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Workshop at the Ranch – January 2014 – Your Questions and My Answers

2014 January WATR 1Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch (WATR.) I’m kicking off the New Year with more of Your Questions and My Answers. So, let’s sweep up the New Year’s Eve confetti and see what questions were in my Christmas stocking…

Q… hey dave, happy holidaze, what did st. nick bring ya?  george from tx.

A… Hey there George. Santa was very good to me this year…guess that means I was a very good boy. It’s always nice when the jolly guy knows what I want and this year I wanted a small camera I could have with me wherever I go.

Nikon Coolpix P7800: Merry Christmas to me.

Coolpix P7800 stats: 12mp of great quality, a super bright (even in sunlight) LCD screen…and it swivels out and rotates (wish my D4 and D800 did that). It has a substantial zoom of 28-200mm with f2.0-4.0 aperture. ISO settings range from ISO 80-6400, and shoots 8 fps. It captures RAW file (love it!) and has a built in Flash that really (and I mean REALLY) reaches out there. “But wait, there’s more!” In my Christmas stocking was a Nikon SB-300 Speedlight for my P7800. It’s about 1/3 the size of a grown up Speedlight…”it’s Too Cute!” says my daughter Haley.

Here is what I like about the NEW Nikon Coolpix P7800.

 

2014 January WATR 1Image #1   Old Course Clubs … Nikon Coolpix P7800, ISO80, 20 seconds at f8, 100mm, WB 10,000K, Bolt 2L flashlight by: Inova with a warming gel to Lightpaint with, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod and Ball Head with Kirk “L” Bracket, SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Flash Card. As soon as I got the P7800 unwrapped I was in the studio making this Lightpainting. The P7800 can be operated Fully Auto or Fully Manual, your choice. My old Bobby Jones golf clubs were the perfect subject for a Lightpainting with a nostalgic mood.
 2014 January WATR 2Image #2   American Eagle … Nikon Coolpix P7800, ISO220, Aperture Priority EV-1 (1/80 at f7.1), Zoom lens to 200mm, WB Auto, In-Camera Flash power setting +2, SanDisk 32G Extreme Pro SD Flash card. The P7800 has 12mp RAW file quality which gave me plenty of detail in the feathers and even in the eye of the eagle. The 28-200mm zoom lens is sharp at all focal lengths. The P7800 in camera flash had no difficulty illuminating my iconic subject and placing a catch light in the eye from 40 feet away.
2014 January WATR 3 Image #3   Door Colors … Nikon Coolpix P7800, ISO80, Aperture Priority (1/500 at f6.3), Zoom lens to 48mm, WB Auto, SanDisk 32G Extreme Pro SD Flash Card.  I photographed this unique door to see how the P7800 handled color.  The color, tonal range and sharpness within each detail were captured beautifully. The mixture of textures from the old door with rusty red handle, to the new wood frame painted violet, to the rough stucco yellow wall looked terrific even though this file was shot at jpg Fine.

Santa, you’ve done it again! This Coolpix P7800 is a great addition to my camera bag or simply to have while on the go.

Thanks George for a fun question.  Have a Happy New Year buddy.

Dave

Image #4   “The Way I See It” … Is my own self-published coffee table size instructional book featuring 50 of my favorite images of Athletes, sports action using Speedlights and Sport Strobes, and Lightpaintings.

2014 January WATR 4Q … Hi Dave, Happy Holidays! Hope you enjoyed it.

I’ve been steadily photographing a variety of subjects over the last couple months and wanted to produce a photo book. Could you give me some advice on using photos of people in a book that would primarily be for my own pleasure but possible for sale. Here are some scenarios:

I have no model licenses.
There are some of jockeys at practice – taken after watching your great KelbyOne video course on horse racing!
Some are of surfers at a junior pro surfing championship, no faces but you’d still recognize yourself I guess.

Do I need licenses for all?  What would your advise?
Thanks! Olwen

A… Hi Olwen.

Sounds like you have been very busy making pictures this year. In general…

“Editorial usage” … Typically, images of people that are used editorially (newspaper, books, magazines) do not require any model releases or licensing.

“Commercial usage” … Images that are used for commercial purposes and product endorsements (advertisements, brochures, product endorsement etc) must have a release or licensing from the subject or agent acting on behalf of the subject. The subject may require payment as well.

Making a book for yourself or a book that you sell is considered editorial. The book would not be endorsing any product. Thus, you would not require a model release or license from the subjects.

However, if the images in an editorial book are defaming or derogatory to the subject or slanderous to the subject thus damaging to the subject, or the subject is a very famous personality, the subject might contest the use of their image. Thus they might claim that you have no right to publish their picture because it is their “Fame” that is being used to sell the book.

