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Revved Up

16 Feb

Auto racing fans are getting revved up as the opening event of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is just hours away.  That means that the motor sports and auto racing photography workshop season is approaching, as well.

Blue Vette in Motion | ©2007 David Allio

Blue Vette in Motion | ©2007 David Allio

This year, my first workshop is a combination superspeedway and drag racing program at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 24-25.  New to the schedule will be two-day workshop programs at Kentucky Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.  These digital workshop programs, strong on basic photography techniques, are updated each year to reflect changes in digital imaging technology.

Each workshop program is customized to fit both the physical facilities at each racetrack as well as individual participant goals.  The bonus to these instructional workshops is the restricted area access while real race cars are on the race track – weather permitting.

The photo shown above was created on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during BFGoodrich Midnight Mayhem.  The visual effect was created in-camera using a 24-70mm zoom lens.  By following the forward motion of the car – a technique called panning – and changing the focal length while the shutter was open for 1/13th of a second – a techinque known as zooming – the converging lines were created.  The camera, mounted on a monopod, was set to a film speed of 400 ISO.

If you are interested in learning more, check out the workshop schedule and register today.  A limited number of participants are accepted for each workshop program.

This blog was started just a few months ago and continues to grow through a series of transformations.  This installment is the first using the new title: Experience Photography.  The title is an accurate representation of my concept of the visual medium.  We should all Experience Photography in our daily lives.

 
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Posted in Auto Racing, Digital Photography Techniques, Digital Photography Workshops, Motorsports, Photography Workshops

 

House Lights

09 Feb

Greenville, South Carolina

As a working photographer, occasionally I get to use the flash units – affectionately known as house lights – mounted in the rafters in Timmons arena during basketball games at Furman University. It is not uncommon to find one or more sets of these house lights hanging in the rafters of larger college and NBA basketball arenas. Each set may be strategically positioned and used by a different media outlet.

UNCG at Furman | © 2012 David Allio for Icon SMI

UNCG at Furman | © 2012 David Allio for Icon SMI

The advantage of these house lights can mean a gain of up to five f/stops in exposure over the existing arena lighting. Five f/stops are comparable to the difference between a film speed of 200 ISO and 6400 ISO, or the difference between an aperture of f/2.8 and f/16 – nice advantages for image quality and depth of field.

As for the third factor in an exposure formula – shutter speed – the flash synch speed (synchronization between the camera shutter and the flash discharge) varies by camera with 1/60th to 1/250th of a second being common. It is that flash synch shutter speed that can become a disadvantage when using house lights to create photographs involving action sports.

Flash units create output based on burn time or, stated another way, the length of time the flash tube remains on. This burn time may be as short as 1/10,000th of a second – great for freezing action – or as long as 1/100th of a second – not so great. A burn time of anything longer than the camera synch shutter speed means that sync speed becomes the effective shutter speed for the exposure. A shutter speed of even 1/250th of a second allows for a lot of motion and the resulting blur. So, a quick burn rate is important to successful action sports flash photography.

There is also the matter of the existing room lighting. At a camera synch shutter speed of 1/250th of a second or slower there may be a sufficient amount of existing light to allow game motion to become blurred. And then there is the difference in color temperatures between existing room lights and the flash units – sometimes as much as 3000K.

That’s not all. There are other considerations required for using house lights, including: a minimum burn rate at some televised games, highlights and shadows based on flash position(s), and flash recycle time between exposures.

This photograph of Brandon Sebirumbi (24) Forward for the Furman University Paladins executing a jump shot from the paint was created using the Furman University house lights. For the exposure, a Nikon D3 camera was equipped with an AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8 GII ED lens set to 98mm. The camera synch shutter speed was 1/250th of a second, aperture setting f/5.6, and film speed 250 ISO. The camera pre-set white balance for flash was selected. And, the house lights were discharged by using a radio remote connected to the camera hot shoe.

 
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Posted in Basketball, Digital Photography Techniques, Greenville, Icon SMI, photography exposure data, South Carolina, Sports

 

The Toughest Shot in Basketball

02 Feb

Spartanburg, South Carolina

Ask a basketball player about the toughest shot for them to master and the responses vary from person-to-person.  A comparison of foul shooting percentages versus a lay-up, jump shot, or three-point attempts shows that some players are better at one particular shot over another.

Bisons vs Spartans | © 2012 David Allio for Icon SMI

Bisons vs Spartans | © 2012 David Allio for Icon SMI

What about a basketball photographer – what is their toughest shot?

Again, the answer varies with each photographer.  For me, the toughest photograph to get right is the three-point jump shot.

Consider the obstacles, starting with floor position.  To capture the face of the basketball player, that player must be across the basketball court from the photograher’s position.

Now think about how many things can get in the way.  Nine other players and three referees are also on the floor.  Of those, typically there is at least one defender tightly guarding the shooter with arms waving to shield the shooter’s view of the basketball goal.

Eliminate all of those barriers and you still have to contend with the shooter.  It is not uncommon for their face to be blocked by the basketball – often called “basketball head” because the basketball appears to be sitting on the player’s shoulders.  Or, the shooter’s face may also be shielded by their own outstretched arms.

Given all of these obstacles, there’s one more element that makes this my toughest shot in basketball – the erratic motion of the player.  In the process of handling the basketball, the player dribbles across the court.  Then, they stop abruptly, square to the basket, and change from a quick horizontal pan to a vertical jump.  A tight composition means that the player can jump right out of the frame.

In this photo, University of South Carolina (USC) Upstate Spartan  forward Torrey Craig attempts a three point jump shot at the G.W. Hodge Center on the USC Upstate campus. A 200mm f/2.8 lens was handheld.  The existing light exposure was f/3.5 at 1/1000th of a second at 3200 ISO.

 

 
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Posted in Basketball, Digital Photography, Digital Photography Techniques, Icon SMI, People, photography exposure data, South Carolina, Spartanburg, Sports

 
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