Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Day 218: TEDxRyersonU Fridays

(Nikon D90, 18-55 VR @ 18mm, f/5.6, 1/60, ISO 200)

The second TEDx meeting.  A much larger turnout that included several new faces and also a ton of additional talent.  To say we got much done at this meeting probably wouldn't be the most accurate, but with the calibre of talent present, getting work done under pressure shouldn't be an issue.  

More to come.

Day 217: Exhibition Thursdays

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/100, ISO 800)

Good ol' Practice Thursdays.  Leadership lined up another exhibition game this week.  Thus, Ekklesia squared off against Pillars.  Largely uneventful game.  Spent most of my time shooting some early-BP 'usuals' and some of the players having some fun.  All in all, a 'take-it-easy' day for me.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~170mm, f/4, 1/500, ISO 400)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 70mm, f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 800)

Of course, I have to end the post with the photo that Eva (one of the girls of Ekklesia) took as Edwin and I compared ankle tans.  I think there was a general consensus that I won... not that it was a good thing.  Certainly a clear indicator as to how much I've been out over the summer and how little I wear flip-flops outside.  Hey, flip-flops that'll get your feet all disgusting, or safety shoes (that don't look like safety shoes) that'll leave you with a disgusting ankle tan but spare your feet of any wrongdoing?   You choose.

 Photo Credit: Eva Tang
(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/15, ISO 800)

More to come.

Day 216: Field Notes

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 400)

It's a Wednesday, so naturally there's some downtime involved.  Necessarily so especially given the past weekend.  Rather than throw you - kind reader - another desk or laptop photo, I figured I'd toss you some slightly different filler material.  It might actually be useful.

It's occured to me that while I've dropped notes on how I shoot softball here and there, I've never really formally "talked" about it.  Thus, a concise post on just how I get what I get on the diamond, for those of you who haven't been reading my previous posts (you probably should, if you haven't to avoid missing any golden nuggets of information; and by that I mean... gossip material... for when you have nothing better to do than gossip about me... erm... okay I'll stop now).

Firstly, two things to remember everytime you step onto the field:

1. Never ever interfere with the play, even if it means missing the shot.  The umpires and players are most likely cutting you slack by letting you on there in the first place. 
2. Stay alert.  Plays happen all the time, and while it's easier to setup a shot in softball than most sports, unpredictable things can still happen.  Additionally, you'll want to keep a watchful eye for the safety of both you and your equipment.  No sense going out there if you're going to fall asleep and get taken out by a bad relay from the outfield or a missed throw to first.

Lets start off with a (probably not-so-useful) visual aid.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/50, ISO 800)

Perhaps one of the most important things to consider is placement.  After several close calls and one hit, I now do all of my shooting from the infield, where it's generally much safer, sans the occasional foul ball that comes slow enough towards you for reflexes to kick in.  Specifically, if given the choice, I'd choose the middle space between home and first/third.  This is highly dependant on the field though, as such a position could potentially put you dangerously close to the running path.

Shooting from first allows for a good view of the left fielder, third baseman, shortstop and right-handed batters (aka most hitters).  If you've got a mid-range to wide lens you can also get some pretty good angles on first.  Shooting from third allows for great angles of the right fielder, second base (where most slides will probably occur - something to consider when an aggressive player is on first), first base, and left-handed hitters.  Speaking of batters, I generally like to get the moment of contact (or very close to after it), or the immediate follow-through.  To do so requires you focus on the batter, and await press the shutter just before or as soon as you hear the 'ping!'.  This isn't really required if you can gun it at high frame rates (8+ fps).  If you shoot right eyed (that is, your right eye looks through the viewfinder) from the third base line, you can help yourself by keeping your left eye open and watching the picther throw his pitch to help with your timing.  Vice versa for left eyed shooters from the first base side.

As mentioned, mental alertness is key.  Take notes during the game on player habbits.  Who's aggressive?  Where did he/she hit last time?  How is the defense playing him/her?  Knowing these things gives you that extra split second to pre-focus (hope you've got a fast focusing lens!) on the spot where the play is going to happen.

About the only drawback with where I stand is that I can't get very many good shots of outfielders.  Sadly, you'll have to find alternative means with longer (and probably more expensive, since you'll need fast lenses) lenses beyond the still somewhat affordable 70-200.  If the park isn't fenced all the way around, you could stand in foul territory out in right and left field, but you'll have to stay very aware of fly balls and line-drives that are coming your way. 

Equipment and settings wise, it's a simpler game.  I generally shoot with two bodies, which at present are my D90 and D60, the former being my primary camera and the latter my secondary.  I have a Sigma 70-200 HSM II on my D90, and depending on the time of day either an 18-55 VR or 35mm f/1.8 on my D60.  Don't bother with flash, it'll just get you kicked off the field faster.  I generally shoot in Aperture Priority to maintain constant depth of field (I'm not too anal about shutter speeds.  Somewhere past 1/500 is generally good enough.  The faster the better), with AF-mode set to AF-C(ontinuous).  My AF-area mode is set to Dynamic on Nikons, meaning if the subject momentarily moves out of my selected focus point then the camera will adjust focus to follow.  My cameras are both set to Continuous shooting, in the case of the D90, Continuous-High, so that when the need arises you can just gun it and usually come out with at least one frame that's in-focus.

