Friday, August 28, 2015

Freezing motion with flash, how low can you go?





  • 17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8
  • ƒ/6.3




  • 38.0 mm
  • 1/25




  • 500
  • Flash (on, fired)

  • I was presented with a job photographing kids indoors.  Kids don't like to sit still, so photographing them indoors can be a bit of a challenge.  The ceiling in this indoor space was too high to bounce my flash off of so I had no choice but to point the flash right at my subjects.  I could have taken the flash off the camera and used a cord but that required too much juggling and made it impossible for me to hold my camera with both hands.  I used a large softbox and I constantly changed the FV value to get the results I wanted.  I think I had it at -.3 for this shot.

    In the above picture my flash froze the motion nicely and I was able to get away with just 1/25 of a second for a nice clear shot.  The kid in the back ground is a blur but he was moving fast and the flash was not pointed at him.  I was not able to freeze the motion of fast moving subjects at such low shutter speeds.  I'll keep experimenting.

    I was really happy with how much ambient light was preserved while using the flash.  The entire reason to shoot with such a low shutter speed was to let in more ambient light so my pictures would not look like they were taken in a cave.

    The softbox worked well to defuse the light and the slower shutter speed called for lower flash power both worked together to eliminate and hash light or shadows on my subject.

    More Softball


    Friday, August 21, 2015

    Cotton Candy

    I've seen a lot of cotton candy this festival season and this was the most unique collection method of all.  I also have a photo in the sports section that made the front page of the online edition.


    Monday, August 3, 2015

    Softball

    This was my first time photographing softball.  The paper is looking to hire a full time sport reporter at the moment.   Again I used .jpg and active D lighting.  I was a bit under glassed with my 70-200mm lens but it still got the job done.  I'm thinking about buying a teleconverter for my lens.  I mostly shot at f/6.3 and above so I could shots that were in focus.  

    The hardest shot to get was outfielders catching fly balls.  By the time I knew where the ball was going and got my lens pointed in the right direction I was lucky to get a non blurry shot.  Getting the timing correct was even harder.  I was generally just a little bit too late to get a picture of the ball in the air.  I've read that I should keep both eyes open when shooting softball but my right eye is covered up by my camera as I look through the view finder with my left eye.

    I was able to get a lot of pictures of the bat making contact with the ball.  I watched the body language of the batters to time those shots.


        Shannon Paine (Bomb Squad) hustles to first base as first base man Kevin Frye (Castle Colman) stretches out to receive the ball thrown to him by another in fielder after it was hit by Shannon Paine.  Castle Coleman won this contest with a final score of 7-3 at the Adult Coed Softball league tournament from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Callanan Park. 

          Jordanne Kumpolis receives a high five from a team mate as she rounds third base after hitting a solo home run.  Jordanne’s team Brothers lost 16-5 Vs Castle Coleman during the first game of the weekend tournament at the Adult Coed Softball league tournament from from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Callanan Park. 


         Jorge Wright age 7 plays in a sprinkler to cool off while his  uncle Brandon plays softball  for the team Camco on Saturday afternoon. at the Adult Coed Softball league tournament from from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Callanan Park. 




    Allyn Days

    The weather was really hot again so to avoid overheating I moved slowly and paced myself.

          Waves of heat and steam radiate off of the grill as Hector Loza of Taylor Shellfish dumps oysters out of a net bag. at Allyn Days sponsored by the Allyn Community Association and held at the Allyn waterfront park  on Sunday .   ~ © Shawna Whelan 2015

          Joshua Ford 12, of Belfair, smiles as he competes in the speed oyster shucking race at Allyn Days sponsored by the Allyn Community Association and held at the Allyn waterfront park  on Sunday .   ~ © Shawna Whelan 2015



          Team Windermere celebrates back at the dock after winning a dragon boat race at Allyn Days sponsored by the Allyn Community Association and held at the Allyn waterfront park  on Sunday .   ~ © Shawna Whelan 2015

    Summer Continues - Disc Golf Showdown


    Disc Golf Showdown:
    Again active D lighting was very helpful here.  This was a difficult job with many of the shots in speckled sun and shade under a tree canopy.  It was also very hot.  I had to leave before I was completely happy with my work because the heat drove me away.
    Kyle Crabtree of Fife reckons that he is the 12 best disc golf player in the world.

    Professional disk golfer Ming Vang of Seattle  checks out a colorful display of disks for sale
     on the tournament grounds.

    Summer time

    Fourth of July at the Shelton Farmer's Market

    I've started to shoot my paper assignments in .jpg again.  When I shoot in .jpg I can take advantage of Nikon's active D lighting.  Active D lighting pretty much ruins RAW images. I feel a bit lazy shooting in .jpg  because jpg files don't need as much editing as raw files, but the paper does not like my pictures to be edited much anyway.

    I'm doing as much of my work as possible with my 70-200mm lens and only breaking out my wide angle lens when I need to get really close to my subjects.

    4th of July at the farmer's market.  I took the face painting shot due to the flag and this child's
    patriot clothing, it printed.  At any festival the face painting shot is a for sure safe shot.

    Old dogs waiting to be in the 4th of July parade

    WSU Garden Tour

    A vigorously growing pumpkin plant blooms and sets fruit as it climbs up a trellis at the Rob Wilson-Hoss garden.
    at The Mason County WSU Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday, July 11 from 10 AM – 4 PM. Gardens are located north of Shelton. ~copyright 2015 Shawna Whelan

    ) Flowers blossom in the foreground of Rebecca’s Bowden’s decorated house wall.
    at The Mason County WSU Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday, July 11 from 10 AM – 4 PM. Gardens are located north of Shelton. ~copyright 2015 Shawna Whelan

    Rob Wilson-Hoss tends to his pepper plants while prayer flags hang overhead and behind him.
    at The Mason County WSU Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday, July 11 from 10 AM – 4 PM. Gardens are located north of Shelton. ~copyright 2015 Shawna Whelan