 minutes late from my original plan. So about 10 minutes before I was in position the sun was already out, it remained behind the mountains before bathing the lighthouse and the rest of the installations, but the light had turned cooler than I would have liked.

I was using a smaller aperture on the lens, this was after the mistake of the low tide shoot from last month. Armed with my tripod I was able to do a better job this time. I'm not used to work with a tripod much, I feel constrained, locked in but, if you are going to do it you may as well do it right --except for the polarized filters.

I learned some, I think I will have to go back, watching the weather was important and it turned out great. The coast here can be fogy for weeks at a time, and I have to wait for the right weather pattern for what I want to do.

Before the sun I


Before the sun II


Sun kissed


Sun is out


Main complex


Technical notes:
Lens: Mainly 24-105mm but some were shot with the 70-200mm
ISO: try to keep it as low as possible
Shooter Speed: Slow, I was using a tripod and needed a low ISO for best IQ
Aperture: Looking for f/8 or a couple of clicks down to get the sharpest image possible

Women’s Basketball

Today at 2pm I was shooting at Stanford for the women’s basketball game. I made it there about 1 and ½ hours before the game started.

As opposed to the last game there, today there was a lot more people, it was a double game day with the women’s first and man’s game right after. There would be TV coverage of the second game, and all sorts of people were going back and forth all over the place, not necessarily chaotic but definitely busy.

I had a pass to shoot the first game only, it takes about 3 hours to do it, and that’s long enough for me. I packed up and left with about 5 minutes left on the game clock.

I shot about half the number of pictures compared to the last time and ended up with twice as many acceptable shots. I was very pleased about this. I had a plan based on the experience from the first time. I was going to get closer to the action at a different angle, and using a rented f/2.8 lens I was able to use a lower ISO speed with proper shutter speed.

Looking for new angles was an interesting exercise, I even noticed that after I had taken some angles and vacated the spot, some of the other photographers would follow, they would walk over to check it out and shoot some frames from there.

I was also taking into consideration the feedback from 1stString in regards to getting closer. Shooting closer is more challenging but, when you get the shot it looks much better, you are right there in the action, right there like if you were 3 feet form the player's face. I like the result myself we'll see what kind of feedback I get this time.

I felt closer this time, knowing the order in which things happen, the timing of certain things –and wearing my earplugs was particularly appreciated. I managed my time and shooting strategy in a way that I did not feel rushed or out of timing. I felt comfortable and wasn’t nearly as tired at the end of the game as I was the first time.

Here are some selected photos

Stanford fans


Moment of expectation


Watching the score board


No words needed


Head coach and staff


Waiting for the change


Stillness


What to do next time? Well the f/2.8 was a real advantage here but I can't keep renting equipment at this time so this has to stop, I will be using my own lenses from now on. I think I have found the places where I can get my shots complete with the fixed lenses plus the 70-200. I need to keep the ISO to 1600 to retain image quality.

I noticed a problem with the auto exposure metering, and resolved it by going to manual, setting aperture at 2.8, shutter speed at 1/250 and ISO at 1600. This is the correct exposure (at least on my camera) to shot players on the court. The shooter speed, which had me concerned before, is not really a concern, today many shots were taken at 1/250s were just fine, no problems with focus or movement.

Technical notes:
Lens: I used the 24-70mm f/2.8 that I rented, and my own 70-200mm f/4.0. I used them for specific things. 70-200mm to shoot the bench, the coach, the fans, and the players from sides and a few frontal ones covering the middle of the court. 24-70mm was used for wider shots right below the post. Both lenses are very effective tracking, I had no problems following players and getting sharp images.
ISO: 1600
Shooter speed: 1/250 and some at higher speed but underexposed, the camera is fooled by the reflectors on the ceiling and the court appears dark by 1 or 2 stops.
Aperture: Worked with the maximum aperture of both lenses.

Complete Set

Thanksgiving 2009

We started with a local celebration on the 25th. We continued for an additional 3 days in Reno.

I fell in love with the f/1.4 of that rented lens, I kept wanting a wider angle of view, I guess a 24mm is the way to go with the APS-C cameras. But again, the 1.4 makes a great difference and allowed me to take great photos of people indoors at night. I did find myself looking for the zoom ring on the lens once or twice, but I quickly remember there wasn't any.

I'm in love with portraits, perhaps because I was there but, I can read so much on the photos of this trip. And I know in a few years, regardless of the changes between now and then, we will remember these days as some of the best times.

Virginia City was particularly interesting this time as it had snowed quite good there over the past couple of days. This was probably the 6th time visiting but, we had never seen the town like this, snow everywhere and the temperature fell to about 24F that afternoon as we were heading back to Reno.

Awesome time!

No "Complete set" link this time, I consider these portraits very personal to all that were there.

What to do next time? Take a 24mm f/1.4 or a full frame with a 35mm f/1.4