Four + 1: Tony Leon
Our 3rd Four + 1, coming to us from southern California is my good friend Tony Leon. I’ve known Tony since my early days of shooting sports, and I have not only learned a lot from him, but on several occasions he has talked Angry Matt back to regular Matt. No mean feat! Tony is the team photographer for Whittier College and shoots college and pro sports in and around Los Angeles for Southcreek Global. Tony’s portfolio is here and his Flickr page here.
1. How did you start shooting sports photography and what is your bread and butter sport?
I started shooting sports in High School. A knee injury derailed my future NBA point guard stardom, but I couldn’t stay away from the court and sidelines. A camera at athletic events made me very popular with the chicks and former teammates, and well just about anyone that wanted their photo in the yearbook. My Bread & Butter is probably football (most published) followed closely by basketball.
2. What is something that you think is really obvious now that took you a long time to get?
Flash………..Fill flash, general flash usage, etc. Took a while before I mastered it. During my college newspaper days, I was always asked to do it. There was no ETTL on a Vivitar 285HV and a fully manual Canon F1, there was no chimping to help guide me. But lots and lots of bulk loaded B&W film, followed by hours in the darkroom. Now it’s almost a no-brainer
3.Funniest / Strangest story from one of your shoots?
In College I was assigned to shoot a “creative” portrait of an retiring photography professor. I brought an assistant with an old 8×10 view camera, flash powder and powder gun, made it look like an old civil war photographer. Shot the assignment, some great poses, had some great stuff, camera got to 39 exposures – not unusual when you were bulk loading your own B/W Film. We called it a shoot. Only to get back to the lab to process the film and realize that we NEVER LOADED the camera with FILM. I was too embarrassed to go back!
4. Advice to the kids (or a mid life crisis sufferer) who are aspiring to become a sports photographer?
A) Keep shooting, it’s just like any other sport. When you’re in a rut, disillusioned, in crisis or running low on the creativity tank, you gotta shoot your way out of it. Get behind the camera and keep making pictures it’s the only way you’ll get back into making great photos. You make great photos, your clients will come, doesn’t matter whether you’re shooting on spec, freelance, contract or as a staff photographer. Clients always seem to find the talent. It may take them some time, but if you keep producing, they’ll eventually notice.
B) Go to a bookstore, yes a bookstore, and look at photographs. Digest them, deconstruct them, how did they do that? See what images are being captured by other photographers. You’ll quickly gather the inspiration to either copy, enhance, or create your own photo based on a small detail in theirs.
C) Don’t over think it…………………Just shoot.
+1 How does your process change from shooting college/pro games for the wire vs shooting Whittier as their team photographer?
It (shooting Whittier) requires a little less preparation, that in my mind leads to better results than the Major College or Pro Sports I cover. I don’t have to worry about parking or traffic getting to the facility, I don’t have any credential issues at will call, I have all the access I could ever want and then some.
The staff is 100% pro-photography, they know it enhances their program, and helps them, you’ll NEVER get that shooting for the wires.
I know the coaches, players, trainers, facility personnel, campus security guards, parents, and just about anybody involved.
I’m usually not on a deadline, so I’m not rushed at halftime or after games to push images (although I do it to stay in “pro shape”) and the SID and AD love it because it keeps their web site fresh.
All that allows me to focus more on making photos, rather than the usual limitations we run into.
Ryu: Velodrome / Track Cycling, round and round they go
Not to be mistaken with “How to shoot Olympique Marseille”. If you don’t get it, dont’ sweat it.
Last week, I busied myself shooting people with gigantic thighs going round and round and round the velodrome. I was apprehensive to do the shoot in the first place as I couldn’t imagine something so horribly dull as watching bicycles go around in circles would be fun. Just ask a NASCAR photographer. Saying that, cycling was fun due to these factors:
1. You can actually shoot the riders’ face and consequently their expressions.
2. The crashes are spectacular.
3. There are more than one type of event per day.
It’s a bit of a stretch for number 3 as all they do is go around in circles, but hey, it’s slightly better than staring at a race track as cars go zooming by every few seconds. But I guess having a higher chance of getting the prestigious headline “Local sports photographer gorged by flying fender” is a bonus.
Here are some tips on how to shoot cycling at a velodrome.
