Atiba Jefferson is a legend in the world of skateboard photography (and skateboarding in general). With more than 25 years of experience behind the lens, his work has and continues to grace the covers and pages of nearly every major skateboard magazine known to humankind.

But don’t hold him to just skateboarding. The Los Angeles-based creative also moonlights with the Lakers, shooting everything from games to player portraits; works as a live music photographer, touring and documenting some of rock, pop, and rap’s biggest acts; and is a highly-coveted studio portrait and lifestyle shooter, known for collaborating with seriously-impressive brands and seriously-intimidating celebrity clients.

Perhaps more importantly, though, Atiba is a super-positive dude who radiates a DIY energy and a genuine sense of excitement. Here, he reflects on his career as a Black skateboard photographer in a white-dominated field; plus, we chat about the importance of being bold, the significance of mentorships, the magic of the darkroom, and what it was like to cover skateboarding’s Olympic debut.

Related: How Getty covers championship basketball with a small army of cameras—and robots

Which came first, your passion for skateboarding or your passion for photography? And when did you start?

Skateboarding. Skateboarding led me to so many things in my life: photography, art, music, culture, traveling, everything. I started skateboarding at 13 years old, so 1989.

How old were you when you first picked up a camera and what model was it?

It was my junior year of high school. So I was 15. The very first camera I used, and this is really funny because I have it, hold on (holds up a plastic-looking camera). It’s not the exact one but it was for a photo class and I remember you could take out a Pentax K1000 or this camera, a Canon Snappy Q. It was those two cameras. It was just whichever you were able to get. So both of those cameras were my first cameras.

And this is obviously still the film era, so you’re doing the darkroom.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There was no such thing as digital. So yeah, it was strictly darkroom. And that’s what really attracted me to photography is seeing prints being made and the magic of that.

Where was your first skateboard photo published and do you remember the skater/trick? 

My first photos were in Slap magazine. Local skaters, it was Danny Barone, one of my still really good friends, and this dude Mike Ambrose. So it was a collage of photos from people who contributed. It was their photo Graffiti section. 

So that was a foot in the door, how did your skateboard photography career progress from there?

Let me say it one more time, it was one of those things where I sent photos to Slap. That was my first time. Then I was working at a skateshop and I would call Transworld [skateboard magazine] to order it and I would talk to Selema Masekela. He worked in sales. Back then, my friend had sent pictures to Grant Brittain (the chief photo editor) and he was like, “Dude, he sent me a letter back telling me what was wrong.” So I did the same thing. Then the phone number of Transworld I had from talking to Masekela, and it was in the magazine. So I would just call and be like, is Grant Brittain there?

And I would just ask him things. That’s why I was a Transworld person. Because Slap, there was no phone number [in the magazine]. I would’ve called them for sure. But Transworld there was a phone number, so I could get a hold of them. I was just sending photos. [And Grant] would critique them. That’s one big thing that I always say, advice-wise: As a photographer, we all think our photos are the greatest. Right? We’re like, “Our photos are the best,” [but they’re often not].

And I remember Grant being like—I was shooting with a [third-party] 28mm lens, just kind of [a bad lens]—I remember Grant being like, “Yo, put your slide on the light table and look at it next to a magazine, and tell me if your photos look as good as those of the magazine.” And when I did that and I was like, “No, my photos are terrible.” It pushed me to go, “How do I make my photo look like those in the magazine?” And that’s obviously photography. If you want your photo to look like Anton Corbijn’s, look at his picture and figure it out. Which is at the same time bad advice, because then I start emulating Spike Jones and all these [other famous photographers] and I didn’t really give myself my own style until a little bit later in life.

You seem to have a knack for photographing subjects that move quickly.

I think the amazing thing about action is, that it’s literally one millisecond that will never happen again. In portraiture, you can get five frames of the same, exact expression. But [with action] you will never get the exact same moment. I think it’s also the self-deprecation of knowing when you [screwed] up and being like, “I’m going to get it right.” And still, you don’t. But chasing it, it’s like chasing a high, I guess.

It’s fun to look through your portrait portfolio and to see all these really big names that you’ve worked with. Your subjects always look so calm and at ease, it’s quite the contrast to your action-oriented shots.

Photography is a social skill. It’s 75% social skills, it’s 25% knowing how to use a camera. My whole thing is, my portraiture, I don’t even think it’s that… I think it’s good, but a David LaChappelle or someone who gets these people to get all crazy, I think that’s amazing. But I don’t want to force people to not be who they are. So when I approach a portrait, I go, “Hey, I want you to be yourself. Do you like smiling?” And some people are like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “Let’s get that. If you don’t, just stand there.” I shoot really fast because most people don’t like their pictures being taken.

I want people to have a good time. So it’s really making sure the vibe’s good, picking up on signals if they’re not into it, shoot it quick and be out, you know?

Speaking of portraits, your September 2020 Thrasher cover showcasing portraits of legendary Black skateboarders, both past and present, is super iconic. Can you just tell me a little bit about how that came to be, conceptually?

Everyone talks about recognizing the impact of Black culture on skateboarding. Everyone knows it. But it was just a perfect time for the world to kind of stop and recognize the impact of the Black community all over the place. And they (Thrasher) were like, “Yo, we want you to do what you want to do.” So it was an amazing opportunity to be able to go, “Hey, this is what I think.” There’s not just one, there are so many Black skaters that have changed skateboarding. It was great to just be able to hand-pick it. They were like, “Do you.” There was no question asked. It was more just hard to narrow it down to a [specific] number. 

So you came up with the idea, did you also have a say in the final arrangement?

Yeah, totally. They were like, “What do you think?” Working for Thrasher was really amazing. They really respect my opinion as much as I totally respect theirs. So yeah, they were 100% like, “Exactly. Do you. Let’s see your vision.”

Speaking of magazines, is there a favorite cover you’ve shot?

I have 10 (Thrasher) covers now. And that’s it, I’m done. But really, Tyshawn Jones is like a little brother to me. Obviously, my favorite cover would probably be… not probably. My favorite cover is obviously the Black skaters’ portraits. But Tyshawn, I get so proud to see this kid I’ve known since he was just a little kid at 14, wanting some Emericas (skateboard shoes), to become who he’s become.

I’m still chasing my favorite cover. That’s the thing. I don’t see the perfect thing. I see what I did wrong and what I can do better when I see my photos.

What was it like to cover the Olympics both as a photographer, and as someone who grew up with skateboarding?

It was a huge honor. I’ve shot Kobe Bryant every time he’s won a championship. I’ve been there when he lost one. So I’ve seen these glorious moments on the world stage. And skateboarding’s never really been on that as far as a contest. And then to be there for that moment, it was amazing. It was just really cool.

I know you recently started working with Canon as an Explorer of Light, what’s that been like?

It’s a dream come true to be able to be recognized for my photography, from a camera company, versus shoe companies or board companies or whatever. [Some companies] are like, “We want to do this with you. We want to do that with you” and I’m very flattered and honored to do that stuff. But a camera company—and especially as a skateboarder, to be Black and be able to work with a brand that you never thought was attainable—it’s unbelievable. The fact that I can inspire other photographers the same way, is just great. And to be able to go to the Olympics and shoot with the EOS R3 that no one [had at the time]—to shoot with these cameras that aren’t even out, it’s unbelievable.

And to be able to talk to the Canon team the [at the summer Olympics] and them wanting to know my input on what can make the camera better, and “what do I want and what do I need?” It’s just great, all the Canon resources.

So, now that Canon’s listening, are there any lenses on your wish list that you’re hoping to see made? 

If I could phantomly invent a lens? Well, that would be up 14-200mm f/2.0 (laughs). [Canon] just keeps blowing me away. The 14-35mm has been such a game-changer for me. Unbelievable game-changer. It’s one of the most fun lenses I’ve had in a long time. And like I said, the 50mm f/1.2 changed my whole look. That’s what I shot that Thrasher portrait cover with.

And eye detection, with 50mm f/1.2 and eye detection, you’re good to go. It’s just wider, more light. I’m really into more light. I’m really into f/1.2. I love that shallow depth of feel you get.

I was going to ask, were most of those portraits shot at f/1.2, or were they stopped down a little bit?

Everything was f/1.2.

Do you have any tips for young photographers today? How can they get their feet in the door?

Pay attention to what you can do to improve your photography. Pay attention to those who are good at it and what they’re doing. And just love what you do. If photography is something that you don’t really love, it’s going to be a tough thing. I know there are people who just want to be a photographer for the glory and it works for them. But for me, it’s just [about] having a passion for it and just enjoying it—life’s too short to not do what you want to do.

Check out more of Atiba Jefferson’s work here.

The post ‘Photography is a social skill,’ Atiba Jefferson on his road to bold appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Jamie Squire has been shooting for Getty Images for 27 years. Now a Senior Staff Photographer, he’s covered countless sporting events on some of the world’s biggest stages, including six Olympic Games, numerous Super Bowls, World Series, Kentucky Derbys, Stanely Cup Finals, and more.

We caught up with Jamie just as he finished covering the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball national championship in New Orleans, right before heading out to shoot the Masters at Augusta National. Here we chat about how Getty’s coverage of blockbuster sporting events has evolved over the past three decades—Jamie photographed this year’s Final Four with no fewer than 8 cameras (3 handhelds and 5 remotes). We also touch on how mirrorless and robotic technologies are progressing the art of sports photography, and what budding sports shooters can do to jumpstart their careers.

How many photographers does Getty send to cover something like the NCAA men’s basketball national championship?

We had three photographers there. We had one on each end of the court under the basket and one overhead in a section in the stands. I was under one of the baskets. It was designated who was going to be where, but I knew I was going to be in one of the two floor spots. It was me and Tom Pennington [on the floor]. We had an inside spot and an outside spot and he took the outside spot. So I took the inside spot. So it kind of worked out well.

Is the inside your preferred spot?

That’s my preferred spot. And I was thrilled to get it because that’s kind of the most comfortable for me, but any of us can shoot in any spot. I like it because during free throws I can see the shooter. Whereas sometimes, if you’re on the outside, you can’t see that. And if the players fall towards me, which happens a lot of the time, I’ll put a camera right in front of me on the floor to capture the super-low angle.

Let’s talk a little bit about what kind of gear you’re using to cover a game like this?

Where do we start? So Getty shoots mostly with Canon. Canon offers us a huge amount of technical support and gear loaners for something like the Final Four. I’ll start with the handheld positions in my spot. I’m shooting with a 70-200mm lens for my near-court stuff. And I’ll use a 300mm f/2.8 for the downcourt pictures—I have my Canon R3 on each of those. And then on our “throw-down”—I’ll put a [remote-triggered] camera in front of me—there’s another Canon with a 24mm lens. It’s just a fixed 24mm.

And all three of those cameras are tethered. We run IT. We have our IT guys get there a week early and we run cabling back to the press center and we tether all the cameras back to the editors that are in the back. So as soon as we take a picture, it’s out within 30 seconds.

Tell me about what goes into setting up for an event like this? How many cameras in total is the team shooting with?

We all got there on Monday or Tuesday last week and the games didn’t start until Saturday. We hung remote cameras and we used a couple of robotic cameras. We went up into the catwalk and hung overhead cameras, and all that had to be tethered as well. So I think we had a total of eight floor remote [cameras], two catwalk overhead remote [cameras], and two robotic cameras which were in the scoreboard. Plus our handhelds, we had probably 24 cameras running during each game.

Is each of you assigned a certain number of remote cameras? How does that work?

We each have a throw-down camera and then on the side of the court, there’s a row of remote cameras. So we put four down on the side of the court. If it’s my near side, one is aimed at the basket and one is aimed at the bench. And on the far side, it’s the same thing.

The remotes we trigger are downcourt. So I’ll be triggering the remotes at the far end. And then Tom, who’s on the other side, will trigger the remotes on [my] end. You can better judge where the players are [from across the court] than if they’re right in front of you. You’re more focused on your handheld right in front of you and you’re more focused on your remotes when they’re downcourt.

Individually then, how many cameras are you in control of at any given time?

I’m really operating eight cameras at a given time. I tape a momentary switch to the [near-court] camera– I can shoot and push the shutter button, but I can also trigger the near-side remotes. And then on my downcourt camera, I’ll tape another momentary trigger and I can shoot the shutter button and I can also trigger those downcourt remotes as well.

Everything’s on Pocket Wizards (radio triggers) so that we can trigger the remotes that are in the ceiling, or in this case, in the dome, which was 270 feet above the basketball floor.

Of those remote angles, is there one that you like the images from the most?

I like the “mouse hole” personally—there’s a little cutout at the bottom of the basket. The TV networks tend to place a tiny “lipstick camera” or something down there. And it’s a super low angle. It’s right on the floor, directly center and it’s like the padding is cut out.

On the basket extension, we’re allowed to put a camera there and it’s super dramatic. I mean, the players are larger than life and they’re jumping up in front of you. And you obviously can’t sit there, so it has to be a remote camera—but I just think it’s a super dramatic look and that’s another favorite.

It’s cool trying to think of new angles and different ideas. And we tend to do similar ones from year to year, but then every once in a while we will have a new arena. Sometimes the arena lends itself to putting a camera here or there that gives you a different angle too. And at the end of the day, we’re trying to tell a story of the game as best as we can, from as many different angles as we can, to relay the story to our clients.

How long have you been photographing events in this capacity where you’re using both handheld cameras and remote cameras?

Related: Tom Pennington on the complexities of shooting alpine skiing at the 2022 Olympics

A bunch of years now. I mean, we used to do a lot on strobes and we don’t do strobes anymore because the cameras have gotten so good that the sensors pick up the natural light a lot better.

But back in the day with strobes and film cameras, we would be using zip wire and light cords to string everything together. And now it’s kind of been replaced with ethernet cords. I’m fortunate enough to have been with Getty for 27 years. And as it’s grown, our IT and our support staff have grown too. So when we approach a big event such as the Final Four—or every year I do the Kentucky Derby—we have several remote cameras running there. Or for the Olympics, we have a team of IT people that show up a week early. And we have a team of editors that are there editing the pictures at all the major events. We put a lot of technology and time and effort into setting all that up so that when the game happens, literally like I said, our pictures get out to the world within 30 seconds.

You mentioned robotic cameras, can you tell me a little bit about how those work?

The robotic cameras are built by Canon and they work with Canon’s remote software. We map the camera on there with a lens and we have the ability to look through the live view. We can see in real-time what’s going on in the frame. We can change the exposure, we can change all aspects of the functions through the computer—you can zoom, you can focus. And we have permission with the NCAA to put them up in the scoreboard so we can look straight down and center for the opening tip-off. Then you can also rotate it around and you could follow the play.

A lot of times you can rotate it around during a timeout and shoot down over the cluster of players around the bench or if one team is about to hit [a shot], or it’s coming down to the wire or whatever, you can rotate it around towards that basket and be ready for that shot. You can move it in real-time. You can shoot it in real-time and you can adjust anything you need to in real-time.

That’s the difference between the robotic cameras [and the remote ones], we can move and adjust and zoom and focus and everything. And the statics, we are able to set up and we point in one direction and pre-focus and then leave them there and that’s the angle. It’s creative. Basketball is a unique sport because most of what’s going to happen is going to be around the basket.

So your main handheld cameras are EOS R3s. Are all the cameras Getty uses now mirrorless?

We’re getting there. All of the sports photographers have mirrorless, and we’re almost a hundred percent mirrorless at this point. The remotes that we were using are still Canon 1D X Mark IIIs. And we used those mostly because the EOS R5 is harder to tether for the IT stuff. Canon also has a lot of 1D X cameras on hand at the moment. But when we were told that we could keep our [1D X] Mark III or we could switch over to the R3, I don’t think there’s one of us that chose to keep the Mark III. The R3 is that good. It’s the way of the future. We’ve kind of embraced it and we’re not looking back. And again, especially here at the Masters, golf is completely silent and [the R3] shoots without bothering anyone—the files look amazing and it feels good in your hand and it’s super light. It’s just a great camera.

What are some moments you’re looking for when covering a national championship? What are some moments that get you excited during a basketball game?

Really it’s the end of the game. I mean, it all boils down to the end of the game and you can be at a game where it’s a blowout and it’s a foregone conclusion about which team is going to win. And then you could be at a game where it’s kind of neck and neck and don’t know who’s going to win. And to me, the exciting games are the ones when the lead changes or it’s back and forth, or if it’s a tight game—those are most exciting for obvious reasons. That’s what I look forward to, a competitive game.

How important do you think it is to know the team that you’re covering?

I think it’s important. I definitely do a little bit of homework before big games like this. We know who the players are. We know who the leading scorers are likely to be. We know which players guide the team, like the point guards or whatever. Five or 10 minutes worth of research before a game goes a long way because you know what the coaches’ tendencies are. A quick search of our own website, Getty, and you can tell that the coach is super-expressive during the game and he’s putting his arms up and yelling and screaming and stuff. And so a lot of times I’ll look over to the coach during an exciting moment to see how he’s reacting. So it definitely helps to know some of the tendencies of the players and team.

What kind of advice would you give someone starting out in sports photography?

The best thing I would say is to go to as many games as possible and shoot as much as possible. Because even though I was on maybe the biggest stage shooting, somebody starting out can go to a high school gym or a college gym, and especially in basketball, you can shoot in a lot of the same places and get a lot of the same angles as you could in a stadium that has 60,000 people. The low angle shooting up towards the ceiling, or along the baseline, maybe in the corner or on the outside—the action in basketball happens around the rim. So if somebody wanted to become a good basketball photographer, a good sports photographer, my advice is it doesn’t have to be on the biggest stage.

The college I went to had no football, it was Division Three. And I spent my time learning how to shoot by shooting with the Division Three varsity soccer team. And a good picture is a good picture, it doesn’t matter if it’s Ronaldo or a player at your local college. If you have some spectacular play, I would rather see a really good picture of a spectacular play than a mediocre picture of the best player.

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Professional sports photographer Simon Bruty is getting ready to go to Tokyo for the 2021 Olympics. He’s working as part of a three person team covering the games for Sports Illustrated. It won’t be his first Olympic assignment, but this one is—perhaps predictably—a lot different than his trip to Rio back in 2016 before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the entire world. 

Bruty’s resume is the kind of thing that makes an aspiring sports photographer’s mouth water. He has also covered World Cup soccer matches, Super Bowls, tennis majors, and he’s part of Canon’s Explorers of Light program. But, even with that much experience under his belt, shooting during COVID and through the recovery has presented unprecedented challenges. 

I talked to the Washington, D.C.-based photographer about how sports photography has changed since early 2020, his preparation for the 2021 games in Tokyo, and how to make professional golfers mad at you from a long distance. 

Before COVID-19, you were traveling pretty much constantly to shoot pro sports. What happened when the world started going into lockdown?

At the beginning of 2020, I was in Switzerland shooting the Youth Olympics. I was looking at the television, and I could see the news. You didn’t have to be Einstein to realize it was coming to all of us. I kept thinking ‘what would I do if I didn’t have any work?’

Then everything came to a dead stop. Sports were gone. I quickly figured out that I needed to find some way to not go completely stir crazy. I needed a reason to get out of bed. After a while, I just decided I needed a schedule. I had to tackle the things I was putting off forever, like editing, organizing my catalog, and working on books. I can stay home for about two weeks before I start getting twitchy.

When did things finally start picking up again?

I traveled for a couple of one-off portrait gigs around D.C., but it was all within driving distances. Baseball started to slowly come back. My first real gigs getting back to work were the US Open tournaments for tennis and golf. 

I went to the US Open golf tournament at Winged Foot and then I went straight to the tennis. That was three weeks all in one shot. I hadn’t traveled before then. 

Was it weird shooting those tournaments with little to no crowds?

You use the crowd when you’re shooting golf to mask the noise of the camera or your movements. I shot the practice days and it was very relaxed. On Thursday, however, it got serious in a hurry. 

I lined up a nice shot of Jason Day from about 400 meters away. In the distance, I hear these guys on another tee box shouting. I realized they were shouting at me because they could hear the noise of the DSLR camera. They wouldn’t have heard that under normal circumstances. I suddenly realized ‘holy shit, I can’t use the shutter.’ So I switched to live view. It immediately changed the way I was shooting right there and then. 

When you’re the only person standing somewhere in a golfer’s line with a 400 f/2.8 lens, you stand out like a sore thumb. I wasn’t wearing camouflage. You have to understand that you no longer blend into a crowd. I wasn’t anonymous.

Was tennis equally challenging?

No crowd at the tennis. The noise factor wasn’t as important, but movement, sometimes you sneak around. The tennis players are pretty used to it, but you do stand out very obviously. 

Have the COVID protocols started to change in the US now that vaccinations are up?

Yeah, the protocols for getting into events have started to change. At this year’s US Open golf, they took my temperature on the way in, but I wasn’t tested. There were big signs out on the course saying that if you were vaccinated, you don’t have to wear a mask. 

Are venues and organizations cutting the number of photographers allowed to shoot events?

To run back to 2020, the organizations that were running these events were seriously limiting the number of photographers coming in. They had to deal with state rules and there were all kinds of hurdles that the organizers had to jump through to make the events happen.

The US Open of Tennis happens in NYC and there are usually a ton of photographers there. I think they let one photographer in per agency last year. There were probably maybe 15 photographers in that event. It was a huge reduction. 

The US Open golf had a lot more photographers this year, but there are still some controls. Outdoor events are probably easier to keep the numbers as they were. Particularly at a golf event, there’s a lot of room for photographers to spread out. 

With those tournaments over, you’re turning your attention toward the Olympics. Does this trip to the games feel a lot different than your previous trip?

That’s an understatement right there [laughs]. The organizers issue a playbook for the media, and they’re constantly revising it. Lucky enough, I have Sports Illustrated to weed through some of it. If I was a freelancer going on my own, I’d be kind of lost right now. They’re changing the rules as we talk.

Can you outline some of the specific challenges you’re already facing?

There’s a question of quarantine. The people who went early had to do 14 days in their hotel room. I knew some people who have done it. I’m going in quite late. I get into Tokyo on the 21st and they’re talking about three days and being able to work. 

Do you have a plan of attack once the games start and you get shooting?

What they’re saying right now is that photographers have to put down a 14-day schedule. It’s difficult enough knowing what the story is going to be three days out let alone 14. Then you have to apply 24 hours in advance to each event online. 

Do you typically have freedom to move around different events?

Generally, you could get into whatever you wanted to cover with the exception of some of the bigger events—like finals—which were ticketed. The scheduling is definitely going to change how many events you can get to. Say your event doesn’t work out and you want to go somewhere else, I don’t think you’ll be able to go. 

Even once we’re in the venue, we don’t know where we’ll be. Will they assign us seats? Can I go where I want to go to?  We don’t know yet.

Will it be hard for you if you’re constrained to a seat or a small area?

If I have to sit in a seat, that’s going to be difficult for me. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be where the other photographers are—I want to find something else. The big agencies have those positions covered. 

Is all this uncertainty changing what gear you’re packing for the gig?

I want to travel relatively light. I want to be able to move quickly. I’m going to have a 400 f/2.8. It’s not like I’m gonna be running around with a 50mm and a wide-angle zoom. 

Am I going to get fancy and bring toys to play with? No. I’m going to be basic and approach it more as a lightweight agile kit. That’s the plan. But the uncertainty makes packing tricky. Do I take remote cameras? Are they allowed? I’ve decided to bring the gear I need for remotes, but not as much as usual. 

I did an image of all the gear I took to Rio. It’ll be way less. I took four checked bags to Rio and I’m taking maybe two to Tokyo. 

Setting up remote cameras seems like a particularly challenging task. You need early access and permission to clamp cameras in different parts of the venue, right?

You need access. I don’t know how that’s going to play out, but I know that if I don’t have the gear there, then I can’t use it.

Can you talk a little bit about the other gear you’re bringing? 

From that US Open last year, I was pretty interested in mirrorless, but that really did accelerate my move to the Canon R5. The silent shutter has opened up this totally different way of being able to shoot golf. For me, I’m all in on the mirrorless with the R5 and the RF lenses. 

I’m bringing a 400mm f/2.8, because that’s a bread-and-butter lens for me at events. I just bought the 70-200mm RF f/4. I love f/2.8 lenses, and I have the EF and it’s a great zoom lens. But, I was doing golf and that thing is so small and so lightweight it’s stupid for me not to have it. The 400 f/2.8 is sometimes too long. That lens saves me on medical bills from my spine. The little things you put together make it easier. 

It sounds like you have as much as you can figured out, at least for now. How long does it usually take you to prepare for an event like this?

I think most of the hard work is done after two months of thinking about what I’m going to be doing. I’ve been mulling over constantly how I’m going to approach it and what to take. That’s my process of dealing with big events. I start way early in my head trying to figure out what I should be doing and bringing. I want to be as prepared as I can be. Of course, it could all blow up when I get there. At this point, that wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

The post Pro sports photographer Simon Bruty is ready for uncertainty at the 2021 Olympics appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Growing up in the 1970s, I was one of those intense Major League Baseball fans who could have used some therapy. After all, I was and still am a New York Mets fan. During those years, I’d grab my own Louisville Slugger and pretend I was facing John Candelaria or Don Sutton. With the bases loaded and two strikes on me, I’d swing and imagine that I’d crushed the ball and sent it over left-field wall. Then I’d trot in place, making sure I’d stepped in each imaginary base, making my way to home plate. This year, the MLB is giving fans an easier way to envision themselves crushing dingers with point-of-view cameras during the Home Run Derby.

How to watch the Home Run Derby in AR

According to a recent press release,T-Mobile will be using it “5G network to upgrade the fan experience at the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, as a part of MLB All Star Week.” Fan will need to download the new MLB AR (augmented reality) app, which was created by MLB in partnership with T-Mobile. Then, they can use it to have an immersive AR experience during the Home Run Derby (which takes place in Denver on Monday, July 12 at 8pm EDT, with batting practice starting at 6:30pm) by including 5G-integrated cameras mounted on player hats and catcher masks during batting practice and the Derby, seen “all from the players’ point-of-view.”

It will be interesting to see just how immersive the experience will be on the new app, which will be available for iOS and Android devices. According to the press release, “This is the first time EVER 5G-embedded wearable cameras are being integrated into a professional sports league’s jewel event, and the cameras, created in partnership with ActionStreamer, are the first-ever to deliver live, synchronized HD video and audio media over 5G thanks to T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network.” It won’t be 4K-resolution video, but I’d guess that’s to ensure the footage is more manageable (since HD would be most likely be a smaller file size than 4K).

Expect more AR

There’s also indications that T-Mobile might be working on additional augment-reality type projects in the future, which would include immersive video and photography. According to Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, “We’ll continue partnering with MLB to reinvent new fan experiences unlocked by our 5G network, through the MLB AR app and beyond, so fans can truly see what the future of baseball could look like. It’s going to be epic, and this is only the beginning.”

This isn’t a totally new concept. As far back as 2014, the NHL was attaching GoPro cameras to to players to give fans a player’s-eye-view of the action.

The post This year’s Home Run Derby contestants will wear connected cameras during the competition appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Have you ever wondered how sports photographers get those incredible shots of a dunk or a rebound, shot right through the backboard? Photographer Brett Wilhelm with NCAA Photos has put together this behind the scenes, showing how they rig a Nikon D4s to grab the action.

The camera itself is held in place by multiple redundant systems, so that it won’t get too jostled or fall during the repeated hits that a backboard will take. It has two armatures locking it in place, as well as security loop to prevent it dropping should those fail. It’s hard wired in place for power, control, and exporting images—with wired controls preferred over wireless in order to prevent radio interference.

The camera is set up with a 17-35mm lens, manually focused. They have it shoot f/5, 1/800s, and ISO 6400. The ISO is boosted despite the bright lights on the court because the lens has a polarizing filter on it to cut the glare from shooting through the transparent backboard.

These sorts of shooting setups are frequently used to get really dramatic, up close images of the action, and it’s fascinating to see exactly what goes into to making them.

[via PetaPixel]

The post Setting Up a Backboard Camera To Shoot NCAA Basketball Games appeared first on Popular Photography.

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There are photographers who travel a lot. And then there are photographers who travel A LOT. Fraser Britton, an outdoor adventure photographer from British Columbia, Canada, is one of the latter. He primarily shoots mountain biking, including the World Cup circuit, and travels for about 9 months of the year. To give aspiring photographers an idea what it’s like to be a working adventure photographer, we interviewed Fraser about his life on the road, including what it’s like for him to shoot an event, some shooting tips for aspiring action photographers, and some travel horror stories. It was tough to pin him down, but we managed to catch him at home a couple of weeks ago, and interviewed him over the phone as he was packing for a five-week trip to Europe to cover mountain bike events in Scotland, France, Germany, and Austria.

Where do you live, Fraser?
Right now I’m living in Squamish, BC, basically, halfway between Vancouver and Whistler. It’s the outdoor adventure capital of North America. There’s rock climbing, base jumping, mountain biking, kayaking, fishing, eagle watching, everything pretty much five minutes from my door. It’s a pretty good place for an outdoor photographer to live.

What do you shoot? What are your main subjects?
It’s almost all action sports stuff I’m shooting right now. Ninety-percent of it is mountain biking. I travel with a couple of mountain bike teams and then there’s a bit of base jumping, a little bit of rock climbing, a little bit of motorcycle riding, sled [snowmobile] shooting and some other stuff. It depends on the season and it depends on the client list.

What teams you’re traveling with right now?
Well, I work primarily for Monster Energy so I travel with their collection of mountain bike athletes and I also shoot some other stuff for them. I also work for Five Ten Shoes. I shoot a lot of their mountain bike athletes and climbing athletes and stuff like that.

How long have you been a professional action sports and adventure photographer?
That’s a tough question because it was kind of a mess at the beginning. For a little while I was also racing bikes while I was doing this. But I think I started shooting professionally in 2001. That makes 13 years now. It’s been a long time. I just don’t want a real job.

How much time during the year do you spend traveling?
Actual travel days – probably 45 or 50 days of the year. But I’m actually on the road for almost 9 months of the year. I’m about to leave on a six-week trip so it’s kind of hard to quantify how many days I’m actually on the move. If it’s any help, last year I flew about 165,000 air miles.

Tell us about the trip you’re preparing for.
I leave on Sunday for four-and-a-half or five weeks in Europe and then a week in Durango, Colorado. In Europe I’ll be covering two mountain bike Enduro World Series races and two mountain bike World Cup races. Then I have to return to the States, fly down to Durango and do a four-day catalog shoot. It’s going to be an interesting trip, flying with studio lighting, my mountainbike and basically two completely different sets of camera equipment to shoot both the racing in Europe and the commercial shoot in Colorado.

What’s a typical race week or weekend like for you?
For a one-week event, I’d generally leave from the Vancouver airport on Monday for arrival on Tuesday. For the last few years the Monster Energy team has had a large (50-foot) RV in Europe so someone usually meets us at the airport with that thing. We load everything into it and drive to where we’re going, which in Europe can take anywhere from an hour-and-a-half to 18 hours, or even 24 hours in the RV. We get to the event location, set up the race support truck in the pit space area and by Tuesday or early Wednesday the team is all ready to go. Generally I walk the racecourse with the athletes and other photographers on Wednesday afternoon and then there’s practice for a day or two, depending on the event schedule. Qualifying is the day before finals and then on race day, practice is in the morning and finals in the afternoon. Then we head out to the airport early Monday morning because there’s usually someone with a 5AM departure time.

How about editing on site? How much of that do you do or do you just save it all till later?
Everything has to be done on site. I have to start as soon as the event is over. First of all, I’ve got articles to write for a few magazines and Web sites that have to be out right away. Then I do some public relations pieces for a couple of my clients. Press releases have to be written within a couple of hours and I need to include a couple of photos with each release. Then the rest of my clients all want stuff within 24 hours. So basically, I have to try to organize my photos sorting them into categories as I ingest, because at the end of the week, I’m going to have 3500 or 4000 images.

It takes too long to dig through everything when you need to get things out within sixty or ninety minutes. So it’s important to get that stuff organized so as soon as the race is over, the priority photos get edited and zipped off to wherever they need to go. Then the other stuff slowly gets edited over the next 12 hours that evening over dinner. Then, as soon as we’re headed to the airport in the morning, I’m editing photo in the back of the truck and trying to upload by via 3G, at the airport lounge or whatever. World Cup event photos are pretty time-sensitive. Generally, if the client doesn’t have stuff within 24 hours, they’ve already gotten somebody else.
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You’re actually writing press releases for your clients in addition to shooting the photos?
Yeah, I come from a journalism background and you know what they say: “Every field journalist ends up writing public relations pieces.”

I write a bunch of news articles for clients and then I end up doing a lot of public relations. Part of my job with Monster is writing most of their mountain bike PR pieces and content for the MonsterEnergy.com Web site as well as stuff they send out to their partner sponsors.

Let’s move on to the next subject: gear. What kind of photo gear do you take on the road with you – what’s in your travel kit?
The actual loadout depends on the event – right down to down to the backpack. Everything depends on the job that’s being done, but all my stuff is Canon gear. I shoot with Canon EOS-1D Mark IV’s and EOS-1D X’s. Generally, I try to stick to a 70-200mm or my 300mm f/2.8. If I have to get any closer like on a racetrack or something, I’ll go with a 15mm fisheye or 16-35mm f/2.8. It really depends on the event, but that’s about where the loadout ends for me, camera and glass-wise. It’s a heavy load already and my back is pretty much maxed out with that.

Then I’ll have three or four strobes with me, plus the remote wiring that goes with them and five or six PocketWizards for remote triggering, the camera drive cable in case I want to set up a remote camera, and maybe a Magic Arm, depending on the track. I’ll usually decide that when I see the track, on course-walk day with the athletes – kind of figure out it would be cool to have a few angles so have a remote set up over there, and another one set up over here. There’s not a lot of time actually on the track with athletes so it behooves you to get as much done as you can in that amount of time to produce as many different images for your clients as possible. So if I can shoot two angles at the same location, especially on finals day, that’s super, super important.

I also carry a couple of lightweight tripods for flashes as well as a couple of UltraPod II’s – those tiny 6-inch tripods with a big Velcro strap on them so I can strap flashes to trees, course marking poles or whatever I need to. And that all goes carry-on with me – the airlines love me [sarcasm]. And then, in my checked baggage, I’ve got a mesh bag that’s got all the wiring, spare cables, chargers, a spare strobe, a couple dozen spare batteries, wrenches for baseplates and a tripod head for my heavy tripod. All sorts of stuff like that just gets checked.

That’s specifically for racing, right?
If I’m doing a catalog shoot, like I’m doing in Colorado, after Europe, I’ve also got a couple of sets of Elinchrom Ranger portable power packs with Action Head studio lights and light stands. For this catalog shoot I’ll also have an Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed AS power pack. It’s basically a portable studio with two Action Heads, extension cables, light stands and probably some mini soft boxes, a beauty dish and a couple of reflectors.

Generally I don’t use those on World Cup tracks because it’s too hard to get to them. I’m hiking in and out of locations and stuff like that. But if I have an assistant that week, or if I know I’ll have access to a 4-wheeler or something like that, then I’ll take the Elinchrom lights with me as well. It kind of makes me less mobile and I really have to have the day planned out – what I’m going to do and where I’m going to be – if I want to carry that extra equipment. But it does make a big difference. The quality of light is much nicer with those strobes.

So, you’d use those at a home course, like Whistler. Or another venue you’re really familiar with so you know exactly where you want to shoot.
Exactly. If I’m shooting the slopestyle competition at Whistler’s Crankworx festival, it’s within 200 feet of the base of the mountain so I can bring a second backpack and either hike up there myself and get really sweaty; or for a big event like that where there are 50,000 spectators, I’ll have an assistant to carry that extra bag because it weighs almost as much as my standard camera pack. It kinda sucks having to hike around with both packs, looking like a Sherpa.

Having those lights definitely makes a big difference, though. They throw light really far and that event takes place in the afternoon so you’re shooting into the setting sun. It’s nice to be able to fight back a little bit, overpower the sun and light somebody up.

Do you have a preference for bags and cases, both for travel and for in the field? Is there anything special that you use?
I’ve got a bunch of Pelican cases for stuff I can’t carry on the plane. I try not to check anything that’s primary, right? I’ll never check my main two bodies, my 300mm, my 70-200mm and stuff like that. The airlines have lost my bag three times already this year and over a dozen times last year. It’s just not worth getting to Africa and finding out that you can’t work. That would be a major bummer. The [Pelican] packing cases I’ll use to ship lights and stuff like that. They tend to be the only thing that will keep my lights in one piece with the airlines. I’ve also got a drone [radio-controlled helicopter for aerial photos and video] that travels in a Pelican case. Bags, right now, I’m bouncing around.

My main backpack at the moment is an f-Stop Satori – their biggest model. It’s really nice because it’s got a proper backpack harness system on it – fully adjustable for torso length and everything. And I’m really short, which makes a big difference for me so it’s not banging into my legs. It’s got a proper frame in it to carry the weight so it’s not just a big, saggy backpack with 60 pounds of gear smashing into your lower back all the time.

I kinda bounce between backpacks. I worked with CamelBak’s military division for a couple of years, trying to develop a camera bag. We worked on it and it got close and then they sort of lost interest in it. I’ve got a Dakine Sequence that I use for snowboarding. It’s really good in the backcountry. It’s got room for avalanche gear as well as a decent-sized camera loadout and some dry gloves and a spare pair of goggles and stuff like that.

Ironically, for riding bikes, I still haven’t found a backpack that works really well. It sucks because I have to do that all the time. So if anyone knows, let me know. f-Stop is supposed to be making some smaller bags that may be good for mountain biking, but they seem to lack a proper waist belt and harness to keep them from shifting around when you’re on the bike. Usually, I just use a CamelBak hydration pack, one of their larger ones and toss a camera body in the bottom of the bag and maybe a lens or two stuffed into a ski sock. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s better than riding around with a backpack that’s too big and making me crash.

As far as stuff you travel with, what do you bring that’s important that’s not camera gear? Is there any personal stuff you like to travel with that you think is essential?
Yeah. First of all, make sure your bag meets airline carry-on regulations. Or make sure you can talk really nicely to the airline people. Generally, I don’t really have a problem with my carry-on bags. But once in a while you’ll get someone who’s trying to make the next pay grade or something and pulls out a tape measure or scale – usually on Lufthansa or something like that. Swiss Air is really good for that. It reduces your stress level a bit, knowing you’re not going to get hassled about your carry-on bags –unless they weight it. If they weigh anyone’s camera bag, obviously it’s over, you’re screwed and then you have to be really nice and open the bag up and be like, “you guys want to be responsible for this?”

Pro-tip: they never want to be responsible for it so generally they’ll just let you go on your way.

The second thing is to make sure you have a really good laptop bag for personal things that aren’t camera-related. I try to keep no camera stuff at all in my laptop bag. Arcteryx just hooked me up with a really nice one. It’s got room for my laptop and its charger and a mouse and stuff like that. I’ve got four, two-terabyte hard drives in there for backups. I never check those either, obviously.

