Filed under: Assignment Breakdown, By Robert Hanashiro, Camera Gear, Guiding Light, Lighting, Lighting Gear, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, how-to | Tags: Dynalight, Lighting, location lighting, photo lighting, portrait lighting, Sports Shooter Big Kahuna, stobes, the guiding light
MARTY & LEO
By Robert Hanashiro
For a portrait of director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio I was fortunate that we were given access to a small bar in the Beverly Hill Hotel. For the first time in several months, I decided to use my Dynalight kit instead of my Nikon Speedlights. I guess I wanted to go with the “big lights” to shoot the “big stars”?
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio portrait at the Beverly Hill Hotel bar Nineteen 12. Tech notes: D3, 24-70mm zoom @ 31mm; ISO 200, 1/10th @ f/5.6. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright 2010 USA TODAY
More than anything else, I knew I wanted to create a mood to match the tone of the noir-ish film the pair had coming up — a sort of Hitchcock-style thriller, “Shutter Island”. Looking at the bar a few days in advance of the shoot via the hotel’s website — the Internet saved me a trip to Beverly Hills! — it looked like a throwback to the 40s or 50s, dark and moody.
So for the control and power output I needed the Dynalights were a better choice than the speedlights.
I had about 90-minutes to set up before the interview and I needed about every second of it. I knew how I wanted to pose them, but lighting them to create the mood I wanted took some tweaking of the exposure/strobe power output and position of the back lights.
I used a medium Chimera softbox in front of Scorsese and DiCaprio, controlling the spread with a medium fabric grid. I knew I would use a slow shutter speed to pickup the bar’s chandeliers and background — plus the warmth of the available light.
An fun homage to my colleague Bob Deutsch using a bit of a "jiggle" during the slow exposure. Tech notes: D3, 24-70mm zoom @ 31mm; ISO 200, 1/6th @ f/5.6. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright USA TODAY 2010
To give them a bit of a highlight plus separate them from the darkish background, I used a second pack with two heads, one on each side slight behind them. I used a 20-degree grid on each head and French Flags to help eliminate possible flare since these heads were shooting lighting toward the camera.
I usually work with an assistant on a shoot like this — on location, lots of gear, not a lot of time to shoot — but none of the usual people I use were available!
One of the most important things an assistant provides is a readily available stand-in. When using grids, especially pointing them (even slightly) toward the camera, having stand ins to check for flare and exposure is very important. Fortunately one of the p.r. reps and a make-up person were nearby for me to use to stand in for Leo and Marty. Fortunately they were there! After a couple of test frames I saw that I had to move one of the grids in the rear creating a bit of flare and there was a reflection in a mirror I had not noticed.
After moving the lights a couple of times, changing the power output so I could open up one stop to get more of the background I was ready!
Leo arrived first, Marty delayed probably because of the downpour that was going on all morning. When the director arrived, it was like watching brothers greeting each other — smiling, outgoing and very heartfelt. This was the feel I had hoped for in the shoot ( with a bit of noir-ish light thrown in of course).
My celeb shoots generally don’t take long and of course we usually aren’t given a lot of time for them. So being prepared — lights set, exposure down — is essential. When I walked them to the tall table I had placed at the end of the bar, the only thing I told them was I wanted them to just lean on it like they would if they both had ordered a drink at Musso & Frank, the old-style Hollywood bar. They immediately began asking what each other was up to, forgetting that I was there and away we went!
The 28-70mm zoom gave me flexibility to go loose and tight. About 50 frames later, we were done.
Lighting diagram via the cool site: http://www.lightingdiagrams.com/
After Scorsese said his good-byes as he rushed off to another meeting, DiCaprio told the publicists he wanted to order a quick lunch and I began to breakdown my lights and pack my cameras away.
While unplugging cables and taking down light stands I asked DiCaprio about the Laker – Magic game, where I sat on the baseline about 20 feet from him a couple of days earlier. He smiled and said “You were there too? That was some game wasn’t it!”
We chatted on for a while, then his lunch arrived and had to get power packs and strobe heads into my Lightware case…
Filed under: Assignment Breakdown, By Robert Hanashiro, Camera Gear, Fun Assignments, Shooting Sports, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, sports photography | Tags: hanashiro, Nikon D3, sports photography, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Big Kahuna
By Robert Hanashiro
The Grammy Awards is just one of several entertainment shows I cover every year for USA TODAY. And it’s the one I look forward to the most.
