Inside my car editing and transmitting after the HHSAA Div. II girls volleyball championship…

With all this digital photo business, we are able to send our pictures direct from the event venue. Which is great, we can spend more time shooting, and can still make the paper’s deadline. This works well for spot-news stuff and sports which usually run pretty late at night.

Every photographer has his or her own way of working under deadlines, but I’ll share how I go about it.

As I’m shooting an event, say last night’s v-ball championship, while I’m shooting, I’ll take mental notes of good plays, etc., as they happen. When everything is over, I’ll run out to my car (or sometimes, depending on the event, run to a corner in the gym) and get started.

I download my CF cards to my laptop, and then open the files using the Photoshop browser (a lot of people use Photo Mechanic, too), and start sifting through looking for pictures. At the same time, I’ll fire up my wireless air card, and open an FTP client. After I find a picture, I’ll crop it, do very light (if any) exposure/color correction (our laptops aren’t the greatest when it comes to doing corrections — it’s best left to the person working the desk in the office), add the caption to the File Info dialogue box in the file, and toss that image into the FTP bin.

Lather, rinse, repeat…

…until I’ve sent all I need to send for the night. It usually takes me about 15-20 minutes to edit/send 5-10 photos (saved at about “8″ or “9″ in the jpeg quality scale).

Once everything is sent, I call the photo desker in the office, who will then take the photos off the FTP, and put them into the system at the office.

Of course, sometimes I have more time, and other times I have less, but the workflow is generally the same for most situations.

November 02, 2007 - Word of Life’s Janna Kaupuiki goes up to try and block Seabury Hall’s Kaipo Rocha. This composite shows pre- and post-color and exposure correction. The image on the left is how it looks “right out of the box.” The image on the left has been corrected. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 70-200mm f2.8 (at 200), Manual exposure, 1/320 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Fluorescent white balance

I went to McKinley High gym last night to shoot the HHSAA Div. II girls volleyball match between Word of Life and Seabury Hall.

Most high school gyms are notoriously dark, but I had recollections of McKinley not being too bad. But when I walked in last night, it seemed darker than usual. I took a test shot at 1/400 sec. at 3200 ISO and it was dark. Way dark. Gloomy. Oh well, shoot at 1/320 and hope for the best. I was worried a bit about subject movement, but there was nothing I could do. At least with volleyball, the players kind of “hang” in the air for a split second, so I figured I could get a shot somewhere along the line.

Of course, 1/320 sec. was still underexposing, but nothing too awful. Canon cameras yield good files even if underexposed, and the noise isn’t too bad. In the above photo you can see what came out of the camera, and how I adjusted the exposure and color in the end product.

A tale of two rosters — These two images are right out the camera. The color cycling of the gym lights is painfully obvious. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 70-200mm f2.8 (at 150), Manual exposure, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Fluorescent white balance

The color of light in gyms are also hard to work with. When you walk in a gym, and look at the light, it appears to be a constant color and brightness. Alas, it’s not really that way. The lights are like fluorescent lights, and are actually flickering at a rate fast enough that you don’t notice it. And the color temperature is constantly changing.

As you can see in the above composite of rosters (which we shoot photos of to ID players later), sometimes the light is a true fluorescent balance, while other times it’s not.

I used to try and set a custom white balance, but that doesn’t make any difference since the color is constantly shifting. It’s a sad fact that some frames are just going to look weird.

I’m going back there again tonight, looking forward to wrestling with color and light.

October 25, 2007 - A full moon rises along the edge of Diamond Head crater shot through a telephoto lens. This Hunter’s Moon (the name for the moon after September’s Harvest Moon) is the closest it will get in 2007, about 30,000 miles closer than April’s moon, which was the farthest from Earth. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 600mm f4 (with 1.4X converter — 840mm), Manual, 1/2700 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1200, Daylight balance

There was some hype about this month’s full moon being huge and spectacular, so I decided I’d go out and try and get a moonrise photo.

I told the city desk about my scheme, and they seemed to like it, although one guy said, “Sounds good, as long as the clouds disappear.”

Thanks. Good ol’ dramatic foreshadowing.

My plan was to go up to that little park on the hill in Kaimuki above the fire station, and shoot the moon coming up over Waialae Iki ridge. The potential for drama was good — a big moon, plus the Moon Illusion effect, plus the use of a big telephoto lens.

I got up there with the 600mm and the shot looked good. Except for the clouds. Lots of them. Thick and puffy, hanging low over the hills.

I was feeling a little queasy at this point, but there were some clear sections, and I gambled that the moon would rise in one of those pockets of clarity and the day would be saved.

No such luck. I caught a sliver of the moon, rising above the ridge. It looked great. Too bad there was nothing to shoot.

Okay, stay calm. Time for Plan X.

Which I didn’t have.

So I reasoned that the clouds were kind of low, so once they cleared the clouds I’d be okay. But I needed some object on the foreground. I thought about buildings in downtown or something, but given the time constraints I had, I settled on Diamond Head.

I jumped back in the car and ripped down to Kapiolani Park. I didn’t have much time before the moon got to the point that it would be too high for even Diamond Head.

After dodging a virtual marathon of joggers running all over the place, I parked and ran to a place between some trees where I had a good view of where the moon would rise. Or I thought it would. Of course it started rising nowhere near where I thought it would, so I had to go running to another place to line things up.

The moon is surprisingly bright, and I could shoot at high shutter speeds, which was good since I didn’t have a tripod (I was using a monopod with the Image Stabilizer activated).

After taking a slew of photos, I called it a night and went back to the newsroom to hand over the goods.

Not quite what I had in mind, but there’s always next time…

October 11, 2007 - Commander Kevin Mannix, flight leader and commanding officer of the Blue Angels stands with his aircraft behind him at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 (at 10mm), Manual Exp, 1/320 sec at f/14, ISO 200, Daylight white balance

The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels air show team was in town this weekend for a couple of shows out at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.

On Thursday I went out for a media meet-and-greet with the pilots. I knew we’d only have a very short time with the pilots so I had to be quick to get a portrait.

I got to the base and was escorted by a public affairs officer out to the flight line. The planes were still in the air doing a practice run, so I popped off a few shots, just in case, but I figured the pilot pic would be the main deal.

After a few minutes, the head PAO guy from the Blue Angels herded the media together and told us we’d be shuttled further down the tarmac to where the planes would be parked. So we dutifully hopped into some waiting cars and off we went.

The planes landed and parked and the pilots got out. Each media outlet was assigned a pilot, and the Bulletin was assigned the #1 plane with the flight commander.

As we walked over to the plane, I figured to myself that we’d have about 10 minutes with the pilot. So I told the reporter to go ahead and do his interview while I set up the photo, which needed to be a quick and dirty set-up.

It would be a one umbrella deal, which I would trigger using pocket wizards. I lined up the shot and marked a spot on the tarmac where the pilot would stand. The sun was coming from the left of the frame, so I set the umbrella up on the opposite side. I wanted the light even with the sun, so he would be fully illuminated from both sides. It gives a clean look with a lot of depth. I also like that type of lighting because since only the subject is fully illuminated from both sides (and not anything else in the background) it has a slightly surreal look to it. It makes the subject pop out of the frame.

After the interview was done, I had only a few minutes for the picture. I had him stand on his mark, tested the lights and exposure, and was done in about a minute or two. The set up and break down took longer than the actual photo itself.

October 13, 2007 - The U.S. Navy Blue Angels performed a variety of complex maneuvers over Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe during the Blues on the Bay air show. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 300mm f2.8, Manual, 1/3200 sec at f/4, ISO 400, