Got a call yesterday for a rush shoot on a Phenom 300, gotta get it done before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately it's flying into Love for me to capture, not the best spot for good backdrops. Oh well, it will work out I'm sure............. can't always call your locations, but it's nice when you can.
When you think about it, composition, subject, background and the light, all elements we as artists juggle on every shot. Sometimes we are blessed with it all coming together.................When it does, it boils down to whether our preparation throughout our careers, is up to the opportunity.
Nice work Bill! Here's a tip, when you have old hangars or anything unsightly in the background, practice your panning skills and dial that shutter speed down to 1/60th or slower. You'll turn all that unsightly stuff into a beautiful whoosh.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Nice work Bill! Here's a tip, when you have old hangars or anything unsightly in the background, practice your panning skills and dial that shutter speed down to 1/60th or slower. You'll turn all that unsightly stuff into a beautiful whoosh.
Thanks Jim,
I got that a little on the third pix but not the last one. 3rd pix was 1/500th, best I can do to look half way decent.
Jim,
I feel Bill's pain. I struggle with being consistent in panning low shutter speed shots. I have looked for years for a tutorial on it in terms of how best to stand, best arm position, how to breath, etc, Every once in a while I get it right, but figuring out how I got there and how to replicate it with consistency is a real challenge. My best ever is the following shot, but even that was at 1/160th at 400mm. My keeper rate on pan shots is <10%. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
chas wrote:
Jim,
I feel Bill's pain. I struggle with being consistent in panning low shutter speed shots. I have looked for years for a tutorial on it in terms of how best to stand, best arm position, how to breath, etc, Every once in a while I get it right, but figuring out how I got there and how to replicate it with consistency is a real challenge. My best ever is the following shot, but even that was at 1/160th at 400mm. My keeper rate on pan shots is <10%. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
Bill Gass wrote:
A few from yesterday...A good day I'd say.
#1 primo brother!!!!! There was a great eatery in Ashland that had feeders and just tons of hummers feeding. They would come right up to the window and watch us eat!
Dan
Bill Gass wrote:
Nice shot chas and a beauty.
I did get a monopod to help a while back but haven't used it much yet...Need more Air Shows damit !
Bill, I did also, but found the monopod to awkward for the rapid motions needed at show center, especially when trying to adjust for different or changing altitudes. I also got a gimbal mount on my tripod which did help in certain situations, but I still found it awkward and wound up reverting to handheld. Maybe I just have to accept the fact that I fundamentally suck at it, and get lucky once in a while!! Maybe I should just stick to jets!! A few from RDU.
chas wrote:
Jim,
I feel Bill's pain. I struggle with being consistent in panning low shutter speed shots. I have looked for years for a tutorial on it in terms of how best to stand, best arm position, how to breath, etc, Every once in a while I get it right, but figuring out how I got there and how to replicate it with consistency is a real challenge. My best ever is the following shot, but even that was at 1/160th at 400mm. My keeper rate on pan shots is <10%. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
Beautiful Chas! My panning hit ratio has always been pretty darn good, hand/eye coordination developed in shooting, or just innate. One thing that I can tell you is, with the new mirrorless frame rates, the chances are much better. 30FPS give the photographer a much better opportunity to get in sync with his or her subject. "Pray and Spray" is no substitute for developing the skill, but it can really help you develop the technique. Truthfully, there are days when I am dead on and the majority are keepers, then other days I can't buy a sharp pan for love nor money, but the keeper rate is zero on the ones that you don't take a whack at..................
You want a good chuckle, you should have been with me today. Long day, all drone work, but I had a few minutes to unwind at DFW late this afternoon on the way home. I've been hankering for some time with the C400 to get up to speed with it. The same tendency to disregard reality that caused me to buy a 12 string guitar to learn on kicked in, and I stuck the RF600/4 on the C400 and shot a handful of approaches........................handheld. The results are good enough to know that I'm going to love the camera, but twitchy enough that a Dramamine would be necessary if one was going to view them very much. The effort was worth it, learned some stuff which is why I stopped, so I'll count it as a win........sort of..........but I must have looked pretty ridiculous......
Put another couple of hours of drone time in the books this beautiful Texas day.....................Pretty soon I am going to have to get one of those yellow vests that say..."FAA Licensed Drone Pilot" in big letters on the back...........................NOT..............
The guys in white are from Belton High School. They have really well run photography/Graphics/AV/and broadcast programs. I have become friendly with the photography/graphics instructor who asked me if I would like to see their labs. Of course I would. They were in a metal out building, but thanks to a bond issue they enlarged the main school building which includes new facilities for their programs. I would bet if the kids in these programs were to move on to classes in a community college, they would be disappointed in the facilities. He has the ability to send out as many as 28 students with professional cameras (Canon 1Dx II/III/R3) to events at one time. When they cover sporting events from the sidelines, he requires they work in pairs. The second person's responsibility is to watch the action while holding on to the shooters clothing so they can pull them out of the way if the action is coming towards them. Nice policy. They have a lab with 30 Apple workstations with a full Adobe suite of programs. Made me want to go back to high school so I could use their facilities. Very nice.