Honoring the top musical artists of the year, the Grammys are a lot different than the Emmy and Oscar shows. While the awards shows for the movie and television industry all have the requisite glamor, glitter and a red carpet, the Grammy Awards show has something the other don’t: Live performances.
Pink spins while suspended above the crowd during her performance of "Glitter in the Air." Tech Notes: Nikon D3, 400mm; ISO 1600, 1/320 @ f/2.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright 2010 USA TODAY
The top names in music, most up for awards that night, perform for a packed house at Staples Center and millions on television. The producer of the show, Ken Erlich, through the years has paired up artists for some interesting and often powerful performances — like Beyonce and Prince; Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge and Elton John with Eminem. And the 51st Grammys last night was no different with John leading off the show with Diva-Of-The-Moment Lady Gaga; Taylor Swift and (speaking of Divas) Stevie Nicks and my favorite musical performance of the night guitar legend Jeff Beck paired with rockabilly vocalist Imelda May (paying tribute to the late Les Paul with a spot on rendition of “How High The Moon”).
Covering the 3 1/2 hour Grammy show is a lot like covering sports: Constantly changing lighting conditions, peak action, use of long lenses, capturing emotion, lots of backlight, high ISO, fans and TV cameras in the way — lots of challenges. But lots of fun.
While this is a show about music, like all of entertainment — including sports events — it has become very theatrical.
Pink performing while doing a sort of Cirque du Soileil act, sang suspended above the crowd and at one point after being soaked in a tub of water spun around spraying everyone nearby. One of several “Wow” performances during the evening.
Hillary Strong backlight? Just go wth it and try for the moody or dramatic. Scott and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum perform at the Grammy Awards. D3, 400mm w/ 1.7 teleconverter; ISO 2500 1/160 @ f/4.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyrght 2010 USA TODAY
Jennifer Nettlles, of Sugarland, duets with Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi at the Grammy Awards. Tech Notes: D3, 400mm; ISO 1600, 1/400 @ f/2.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright 2010 USA TODAY
Beyonce performs Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" during the Grammy Awards. Tech Notes: D3, 400mm w/ 1.7 teleconverter; ISO 3200, 1/160 @ f/4.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright 2010 USA TODAY
Taylor Swift performs with Stevie Nicks. There was a wide range of contrast with a lot of light on Taylor and not much on Stevie. This was handled well by the camera even at a high ISO. Tech Notes: D3, 400mm w/1.7 teleconverter; ISO 3200, 1/160 @ f/4.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright 2010 USA TODAY
Under large portraits of Michael Jackson Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion, Smoky Robinson, Usher and Carrie Underwood perform "Earth Song" during a tribute to pop icon during the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. Tech notes: D300, 70-200mm zoom @ 70mm; ISO 1600, 1/320 @ f/2.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright 2010 USA TODAY
Filed under: By Robert Hanashiro, Camera Gear, Fun Assignments, Shooting Sports, Sports Shooter Academy, sports photography | Tags: Nikon D3s, Nikon D3s review, sports photography, Sports Shooter
For a change of pace, I covered the Professional Bull Riders Anaheim Invitational over the weekend. Bull riding is an amazing sport and the athletes … both human and bull … test the real limits of endurance, skill, strength, agility and the shutter speed of your camera.
A 2000-pound bull is incredibly fast, whipping a 165-pound rider around like the proverbial rag doll. Seeing a bull that size leap 3 or 4 feet into the air, while bucking wildly trying to throw the rider seems to defy gravity.
Reese Cates goes horizontal during his first round ride at the Professional Bull Riders Anaheim Invitational at the Honda Center. Tech Notes: D3s, 70-200mm zoom; ISO 12800, 1/1600 @ f/2.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright USA TODAY 2010
The Honda Center, though a major sports venue, is not the best lit place. I always dread shooting the odd Laker or NCAA Regional games there because it is so darn dark!
I have been using a loaner Nikon D3s the past few weeks and the PBR Anaheim stop was my real test of the camera’s low-light/high-ISO capabilities.
The action required the highest shutter speed you could muster … plus a click or two more. With the “S” I shot at ISO 10000-12800; 1/1600 – 1/2000 @ f/2.8 with the 300mm and 70-200mm zoom.
