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"Triple Play, Hat Trick, Trifecta" of DesignWorkshop at the Ranch Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch.
Composition and design are often times an after thought for
the sports photographer. Maybe I'm old fashion but I still believe,
as do many of the editors and art directors I have had the pleasure
to work with, that a well composed image containing design and
elegance still satisfies the viewers eye. When I'm not out photographing
or teaching photography I am usually selling images from my
picture archives. And while many of the pictures that are published
involve key moments in sports history a near equal number of
images that sell illustrate a larger idea, a sense of place
and have an artistic composition and design. These pictures
have been successful in the marketplace because of good composition,
dynamic light, color and a moment of anticipation. Pictures
that contain all the necessary elements require some thought
beyond the isolated athlete or key moment of the game but I
encourage photographers to always be looking for the Rule of
Thirds composition that I prefer to call the "Triple Play"
or the "Hat Trick" or I even call it the "Trifecta"
of Design. Call it whatever you like but when the Rule of Thirds
is used three ways: 1. horizontally across the frame, 2. vertically
through the height of the frame, and 3. and in the depth of
the frame with a foreground, middle ground and background, then
you will have the start of something wonderful ..............
The rule of thirds is often only thought of as
being a two dimensional design element, horizontal (across) and
vertical (high), but my hope is that this Workshop at the Ranch
illustrates that by composing some of your images with the "Triple
Play", the "Hat Trick", the "Trifecta"
of Design ... (thirds across, thirds high and especially thirds
deep) combined with dynamic light, an accent of color and a moment
of anticipation then you will have far more successful pictures
and sales. It is safe to say all these elements do not happen
with every picture. Photographing sports action is already a challenging
task and the isolated subject can be just what your editor demands,
but I encourage all of you to start looking for the "Triple
Play", ... OK, the "Hat Trick", ... Yes, I even
call it the "Trifecta" of Design each time you go out
to shoot. Then add the elements of dynamic light, an accent of
color and a moment of anticipation and your pictures will be come
alive and graphically more successful.
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Image
#1 Evening Drive ... This image of Germany's golf master
Bernhard Langer is a good example of the rule of thirds.
Instead of shooting tight on my subject I chose to shoot
a broader view. This allows me to get creative with what
I like to call the "Triple Play" ... the "Hat
Trick" ... or even the "Trifecta" of Design
... Yes, you guessed it, ... the Rule of Thirds, but more
thirds than you might think .... 1. thirds across (horizontally
across the frame), 2. thirds high (vertically from the bottom
of the frame to the top of the frame) and 3. thirds deep
(foreground, middle ground and background.) Bernhard is
placed in the far left third moving across the frame. The
frame is also compositionally divided into thirds high with
him placed in the middle third moving from bottom to top.
The thirds deep is accomplished compositionally by Bernhard
being placed up close in the foreground, the pine trees
surrounding him are the middle ground, while the back ground
is achieved compositionally by the trees themselves leading
the viewers eye far down the vanishing fairway to some small
pines on the horizon of blue sky and clouds. There is late
day dramatic light streaking through the pines, his yellow
shirt offers an accent of color that catches the viewer's
eye and good timing on the shutter release button stopped
the action at the top of his back-swing completes the picture
with a moment of anticipation. This action happens hundreds
of times each tournament. The goal is to find the course
location that offers as many of these elements as possible
and then be there to capture the image. Nikon Coolpix 8800,
ISO100, Aperture Priority with EV-1.7, WB Cloudy, Lexar
4G Flash Card. It is all these design elements along with
a moment of anticipation, the top of the back-swing that
makes this picture work. (NOTE: the Nikon Coolpix 8800 is
a silent shutter and does not disturb the golfer in the
midst of his back-swing Check out previous articles of Workshop
at the Ranch and On The Road for more examples of the Nikon
Coolpix 8800.)
