Capturing a moment

Shooting sports action provides many opportunities to tell a story through a photo or photos. This girls' basketball game came down to the wire, with teams trading baskets through the last few minutes. It finally came down to free throws at the end of the game. I was lucky to be on the end of the floor that would let me show the shooter and the scoreboard, which told the story: Tie game, 1.5 seconds left. The first free throw was missed; the second shot is on its way. I love the reactions; the shooter looking and hoping; her teammate behind her at the start of a fist-pump as she sees that the ball is going to go in; the opposing player next to her pulling her jersey over her face; and the looks on the other players' faces as they begin to move into the lane for a possible rebound. The second photo shows the results; the basket was good and the home team is now ahead as the players drop back on defense.

As much as I like these, could I have done better? Yes. The first image is rather static, but in a slightly earlier shot of the player actually shooting the free throw, the ball is directly over her face. Oops. I would have liked to show the ball in flight or at the basket, but my lens wasn't wide enough (I was using a fixed 28mm lens), and I cut off the feet of the players at right. Ideally I would have liked to have shot this from the floor, as a lower angle would have been much more dramatic, but space in this gym didn't allow it — I was sitting on a stage at the end of the court, and was as low as I could get.

As time expired, the players celebrated briefly, but they were then too far away to capture well with my wide-angle lens, and the resulting shots were slightly blurry. By the time I got across the floor to get closer, they were shaking hands with the other team.

The moral? Always be prepared for these situations, and know how to react when they happen. Take lots of photos — you can always hit the "delete" button later.

Tech info: Canon XTi, Canon 28mm f/1.8 lens; ambient light, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/320.

Frozen baseball

Special-effects photos can be fun to shoot. I tried this one out after reading a post on the Canon Digital Photographers forum where several sports photographers shared their attempts at freezing a baseball pitch in mid-flight. One key is using a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action of the ball. Manual focus is also needed – the idea is to set the focus on a point about two-thirds of the way to the plate, frame the shot, and hit the shutter release when the ball gets to that point.

This was my best shot of about two dozen attempts. At f/2.8 and 200mm, the depth of field is quite shallow, so it's no easy trick to catch the ball at the correct point. One could narrow the aperture to increase the depth of field, but part of the goal is to have the background very soft, which helps frame the ball.

Tech info: Canon XTi with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens, at 200mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 100.

I think it turned out OK, but I know I can do better – I think I'll try it again next spring. The only change I'll make will be to bump up the shutter speed to better freeze the ball, and take a few dozen more shots to increase my odds of catching the ball in the sweet spot.

Basketball portraits

I had the chance to shoot basketball player portraits for a local school the other day. These sessions are always a lot of work, and can be very hectic — in this case, about 24 players and 23 cheerleaders, plus four group shots — but it's also a lot of fun. Compounding the difficulty in this case was having to get all of the portraits taken quickly, in the half-hour window between the end of the school day and the start of the first game. I'd love to be able to take more time for each shot, but the time constraint meant taking them in assembly-line fashion rather quickly.

It's fun to see the differences in photographing boys versus girls on these shoots. For the most part, boys just want to get it done. They'll hop right into the shot, pose the way you told them to, and wait for the flash. Some will smile, but many like to try to look serious. Girls are much more concerned with appearance. As they wait in line for their turns they will adjust their jerseys just so, and mirrors will pop out as they fix makup and hair and make sure everything looks just right. I noticed a few of them managed to sneak on earrings and other jewelry for the photos, even though it has to come off before the game. Thank you, ladies, it was fun, and I hope you and your parents enjoy the photos.

I sometimes feel bad with these sessions because I can't take the time that I would with a studio session or senior portrait – for instance, the background wasn't great for these – but I really want to make every photo as nice as possible. As I shoot and edit each photo, I look at it as if I were the player's parent, trying to make each image a "wow" shot that's worthy of framing and hanging on a wall. I hope I succeed on occasion.

Tech info: Canon XTi with Canon 17-40 f/4.0L lens; the lighting was from two 550EX flash units off camera, bounced with umbrellas.

Courthouse Clock

Back in October, I had the chance to get a private tour inside the clock tower that stands atop the courthouse in Cody, Wyoming. It's a beautiful clock, and it had recently been restored.

The visit was courtesy of my brother-in-law Dennis (shown above), the current caretaker for the 1913 Seth Thomas clock works that reside inside the tower. The mechanism rests on a cast table in the center of the tower, with arms that extend to each of the four clock faces. It was amazing to me to see this clock from inside, especially considering that it is 96 years old and still keeping good time.

It only seemed appropriate to process the images in black-and-white, considering the subject.

I love old stuff like this.

Tech info: Shot with a Canon XTi with Canon 17-40 f/4L lens, handheld. Interior shots are a combination of available light coming in through the clock faces and a shoe-mounted Canon 550EX strobe bounced above and behind me. Processed with Photoshop Elements.