1. Know the events
Cycling is like swimming in that there are bazillion events so that everyone gets a chance in medalling. You also need to be aware that the scheduling of the events will also affect where you will be positioned to shoot. For example, if you are after a specific rider, you might have to give up the rider before and after the one you want because you won’t be able to move fast enough from one shooting position to another. So, make sure you know which event takes place when. The velodrome might look small, but it’s a lot bigger place with all the fans and security restrictions getting in your way.
Also depending on the event, the riders ride in different lines. In most short distance events, they stay towards the inside of the track. Longer distances, they switch from inside to outside during the course of the race. If you want to shoot them at the starting grid, there is a massive difference between shooting a keirin, where the riders line up side by side compare to omnium where they line up in two vertical lines. Some sprinting events have the riders warm up on the outside lines and this gives you the chance to shoot them very close. Keirin and omnium crashes happen in the corners, so be there if you want some blood. They wear different helmets for different events and if you want shot through the visors, get as close as possible. For some team events, you will only get one lap to shoot all of them in a set whilst on the track. And so forth. I had no idea about these things until I got there and watched the events with my own eyes as well as annoyingly quizzing veteran cycling photographers. If you know someone who is a track cycling geek, get some pointers prior to the day of the shoot. It will shave at least half a day of learning on the job.
2. Position
Same with any sports photography, cycling is all about where you position yourself. Let me elaborate further: In an event where all you get is the track, it means EVERYTHING for you to get the best position. So, I’d like to take this place and time to say “thank you” to the London Olympics people for giving me all the access a photographer needs in order to take a great photo. Oh wait, I didn’t get all the access as I didn’t belong to one of the top 6 agencies. Silly me.
By googling what these 6 agencies shot during the competition, I must say they deserve all the special treatments they received. The photos were so good that I almost passed out looking at them. Merely thinking about them makes my eyes water. From what I’ve seen, the shots were far superior to mine or others who did not have the access that they obviously made the right choice in not giving us the chance to shoot from the infield.
Phew, I needed that.
As I have noted above, the position battle can only work if you know the event and if you know what and HOW you want to shoot. If you want to get a shot of the riders before the start, it makes no sense for you to get situated in the corner. The opposite is also true that if you want to get a chance to shoot a crash, it makes sense to be at the corner and not next to the straight away.
“But what if I want to shoot both the start and the finish?”
I thought you would ask me something dumb like that. You’ve got a good chance of getting these shots had you cloned yourself prior to the day or you have mastered teleportation. Yes, you can use a remote and yes, if the event is more than a lap, you can move. But unless you are shooting for one of those prestigious 6 agencies, where it is paramount to get the same shot as everyone else, you will be served better to be patient in one position. By doing so, you will have ample time to concentrate on getting the shot you want from that position, rather than getting half assed shots like everyone else. Patience, my young padawan…
3. They go a lot faster than you think
You might think that these dudes and dudettes don’t go that fast because obviously, they are riding push bikes. But they go very very fast, especially when the distance between you and them become closer. Anyone can shoot the rider on the other side of the track. It takes a skilled and knowledgable sports photographer like you to get them when you can smell their breath. It won’t do you any good to focus on them as they approach you as their speed is faster than your camera’s focusing speed. The only way you deal with this is that you prefocus. The good thing about this sport is that if you screw up the shot, you will get another chance when they come around again. Set your focus at a distance that you think the rider will be when he approaches you and pray to Matt Cohen that your guess is right. Take a shot, have a look, and make adjustments. Go again. What might also helps is to not go for a shallow of a DOF. This will increase your chance further of getting sharp riders.
As for celebration shots after a win, it’s just like any other sport. Don’t forget that they don’t stop immediately after the race is over as they don’t have breaks on these bikes. It’s a gradual and painstakingly slow halting process. Celebration depends on the whim of the rider and they might fist pump + wave flags as they approach you. This could easily happen on the other side of the track, so consider yourself lucky if they get in the mood in front of you.
Last but not least, shutter speed. If you want to stop the action, make sure you use 1/1000 or higher and that your ISO is up as well. It’s quite dark in these places unless they have a sun roof. If you want to pan or do slow shutter speed, understand exactly what you want to do. You might want to test it on an event before the one you want so that you can gauge what shutter speed will make the pretty blur. This is much easier than other sports as they do go in one direction with constant speed.