I have self-published two books (editorial) featuring my own work, The Way I See It and Thoroughbreds. I made certain that all images of athletes were complimentary to their careers and their character. I also used a collection of images on the cover rather than a single image of a famous athlete. My own books are for sale on my website in the “Book Store.”

If you decide to sell the book to the public and you have no releases for the athlete on the cover, you might want to consider “how famous is that athlete” before publishing it. Or, place them within a collection of images of other athletes so they are not the single personality on the cover.

Hope this helps answer your question and complete your book.
Take care. Dave
Image #4   Barrel Racer … Nikon D1x (as a REMOTE camera, and the D1x allowed a special 1/500 Shutter Flash Sync Speed), ISO400, 1/500 at f4.5, WB Daylight, Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens, 4 Elinchrom 1000R Sport Strobes (has 1/4000 flash tube but is no longer available in the US {Europe only I think}…today I use the Ranger RX strobe system), Custom made 30 degree Long Through Sport Reflectors, Pocket Wizard Multi MAX Transceivers to trigger the Remote D1x camera and also fire the Sport Strobes, Manfrotto Super Clamps and Magic Arms, Safety Cables, SanDisk 4G Flash Card.   2014 January WATR 5Q… Dave. I photograph Barrel Racing and I am about to invest in some arena lighting strobes. I could use any tips you could offer on how many to buy and positioning them. I’d love to attend a workshop of yours too.

Thanks for your time.  Jo

A… Hi Jo.
I live out west and always enjoyed photographing Rodeo and all of its events. Barrel Racing is a beautiful blend of action and grace. This image was made back in 2002 and is still my favorite Barrel Racing picture. Hold on to your saddle Jo, lighting arenas can be a challenge … this is a long detailed answer to your great question.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s most of my indoor sports events were shot “On Strobe” for Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, the US Olympic Committee and others. Shooting strobed sports imagery was the highest standard in sports photography. Back then technology only allowed us to use a typical shutter sync speed of 1/250…much too slow to freeze action. The solution was to use a specialized and very expensive sport strobe systems that made use of flash tubes with very fast Flash Duration of 1/2000 or faster. With this system it is the fast flash duration which stops the action.

Today there are many strobe (flash) systems on the market that will work for lighting sports action… Elinchrom’s Quadra and Ranger Speed RX, Alien Bees, White Lightning, Pro Photo, Dyna-Lite, etc. are all suitable systems…I use the Quadra and Ranger Speed RX. But it is no longer required to have expensive flash tubes with fast flash duration. Today the Pocket Wizard FLEX TT5 HyperSync wireless triggering system can be used on almost any strobe system and light up sports action both indoors and outdoors.

The FLEX TT5 has revolutionized the sports action lighting industry. The FLEX TT5 allows the photographer to trigger a strobe system remotely from a location off camera and it allows the camera to be set at a very fast shutter speed to freeze the action. We can now use a fast shutter speed rather than a speciallized 1/2000 flash tube, and combine the ambient arena light with the flash all at the same time. Life for the photographer is good.

A power pack and separate flash head is usually the best choice when using lightstands and also works well in the catwalks. A “mono head” unit can be a bit heavy to have mounted to a 15′ lightstand. You’ll need a sport reflector (about a 40-45 degree reflector) rather than the standard wide studio reflector that usually comes with the purchase of a power pack and flash head system.

If you are shooting during competition, securing your strobe system in the catwalks above the arena floor is ideal. Placing your strobe on a 15′ lightstand is high enough to make some nice off camera light on your Barrel Racer. But if the lightstand is on the ground and the flash head are only 15′ high the light will most likely be too low and a distraction for the animal and athlete while competing. You don’t want the “flash” to strike the athlete at eye level.

It would be best for you to elevate the flash head to a location well above the athlete so the line of the light is about a 45 degree angle coming from above to the athletes. If there are no catwalk systems in the arena simply placing the lightstand up in the seating area or the mezzanine will work. Or you can rent a Genie Lift and clamp them to the arena’s steel beam infrastructure. It can be a big task but well worth it when you see how beautiful strobed sports action can look.

You will need permission from the arena and the event organizers to do all this. You will also need to have liability insurance as well.

NOTE: You might want to attend the Sports Photography Workshop in Colorado Springs in July 23-28, 2014 www.sportsphotographyworkshop.com It is part of Rich Clarkson’s Summit series of Photography Workshops. I will be one of several instructors teaching there this July23-28. You would be able to learn how arena lighting systems work and are installed. It will soon be listed in my Upcoming Workshops page.

Great question Jo…Hope this answer helps you. Dave

 

Well, WATR is off and running for 2014. Some very good questions came in last month and I hope my answers helped you all learn about photography and the photographic industry. Your Questions and My Answers will continue next month … so keep your Qs coming in via email and the Contact page on my website.

Happy New Year to all…Dave