For an unscientific comparison, I did shoot a bit with the original D3, ISO 6400 at 1/800 — I found that the ”S” is a bit “hotter” than the D3. Most of the peak action — riders in midair being thrown or bulls bucking off the ground — had some motion blur when these files were cropped/blown up.
I had thought I might go to a high school basketball game to test the D3s’ high-ISO capabilities and auto-focus in low light. But when the opportunity to cover Professional Bull Riders, I decided that would be a much bigger challenge. The speed, power of the bulls and knowing the Honda Center had terrible available light seemed the perfect test.
Images here are cropped, toned a bit. No in-camera noise reduction were used and none were used in post-production.
The PBR is a great sport to shoot. The athletes, fans, organization and the event itself are a lot of fun. But if you’re not on top of your game, that 3-10 seconds the rider and bull are involved in that wild dance, you won’t get the photographs you really want.
I will be writing a more detailed users report on my impressions of the new D3s sometime in the near future.
J.B. Mauney rides Class 6 Kat during the Professional Bull Riders Anaheim Invitational at the Honda Center. Tech Notes: Nikon D3s, 70-200mm zoom; ISO 10000, 1/1600 @ f/2.8. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Copyright USA TODAY 2010
USA TODAY posted a fun little “Sights & Sounds” audio gallery I did from the Anaheim event:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2010-01-24-bull-riding-anaheim-invitational_N.htm
Filed under: Shooting Sports, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, sports photography | Tags: sports photography, sports photography workshop, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, SportsShooter.com
Just a reminder that the deadline for the Sports Shooter Newsletter Annual Contest is approaching quickly: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2010.
This year’s Sports Shooter Newsletter Annual Contest will feature five categories, plus the Photograph of the Year:
1) Best Action Photo
2) Best No Pro, No College
3) Best Sports feature
4) Best Sports Picture Story
5) Best Student Sports Photo
6) Photograph of the Year
CATEGORY DETAILS
The Best Action Photo is any image depicting peak game action on the field of play or within the arena or stadium holding the event.
Best No Pro, No College entries should be images from a sports event that does not involve a professional or major college team. The spirit of this category is to recognize work produced from non-major sports, leagues or teams. This could be high school, junior college or even little league events.
Sports Feature entries can be any image that does not center on game action. This category should include photographs of jubilation and dejection, as well as portraits.
The Best Student Sports Photo category is open to FULL-TIME students or students working in an internship and at the time the entry were made. Entries for this category can be any sports – related images, action or feature.
Best Sports Picture Story entries should contain no more than 10 photographs and should have a defined story related to sports or athletes. Photographs should be ordered (labeled) in the way the photographer wants the entry to be viewed. Complete captions are important. “Photo essays” are also eligible to be entered in this category.
The Photo of the Year entries will be gathered from the winners of the other categories and will receive the top prize from Sports Shooter. YOU DO NOT SEND ENTRIES IN FOR THIS CATEGORY.
All entries must have been taken during calendar year 2009.
The deadline for submitting entries for the Sports Shooter Newsletter Annual Contest is midnight pacific time, Super Bowl Sunday February 7, 2010.
WHO CAN ENTER
The Sports Shooter Contest is open to Sports Shooter Newsletter subscribers, members of SportsShooter.com and alums of the Sports Shooter Academy workshops.
If you receive the monthly e-mail version of the Sports Shooter Newsletter or you’re a member of SportsShooter.com, you are eligible to enter the contest. If you’ve been reading Sports Shooter on the web only, you can subscribe via the website (http://www.sportsshooter.com/subscribe_newsletter.html) and request to be placed on the mailing list. SportsShooter.com members in good standing are also eligible to enter as well as participants in any of the Sports Shooter Academy Workshops.
ENTRY PREPARATION
SIZE:
We recommend all images be prepared in Adobe Photoshop. Images should be sized at a resolution of 72 PPI, with the largest dimension 16-19 inches. Files should be saved as JPEGs at a quality setting of 8 (or medium).
Picture of the Year 2007: Pepperdine’s Jason Walberg, #12, gouges the eyes of Brigham Young University’s Jonathan Tavernari, #45, during the first half of the game. No foul was called on the play.