That’s about as much as I took in on the 4 days of access free competition at the velodrome. If I can get another opportunity to shoot this, I wouldn’t even dream of wanting to to shoot from the infield.
Ryu
Four + 1: Mutsuaki Kawamori
Our 2nd Four + 1 is Mutsuaki Kawamori, my dear friend who is plying his trade in Madrid, Spain. He’s the one person that I know who’s been to more Classico than Matt’s been to a decent bowl game. :) His professionalism is something I truly admire and he really loves the game of football. He also has the skill to sleep under any condition.
You can find his work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutsufotografia/
1. How did you start shooting sports photography and what is your bread and butter sport?
When I was a businessman in Japan, I loved watching sports. Little by little, my desire to get more involved in sports grew and I decided to follow my heart. My logical conclusion was to start shooting sports.
If you mean by shooting a sports without too much stress then it will be football (soccer). This is because I used to play the sport and living in Madrid, Spain I have a lot of chance to shoot it. But in the future I would like to try shooting other sports.
1. スポーツ写真を撮り始めたきっかけは？ 得意とするスポーツは？
会社員（全く写真やスポーツの現場からは縁遠い職業です）の頃から、サッカー以外も含めて色々とスポーツを観に行っていましたが、徐々にその現場に一歩踏み込んでみたいと考るようになりました。自分の欲求に従って、より現場に近い場所で、と考えた時、それなら写 真だろう、ということで。
ストレスなく撮影出来ることを「得意」と表現するのなら、元々サッカーをやっていたのと、現在撮影の機会が最も多いので、サッカーが一番撮影していてストレスがありません。でも、もう少し他の競技へも幅を拡げたいです。
2. What is something that you think is really obvious now that took you a long time to get?
Can’t think of anything off the bat. Even now, things often don’t really go according to my plans…
２。今は考えずに出来るが、スポーツ写真を撮り始めた頃、上手くいかなかったものや、苦労したことは？
ちょっと考え付かないです、今でも上手く行かない事が多々あるので・・・。
3.Funniest / Strangest story from one of your shoots?
Probably not funny, but rather something that annoys me a bit. For some reason, when the weather is bad at the beginning of the match, it tends to get worse throughout the match for me. The sad thing is that at the end of these matches, the weather fully recovers. I don’t think I bring bad weather wherever I go, but I’m jealous of people who can bring good weather to places.
3.撮影＆取材中に、最近あった笑える出来事、もしくは少し変わった話があれば、教えてください！
よくよく考えるとあまり笑えないのですが、天候の悪い日の撮影で、試合開始とともに天候が崩れ、試合終了とともに回復する、ということがよくあります。決して雨男、というわけではないのですが。晴れ男としか思えない人もいらっしゃるので、それは素直に羨ましいです。
4. Advices to the kids (or a mid life crisis sufferer) who are aspiring to become a sports photographer?
Being a freelance and not having done this for a long time, I don’t think I’m in a position to give advices to others.
This is a reminder for me as well to others. With the advancement in technology, there is a shift away from “capturing the moment” in photojournalism. This is something we should watch out going forward.
4. これからスポーツ写真を撮りたいと思っている人達にアドバイスを一言。
いまだ実績に乏しいし、ましてフリーの身なので、他の方にアドバイスなんて述べる事は出来ません・・・。
この職業で生計をたてなければいけないという方以外へ、そしてこれは自分への戒めとしてもいえますが、機材の進歩に伴って（恩恵は勿論多大ですが）、特に報道の現場では、「一瞬を切り取る」という、写真の本質から外れる部分が出てきているようにも思えます。その点に留意はした方がいいかなと。
+1 Real Madrid and Barcelona, which team would you rather shoot?
Neither. The one that scores on my end, the one that celebrates towards me, the one that gives me more opportunities to shoot, that is the side I would rather shoot. I can’t survive on ideals alone, you have to be practical.
