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

En-lighten-ed

2008 has been another tumultuous year on the photographic front.

Some thoughts: -

The shock waves generated by the debut of video-enabled DSLRs are slowly reverberating but have yet to hit home. Nevertheless, the transition from film to digital will pale vis-a-vis the leap from still to motion pictures.

“Strobism” is in full steam and sticking a light off-camera is getting passe.

Slowly but surely sensor sizes are converging towards 135 format. In the not too distant future, the thought of using a sensor smaller than 36mm x 24mm (or paying the obscene amounts for the privilege of using one) would be a really bad joke.

On a more personal level, Polaroids are going the way of the dinosaur – thank goodness Fuji is still in the thick of it with their excellent Instax integral film.

With that, here's looking at an exciting (for better or worse) 2009. May we all lead a more en-lighten-ed year... =D

Polaroid madness

Only... it isn't taken by the ubiquitous Polaroid, but, may we dare say, something better.

The Instax mini camera by Fujifilm was an instant (haha) hit at a recent lunch ROM reception. Combining the gratification of digital photography and the "feel" of film, the results are sharp and colours vibrant.

Guests intuitively pen their well-wishes on the credit-card sized photos and the newly wedded couple receives much more than a photographic record to relive that special moment of their lives.

For couples or anyone interested in the spontaneity of instant photography coverage, do give us a buzz!

Upbeat

Scores of revellers put aside recession worries...

and gyrated to separate performances by Kanye West...



and 20-year old Barbadian sensation Rihanna...



28 Photography’s Mark Lim was on location to soak up the buoyant mood and was granted a rare respite from the incessant news of doom and gloom in the economy.


Till the next concert, let's keep our chins up... =D

Serve and Volley

The synthetic hard court was baking in the morning sun by the time we arrived at NIE for a photoshoot of the men's volleyball team from NTU Hall of Residence Seven.

Sun 1 Strobe 0

It was way too glaring for anything productive and we beat a hasty retreat to the indoor gymnasium. A pity; an outdoor shoot would have been nice.

The individual portraits were taken...


Followed by a little bit of exercise...


And a quick set-up change with two flagged strobes lighting up the tallest player in the Hall 7 squad.

Ash

Concert junkie Mark Lim was at Fort Canning (again!) to cover Ash 'Live' in Singapore.

With more than decade and six albums under their belt, the group showed the crowds a rock-ly good time.

Frontman Tim Wheeler;
Mark Hamilton on bass;
Drummer Rick McMurray.

More of Mark's photos and a review of the concert at http://www.mtvasia.com/Review/Event/E20081003001710.html

Drummin'

28 Photography's Mark Lim was at Fort Canning on assignment from MTV Asia for the much anticipated Singapore Drumfest 2008.

There were special appearances from some of the best in the music industry, including American Idol's drummer Teddy Campbell and R&B Singer Sy Smith.


Rock maestro Magnetico, featuring Rockstar's drummer Nate Morton, guitarist Rafael Moreira also brought a lot of love to electronic music lovers.

The best of regional and local acts were also not forgetten, as Tribal Tide featuring Mohd Noor (World Latin), The Strikeforce and Wicked Aura Batucada also gave the crowd something to remember!

A City Hall Romp

Back to shooting cheerleaders after a two-week hiatus. The subject for this Sunday morning is Yirong, a graduating member of the team and arguably the one that kick-started the photography sessions for the NTU ACES squad.

Managed to get my ass and the gear on location by eight-ish – some members of the team were putting up a performance for the SHAPE Run 2008 which meant I’ll be shooting Yee Yong around the City Hall area, post-performance.

We settled on an open space beneath the Esplanade Bridge, aka “Falun Gong corner” to those who frequent the area.

Things got off to a slow start, but the pace picked up when we moved to the old Supreme court. Here’re a few outtakes and setup shots: -

A lot of light, but not much clue... =P

Underneath the Esplanade bridge

Padang on Sunday morning - Hot, in more ways than one

All set for the nth jump





All-in-all, a productive morning and I'm pretty happy with the output.

Go Fish!

The Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped is raising funds for its daily operations and programs through the sale of underwater photographer Margaret Pang's Enchantment of the Sea - a luscious hard-bound volume showcasing marine life in and around the region.

Books are going for $30/each and greeting cards (blank) at $12 for a pack of 10.