FILE NAMING:
Decide on a unique photographer’s code of 4 to 6 letters, to be used to label each of your entries. Your entries should be first labeled with the number of the category: 1 – Best Action Photo; 2 – No Pro, No College; 3 – No Ball; 4 – Sports Picture Story; 5 – Student Sports Photo — followed by your unique code; followed by sequential two-digit numbers corresponding to the number of photos you are entering in that category.
EXAMPLE:
3rodmar01.jpg (“3″ = Feature Category; “rodmar” is the unique photographer code; “01″ indicates it is your first entry in this category.)
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
4bradm07.jpg (“4″ = Sports Picture Story category; “bradm” is the unique photographer code; “07″ is the number of the photograph in the picture story.)
Entries that do not follow the naming convention will be rejected.
CAPTIONS:
A complete caption is required for each entry. Your caption should include the location the photo was taken, the date it was shot, ID’s and your byline. This information should be written in the “File Info” portion of the image in Photoshop.
CAPTION EXAMPLE:
FRESNO, CA – 11/07/2009: University of Hawaii quarterback Inoke Funaki celebrates with teammates after throwing a 28-yard touchdown against Fresno State in the 3rd quarter at Bulldog Stadium. Hawaii went on to a 32-29 overtime win over the Bulldogs.
Photo by Jordan Murph, Sports Shooter
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT
In the “File info” of your entry, make sure you type your full name in the “Author” field and your email address in the “Author Title” field. (If you have an older version of Photoshop or are using a different image editing software, make sure this info is listed somewhere in the “File Info”.)
SUBMITTING ENTRIES
Entries are to be submitted by e-mail and must be received by midnight (Pacific Time) on Feb. 7, 2010, Super Bowl Sunday. Entries are limited to 12 per photographer. A picture story counts as a single entry.
In the “Subject” field of the email header, type in “Contest Entry” followed by the number of entries attached to the email. For instance if you have 3 entries attached out of 6 total, type in the Subject field: “Contest Entry 3 of 6″.
You can enter an image in just one category. For instance, you cannot enter your cool prep football photograph in both the “Best Action” category and ” Best No Pro, No College “.
Failure to follow the rules for labeling, captioning and preparing entries will result in disqualification. Files that are sized too large will not be accepted.
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ENTRIES
Before e-mailing your entries, please take a few minutes to double check that you’ve sized your images correctly, have a complete caption in the file info and the entry is labeled correctly. ALSO: Please virus-scan your entry.
Email entries to: SportsShooterContest@gmail.com.
Failure to follow any of the entry rules will result in the disqualification of your entry. Also if you submit an entry into the wrong category, it is up to the judges’ discretion to move it to the appropriate category.
You can see all of the winning entries in the previous contests on SportsShooter.com:
http://www.sportsshooter.com/2008_contest_winners/index.html
To view a video made during the 2006 contest judging, click on this link:
http://www.sportsshooter.com/special_feature/2005_contest_vid/index2.html
Thanks to Doug Murdoch and all of the wonderful folks at Think Tank Photo for sponsoring the prizes for the top winners in the contest.
Filed under: By Robert Hanashiro, Shooting Sports, Sports Shooter Academy, sports photography | Tags: sports photography, sports photography workshop, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, Sports Shooter Big Kahuna
By Robert Hanashiro
I am very happy to confirm that Sports Illustrated staff photographer John McDonough will be a part of Sports Shooter Academy VII to be held April 7-10, 2010 in Southern California.
April is a very busy time of year — the Final Four, start of the Major League Baseball season, the end the NBA regular season and start of the playoffs — to have John make time for this workshop is an amazing thing.
SI staff photographer John McDonough at the USC - Notre Dame football game. In the background is Jordan Murph. Photo by Robert Hanashiro
“Sounds like it will be a lot of fun.” John said when confirming his participation in the workshop. On the rest of the faculty he said: “What a talented group!”
John joins an already extraordinary faculty that includes: Matt Brown, Wally Skalij, Michael Goulding, Myung Chun, Rod Mar and Sean Haffey. The staff for the workshop includes Jordan Murph, Crystal Chatham and Shawn Cullen.
The Sports Shooter Academy is a hands-on workshop that provide participants access to numerous sports events to cover including NCAA Division I baseball, track & field, softball, tennis, water polo and volleyball. Sessions with AVP beach volleyball players, at the La Habra Boxing Gym and Santa Anita Park are also on the workshop schedule.
