Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/10/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sorry Harrison, but I used to cover hockey and basketball for the Boston Globe in the '50s. That's when we used 4x5 Speed Graphics and 25 lb. Strobotron flashes, not wimpy Leicas. The Celtics even won most of their games then. I also shot pro bono pictures of college soccer. But all those sports have something in common. If you know the sport, you can predict the photo opportunities and act accordingly. You simply build reaction time and camera shutter lag into your anticipation process. As for prefocusing, you have two options. For manual focusing cameras, you can prefocus on the action zone or you can focus on an area of the arena and wait until the action moves into that area. I defy anyone to follow focus on a sport like soccer, especially if you are on the sidelines and the play is moving toward you. I know I can't. Still, no one has answered my question about what percentage of success those great action shots represent. One of the best baseball photographers I knew used a Hulcher sequence camera to get pictures of Ted Williams at his peak. He would routinely run through 100 feet of film, 800 shots. to get the few sensational pictures that ran in the sports pages. And Ted, you need no support for those great pictures. But I suspect that you are so capable and experienced that you have forgotten how hard it is for we photo neophytes to internalize the skills that you spent a lifetime developing. You might not have to think about clicking the shutter and making an outstanding picture, but I know that I have to spend precious seconds in the decision process. Peace. Larry Z On Oct 8, 2006, at 12:51 AM, lug-request@leica-users.org wrote: > > Thank you Harrison, > ted > Ted Grant Photography Limited > 1817 Feltham Road > Victoria BC V8N 2A4 > 250-477-2156 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Harrison McClary" <harrison@mcclary.net> > To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org> > Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 6:54 PM > Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Shutter lag > > >> Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: >>> >>> >>> With all due respect, Ted, while remarkable sports shots, they don't >>> prove anything except that you know the sport and where to position >>> yourself in the arena. To get a decent picture of a basketball >>> layup or a >>> diver in a mid air tuck is a piece of cake. In most sports, there >>> are a >>> few locations where players converge and dramatic actions can be >>> recorded. The basketball goal posts, the hockey net, home plate >>> or first >>> base on a baseball diamond are good examples. You know where the >>> action >>> will take place, you can prefocus, and then wait until the player >>> moves >>> into position. But you have no idea if the hockey goalie will >>> actually >>> stop the puck or the soccer player will actually head the corner >>> kick. >>> Nor do you have any examples of adventitious pictures of events that >>> can't be predicted like a basketball midcourt steal, a Grand Prix >>> tire >>> blowout, or the knockout punch in a prizefight. Good as you are, >>> there is >>> at least a fifth of a second from the time you think about taking a >>> picture until the shutter actually opens. In that time, a jumping >>> basketball player can leap three feet, a fastball thrown by a big >>> league >>> pitcher will travel 26 feet, and a speeding race car will travel >>> 35 to 40 >>> feet. I suspect that you click the shutter when the action starts >>> and, >>> like most of us, trust to luck that you will record a memorable >>> picture. >>> >>> Come on now, be honest. How many shots ended in the wastebasket to >>> produce the ones on the web site? If you say that you get every >>> picture >>> with one click of the camera you will give the rest of us a horrible >>> inferiority complex. >> >> The above was OBVIOUSLY written by someone who has never covered >> sports of >> any type for a living. >> First of all NO ONE who is a professional photographer >> PREFOCUSES...this >> is a HUGE misconception by amatures about how to photograph >> sports. I >> have covered events from the NCAA championships, the World Series, >> Super >> Bowls down to high school football. I NEVER prefocused a single >> shot. >> Mid Court steals? Try that with a 400 2.8 my friend. And yes I have >> quite a few of those shots...show them to you? Go dig through the >> Betteman archives as they were shot for UPI and are lost somewhere >> in a >> salt mine somewhere. >> >> Photograph a player making a mid air reception with the ball on his >> fingertips? Yep..been there done that also. >> >> http://www.pbase.com/2plus2/image/32936855 >> http://www.pbase.com/2plus2/image/32936857 >> >> Admittedly those were shot with a Canon FD system, but my EOS 1DII >> shoots >> just as fast as that old F1N did. >> >> I am sorry but shooting kids is no where in the same ball park as >> shooting >> sports is. I have kids and I have covered pro sports...believe me >> sports >> are FAR harder. Period. >> >> >> -- >> Harrison McClary Photography >> harrison@mcclary.net >> http://www.mcclary.net >> ImageStockSouth - Stock Photography >> http://www.imagestocksouth.com