+1 レアルとバルサ、撮るならどっち？
どちらというのはありません。私のサイドでゴールを決めてくれる、私の方に向かって喜 んで来る、私により多く撮影の瞬間を与えてくれる、それがわたしの「撮りたい」方、私にとっての「良い」チームです。私は仙人のように霞を喰って生きている訳ではないので、そこは現実的に考えます。
Matt: +1s, Likes, and Faves…
I’m nodding my head along to this post from Kenneth Jarecke:
There’s nothing wrong with not being any good at photography. Everybody started out bad and none of us does all aspects of it well. But it’s a crying shame to want to be good at it, to spend time and money trying to be good at it, and not getting any better.
This isn’t like teaching a child to read. Positive reinforcement is your enemy. Your Facebook friends, your Twitter followers… hate you. Instead of taking ten seconds to say. “This doesn’t work. You need to do better”. They readily push that “like” button, because it’s easy and they hope to get the same from you, but also because they’re cowards.
This is something I see every day, and it never ceases to drive me insane. I have a lot of photographer friends on Facebook, and I see their pictures and sometimes the pictures that they like. I see comments/favorites on the pictures that land in the Big Lens Fast Shutter group on Flickr. And every time, I wonder “Does the person that made the picture know it sucks despite all the positive feedback?” Most people don’t know any sports photographers, and unless you are one, there’s almost no chance you know more than one. So all of your friends who just love your pictures probably have no idea what they are talking about. They’re impressed because you froze the action. They’re impressed that you managed to get the faces in focus and a ball in the frame. But as we say time and again, this is just a very small part of sports photography.
I continue to feel that Training Ground is far and away the most important part of the Big Lens Fast Shutter podcast. Sure, no one would listen to an hour of critiques while scrolling through a page of pictures every month, but our mission is to make you better at sports photography, and I honestly don’t know how anyone gets better without a bit of harsh critique from time to time.
Ken Reabe Jr is one of our listeners who participates in Training Ground religiously. With Ken’s permission, I’m going to show you the progress he has made since he decided to shoot with our criticism/advice. These are selected from Ken’s Training Ground pictures from August, September, December and January:
As you can see, Ken has gone from missing the action completely to boring action pictures to well-thought-out-but-not-quite-there non-action pictures before pulling it all together with a perfectly planned and well executed basketball picture that has the feel of a landscape or architecture picture. You can ask Ken, none of this was an accident, nor was it the result of doing the same thing over and over. He wasn’t happy with his pictures, and he traded very short term pain (maybe four minutes of criticism each month for a few months) for the chance to get better very quickly. Was it worth it?
Over the weekend I was looking through the group pool and invited a picture to Training Ground, and the photographer got my comment and submitted a different (better) picture instead. We also received this very nice “thank you” note from a reader/listener who nonetheless considers himself not “brave enough” to submit pictures to Training Ground. Is chasing comments/faves/+1s that intoxicating? Has it made hearing what’s wrong with a few of your pictures and some ideas on how to do better the next time that much harder to hear? I’m genuinely curious about this. The Big Lens Fast Shutter group on Flickr currently has 451 members. I’d like to see more people participating in Training Ground and fewer people dumping images in the group pool chasing comments/faves/+1s. We’re here to make you better, not facilitate a popularity contest.
Ryu: Copy that
It’s been long time since I’ve written a blog post. As expected, I’m blaming my Japan trip and my laziness. More Japan than lazy. But now that the tsunami is over and done with, I can put 98% of my energy into writing blog posts for you. Yes, you should be delighted, because it’s either my blog posts or Matt’s and I know which one you want.
Wanted to talk about the method of improving so that you can become the awesomest sports photographer in the neighbourhood. Yes, I’m fully aware that if you are the only sports photographer in the neighbourhood, you are numero uno by default. But for argument’s sake, let’s say that you are an eager participant in our Training Ground. Although you have a bit of a masochistic side, you are fed up with us tearing your photos apart. “It’s boring” and “Lazy photography” and “Too happy to have shot an frozen action shot” and “You suck”. You should be happy that we don’t talk about your mother. But what are you supposed to do to make yourself into a better sports photographer? What does it take to shoot something truly awe inspiring? I thought I can give you some tips that should lead you to Valhalla of sports photography.