For more information about applying — better hurry there are only a few spots left to be filled! — check these links on this site:
http://sportsshooteracademy.com/2009/10/25/ssavii_application/
http://sportsshooteracademy.com/2009/10/14/welcome-to-sportsshooteracademy-com/
During the three shooting days, participants will cover sports events throughout the day under the guidance of the faculty. Each evening, participants will have their work edited and critiqued by the faculty one-on-one.
The Sports Shooter Academy is sponsored by Nikon, which is providing funding that allows full-time college and university students to attend tuition-free. Nikon will also be providing loaner equipment for participants to use during the workshop, including their latest professional digital cameras and lenses from fisheyes to super-telephotos.
Also supporting the Sports Shooter Academy is Think Tank Photo and Samy’s Camera.
Prizes will be awarded for the top photos made during the workshop.
John McDonough and Rod Mar during the Samy's Camera/Nikon Olympic Photographers Night. Photo by Robert Hanashiro
Filed under: Assignment Breakdown, By Robert Hanashiro, Shooting Sports, Sports Shooter, The Kahuna's Please-Don't-Call-It-A-Blog, sports photography | Tags: hanashiro, photographing football, sports photography, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Big Kahuna
Charger – Bengals Game Comes Down To A Last Second Field Goal
By Robert Hanashiro, The Kahuna’s Please-Don’t-Call-It-A-Blog
Covering sports is challenging and at times frustrating.
Sunday’s Chargers’ last second win over the Bengals at Qualcomm Stadium was a good example of that. A meeting of two teams headed to the playoffs. Division titles and a playoff home game at stake. I hadn’t shot a football game in a while and was really looking forward to this one.
LaDainian Tomlinson stiff arms Tom Nelson on a 7-yard gain during first quarter action. D3, 400mm; ISO 400, 1/2000 @ f/3.2.
While my colleagues on the East Coast were in parkas using snow blowers to get their cars out of the garage, San Diego was in the high 70s with clear blue skies and 40 minutes before kick-off, Donald Miralle was passing around the sunscreen.
This is football in So Cal a week before Christmas!
Tght end Antonio Gates leaps to grab a 3-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers during first quarter action. Nikon D3, 70-200mm zoom @ 200mm; ISO 400, 1/1600 @ f/3.2.
The game started out great — for a photographer — on the opening kick-off Darren Sproles ran straight at me for 45 yards, only a Cincinnati defender going horizontal tripped up the Charger returner preventing a TD.
The first play from scrimmage, I track Charger receiver Vincent Jackson speeding down the far sideline for about 35 yards, leaping over a DB that turned the wrong way.
A couple of minutes later, LaDainian Tomlinson goes around the right side and gives a defender one of his patented stiff-arms to the head.
Five more plays and Rivers hits a leaping Antonio Gates in the end zone for a touchdown.
Five minutes into the game and I already have 5 pretty god photos!
Another element to this game was the Bengals were playing just three days after the death of receiver Chris Henry in what authorities described as a domestic dispute with his fiancée in Charlotte, N.C.
Shooting pre-game involved looking for features of players paying tribute to Henry…the #15 on the back of Bengals’ helmets, on eye-black, written on socks and reaction during the P.A. announcement about Henry’s death.
Chad Ochocinco looks to the heavens after scoring on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer against the Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Teammate Chris Henry died just three days before the game. Nikon D300, 24-70mm zoom @ 70mm; ISO 400, 1/1250 @ f/3.2.
But all of the photographers were waiting for something out of Chad Ochocinco, especially if he scored during the game. And in the 2nd quarter Ochocinco caught a 49-yard TD pass from Carson Palmer, dropping to his knees after crossing the goal line, touching his heart and looking to the sky.
Afterward, Ochocinco spend several minutes on the bench, tears in his eyes.
All of that in just over a quarter of play!
Charger tight end Kris Wilson looks like he's lost his head as he is tackled by the Chinedum Ndukwe during second half action. Nikon D3, 400mm w/ TC-17; ISO 1250, 1/800 @ f/4.7.
Now we get to what I mentioned at the top, the “challenging” and “frustrating” part of this story. Leading 24-13 going into the 4th quarter the Chargers high-powered offense sputtered and 11 unanswered points later, we were staring at overtime.
But with 54 seconds left, Rivers drove his team down the field and Ned Keating was lining for a game-winning field goal with just a few ticks left on the clock.