Then, a couple of really nice sets of headphones. One set of noise canceling, battery-powered ones; and then then a set of ear buds just in case the batteries die or I don’t feel like having them in my seat. If I’m flying in economy, having a big case of noise-canceling headphones jammed into your knees isn’t really the greatest thing.

Is there anything you do to ensure your travel time is as productive as possible?
Find out in advance if your airline has power because if you can plug your laptop in, that makes a huge difference as well. You can get a bunch of work done. Besides that, for airplanes I think the biggest thing I’ve bought in the last couple of years is one of the new iPads and I never thought I’d ever have a reason for it besides using it as a portfolio at trade shows. Then I had a 40-hour flight to Bali for a job and I didn’t know what I was going to do with a laptop battery that lasts 3 hours. I went out and I bought a new iPad the day before I left and loaded it full of movies and TV shows. Now I have no idea what I’d do without it. I make sure everything is charged and synced before I leave. Then I answer e-mails on the plane.

When the drinks are done and I’ve done all the e-mail and work I can do from my iPad, then it’s just watch movies and TV shows or read a book on the iPad until you land. I’ve got a bunch of books on here as well. It’s great because it’s no bigger than a magazine and just sits in the seat back in front of you. You just keep little ear bud headphones in your pocket and the iPad in the seat pocket in front of you and you can be entertained like a 6-year-old for a few days.

What is your absolute favorite thing to shoot?
That’s really tough. I spent 40 or 50 days up on the [Whistler] glacier this winter on my snowmobile and I think shooting sled stuff, just because it’s kind of new for me, and the guys and girls I’ve been riding with are all really, really good. Watching those guys do ridiculous things on 550-pound machines, getting upside down and just being out [in the backcountry] – some of the images are just incredible. Sunrise and sunset over massive snow-covered mountain ranges with untouched powder, champagne powder just hanging in the air with the sun coming through is pretty amazing right now. Otherwise, I’d say just a simple mountain bike trail ride in some spots. There’s no city, there are no lights. It’s just the mountains and the sky and a little tiny rider against a big huge backdrop.

What’s your favorite destination?
It’s got to be Bali. I’ve got a bunch of friends there now. I shot an event there for a couple years in a row and now I just go back on vacation. It’s amazing. The people are so nice and there’s epic mountain bike trails. There’s obviously world-class surfing – some of the best surfing in the world. The beer costs like $1, the food costs nothing, accommodation costs nothing and everyone is so welcoming and just wants you to enjoy their little piece of paradise. Yeah, it would be tough to say anywhere else, really.

For readers who are interested in getting into action sports photography, can you share a few techniques for getting good photos?
Try to keep your shutter speed fast – especially when you’re starting. Don’t stress out about not having image stabilization and the fanciest, newest gear. If you can shoot at f/2.8 or f/3.2, even if you have to push the ISO, keep your shutter speed up. It’s gonna make all the difference in the world. It’s better having a grainy picture than having a blurry out of focus picture.

Definitely practice panning. I pan mountain bikers doing 65 or 80 kilometers an hour as slow as 1/25th of a second. Some friends and I will get into panning contests at events just because we’re sitting in the trees for hours at a time going a little bit stir crazy. We start panning down as slow as possible and see if we can get some usable shots. A couple of years ago, one of my favorite images ever came out of panning. I think it was taken at about 1/30th of a second – through the trees, through ferns and trying to get a rider in a little tiny spot of light that was coming through the trees.

Panning with mountain biking can be tricky because the rough terrain causes them to bounce around rather than moving smoothly like a race car. How do you handle that?
You’re definitely rolling the dice. I try to keep the subject’s head still in my frame. If I can keep their heads still, then I’m pretty good to go. If I can get a nice, crisp shot of a helmet and eyes or goggles, I don’t really worry too much about the bike and stuff like that. The easiest thing is get them in the air. If you can get them in the air, they’re as stable as they’re going to be, moving at that speed. So that’s usually your best bet. Sometimes you get lucky on the ground and get a cool shot out of it. I generally only do that after I have all the safe shots I need already for the week. I know my clients are going to be happy with what I have and then I can start playing around and getting stuff like that gets me excited.

There are some people – guys like Gary Perkin in the mountain bike industry – who can pan like nobody’s business and will pan through anything: through the jungle, through netting, through bridges, through walls, through fences. Once in a while, you just get lucky and get an epic shot. And he’s definitely one of the masters of doing that. It’s pretty cool to see the shots he’s come up with and use them as inspiration to shoot things like that. When I got that shot, we were just talking about, Gary and I were standing together just killing time the morning of World Championships and that one little spot of light came out and we were both like, “okay, here we go.” We started seeing how low each of us could go. He ended up with some ridiculously low shots and I think that one was at 1/25th or something and I just happened to nail it. Somehow it’s perfect. You can see the stitching on his pants and the signature painted on his helmet. Everything worked out great. Sometimes you get lucky.
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How do you typically handle your lighting?
I try to stick to natural light as much as I can for 90 percent of the stuff I’m doing. And then for each event, I’ll try and get two different shots that are lit. It’s kind of a baseline – obviously, some races are going to be darker. I’ll generally try and get one really nice pan shot of each of the major riders at the event. Bike companies usually want to have a side view where you can see the whole [bike] frame and components and stuff like that. Then I’ll try and get one that’s lit, that’s not really a pan shot. I’ll use some fill lighting or some back lighting or something, just to make the shot stand out and be a little bit interesting. Sometimes that doesn’t work out because the light’s too spotty in the trees or it’s too bright out in the open and all I’ve got with me are strobes. But if it’s a really sunny event like when we shoot in Africa, I generally don’t worry about anything lit. Because I can shoot those pan shots from the side at ISO 50 if I have to and push stuff to f/22 if I need to. Worst case, I can throw an ND [neutral density] filter on there and not worry too much.

Catalog companies, generally for ads, want something that’s well-lit so you can really showcase their product. Since I do mostly commercial work (I don’t do a lot of editorial work anymore because they just don’t pay enough), I ended up shooting a lot more with flashes. I’ve been trying to push some clients to go the way of using unlit images, like more natural. I mean – that’s mountain biking, right? It’s getting away from technology and getting away from the city and hopefully getting away from Strava [a GPS-based tracking app a lot of cyclists use for training and competition] – getting away from all of that stuff. Then, if you throw lights on it, to me, it just doesn’t feel that natural. Whereas if you’re shooting something like we talked about before with a big massive background and a tiny little rider – it’s nice to be able to shoot it natural.

Sometimes with a shot like that, I’ll put light on it, just so I can underexposed for the background a little bit and get those really nice clouds or sunrise or sunset and just put a little bit of light on the rider with a hidden flash set up with a PocketWizard just so the rider stands out a little bit more in the image – especially since they’re going to be so small. Yeah, lighting is pretty basic, really. It’s like anything else, I guess: it depends on the style that you shoot and what your clients want. It’s pretty much dictated totally by what my clients want at any given event. It is good for freezing [a subject]. If you can’t get a high enough shutter speed, I’ll definitely pull flashes out just to freeze a rider and get a couple of nice, crisp images.

Do you have any crazy stories from the road?
Oh, jeeze – there’s a lot of those. Let’s see. I had at least one flight where an engine caught on fire.

Woah!
We had to land. Yeah, that was fun. I had one flight, flying into Madrid, I think, that we almost hit another plane. I’d never actually done one of those emergency go-arounds before in a 747. That was entertaining. We were probably 15 or 20 feet off the threshold coming into the runway and all of a sudden, we went to full power – pilot rambling something off over the intercom that no one could really hear because there’s four massive engines at full power and a bunch of people screaming. Then he pulled a hard one around and came back in. Apparently there was another plane on the runway still and air traffic control had missed that. That was entertaining. There were people sick all over the place, not that usual. Generally I like nice, turbulent flights. It actually helps me sleep. But that one wasn’t that fun.

I was flying from Denver to Sacramento, I think, way back in early 2000. I can’t remember what airline I was on, but we’d just left Denver – we weren’t even over the Utah border yet. All of a sudden, there’s a bunch of rattling from the plane and there’s flight attendants in the aisle with their hands to the ceiling and we’re still climbing so they hadn’t even been out of their jump seats, yet. But as soon as we hit cruising altitude, there was a pilot back there with his hands up to the ceiling and all these rattling and whistling noises and no one knew what was going on.

The next thing we know, we start descending again. The pilot came on the radio, saying we were going into Salt Lake for an emergency landing because one of the roof panels had come off the outside of the plane. So that was nice. Then we sat in Salt Lake. In the Salt Lake City airport, everything was closed after 8pm. All the bars are closed. And we sat there until probably two o’clock in the morning before they could get us a replacement plane. They wouldn’t put us up in a hotel because it was a quick flight to Sacramento from there. One of the flight attendants was a really nice guy and he started smuggling us bottles of Jack Daniels to drink in the airport because all the bars were closed. We had pockets full of little mini bottles of booze.

Besides that, it’s just the usual: lost baggage, lost travel partners, missed flights, running through airports, getting the full security sweep. No rubber gloves yet – that’s always nice. A lot of the German airports … Obviously, I fly so much so I’ve got flyer status and they will shuttle you from the lounge to your gate or from gate to gate like one of those big rush emergencies and put a Mercedes out on the tarmac, which is kind of cool.

What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened while you’ve been shooting?
That’s tough. I’m not really sure. I mean I’ve been hit multiple times. I’ve seen other people get hit.

That seems like an inevitability
Yeah, especially with a fisheye and a mountain bike. You end up getting in some weird places with that lens. It’s definitely aptly called a death lens. I’ve had peddles hit me in the forehead and you just don’t realize how close you are.

I Shot a bunch from the helicopter. That’s always fun. You’re strapped into the helicopter hanging outside of it. I’m not a huge fan of heights so that takes a little while to get used to. Same thing with shooting BASE jumping – hanging off an exit point, which is okay with a parachute on, but not so much with a camera around your neck.