1. Look at the good stuff
What is the difference between a “good” sports photo and a “bad” one? The answer is “You know when you see one”. As simple as that. Photography being a subjective pursuit of happiness, there is no way to quantify good stuff and the bad. But you are surrounded by great sports photographers. Check Matt and my work for a starter. Then check out all the monthly You Win winners. Then move onto magazines and websites and locate sports photos you like. Find out who shot them and check out their other work. You have to train your eyes in order to differentiate between good and the bad. Although it may sound easy, judging from the shots that have been submitted to You Win and Training Ground, well, I’m not so sure. But I assure you that more quality work you come across, the better your eyes will become. When you come across an image that you really like, then it’s time to ask yourself, “Can I do the same thing?”
2. Deconstruct the shot
Recently, my dear friend Matt Cohen shot some multiple exposure during a tennis tournament. I had no idea how he shot it, but he kindly told his minions that it was done by in-camera multiple exposure. I googled first and then went into D3′s menu and found out that I too could do this. Last night, I decided to have a go at this. I wanted to use this to shoot shoot the player’s walking onto the pitch. After playing around with it, there were questions. How fast does the shutter speed need to be? What angle should it be? How many frames? And so forth. I wanted my shot to look like what Matt shot, 3 to 4 distinct shots in a single frame. As time approached, I was mentally ticking off my check list. Angles. Check. Exposure numbers. Check. Function switched on (you need to manually switch this function on and it turns off after the designated number of frames are shot). Check. As the players came onto the field, I hit the release and off it went. Off it went, 9 freaking frames per second. As you can see from the shot, I did a terrible job. Since the shutter was on continuous, it went through the 5 frames like nobody’s business. I’m still hanging my head in shame.
3. Repeat
I failed. I know I failed. But I know why I failed. Trying new technique is daunting. You’ve seen a shot you like, you’ve deconstructed the shot, and now you’re left with garbage. In most cases, this is what happens. You won’t get it the first time, especially if you are trying out a new concept or a new technique. It comes with practice and knowing exactly what needs to be done in order to get the shot. I for one now know that I need to put the release on single shots, find a way to stabilise the camera for the duration of the exposures, and find a way to take 5 exposures about 1 second apart. Although what I wrote makes sense to me now, it might turn out to be a disaster when I’m taking those shots. I will then need to make further adjustments and more adjustments until I get it right. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I hope it doesn’t take 100+ years to get this shot.
That’s about as far as I can take you. You might think we wave our 70-200 and presto we get this awesome shot. Things might be easier when you are shooting something static, but this is sports. The athletes will not stop and pause for you, nor will they repeat the action you’ve just missed. What you need is to visualise what you want to do, get the technique down pat, and pray to your god that things work out when you hit the shutter. The only thing you leave it to chance is what happens in the frame. Everything else must be automatic.
So hopefully next time I will be able to tell you that I have successfully imitated Matt’ technique to the point that I’m better at it than he is.
Imitation is the best form of flattery.
Ryu
Podcast: Episode 12 – Michael Jordan Stepped on My Leg
Podcast: Episode 12 – Michael Jordan Stepped on My Leg
In Episode 12 we talk to Sports Illustrated contributor Jed Jacobsohn, look at faces in the monthly competition, and discuss what to do when it all goes south. Listen and download links here:
- Subscribe and listen via iTunes
- Get RSS feed
- Get MP3 (Click to listen or right click to save it to your computer)
News – Our best and worst shoots this past month.
Ryu puts sports photography on hold to return to Japan to shoot portraits of earthquake/tsunami survivors. Matt didn’t have any worst shoots, and his best shoot was a bull riding pracitce in the middle of nowhere.
We introduce… Jed Jacobsohn
Master class
Ryu and Matt talk about damage control.
Training Ground
In Training Ground we critique pictures from listeners who bravely ask for it in our Flickr group.
You Win
Our January 2012 themed competition was “Face(s)“
The winner is Danny Zelck from Belgium with this cycling picture:
Second place is Jack Campbell Peek by Kenneth Armstrong
Third place is a tie between Fear by Chris Bunda and Chokehold by Tomel
The February themed competition is “Silhouette”. Goto our BLFS flickr group page for competition rules.
Training Ground
Post your images to our flickr group for constructive or destructive critique here.
Angry Matt
In our new segment, Matt talks about history’s greatest injustice, aka being denied a PRCA photographer card.
Special thanks to…
Icon by Arvin Bautista
Audio Production/Editing: David Whittaker