Enquiries / orders can be directed to Ms Fauziah of the SAVH at 6251 4331.

Speedcycler

Lugging a big ass strobe when shooting sports is sometimes not viable - but you still need decent flash recycle times.

Enter the Multimax's Speedcycler function, enabling sequential flash firing and consequently reducing the workload of each flash. It's a function that I've yet to use (in a meaningful way of course...)

Seat-of-the-pants testing gets me continuous half-power pops @ 2~3fps by cycling three hotshoe flashes. We'll see how this pans out in an actual shoot.



*EDIT*
After some thought, this is an overly complicated solution - it would be much easier to add more flashes and fire them simultaneously. I suppose the Speedcycler function comes into its own say on a fashion runway when the subject moves in a predetermined fashion and lights can be placed in sequential order...

'Chip'

Another shoot with the NTU ACES, although this was more of a clean-up session: some graduating members of the team weren't present a couple of weeks ago.

The weather did not favour allow for an outdoor shoot, so it was back to the safe (but a tad boring) pose against white white/gray-ish backdrop wall shots.

Nevertheless, Agnes (otherwise known as 'Chip') proved to be a revelation; it took only three attempts to get the SOTD (ok ok, Shot-of-the-Day, i made it up on the fly).

Shot 1 - The basic idea



Shot 2 - Almost there, pointy toes, pointy toes!



Shot 3 - SOTD



Here's a quick 'n dirty look at the set-up:



EOS 30D
EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

AcuteB600 w/ Softlight Reflector White
2 x 580EXII (Background lights, Flagged)
1 x SB-80DX (Rim light, Flagged)

3 x PW Multimax, 2 x PW Plus II Radio Triggers

JT & Linda

A relatively quiet weekend allowed for some backlog to be cleared - mostly images from JT & Linda's wedding.

I've been bringing less gear for actual day shoots - you can't beat the reach or the comfort in having a telephoto or telephoto zoom at the ready on a second body, but you sure can move closer a lot quicker without that lump of glass on your shoulder.

As the second photographer I had the luxury to shoot with two lights - quick 'n dirty with two 580EXIIs, the off-camera flash being attached to a Justin clamp and triggered by the on-camera master.

It's a hit-or-miss affair more often than I would care for, but more so with regard to positioning than exposure. Times like these, the old 580EX is preferred to its Mark II replacement- switching between Master and non-wireless mode is unnecessarily painful with the latter.

Bride 'rim lit' through the veil by a second Speedlite.

A less hectic moment, here the second 580EXII provides fill.

When you're beaten to the spot by a compact wielding relative...

5-6-7-8

Who DOESN'T like photographing cheerleaders?

Photogenic, flexible and not the least bit camera shy... =D

Mun Chun: -

As promised, a few of the 'outtakes'.

Enjoy!

Porta-Brace

Ever since man moved that lil' hotshoe flash off the hotshoe, so began the eternal quest to find that perfect 'light' bag.

Yes, the bag that swallows 1,000 lightstands, super clamps, umbrellas, flags, magic arms and other assorted whatchamacallits.

The bag that you grab and go without packing (because its never unpacked...) and arrive on location with everything you possibly need. And then some.

In a short span of two years I have bought, sold or disposed four lightstand bags -three SLIK bags (one busted, one sold, one given away) and a Lowel (too big, sold). And the search went on.

Till today.

Boy, this bag absolutely STINKS... of quality. Porta-Brace clad this bag in rugged blue Cordura, with enough room to swallow four lightstands (or three and a tripod), miscellaneous clamps, digital transcievers... and a design that STAYS open when its supposed to be OPEN.


Yup, stays open. Look Ma, no hands!


Mine was inspected / crafted by Vicki S.


Thanks Vic - from a bunch of grateful Manfrotto lightstands... =P

A Branch Too Far

Cherie was also with us @ the Botanical Gardens on Saturday and to keep up with the 'sports' theme, we had her vault over this low hanging tree branch...

... which has been smoothed over by generations of kids sliding their asses all over it.

Repeatedly.

Unfortunately it was a branch too far (or too high, to be precise) and the idea was probably half-baked to begin with.

Kudos to the model for enduring so much abuse... I hope the knee and bum aren't as sore as on Sunday... =P

Mucho gratias!