Wahine Volleyball: A new perspective
Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200 f2.8L IS (at 200mm), Exposure mode: Manual, ISO 1250, 1/640 @ 2.8, Fluorescent whitebalance
Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 300 f2.8L IS, exposure mode: Manual, ISO 1000, 1/640 @ 2.8, Fluorescent whitebalance
This season, though, thanks in big part to UH media guru and fellow shooter Jay Metzger along with Rich Sheriff, we’re able to sit up on the concourse in dedicated “media seats.” This makes for a totally new perspective–and a new selection of gear to bring as well. Now, instead of using just the 70-200 and 300mm lenses, we can actually take longer lenses like the 400 and 600mm to shoot down and really isolate the players and action.
Here's my view from one of the four concourse photographer seats. Taken with my iPhone
The first day I was up there, I was gutsy and brought the 600f4L lens. Talk about tight! It was so tight, balls and heads were being cut off of the frame (sic). Here are two photos I made with the 600 that night from this spot:
Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 600f4L IS, exposure mode: Manual, ISO 2500, 1/640 @ f4, Fluorescent whitebalance
Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 600f4L IS, Exposure mode: Manual, ISO 2500, 1/640 @ f4, Fluorescent whitebalance
I didn’t fare too well up there with the 600mm. Mission failed. So a couple of days later for the Hawaii/Cincinnati game, I brought the 300mm with a 1.4 converter, and it was just the right focal length. YEAH!
Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 300 f2.8L with 1.4x converter, Exposure mode: Manual, ISO 3200, 1/800 @ f4, Auto Whitebalance
Personally, I LOVE that 300mm lens because it’s small enough to handhold (which I did here) and great when combined with teleconverters for a compact yet effective super-telephoto range. Toodles for now! Gotta go grab some Wild Art!
September 8th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
thanks for your post; very interesting and encouraging; will interest both volleyball fans and photo fans. are you and cindy working on stuff together or are your operations totally separate?
will your blog continue on a weekly basis?
hope so!
September 8th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Thanks Randy!
I will post as much and as often as I can on here, even silly stuff, so be on the lookout and come visit often!
As for Cindy’s blog and mine–they are totally separate. I love working with Cindy, and have done the Wahine Volleyball special magazine as well as countless games for the past three years with her now, but this blog will focus primarily on photography and photojournalism. It just so happened that these past two days, UH sports were the highlight assignments of my workday. And to answer your question about the blog, YES!
September 9th, 2008 at 1:48 am
that’s great to hear! i only have one small suggestion to make and that has to do with the images: when you put your cursor over the images, it’s clear that the images are links. click on them and the same image appears; however, many times the two images are identical in size making the link very puzzling. it’d be great if the link led to an image which is, for example, twice as big.
don’t know who is coding your blog but it’s just my two cents.
looking forward to your next post!
September 9th, 2008 at 3:05 am
@ randy – the only problem with that is that people might steal jamm’s images.
@ jamm – wow those 600mm shots are crisp. wicked awesome. how do you focus? zone? When on the floor i’ve been trying zone focusing…i just find that the af, even though set to center and spot meter tended to hunt becuase of teh net. idk. what would you recommend ?
September 9th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Randy, Kent’s absolutely right. It is standard protocol now for images on the Star-Bulletin website to be no larger than 500 pixels across because of the threat of images being taken without our permission. Like you, I find that URL link icon on the mouse cursor to be somewhat melodramatic, in that you expect a larger photograph to pop open once you click on it. Unfortunately the photos are not in flash, which is, to my knowledge anyway, the safest way to display large copyrighted images on the web.
Kent, thanks for the compliments! As for focusing, I used to zone focus when I used the Nikon D2H, but the Canon 1-series cameras’ autofocus is impeccable in that it can actually focus through the net. I use Custom Fn. 4, back-button AF set to AE lock/AF so that my shutter release and my autofocus on are totally independent of each other. Plus it also helps if you shoot wide open. I almost always use “Partial” metering, where the icon is missing the black dot in the middle.
Also, keep in mind that the net tape is the same color as the uniforms, so if the tape catches the AF point you are using, it may focus on that and front-focus the player blocking or spiking the ball at the net. Knowing the players and strategies also helps big time. For example, if Mafua sets the ball towards the left, I am already anticipating either Jamie Houston or Kanani Herring to go up for the kill, and each player has a distinct way of jumping and making contact with the ball.
Rule of thumb in sports, always shoot at the max aperture opening–either f2.8 or f4 depending on the lens you are using.
Hope this answers your questions. Keep em coming!
September 10th, 2008 at 2:21 am
okay, i see but if that’s the case, why even make the images links? it’s like a road that goes nowhere!
the other option, of course, is to stamp some kind of watermark on each image.
no matter; i was just curious.
keep up the great work!
September 10th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
As for the image linking, there’s an option when uploading the photos whether to link or not. Default is “on.” I always turned it off.
Other than that, great blog, dude. I can’t believe right after I bail from photo shooters get to go to upstairs positions at the Stanley. 7 years I shot on that floor…
I sound like a crusty old man….
September 11th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Thanks Rich! You know I wouldn’t be where I am today without the sound (in more ways than one!) advice and opportunities I’ve had being your colleague in photo. I feel very honored to carry the blog torch. As for sitting on that floor, put it this way–you get to TAILGATE!!!
September 11th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Jamm,
Great blog man. I’ve been waiting since Richard left photo for someone else to start one.
Those are some awesome shots from volleyball. Is that just great timing or does the 10 fps really help when you’re trying to capture that moment? i wouldn’t know cuz my camera’s nowhere near that fast. oh, and are the shots from the concourse cropped at all? i just figured my 70-200 would be too short to shoot from there, even with a crop body and 1.4x TC, so I usually shoot from the floor.
Thanks, and see you on the field or court or wherever else you’re shooting that i get assigned next!
September 11th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for the kind words Mike! To answer your questions, 10 fps does help to a certain extent, but you have to remember that YOU edit and caption your own photos on deadline. If you blasted off 400 frames in a game of volleyball, that’s 400 frames you’ll have to go through in Photo Mechanic, not to mention caption correctly! I learned everything on shooting rolls of film, so I’m rather selective on what I shoot and what I choose to use the motordrive. I generally “chimp” during timeouts to discard unwanted frames, but chimping may mean you miss something spectacular going on!
The shots from the concourse with the 600mm are full frame, and the shot with the 300 and 1.4 was slightly cropped on the sides to clean up the composition.
Good luck, and see you out in the field!
September 12th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Nice work Jamm! Cool that you have your own blog now. I’ll definitely be checking it out!
September 12th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
you chimp-a-holic! LOL. i too am a chimp-a-holic during timeouts. you gonna be there saturday night?
Ka Leo needs to get a longer lens. the sigma isn’t cutting it. T_T
September 13th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Wonderful technical information about Volleyball. I’m a photographer for my University (BYU-H) and always dread covering volleyball games. Its a very difficult sport to get decent pictures of when all the players are facing inward!
September 16th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
haha! I guess that’s one way to look at it.
Amazing captures Jamm. I need a 600.
September 20th, 2008 at 11:42 am
the 600 makes better pictures. keep using it, you’ll get the hang of it.