For this month’s Workshop at the Ranch I want to write about a workshop I had the pleasure to teach last month. The Sports Shooter Academy in southern California. I had taught at the first SSA (Sports Shooter Academy) about 5 years ago and was glad to once again be a part of this highly acclaimed workshop run by Robert Hanashiro and Matt Brown. The staff was terrific featuring Rod Mar, Wally Skalij, Mike Goulding, Dave Honl, Lucas Gilman, and others.

The word “intensive” comes to my mind when I think of SSA. The staff and students were all business and got right down to making pictures. Nikon was a premier sponsor and Ron Taniwaki brought in multiples of every piece of camera equipment imaginable. A wide variety of venues and sports filled the 5 day workshop. Matt Brown and Dave Honl conducted lighting instruction at the Boxing gym where students were able to choose between Strobes, Speedlights, and Hot Light set-ups. Action and Lighting continued with Robert Hanashiro at Beach Volleyball. Nikon 600mm and 400mm lenses dotted the landscapes at Baseball, Track and Field, and Water Polo with Rod Mar. Lucas Gilman got his students familiar with Nikon Speedlights at the Veldrome Cycling venue, and Wally Skalij and myself instructed students at what I felt was the best venue of all … Horse Racing at Santa Anita Park.

I love to photograph horse racing and Santa Anita is one of the most beautiful race tracks in America. All thanks goes out to Wally Skalij of the L.A. Times who made the arrangements for Sports Shooter Academy to take a total of 20 students to the races during the workshop. Some terrific pictures were made. Candid Portraits, Racing Action, Pan Action, Feature Images, and Remote Camera instruction was all part of a day for SSA students at Santa Anita. While Wally worked with students learning to use remote cameras “under the rail”, I worked with students shooting the general racing action, candid portraits, and feature images.

It’s an old habit, but I like to make some pictures even when I’m teaching. I think the students like it when an instructor finds image making so compelling that they make a few frames right along with them. I carried the Nikon D3x with a 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, and a 1.7x Teleconverter all around the track, tunnel, grandstands, paddock, or wherever the students and I would go.

This month’s tutorial is not so “step-by-step” in its teaching, but offers some finer instructional points to consider when covering a sports event. Just as I instructed my students to do, find interesting pictures that illustrate the horse racing experience. The racing action is obvious so look more closely at the people, the venue, the sport, and of course, the light. Here are a few images I found interesting.

Image #1       Young Outrider … The Outriders wait in the tunnel under the grandstands before escorting the race horses with their jockeys to the race track and start gate. This young Outrider is sitting on his horse midway into the tunnel about 45 feet from the west entrance. There is only a soft kiss of “window light” feathering in from the west entrance. The west entrance to the tunnel acts like a giant soft box measuring 25 feet wide and 18 feet high. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/60 at f4, Nikon 200-400mm G VR zoom lens, VR Active, WB 9090K, Lexar 16G Flash Card. With the VR set on the Active mode it really makes a difference and allows me to hand hold the 200-400mm at 400mm even though the shutter speed is only 1/60.

Image #2       Outrider … This Outrider is also sitting atop his horse and is almost in the west entrance to the tunnel. The overcast skies provided a soft light that filtered into the tunnel. I like the partial silhouette of my subject against the green wall with only a touch of soft light on his face. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/1600 at f4, 200-400mm G VR zoom lens, WB 9090K, Lexar 16G Flash Card. I used an aperture of f4 to give me a very short depth of field (short focus zone) Only his goggles, eye, cheek, nose, and chin are in focus. Everything else goes softly out of focus, especially the green wall. Using an aperture of f2.8 or f4 creates a short depth of field when using a long lens like a 300, 400, or 600mm lens. This helps separate the subject from the background and thus isolates them for the viewer to see quickly.

Image #3       Santa Anita Siesta … A few of us found this sleepy Outrider just outside the tunnel’s west entrance. Perhaps my favorite image of the workshop, this image is again a remainder that wonderful pictures can be made away from the obvious race action. Thick overcast skies had settled over Santa Anita and softened the available ambient light outside the tunnel. Nikon D3x, ISO500, 1/250 at f5.6, Nikon 200-400mm G VR zoom lens, VR Active, WB 5880K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #4       Trumpeter’s Horn … The track trumpeter caught one of the few rays of sunshine we saw that weekend at Santa Anita. We made pictures of him playing the familiar tune that signifies “Post Time” to the race fans, but I also liked this detail picture of just his uniform and trumpet. Detail imagery is useful when telling a picture story. Nikon D3x, ISO400, 1/1000 at f10, Nikon 200-400 G VR zoom lens with 1.7x Teleconverter, WB 5560K, Lexar 16G Flash Card. I used a fast shutter speed of 1/1000 for this sunlit image because my 200-400mm zoom lens had a TC17E 1.7x Teleconverter attached making it a 680mm focal length, and my subject is walking briskly off the race track. It is a nice camera feature to be able to use ISO settings of 400, 500, 640, 800, or even 1000 in bright sunlight with the D3x and have no noise.

Image #5       The Gray #1 … Horse racing provides some terrific opportunities for images that simply illustrate a pleasing color pallet. This detail of color was made during the post parade in front of the grandstands prior to the race horses proceeding to the start gate. The gray horse provided a wonderful backdrop for the red blanket, black boots, and yellow trimmed cinch strap. During the post parade I will take candid portraits of the jockeys, but usually will find a nice color pallet for a detail image like this one. Always be looking for images that help illustrate the event experience. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/500 at f8, Nikon 200-400mm G VR zoom lens with 1.7x Teleconverter, VR Active, WB 5560K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #6       Jockey’s Reflection … As I mentioned in the previous caption I will usually make some candid portraits of the jockeys as they parade by the grandstands on route to the start gate. This jockey was close enough to the rider in front of him that the reflection appeared in his goggles. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/1250 at f7.1, Nikon 200-400mm G VR zoom lens with 1.7x Teleconverter, VR Active, WB 5880K, Lexar 16G Flash Card. I love to use all the “millimeters” I have to get the viewer into the details of a scene. “Go Big or Go Home” was something that sports photographer and good friend Mike Powell used to say … I couldn’t agree more.

Image #7       Rincewind … Finally, some action horse racing. Usually this is what photographers come to a race track to make images of, but as you can see by the previous 6 images there is plenty to photograph other than the obvious. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/1250 at f5, Nikon 200-400mm G VR zoom lens, WB 5880K, Lexar 16G Flash Card. Every sports event I cover receives similar treatment, an intimate look at the peripherals of the sport that includes the athletes, the venue, the details, and the action. This is how I like to cover sports.

The Sports Shooter Academy is a fantastic workshop experience. The images the students produced daily from a variety of venues were stunning. It was a pleasure to work with Robert Hanashiro, Matt Brown and the entire crew. So much was made available to the students thanks to Nikon and Ron Tanawaki, Scott Fier, and Sara Moosbrugger. If you love sports photography and are not a member of Sports Shooter you should check out their website at www.sportsshooter.com Join SS and start learning more about sports photography.

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse at the Sport Shooter Academy and some images from one of the workshops’ venues. See you next time here at Workshop at the Ranch and don’t forget to check out my NEW book The Way I See It … 50 One Page Workshops Adios, Dave