A game that goes down to a field goal at the end, makes editing easy … the only photos that matter are the kick and more importantly the jube afterward. You may have some of the best football photos you’ve taken, but all that matters in this situation is that field goal.
That is, if you don’t get blocked …
There are several different strategies when it comes to shooting a game-winning field goal:
- On the kicking team’s side, looking toward the line of scrimmage about 20-30 yards downfield and pray you don’t get blocked by players, refs, “dish holders” or assorted people on the sidelines. (The theory being if the kicker makes it, he will turn toward his bench and he will be facing you.)
- Go to the backside and hope for a blocked kick or the kicker turns around to celebrate when he knows the field goal is good.
- And then there is lens selection: Tight vs. Loose. (I tend to want to go tight on the kicker.)
When it comes down to a last second field goal, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Looking at this, I obvously was a loser.
Of course, I got blocked, plus Kaeding ran almost immediately to the Chargers bench just a second after his foot struck the ball. A Bengal player just standing there blocked my view of the actual kick and the best jube I had is holder Mike Scifres with his arms raised to signal “good” … should have been Kaeding damn it!
I headed back to the workroom knowing that I didn’t have the kick or Kaeding celebrating with teammates. And after stewing on it for a while, I told picture editor Dave Cooper via IM that I didn’t have the kick or jube. He was sympathetic and said “that kind of stuff happens, don’t worry about it” … but I was still mad at myself.
Like a quarterback, you have to make split second decisions and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe 10 yards farther up I wouldn’t have been block? If I had gone with the 70-200mm zoom instead of the 400mm maybe I would have caught Kaeding running off the field?
When I woke up the next morning and opened the paper, I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the largest football photos I’ve had published in a while used as the lead on the sports front — Vincent Jackson breaking a tackled scoring one of his two TDs. On the jump page, the photo of Scifres was used even larger!
A pleasant surprise: Great play in USA TODAY dispite missing the game-winning field goal.
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you don’t. I was fortunate to get great PLAY in our paper even though I actually missed THE PLAY.
Filed under: Shooting Sports, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, photography workshop | Tags: sports photography, sports photography workshop, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, SportsShooter.com
By Robert Hanashiro
Rod Mar has confirmed that he will be a part of THE coolest sports photography event of the year, Sports Shooter Academy VII.
“I’m psyched!” Rod said after letting me know he is available for April 7 – 10, 2010 workshop in So Cal.
Rod Mar at the men's gold medal basketball game at the Beijing Summer Olympics. Photo by Robert Hanashiro
Rod, formerly the Seattle Times’ primary sports photographer, is now freelancing with the NFL Seahawks and MLS Sounders as two of his primary clients. Rod wrote the very popular Best Seat In The House column for the Times and now writes a similar on-line column for the Seahawks, Eye On The Hawks.
SSA VI this past April was Rod’s first Academy Experience and he was, as expected, a great addition to our faculty. Rod is an energetic and exciting instructor that everyone — me included — will learn a great deal from during this workshop. As previously announced, joining me on the SSA faculty are : Matt Brown (So Cal freelance photographer), Wally Skalij (Los Angles Times staff photographer), Michael Goulding (Orange County Register staff photographer), Sean Haffey (San Diego Tribune staff photographer) and Myung J. Chun (Los Angeles Times staff videographer). The workshop staff includes Jordan Murph, Crystal Chatham and Sean Cullen.
The Sports Shooter Academy is sponsored by Nikon, whose funding allows full-time college and university students to attend tuition-free. Also generously supporting this workshop are Think Tank Photo and Samy’s Camera.
In other SSA VII news:
- There are several spots for both students and working professionals remaining for SSA VII. I have received numerous emails asking how much space is left and what the application deadline is. As I have said in the past, the workshop will fill up before the deadline, so if you would like to attend SSA VII, it is best to apply SOONER rather than LATER. We are still evaluating the applications we have in h
- Currently we have four students and working photographers from the U.K. confirmed for the workshop.
- Think Tank Photo will be providing the top prizes for the workshop, sponsoring the awards for best working photographer and best student photos.
- Samy’s Camera will be offering SSA VII participants a discount on rental equipment during the workshop.
- The final judging of the Sports Shooter Annual Contest will again be held in conjunction with SSA VII.