Do you have any photo horror stories?
A couple of weeks ago in Australia, I lost two Canon EOS-1D X bodies due to humidity. It’s an expensive week when the original estimate from Canon says $285, or whatever the CPS [Canon Professional Services] repair price is. I thought that’s fine, no big deal. $500 I get both my cameras back, good to go. And they’d both been in before for water damage. They say they’re water resistant, they’re definitely not. This wasn’t even so much rain. It was 100-percent humidity for days at a time, then going into air-conditioned buildings afterwards, right. There wasn’t much I could do about it. Both the bodies died and neither of them would come back. The updated estimate from Canon was, “extensive water damage, irreparable. Suggestion to replace with the new 1D X.” Feel free to send us $16,000 for two of them.

That’s pretty much the worst thing that’s ever happened. I mean I drop stuff all the time. I’m kind of a klutz. I tend to throw things around if I’m excited, in a hurry and trying to make sure I get the shot I need to get, I’ll drop the 1D X with my 300mm f/2.8. The other body I had sitting on the ground, around my neck, whatever and then realize I just threw my $7,000 camera body and $7,000 lens on the ground and then go, “Oh, that probably wasn’t super intelligent.” But I do that all the time. I don’t really think about it. That’s what CPS is for.

That’s one of the differences between being an amateur and a pro. You learn to do what you’ve gotta do. Right?
That’s what it comes down to. That’s what’s paying the bills and stuff. So if it costs me $500 to repair something and then I license the image for $4,500 – well, that’s the cost of doing business, isn’t it? At the end of the day, as long as you’re making a profit, repairing things is just another expense. Not really a big deal.

Unless you need to use that tomorrow in which case you should’ve thought about that in advance.

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

By Fraser Britton

The post Tips from a Pro: Action Sports Photographer, Fraser Britton appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Freeze Action

Get Down

Stay Past the End

Choose Your Focus

Go Up

Capture the Fans

Over a career spanning nearly three decades, Damian Strohmeyer has scored 70 Sports Illustrated covers. Five of his images appear in SI’s 100 Greatest Sports Photos of All Time. He’s shot World Series, Super Bowls (27 of them), NCAA basketball, and the Olympics. His other clients run equally top-shelf: Canon, Nike, Major League Baseball, the US Golf Association, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post. Strohmeyer says his success comes down to a few simple rules. Among them: Be prepared, be courteous, and be knowledgeable. And of course, take excellent pictures. Here he shares his secrets for making gold medal worthy sports photos.

Be Prepared

“I don’t mind being out-photographed,” Strohmeyer says. “I really mind being out-thought.” Shooting sports is no more unpredictable than any other assignment. Which is to say, it is always unpredictable. While some photographers enjoy the thrill of working without a net, Strohmeyer has always preferred a more Boy Scout–like approach. “You want to be flexible, and you want to be able to handle unusual requests or last-minute requests, but to do that it helps a lot to be prepared,” he says.

“The day before the job is when I put all the thought processes in order,” Strohmeyer says. “What equipment am I going to need? What’s the client looking for? Checking the weather if it’s an outdoor event, checking the lighting if it’s indoors.” He plans his shots based on the venue’s sightlines, any remotes he plans to set up, and, depending on the game, according to individual players’ tendencies. “The more little things you can get out of the way before the shoot, the more time you’re going to have to concentrate on the actual photographs,” he says.

When traveling, Strohmeyer advises, always carry backup: batteries, flashes, and lenses. “Obviously you don’t travel with two 400mm f/2.8s,” he says. “It’s not really practical. But if it’s a big enough job, I’m going to have two 70–200mms in case something breaks down.”

And backup isn’t limited to gear. It’s also the network of people you can call on to bail you out if FedEx delivers a case to the wrong place, you leave your monopod at home, or worse, something breaks. “If my 400mm f/2.8 were damaged before a football game, there’s somebody I can call who can get me through that job,” he says.

Tell A Story

Whether it’s a shoot for editorial clients or commercial ones, your pictures will need to communicate. A lot of that communication depends on your ability to express yourself creatively, Strohmeyer says. But even the most interesting subject will lose impact against a background that’s lousy.

So what makes a background work? “You want the background not to subtract from the picture,” Strohmeyer says. If it enhances the image, that’s even better. Shooting golf? Use the course’s sand traps, green grass, and trees. The golden glow of a basketball court can work when the players’ uniforms have a lot of contrast; 
a brightly shaded key area (under the basket) can be even better. 
If you can find them, wide swaths of pure color will often add to 
the photograph.

Alas, those kinds of backgrounds aren’t made to order, and you’ll need to do what you can to compensate. “I [shot a game] at a horrible location recently. The background, you almost couldn’t have made it worse. It was like putting a football stadium in a strip mall,” Strohmeyer says. “In cases like that, you shoot everything wide open and try to fill the frame up the best you can.”

Know Where the Action Is

If there’s one thing that’s more deeply embedded in Strohmeyer’s photographer DNA than being prepared, it’s knowing your beat. “People say to me often, ‘You know quite a bit about sports.’ I never thought of myself like that, but I guess it’s true,” he says.

After years immersed in sports, first as a student basketball player and then as a passionate, observant sports journalist, there just aren’t too many surprises. “Hockey I don’t profess to know quite as much about, but in basketball, I know how the players align, what side the action’s going to go to, where the isolation is, just because I know the game,” he says.

In a practical sense, this knowledge is your friend. “If a pitcher has a 95 or a 98 mile an hour fastball and there’s a right-handed hitter, he’s much more apt to push the ball to the right side of the infield. Who does a particular quarterback look for in critical situations? At a high school football game, how do you know where the ball is going to go? Find the biggest guy on the team—they’re going to run all their plays over to that guy. In high school and college basketball, most players are right-handed and still favor that side of the court. That helps you. All those little things help you figure out where to be and how to anticipate shots.”

And if you do miss something, all you need to do is wait, Strohmeyer advises. “My boss in my first job in Topeka, Kansas, would say, ‘If somebody does something once and you miss it, don’t worry about it too much, because chances are they’re going to do it again.’ I call this the rule of repeating action.”

Try A Different Perspective

Many iconic sports images show action on the field. But some of this shooter’s favorite shots are of moments off the field. Such opportunities make pictures that give a 360-degree view of the story.

“There are a lot of nuances in baseball, and you want to kind of have one eye open all the time,” Strohmeyer says. “[Former Boston Red Sox pitcher] Pedro Martinez was always kind of a joker, and as a starting pitcher, he was in the dugout all the time. At one game I remember looking over, and all of a sudden the other players were taping him to a post in the dugout with athletic tape. It was a hilarious picture, but you had to be paying attention.”

In the arena, remote set-ups can literally give another dimension to your shots. “I like basket-level pictures, because that’s the level the players play at. It gives you a different perspective,” Strohmeyer says. Shooting from directly above can give a photo a clean, high-contrast background and show the geometry of the game. “When the goalie bends over backwards to make a save, and he’s looking straight up in the air, that’s a great picture,” he says.

Remotes have to be approved by officials, and the rules vary by sport, league, and venue. “Most of the time it’s not a big deal, because it’s done fairly frequently, particularly in the NBA. Colleges, maybe not so much,” says Strohmeyer. “It’s a communication thing. There are a lot of considerations, the biggest of which is not interfering with play, but the main thing is to be above board with people and bring them into your concept. Get the people in the building to embrace the idea.”

Remember, You’re Shooting People

Under the padding, helmets, and face masks, athletes are humans, and that’s what fans want to see. How do you get behind the face mask? “Great athletes, great pictures” is one rule of thumb. “Some players just stand out. [Wide receiver] Randy Moss was always face-forward, and he made athletic plays,” Strohmeyer says. “He jumped high. He extended out.”

Also look for athletes—as well as fans, coaches, and officials—who face forward, with wide-open eyes and expressive faces. Part of that is the individuals; another factor is light. Even in auto racing, Strohmeyer says, “there are tracks where at certain times of day the light gets low enough you can actually see into the cockpit of the car.” Light shifts throughout the course of an event, and so should you: Shoot front-lit for a while, then backlit; if you’ve shot a lot of horizontals from the side, change it up by going deeper and longer. “There are all these evaluations you make about the types of photographs you want to take that go on constantly,” he says.

In the end, Strohmeyer says, “you’re trying to sum up the drama and the emotion of the sport. You want those pictures to have memory. And if you can do that, you’re going to be pretty successful, whether you’re shooting an ad campaign for Gatorade or a game for the local high school paper. If you can tell the stories in that manner, you’re going to 
be successful.”

ENTER OUR JULY SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE

The post Tips From a Pro: Damian Strohmeyer On Shooting Better Sports Photos appeared first on Popular Photography.

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The Olympics are a dream assignment for many aspiring sports photographers. Sochi will be the fourth Games for photographer Jeff Cable, and he has learned a lot about what it means to shoot the world’s biggest sporting event. Before the opening ceremonies, he shared some of his knowledge with us about what it’s like to shoot on a global stage. You can follow his blog that he’ll be updating while he’s at the games.

How did you end up shooting your first Olympics?
I went to the Beijing Olympics, but I wasn’t fully credentialed. I was helping out in the press center. A couple countries sent representatives and they had writers that didn’t know how to shoot, they said “If we can get you into a venue, can you shoot for us?” So I shot a bunch of stuff there. When people saw what I was shooting and that I was doing a good job, I got higher level credentials to shoot more.

When I was there, I thought, “I want to do more of this.” The next once coming up was Vancouver. I tried pitching to a bunch of newspapers and agencies and it didn’t pan out. I was doing some shooting for the Santa Fe Sharks and they ended up putting me in touch with all the right people at USA Hockey. I play twice a week, so I know the game and I knew some people there. That helped me get my foot in the door. I basically offered to shoot for free for them the first time just to prove myself. It worked out.

