Capturing a story

This is a fun photo that was taken to capture a fun event.  Shelagh has many fun stories from this trip.  

Part of taking photos this way is always having a camera with you.  A delicate part of this is to not take so many as to be annoying.  (Most people just know that I have a camera with me now.)

Water Skeeter

Making photographers through water is particularly challenging.  Cameras have difficulty auto focusing through water, and I have difficulty with manual focus through water.

Both my wife and I remember playing in streams and 'capturing and releasing' these insects.

It is challenging to capture them as the move unexpectedly.  

The solution for me in this case was to zoom out, focus where I thought it should be in the frame and then crop the final image.  I tried about 6 different shots to make this one.

Moving Targets

With my previous photograph bringing up the 20 lb brick, the guard came straight up.  With this shot, the guard swam sideways.  It is not unusual to do this but making a photograph when this happens requires a changing plan.

Helping the camera deal with a subject moving (and moving out of the frame,) you move the camera at the same speed of your subject.  If this is new to you, you can also make sure you are zoomed out more so that you can capture the event.  In post production, you can crop out excess space to compose the photograph better.

Being Playful

Being a photographer for any event is a challenge to 'capture' the event.  If you ever leave one spot, you may miss the action there, but by being different, you have other opportunities to capture the essence of the event.

When you start taking photos, those that are natural comedians will often 'act out.'  The nice thing is that you can capture these moments with our new technologies.

While this shot was not framed, or arranged, I planned on getting images like this.  So.... this is another way of making photographs.

Pretty Amazing

At the LG competition, there is a fitness component.  Bring a 20lb brick off the bottom at 6 feet or more, then swim with it for 15 feet.  Sounds easy - but try it.  

I have been doing this activity for almost 20 years.  When I was at Rolley Lake, I was 'playing' by picking up rocks off the bottom.  It was fun to watch others try as well.  

Catching this on film was exciting.  Again I had to plan watching when she was going to break the surface and take the shot just before she broke the surface.  Having done this activity gave me an opportunity to have a good idea when she would break and the breath she would immediately take.

Catching the action

Catching the action used to be so much harder.  With my old Pentax Super ME, I could only take one image and then manually wind.  I never moved to an auto winder.

With the Nikon D60, I can take 3 to 4 snaps per second.  It is still not fast enough to catch action with unless it is planned.  You need to plan your shot, ensure your shutter speed is enough to not just make a blur, then breath out slowly and depress the shutter just before the moment you want.

Think Different

This image was taken at the Bear Creek LG Competition.  I said taken because I didn't take the photo for composition.  Rather the photo was made to look differently at the competition.  When all eyes are on the finish of the race, a different perspective.

I was told by a professional photographer to plan your photos by walking around without a camera.  Look for shots and plan before picking up a camera.  The beauty of the LG competition was that I got to see most things 3 times in succession.  I was able to plan several shots this way.