Filed under: By Robert Hanashiro, Shooting Sports, sports photography | Tags: Robert Hanashiro, sports photography, sports photography workshop, SportsShooter.com
The USA's Chad Hedrick competes in the men's 1500 meters at the World Cup held at the Utah Olympic Oval. Hedrick finished with a time of 6:13:51. Nikon D300; 24-70mm zoom @ 70mm; ISO 200, 1/125 @ f/3.5. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, COPYRIGHT USA TODAY
Speed Skating World Cup “Practice” For real Thing In February
By Robert Hanashiro, The Kahuna’s Please-Don’t-Call-It-A-Blog
Every fours years the Winter Olympics comes around and sports that I don’t ordinarily cover are on my schedule. I spent four days covering the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City and as the public address announcer kept reminding us, the Vancouver Games are just 60 days away!
The USA's Shani Davis wins the men's 1500 meters at the ISU World Cup held at the Utah Olympic Oval. Davis set a new world's record, 1:41.04. Nikon D3; Nikkor 200-400mm zoom @ 310mm; ISO 6400, 1/800 @ f/4. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, COPYRIGHT USA TODAY
Over the next couple of months, you’re going to hear the names of Chad Hedrick, Shani Davis and Jennifer Rodriguez (or “Jrod”).
Hmmm…yep, like speed skating, you heard these names four years ago during the Torino Winter Games.
I spent four days last week covering the World Cup at the Utah Olympic Oval, which gave me pretty much a preview of what I will be doing a lot of next February: Covering speed skating.
The USA's Jennifer Rodriguez competes in the 1000 meters at the World Cup held at the Utah Olympic Oval. Nikon D3; Nikkor 200-400mm zoom @ 220mm; ISO 3200, 1/800 @ f/4. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, COPYRIGHT USA TODAY
Filed under: Assignment Breakdown, By Robert Hanashiro, Camera Gear, Lighting, Lighting Gear | Tags: flashes, FourSquare, Lighting, location lighting, photo lighting, portrait lighting, small strobes, speedlight, Sports Shooter Academy, strobist
Dig Out That Normal Lens
By Robert Hanashiro
When I started out in photography, the “kit lens” when you bought a single-lens-reflex camera was a 50mm lens, often called a “normal” lens. Now days, most of us use zooms.
Zooms are versatile, a lot sharper than they used to be and gives us a wide range of focal lengths when shooting a portrait. But they’ve also made us a little bit lazy. Instead of moving our feet, we just rotate the zoom ring.
Actress Robin Wright portrait made at the Luxe Hotel in Bel Air, CA. Photograph by Robert Hanashiro/COPYRIGHT USA TODAY
In the past few months I’ve begun to bring an “old friend” with me on assignment … a “normal” lens: The 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor.
I’ve found that it’s lighter, brighter and yes, maybe just a bit sharper —especially at wider apertures — than my usual portrait fav lens, the 24mm-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor.
For a recent portrait shoot for a story on actress Robin Wright it was the only lens I used and gave me incredibly sharp images at f/3.5 but also the shallow depth of field that I have been utilizing as my current style du jour for my portrait shoots. One thing to be very careful of when working with such limited depth of field, especially at close distances, is focus. Focus on your subjects eye and concentrate on keeping the focus there. A shift of a inch of two can drastically change what’s sharp and what’s not…and you want your subjects eye (or eyes) sharp!
Wright portrays the title character in upcoming film "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee." Photograph By Robert Hanashiro/COPYRIGHT USA TODAY
So if you have an old 50mm or even better an 85 or 105mm sitting around in an old bag in your closet … take it out for a shoot or two and give it a try. You’ll maybe miss your zoom ring, but you’ll get a bit more exercise by moving around more.
TECH NOTES:
Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor
Lighting: 4 SB-800 Nikon Speedlights in a LightwareDirect FourSquare softbox; triggered by a SU-800 Commander to the subject’s right; a Lastolight Trigrip at left for a bit of fill
Exposure: ISO 200; 1/125 @ f/3.5
Filed under: By Robert Hanashiro, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy, sports photography | Tags: sports photography, sports photography workshop, Sports Shooter, Sports Shooter Academy
Post by Robert Hanashiro
I have posted several videos from previous workshops. If you want to get an idea of what the Academy Experience is like and also pick up a shooting tip or two — there are several cool lighting videos — check them out!
We will be adding new and archive videos as time goes on, so check checking this website dedicated to THE coolest sports photography event of the year!