It certainly sounds like a tough assignment to land.
The thing the US Olympic committee needs is a million people emailing them saying, “Hey, let me in! I’ll shoot for free!” There’s more to it than that. I worked really hard and knew the right people. I had to prove myself. Now, I know the committee and they know I do good work for them. It’s much easier now. The first time was a one in a million chance. Once you earn your stripes, it goes a long way.

At most major sporting events, there are different levels of credentials that offer different access. Is that true at the Olympics, too?
There are tons of different credentials. They have everything from the editor who can get into the venue to write but they can’t shoot photos. There are credentials that only get you into certain venues. Summer Olympics, they actually give you sport-specific credentials, so if you’re shooting for Water Polo Magazine, you’ll get a credential that limits them to shooting only in that particular venue. They can also go to the press center, but they can’t go anywhere else. If they want to go and shoot track and field, they wouldn’t be allowed in.

I want the ability to roam. When I’m not shooting hockey, I want to go shoot something else.

Is there a top-level mega access pass that gets you in wherever you want?
The largest agencies like AP and Reuters get some different credentials. Opening and closing ceremonies, for instance, are some of the only times that we’re in the actual seats of the stadium with the crowds. There might be blocks of 100 seats in six different locations. There are certain photographers, though, that get all dressed in black and can actually go out into the middle of the ceremonies.

Would you take the assignment if it you had the chance?
Probably. It would just add another level of stress and the unknown, but sure. The hardest part for me is picking my spot. Usually for opening and closing ceremonies there are sections labeled A-F. Each one has certain advantages. One will have a front-on shot of the teams coming out. One has an overhead shot. One might have a good angle on the royalty. It would be nice to be able to pick which one, but a lot of times they just tell you which one you’re assigned to. They say, “You’re an F.”

Can you get around it if your spot is bad?
When I went to London, I got to my spot and it was awful. I went and parked myself outside the office of the photo manager for that venue and waited. When he got there I just said, “Look, I’d like to be moved to a differs position.” I was lucky and he approved me.

What are your primary shooting objectives when you’re at the games?
Winter Olympics, for me, is USA hockey and summer is primarily water polo. Hockey one of the biggest sports at the games, which is exciting. It’s probably behind figure skating, although figure skating doesn’t have any good checks [laughs]. If there’s no hockey game for the US or the game’s at 6 PM, I can go shoot some stuff during the day.

Is it competitive to try and get the best spots in the photo area?
You have to get there early to try and get a clean spot of glass. In the Olympics, they don’t have the holes in the glass like the NHL does, so you have to find the best seat. Then, I’ll gaffer’s tape a business card to the seat to tell the other photographers it’s occupied.

With so many other photographers there, is it tough to get the shots you need and want?
It’s you an 1200 of your best friends. It’s a challenge in many respects. You have to try and be unique, but it’s difficult when you have so many people shooting. I try to get something that other people are not. I’ll slow the shutter speed down or try to get access that others can’t get. That’s part of the challenge, but it’s also what makes it fun.

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Do you do a lot with remote cameras? They seem to be getting more popular at each Olympics.
It depends on the venue. Water polo let me set up a remote camera, but not in the rafters. It was from like a balcony about three stories up. I did it a couple times and didn’t like it. At the Bolshoy arena, there are rafter calls for mounting cameras up above the ice. I want to get a camera right above the goalie if I can.

That’s always a great shot.
The question becomes who’s going to get the straight down shot. Obviously, Sports Illustrated and AP and all the big guys are going to want that angle so I may have to work around how many cameras are mounted up there.

The other issue is that you have to have your own frequency for your Pocket Wizards so you’re not firing off the wrong camera.

With all those reporters and shooters on-site, the press center must be really impressive.
It’s a full building. The average press room is something like ten tables and an area for your laptop. In London there was a gymnasium, a food court with a McDonald’s, and a massage center. It’s like a small city. It’s huge.

Considering the competitive nature of the thing, is the vibe in the press room cool or is there tension?
I’ve got great friends now from the Olympics. But, the challenge is that we’re so balls to the wall busy that there isn’t a lot of time for making friends. I don’t think I’ve ever gone to have a beer with one of these guys. You’re going 8 in the morning until midnight every night. Sometimes it’s 2 AM. You’re always shooting, editing, or blogging. It’s cool, though.

Everybody is friendly and everybody is happy to be there because it’s such an honor, but at the same time, it’s a pressure cooker.

What is the recovery like when you get home from the games? Do you just crash out for a while?
I call it POS: Post-Olympic Syndrome. My wife and I actually have an extra bedroom in our house and my wife has it ready for me when I come home. I’m absolutely trashed. It takes me about a month to fully recover. It’s a really narcissistic environment. You’re working all the time and you’re only really thinking about the things you need to accomplish. Ihad thought about getting an assistant, but the thought of having someone trailing behind me, not going at the pace I want was too much.

Once you come back home, you have your family and your wife and people are telling you what to do again. You’re so burnt out from lack of sleep and the Olympic vibe. It’s crazy. One of the photographers actually said that doing the Olympics is like doing the Super Bowl every day for three weeks.

**I’ve actually heard the Super Bowl comparison before. It sees like the Olympics have quite a few complications beyond what even the big game can throw at you. **
With the Super Bowl, you have the press events and then the big game. With the Olympics, you actually have to choose what game you’re going to cover. The great thing that really started in London is that there’s an App. I already know when all the Hockey games are, so I can schedule around them. So, the days with no hockey games, I make a schedule to go hit other stuff. With the app, I can look and it shows me everything.

So, planning is key.
The worst part is that as much planning as you do, you sometimes realize there’s no way you can make it to all of them. You overrun time or the venue is too far away. You can make spreadsheets, but it’s almost out the window right away.

It’s like the old Mike Tyson quote, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
The Olympics will punch you right in the mouth, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. The first time, I was scared to death. Three months before the games I was laying awake at night thinking about how much gear I needed to bring or how I was going to know what to do when I get there. Now, when I land, I know to go right to the press center, pick up my credentials, put my request in for opening ceremonies, get my locker, go to the venue, talk to the photo manager, get my locker there… If it’s your first time there, you might not know to do any of that.

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Packing for the Olympics must be really tough. I’d imagine you have to bring a ton of gear.
I’m gone for a month, so it’s a lot. I’ll take a minimum camera bodies. I’m taking two Canon 1D Xs this year.

There are probably quite a few of those on-site.
Yes. It was that way in London, too, because it had just come out. I actually had a prototype. Canon actually just shipped me two more 1D X s. I’d rather use theirs than mine if I can.

Just because of the sheer number of shots you’re going to go through?
I shot 90,000 in London. It is insane. If you look at a Hockey game, at 12 fps, you’re shooting thousands of images per game.

Hockey has always had the reputation of being one of the toughest sports to shoot.
If you’re shooting through a hole or into plexiglas, you’ve only got about 25 percent angle which you can move to shoot. Otherwise, you’re getting a bunch of reflection off the plexi or the side of the hole. Of course, the action is really fast. There are a lot of variables.

**What lenses do you typically bring with you? **
I’ll bring a fisheye, a 24-70 for press room shots, a 70-200mm which is my hockey lens, and I’ll bring a 16-35mm for environmental shots outside the venue and opening ceremonies. I’ll bring the 100-400mm because it’s a good small lens. Anything bigger than that I’ll just borrow from Canon on the spot. Canon and Nikon both bring a ton of product and if you’re fully-credentialed, you can literally just walk up to the table, they scan your badge and say, “What would you like?”

Do you bring any of the big, fast primes?
The first time I shot opening ceremonies, I brought a 600mm F/4 lens. You’re sitting in a regular seat with all your other gear so there’s no room for a lens that big. I ended up putting it in a locker and not even using it. Before that, though, I carried that thing around for six hours for nothing [laughs].

That’s interesting. A lot of people associate those giant lenses with the games.
The lens I plan on using the most for sports other than hockey is the new 200-400mm. That lens works for anything that’s outside, like snowboarding. It has a range from 200-560, it’s tack sharp and it focuses super fast. I’d rather have that than any fixed focal length, even if they’re faster. It’s still too big to carry with me, but I plan on borrowing it.

**With the high-ISO capabilities on modern DSLRs, the difference between F/5.6 and F/4 isn’t as crucial as it once was. **
It’s interesting you say that, because that was my thought, too. You know, I was expecting to go to ISO 10,000, but the Olympics is just really well lit. It’s lit for television. For water polo last time, I was using the 200-400mm at F/5.6 and my ISO was only at 1600. And I was still getting shutter speeds fast enough to freeze the action. I was around 1/1200th to 1/1000th of a second.

Anyone reading this right now who usually shoots local sporting events in dim gymnasiums is so jealous right now.
The other advantage is that, if you’re shooting in a gymnasium, you’re trying to hide the backgrounds because there are empty bleachers and horrible lighting. The Olympics are a dream. They use the Olympic rings everywhere so you want to use those to your advantage. You want to include them to tell the story.

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Do you bring Pocket Wizards for the remote cameras?
I brought three or four last time, I probably only really needed two or three. They’re a custom frequency, so I can’t borrow another one. Those actually have to be approved. I have to take those to the press center and they have to inspect and sticker them as approved. You can’t just take a Pocket Wizard into the Olympics.

**How about for mounting the cameras? **
I bring mounting brackets and security cables so I can mount cameras in the rafters. Those brackets need to be approved as well. They can’t be plastic or anything like that. I brought a Super Clamp with me to London and it wasn’t the heavy-duty one so it was disallowed. I had to go buy a heavy duty one and I only used it twice.

I take one tripod even though they’re not allowed at the Olympics. They’re useful for night shots and other environmental shots around the venues at night, which are always pretty. I have a Gitzo monopod that folds way down and that one is my life. When you shoot sports with a big lens, you have to have a monopod.

Are flashes allowed in any of the venues? Do you even bother bringing one?
It’s not allowed in any of the venues, but you can use it for other environmental stuff, so I’ll bring it just in case.