That's about it.  Make sure to keep an eye on your memory card and swap out before it gets full.  The rest is all timing, a little luck, and mashing that shutter.  Happy shooting!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Day 215: Xs and Ps

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/25, ISO 200)

You knew it was coming (if you've been reading this blog).  The inevitable "laptop" picture.  Spent most of this day pushing X and P, which in Lightroom are hotkeys for selecting 'Reject' or 'Pick' for photos.  Most of the time I press X, in order to slim down the number of pictures that I have, often times picking out one particular frame from a burst.  Usually only about 25% of the photos that I take on a given day survive this process.  The rest get dumped, into the land of nothingness, known as the Recycling Bin on PCs.

This process in particular takes a little longer when one shoots over a dozen games in the span of three days.  I already have trouble with one or two over a weekend... so when I get six times that load, well... you've already seen.  It takes about two and a half weeks to clear up such a backlog.

Granted, there was a lot to talk about for Formosan, and there may still be a little bit extra.  Never really spent much time talking about the photo process behind it.  Hopefully I'll get to that in the next post.

More to come.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Day 214: Turn It Up

Back Row (Left to Right): Will, Albert, James, Ken, Ben, Chung, Brian, Wesley, Bryan, Winson, Justin
Front Row (Left to Right): Danielle, Denise, Diane, Diana
(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/6.3, 1/80, ISO 800)

What a weekend.  The third and final day of Formosan, after the break.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Day 213: Two To One

(Nikon D60, 18-55 VR @ 18mm, f/3.5, 1/2500, ISO 400)

Day 2 of the Formosan Cup.  Two recreational teams start, but at the end of the day only a three-pitch team remains.  Read on... after the break.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Day 212: The Next Generation

Back Row (Left to Right): Jonathan, Jeffrey, Derrick, Geoffrey, Wesley, James, Martin, Gordon, Elijah, Don
Front Row (Left to Right): Rachel, Cindy, Vivian, Candace, Eva
(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 800, Flash @ TTL)

Great softball, bad photos.  The first in a three-part series on quite possibly the best weekend of the entire summer.  More after the break.

Day 211: Anticipation

(Nikon D60, 18-55 VR @ 27mm, f/4, 1/15, ISO 800, -0.67 EV)

Last year, during the Civic Holiday weekend I attended the Formosan Cup - a local softball tournament hosted by the Taiwanese Canadian Association of Toronto for the past thirty-five years.  Like last year, this year's tournament is primarily being held in Markham at the Milliken Mills Park, near my old high school.  I was certainly expecting more out of this year's tournament than last, given that I was slated to follow two teams over the course of the long weekend. 

While I didn't know it at the time, it would turn out to be one of (if not THE) best weekends of this summer.  More on that in the next three posts.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Day 210: Practice Thursdays

(Nikon D60, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 200, +0.33 EV)

Practice Thursday rolls around again.  Though this time things were a little different.  Instead of regular practice, it would be an exhibition game against Dunamis.  How it all exactly came together is beyond me, though nonetheless it was an interesting experience. 

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 70mm, f/4, 1/1000, ISO 320, -0.5 EV Post)

Ever since watching them play last year, I've always had a positive impression of Dunamis.  Not were they a great team in terms of ability, but also one with a truckload (or more) of spirit.  Ultimately it wasn't really much of a contest, though I was interested in seeing just how well they'd match up against a veteran team like Ekklesia. 

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 170mm, f/4, 1/800, ISO 400)

Despite missing a couple of players, I think Dunamis fared reasonably well given the circumstances.  At it's heart is the strong core of veterans that keep the team as a whole going both on the field and off it.  Hopefully this won't be the last you'll read of this team on this blog.  There's a lot more to them than just two blog posts.  More to come.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 70mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 800)

Day 209: Chop Shop

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/50, ISO 400)

Nothing spectacular on this day.  Spent most of it cloning out my own little mistakes during the TRMC shoot.  Wish there was more exciting stuff to report, but unless you want to figure out what I had for dinner or what time I woke up, this day ain't going to get any more interesting.  For the record, I don't recall the details for either.  More interesting stuff to come.

Day 208: What's In Your Hand?

(Nikon D90, 18-55 VR @ 18mm, ISO 100, Double Exposure)

Now back to me.  As mentioned earlier, I had rented an extra speedlight for about a week and failed to get any significant use out of it.  Initially thought about shooting something for Fstoppers, but eventually gave up on trying to shoot a video.  In any case, the photo (as indicated) is an in-camera double exposure.  Technically I could do this all in Photoshop, but... I'm lazy.