Image
#2 Ice Ascent ... This image of Ice Climber Chris Alstrin
again illustrates the use of the "Triple Play"
... the "Hat Trick" ... the "Trifecta"
of Design along with dynamic Light, an accent of color
and a moment of anticipation. There are thirds across:
the subject in the left third of the frame, thirds high:
his colorful jacket and helmet are in the upper third
of the frame, and thirds deep: there is a shadowed section
of the ice gorge in the foreground, the subject is in
the lit middle ground and more deep shadowed ice gorge
is the background. As I explained in last months On The
Road article featuring Ice Climbing in Ouray, there is
no sunlight in the ice gorge. Two Elinchrom Ranger RX
Speed AS packs and strobe heads with sport reflectors
were used to illuminate a third of the scene that included
our subject. The Rule of Thirds combined with dynamic
light, an ascent of color and a moment of anticipation
works again. Nikon D2Xs, 1/250 at f7.1, Nikon 200-400
G VR Zoom Lens, WB 4500K, Two Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed
AS packs and Strobe Heads with Sport Reflectors, Two Bogen
Lightstands, Pocket Wizard Multi Max Transceivers, Lexar
4G Flash Card, 2 inch spiked cramp-ons. (NOTE: the vertical
image of Chris that ran in last month's On The Road was
captured with a second camera, a Nikon D200 and Nikon
70-200 Zoom Lens and also made use of the Triple Play
... the Hat Trick ... the Trifecta of Design (call it
what you will) ... the Rule of Thirds across, high, and
deep combined with dynamic light, an accent of color and
a moment of anticipation all of which made for a successful
image.) 
Image #3 Stop Action ... This is not the typical image
of a quarterback ... which is why I probably like it. It would
be more common to shoot a vertical frame and try to isolate
the quarterback but I chose to compose the image with ...
you guessed it the "Triple Play/Hat Trick/Trifecta"
of Design ... thirds across, thirds high and thirds deep ...
(Rule of Thirds composition) along with dynamic light, an
accent of color and a moment of anticipation. The subject:
the quarterback and especially his eye and hand are in the
right third moving across the frame and also in the upper
third of the frame moving from bottom to top. The wide out
in shadow works well in the foreground (note: if the wide
out was sunlit it would be too distracting and greatly reduce
the success of the image.) The subject (the quarterback) is
the middle ground and the crowd is the background. The sun
is low enough in the sky that his left eye is lit and looking
directly at me. His hand gesture gives the viewer a moment
of anticipation ........ the accent of color ?... well, the
yellow lightning bolts on the San Diego Charger's helmet will
have to do. Certainly a more colorful helmet would be nice
... or blood, ... yes, red blood on the bridge of the quarterback's
nose would really help. Unfortunately the photographer covering
an event must work with what they are given. No worries, I
still try to incorporate as many of the elements that help
make a picture successful as I can ... thirds across, thirds
high, thirds deep, light, color, moment, ... I'm always looking.
Nikon D2X, ISO200, 1/1250 at f5.6, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom
Lens, WB 5600K, Lexar 4G Flash Card. 
Image
#4 Ice Dancers ... This picture makes use of the graphics
on the ice to help accomplish thirds across, thirds high and
thirds deep, color and moment. The athletes are placed in
the far right third (thirds across) and middle third of (thirds
high) composition. The Olympic Rings (foreground) that begin
to lead the viewers eye up to the Torino 2006 and subjects
are the middle ground and lead to the sweeping graphic blue
diamonds logo (back ground) creating depth (thirds deep) to
this otherwise flatly lit image. The Olympic Rings and young
lady's red costume add the accent of color to a predominantly
icy bluish gray scene. The skater's body language and the
long horizontal scrape mark made by the skater's blade scraping
across the words Torino 2006 suggest an athletic dynamic that
gives the image not so much of a moment but some additional
energy that works well. Although this image lacks dramatic
light remember that when covering an event strobe lighting
is not always allowed and the photographer must work with
the available light, but we should look for as many of the
elements that help make an image successful even if the light
is flat as was the case at the Winter Olympic Ice Hall in
Torino. Nikon D2X, ISO800, 1/500 at f4, Nikon 70-200 VR Zoom
Lens as a remote, WB Fluorescent-2 with Hue Adjustment-3,
Bogen Super Clamp and Bogen Magic Arm with safety strap, Pocket
Wizard Multi Max Transceivers and N90 M3 Pre Trigger Release
to trigger the camera, Lexar 4G Flash Card.
