Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Photographer vs. Soccer Mom

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Here’s one worth a read. A poster over at DPReview.com was “testing” his equipment at kids’ soccer games and was confronted by a soccer mom. This is his account:

Went to soccer games testing my equipment. When I finished one field moving to another one, one mom asked me if I have permit to shoot, I said no. So she wanted me to give her all my images and leave. I told her no way. They want my business card, I don’t want them to harrass me so I said no. I’m not sure if her husband shoots soccer and don’t want any completition. I told them I am a pro sports shooter and just here to test my equipment. I told them I know the vendor that shoots their league and I don’t want to mess up his business so I won’t give them the images. She said if I don’t they’ll call the police. I said go ahead and they called the police. I heard the father trying to explain the serious this could be. I stayed there until he finished his call. The father at this point change his attitude trying to explain they were just trying to protect their kids. I went on to shoot the other team until the police tapped on my shoulder.

The police asked why I shoot, I told them I’m here to test my equipment. He ask to see my images, after reviewed 300+ images he said no problem. He asked me for a business card so I gave him one. He then asked if I want to call it a day. I said not right now I don’t want to give them the impression I was escorted out. I also told the police to tell the moms to cool off not to over-reacting and harrass me by asking my images with bad attitude. So I stayed there for another hour shooting away.

After the first game I met the father calling the police, he was much nicer, no problem any more. Later I gave it a thought, maybe I should show the parents some great shots I took of their kids, but I doubt it will make any difference.

Any suggestions?

Things get interesting after this. There’s a lot of differing opinions over there – some were glad he stood his ground and others would have cold-cocked him. Check these links out and tell me what you would have done.

This is a probably a good time to plug my post: 5 Things You Should Do When Confronted By Police.

[tags]photography, photographer, police, rights[/tags]

 

The Basics of Photography

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DIY Photography has a new series, Back to Basics, underway. The first post in the series is on exposure. If you’re not familiar with the fundamentals of exposure, you should check it out.

Additionally, consider picking up a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Bryan Peterson is an excellent teacher. He’s great at breaking down intimidating concepts for the novice and explaining them on your level. The book breaks up exposure into the three fundamental elements that go into properly exposing a photo: aperture; shutter speed; and ISO (or, film speed). This is the book to buy for those who have only ever used a point and shoot camera or who always shoot their SLR on full auto mode (the little green rectangle setting). Simply reading this book will make you a better photographer overnight if you fall into these categories.

If you’ve got a basic handle on these concepts but not sure you really grasp the significance of one or all of them then you should consider adding this book to your library as well. Aside from the technical basics, Bryan teaches you how to look at a scene and capture a creative photo in addition to a properly exposed one.

Before you buy another camera, lens, flash, or any other gear, buy this book if you’re wondering what you should spend you cash on. It’ll be the best $15 you ever spend on your photography gear.

[tags]photography, basics, exposure, learn, how-to, diy, bryan peterson, understanding[/tags]

Desaturating Color – Sublime Light

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Here’s a great little photoshop tutorial from sublime light. I’ve been following the posts over there for a few weeks now. Tim Solley is doing a fantastic job on putting together some great content for his readers. Note that I’ve added sublime light to my Blogroll in the sidebar on the right side of the page.

Keep up the good work Tim. The rest of you should head on over to sublime light and check out the latest pointers from a good teacher.

Cheers!

[tags]sublime light, photography, blogs, tips, tutorials[/tags]

Fast Bikes, Low Light and Fog

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Makin’ the Gap

Originally uploaded by hawridger.


Here’s another shot from the 2007 NORBA Showdown at Sugar. This particular shot comes from part of the downhill course where there riders clear roughly a 10′ gap over a creek. Needless to say, they’re moving on at this point. That’s where my problem arose though.

Thankfully, it didn’t rain (much) at the race or I probably would have packed up my Canon Rebel XT and headed home. However, the conditions were less than ideal for shooting action shots. It was plenty overcast, this part of the course was complete under cover of trees, and it was rather foggy at times due to the elevation.

I think I would have felt fine without the fog; however, the fog really caused some lighting issues that I didn’t know how to resolve on-site. This left me with several photos that seemed washed out – like a white film over the whole image due to the moisture particles reflecting the flash. The only solution that I could come up with was in Lightroom – and this is where shooting RAW, I think, saved my butt. I was able to boost contrast and blacks enough to resolve the fog issue on the image for most shots so that they are now usable.

All of the photos at this creek jump has some fog in them (see gallery). Some more than others. I am satisfied with the post-processing results; however, I’d like to know what some of you guys (and gals) think about my lighting quagmire on-site. Is there a better solution for shooting in fog with my setup (particularly, you strobist wizards)? If not, is there something else that I need in order to be prepared for these conditions?

My setup: Canon Rebel XT, 18-55 Kit Lens for wides & Sigma 70-200 f/2.8; EX 420 Speedlight.

My settings: Shutter priority — Wides – roughly 1/60s to 1/125s with panning — Zooms – 1/200s minimum; ISO 400 (I really don’t like the grain above 400)

[tags]photography, lighting, fog, cycling, bike, mountain, biking, downhill, jump, strobist, canon, sigma, flash, how to[/tags]

Make People Look Thinner

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Your subjects will appreciate you taking the time to read and put into practice these nine pointers from Sublime Light:

If you take enough photos of people, eventually you’ll photograph someone who is either a little heavier or thinks that they are. This is especially true for those of us in the U.S., where obesity rates are sky high. The good news for you is that there are a few tricks you can add to your bag to help make your subject look thinner. You’ll get the photo, your subject will be happy with it, and everyone wins.  (Read on for the specific pointers. . . .)

[tags]photography, portraits, howto, how to, diy, learn, fat, thin, thinner, skinny, digital, camera, lighting[/tags]

Licensing Photographs, Stock Photography, Photoshop, and the Groovy New Photosynth

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Yet another example of Photoshop retouching working magic on some otherwise average photos.

A practical lesson on license management and copyright of your photos.

Check out 8 Microstock Websites and What the #&!! is Microstock Anyway. While you’re at it, get some insight into iStockphoto.com by Rich Legg.

Photosynth looks like an awesome new tool. Chalk one up for Microsoft acquisitions.

[tags]photoshop, licensing, management, copyright, microstock, stock, photography, photosynth, microsoft[/tags]