First exposure was at f/16 for 2.5 seconds.  Used a small circular LED light and drew circles with it repeatedly.  Dialed down the second exposure to f/11, 1/200 to allow for a little bit more flash exposure as well as kill off the ambient.  Popped up the built-in flash to serve as a commander for the two speedlights.  I don't quite recall what the flashes were set to, but given their proximity to me.  Had one SB900 camera left bottom pointed up towards me, and one SB800 overhead on a lightstand to light my hand and some of my hair.  The former was probably around 1/40th power and the latter at 1/64th.  Not quite sure since (sadly) it was a couple weeks back.  Experiment yourself though!  If not at Manual power, then the flashes were most likely on TTL; the latter with a negative EV flash exposure.  Threw in presets in Lightroom and added some vingetting.

Done deal.  Took a couple of tries though, being a one-man show and all.

Day 207: Ultimate Mondays

(Nikon D60, 18-55 @ 18mm, f/4, 1/250, ISO 200)

Tis another Ultimate Monday, at our dearly beloved Sunnybrook park.  Got to the park early again today, so I decided to take the opportunity to sprawl out and do something that I haven't done too often lately: lie back and stare blankly upwards (in this case, at the sky) whilst listening to music.  It's good relaxation time, and something that I generally do on the transit rides back and forth from school (without the spawling out part).  Good times.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~145mm, f/4, 1/800, ISO 500)

Of course, there was also a game to be had.  To be honest, part of me believes that there isn't much to be said anymore about them.  I mean, there is a game summary and all that, but usually it's the same.  Team A is pounding Team B, player X outplays player Y.  From a game perspective, it all seems the same.  Boil it down to the handful of photos, and we get a completely different story.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~135mm, f/4, 1/250, ISO 500)

Thus, I will keep it short again and let you the reader absorb the photos in this post.  To be honest, there doesn't seem to be much to write home about this particular game anyway.  If you must ask though, the Quick Dumpers lost and the Slip-N-Slide was again present, making it 2 - 2 on the season.

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4, 1/160, ISO 500)

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/4,1/200, ISO 500)

Monday, August 9, 2010

Day 206: Foundations

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 400)

After a few slumpy days of shooting, it was back to good ol' no-fail softball with Themelios was playing a late game on this particular day.  Being amongst such an energetic team really helped to re-ignite my passion for photography.

 (Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~100mm, f/4, 1/2500, ISO 200)

For the most part, the game seemed fairly close, with Themelios fighting tooth and nail every way.  Ultimately a well played game by both sides that was (in my opinion) partially spoilt by inconsistent umpiring.  That aside, I certainly still enjoyed the game.  For the most part though, CCSA games at this point in the season have become more of an occasion to hang out with friends and acquaintances than to watch the sport.  After dinner, a few folks from the team plus myself stayed around to loiter in the parking lot outside the restaurant for some good chatting times.  Keepin' this one short, so here are a few extra photos from the game.

 (Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~170mm, f/4, 1/2000, ISO 200)

 (Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 70mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 200)

 (Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 400)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Day 205: Hit The Ground Walking

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 200)

When it rains it pours.  The clouds opened up on the day of Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk, but that didn't stop most of us.  More after the break.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Day 204: TEDxRyersonU

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/100, ISO 200)

A bit of a teaser, if nothing else.  Had the first meeting for a TEDx event at Ryerson, headed up by a bunch of students.  Technically I'm a part of it too, as indicated by the photo, but I'll probably end up as being more-or-less the guy that knows how to operate this black-box thingy that goes click-click-click.  We'll see.  We're tenatively planning for November, so hopefully as the date closes in towards that you'll hear more about it.

Day 203: Shedding Some Light

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/8, 1/200, ISO 400, Off-Camera Flash)

Don't worry, it's still a Practice Thursday ableit with a bit of a twist, and some reflection.  More after the break.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Day 202: Gravy Work

(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ ~78mm, f/9, 1/125, ISO 320, Off-Camera Flash)

Apologies for the tardiness.  I think I'm exactly two weeks overdue on blog posting... so hopefully I'll be able to take care of that backlog as soon as possible.  

Shot perhaps my first non-self portraits on this particular day.  Subjects were from the planning committee of the Ted Rogers Memorial Conference.  Above is my buddy Michael Chu, who helped secure the gig for me.  Pro Bono... but, I'm hoping it'd help me to get my foot in the door with the various folks involved in this conference, as they often wear other hats across campus.  His portrait in particular was lit with one softbox off camera left, with an SB-800 firing at full power through it.

Shots came out alright.  Perhaps the most painstaking mistake that I committed was not paying adaquete attention to the background grass that you can see behind Mike.  Consequently, I wound up with a nightmare where most of the folks had some sort of grass poking up behind their heads (I got lucky and didn't have to do much for Mike)... leading to a long and painful cloning-out session that stretched into several days and was largely the cause of these delays.

Ultimately, the job was done... although I personally don't want to see the insides of Photoshop for a while.  On top of that, I left the shoot a little disappointed; I was expecting to do more than cookie-cutter portraits.  Hell, if I wasn't going to get paid then I might as well hope to get some artistic latitude... which wasn't exactly the case.  Nonetheless when hit with a crappy situation like this, you persevere.  Make the damn pictures, and hope that the next day turns out a little better.

Indeed, I was banking on the next day to be better, as I had planned to shoot a couple of portraits for Ekklesia.  What I didn't plan on was being half-wrong.  More to come.