You must also bring a stack of memory card with you. Do you use big cards or a lot of small ones?
I take a boat old of 128 GB, 1000x Lexar cards. Literally, when the Women from Team USA won the gold medal–it was the first time they had ever won any medal–I was the only photographer. I shot 78 GB in an hour and a half. When they got their medals, I was hammering on the shutter. It was such a huge game, I and to get it.

I shoot to two cards simultaneously. I keep two cards in the body, so the second 128 GB just keeps things redundant and I shoot things raw.

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What’s your typical workflow at the games?
I use fast USB 3 card readers and dump to and edit on a 15-inch MacBook Pro with an SSD. I shoot and edit, then off-load to four Western Digital Passport Ultra drives. I’ll typically have one with me, one in my locker, and one in my hotel room and I’ll generally move the images to all three. My favorite images that have been edited will go onto DropBox. That way they’re backed up in the cloud.

How do you carry it all around?
I keep everything in a Lowepro X200 rolling bag and I will cram as much stuff in there as I can. Then, I have a couple Lowepro backpack because a rolling bag doesn’t always work. You can’t exactly take a rolling bag out to the half pipe to shoot snowboarding.

Do you think you’ll see any GoPro cameras at the games this year? They seem to be everywhere.
There might be, actually. All Olympic photographers have signed a contract saying that we will not shoot a single second of video in any Olympic venue. I think the reason is that the DSLRs have gotten so good at video that they can’t allow the competition for the Olympic Broadcast Committee. If I bring one, it’ll be for a time lapse only.

The amount of planning that goes into shooting something like this sounds incredible.
Every venue you walk into still has a question mark. You do as much research as you can before you show up. I know that Bolshoi arena is going to be where I’m shooting all the hockey games. I know that Olympic positions tend to be on the corners. The first time I did this, though, I had no idea. The first time I shot for USA water polo, I practiced from the side of the pool at a low angle. When I got to London, the only approved positions were on either end of the pool on the net sides. That’s where we were shooting from.

Do you have a preference between summer and winter games?
Nope, not really. They’re equally exciting. The cool thing about the Olympics is the vibe. People look at me and think about how lucky I am and I agree with them. I never take it for granted. That vibe is consistent throughout both summer and winter.

Jeff Cable’s Packed Gear for Sochi

USA Men’s Hockey from the 2010 Olympics

Closing Ceremonies

Synchronized Swimming

Pole Vault

Pole Vault

Track and Field

Water Polo

Jeff Cable in London

Water Polo

The post What Is It Like to Be a Photographer At the Olympics? Jeff Cable Explains appeared first on Popular Photography.

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Rich Clarkson is an official photographer for the NCAA and has been documenting sporting events, particularly college basketball’s Final Four, since the 1950s. At age 82, he has decided that this year is his last.

With more than 40 Sports Illustrated covers under his belt, Clarkson has been shooting and scoring in the sports photography world since the beginning of his career. Clarkson also practiced photography off the court, acting as the director of photography for National Geographic from 1985-1988 and found that his experience there was essentially universal.

“You’re basically a photojournalist,” he said in his interview with CBS, “and whether it be sports or natives in Africa, it’s all the same thing.”

Clarkson sold his first photograph for 75 cents, and is ending his Final Four career with photos that go for around $5,000 each.

The post Photographer Rich Clarkson Has Been Shooting March Madness For 60 Years appeared first on Popular Photography.

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If you tuned in during the first quarter of this weekend’s Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles NFL game, you may have thought something was wrong with your TV. The snow was coming down so hard, you could barely see the players on the field. Veteran sport shooter Michael Perez was on the sidelines during the game trying to capture images for the Associated Press. What’s it like to photograph a game that’s too snowy for either team to even attempt a field goal? Michael shares his experience below.

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Nick Foles

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Did you know the snow was going to be so intense going into Sunday’s game?

We had no clue. I was talking to a few other photographers before the game and we heard the weatherman say that the snow was going to start coming down around 3:00. They were expecting one inch, maybe a little bit of rain. We were all cool with that.

We went outside to shoot the pre-game stuff three hours before kickoff and it was clear. Then we went inside to upload some images. We came back out and it started to snow. Then, the first quarter comes and it’s like somebody turned on a switch. It was a complete white out.

Did you have rain gear to protect your cameras?

We prepared like we would for any rain game. We all have some kind of rain gear packed in our bag just in case, because you never know what will happen. You always try to be prepared.

I was lucky I packed an extra hat for myself because my first one got soaked by the half.

What other challenges come with severe weather like that?

My gloves were soaking wet and you just couldn’t feel anything. I had to keep checking my camera to make sure I was actually hitting the shutter button [laughs]. Everybody’s fingers were numb.

You talk to any photographer who was there and it was near impossible to get anything in focus.

Focus definitely seems like it would be a challenge with all of those little targets (snowflakes) floating around in the air.

For all of the first quarter and most of the second quarter it was a near whiteout. The AF was getting fooled a lot. I was trying everything. I tried matrix focus, 3D, single point. If you get one little snowflake in front of that focusing point and the focus would go everywhere. There were a ton of white frames, a ton of dark frames, out of focus frames [laughs]. It was really, really frustrating.

Nick Foles

What did you do to combat it?

For a while, I dropped the 400mm and tried to get closer to the line of scrimmage with the short telephoto and that seemed to work a little bit. Then you’d get a little too far away and need to switch back. I was just looking for contrast on jerseys so I could get focus. I would just put the AF point on their numbers. Sometimes you just can’t keep up and the picture is gone. You’re bugging out because you’re trying to shoot the play but all you can see is white.

What is your typical game day kit like?

Yesterday I was shooting three cameras. One had a 400mm lens, one over my shoulder was an 80-200mm and I had a wide angle around my neck. That’s your typical kit.

Were you using card-runners to get your images back to the editors? It seems like their movement might be hindered with all that snow.

AP let me borrow one of their cameras that was hooked up to a transmitter via the ethernet port. It let me send photos directly to the editing room. I still had a runner, but this was much faster. We were doing some self-editing on the field and moving stuff so we could get pictures out as fast as possible.

What’s the workflow for on-field editing?

My main camera with the 400mm lens was connected. If I shot something with the other two I would put the card into the connected camera, edit and send. The connected camera who basically work as my computer on the field. If something really important happened and I didn’t have time to switch cards I would send the card back with a runner. It was great.

The staff photographer working on the other side of the field had two of three cameras connected. We would still ship cards back so the whole take could also be downloaded and edited. We would ship mid quarter and at the two minute warning of each quarter.

Antonio Dixon

Shooting an NFL game for a big agency seems like a high-pressure gig in itself. Doing it under such difficult conditions must be nerve-racking.

It is. You have to make pictures. You have to move something. You can’t walk back into the room and say “I can’t shoot.” You’re out there doing a job. Everybody’s working under the same conditions, so you just do the best you can. You find a way to get it done.

Did all that moisture cause havoc for your lenses?

At one point, I was shooting something and I looked into my viewfinder and I couldn’t see anything. I turned the lens around and there was maybe two-inches of snow just caked inside the hood. The front of the lens was almost covered in ice. I had to take my hat off and wipe it down. And if you were wearing glasses, forget it. After about four frames, I’d have to take my head away from the camera so my glasses would clear up and I could keep shooting.

In my two other cameras, moisture got into the eyepieces. There’s a little space between the diopter and the actual viewfinder and everything looked all foggy. Then, I’d check the back of the camera and it would have perfect focus and correct contrast. I just figured I’d deal with cleaning the camera later [laughs].

Did you have any gear problems as a result of all that exposure?

I thought I was going to have battery issues, but there really weren’t any.

Today, the cameras seem to have dried out. I haven’t really shot with them today, but I cleaned them up and everything seems fine. Knock on wood [laughs].

Riley Cooper, Rashean Mathis

Is the weather-sealing on pro DSLRs enough to keep everything protected?

Moisture and fine sand find their way into cameras. You have to keep them covered up as best you can. Some people invest in expensive rain covers which are really nice. I saw one photographer had plastic wrap around his camera. He had wrapped it around his entire body and lens. I thought it was brilliant. He’s like, “It sticks to the camera and keeps the water out, but I can still see the viewfinder.” It was awesome. But, you see everything out there from garbage bags to expensive rain covers. You do what you can to keep your stuff dry.

What were you using?

I had a towel over my 80-200mm. Whatever camera I had slung over my shoulder would have inches of snow on it every time I’d pick it up to shoot. Sometimes you don’t have time to brush it off, you just have to pick it up and shoot. I had the towel covering the camera and it got soaking wet. By the third quarter is was just about frozen stiff, so I had to ditch it. I kept the camera under my jacket.

Have you had a chance to look through all the photos you shot? Are you happy with how they came out considering the circumstances?

I saw what went out live and I was kind of surprised with myself. There was one picture of a pass to riley cooper in the endzone, and I remember picking up my short telephoto and shooting it, but I didn’t know if it was in focus or not. I saw it pop up on the computer screen and realized it was the play where the ball hit him right in the facemask. I remember shooting it and thinking that I wasn’t even sure if the ball was in the frame. The outtakes have a lot of out of focus stuff. My first half has a lot of white frames where you just couldn’t see anything. I’m pretty happy with them, though. I got what I needed.

Was exposure a challenge?

Not really. You want to underexpose a little for stuff like this. If you overexpose, you lose your highlights. You can’t get them back because they’re not there. Detroit was wearing white uniforms, so I was underexposing ⅓ a stop and everything was fine. There’s just so much detail you get with these cameras. It’s amazing.

Have you shot in conditions like this before?

I have come close, but this has to be the worst one. At least it wasn’t freezing. I remember shooting during an ice storm in Green Bay, which was miserable, but this one you really couldn’t see.

Did you get any chances to warm up at all?

We came in at halftime and they were serving food. They had these trays with lids on them with burners underneath. Everybody started putting their gloves and gear on top of these trays to start thawing them out. In the second half, I had warm gloves…at least for a little while [laughs].

The post What Is It Like To Photograph an NFL Game In a Blizzard? appeared first on Popular Photography.

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