Cropping

Been receiving a couple of messages regarding sports photography lately.

The questions that pop up invariably revolve around: -

1) What lens did you use?
2) What camera did you use?
3) Do you use the centre Auto Focus point all the time?

Cutting to the chase, yes, technique and equipment are important, but what makes or breaks a sports photo (most of the time anyway) lies in the first and possibly most important step in post-processing: cropping.

Here's an uncropped frame from a 300mm capture: -


And the cropped version:


Whilst some would disagree, it's sports photography - not fine art - there just ain't many excuses for a loosely cropped photograph.

Singapore Flyer

Did another flyer shot of the cheerleaders, this time at the Botanical Gardens (after they wisely refused to do a split while jumping over a low hanging tembusu branch)...

Managed to squeeze of less than a dozen frames before the skies opened up, of which this was the only half quarter-decent one:


Ultimately it wouldn't have mattered - gray skies do not make for an attractive background.

Instant Happiness

Set up yet another 'Polaroid' booth during the evening reception of a recent actual day wedding shoot.


The response was good, unfortunately most of the polaroids - or 'fuji'-roids, to be precise, were taken by the guests as keepsakes despite gentle prodding that they are meant as momentos for the bride and groom.

Oh well.

If there's one saving grace, the chaps from Blackcurrantworkz did a fab job on the wedding animation that left most of the guests in stitches.

Rugby

Sulking on the sidelines with a super telephoto lens is one (boring) way to shoot field sports, with cookie-cutter results - limited depth-of-field and tightly cropped photographs.

The M1 Women's 7s rugby carnival, held on a fine Saturday morning at the Yio Chu Kang stadium presented an ideal opportunity to try going 'wide' - but without the awkwardness of juggling multiple cameras - by installing the wide angle lenses on floor remotes.

Only problem is, with only two remote cameras to spare and a huge expanse of ground to cover, the chances of a remote camera capturing a slice of the action is... well... really remote.

Nonetheless, some 20 minutes later a portion of the field (try area) was staked out by two remote cameras, a 20D and 30D coupled with 10-22mm and 17-55mm lenses respectively.

Since it is a 7s game, well, tries should be a plenty. They just have to score in the right areas!

Out of the 90 frames captured, one of them is useable (barely): -

It's pretty much a game of patience and numbers - set up the remotes often enough and once in a while something nice should pop up.

Perth

Went for a short holiday and chanced upon the equivalent of the Singapore Merlion: -

The setting was so familiar (probably shot to death by wedding photographers) that I had to pay homage to it... =P

You're a Star!

When it comes to star jumps... there's no better option than the NTU ACES Cheerleading team. With three back-to-back national cheerleading championships, these guys are without a doubt the best in the business.

Upon chancing on a photography competition organised by Budget low-cost airline Jetstar titled "Perfect Star Jump" The requirements are simple enough: An eye-catching star jump image.

A phone call and a couple of weeks later, Jessilyn, Ian, Mun Chun, Kelvin and I were sweating it out at the NTU Sports and Recreation field doing (the cheerleaders, not me) countless basket tosses.

All-in, we squeezed out 34 frames (and a couple more test shots) before calling it a day. The cheerleaders would have gone on for a couple more tosses, but I was on the verge of collapsing from heatstroke... =P

Edit: Unfortunately this image did not make it into the judges shortlist. But the enthusiasm shown during the shoot is something that I'll always remember.

- KP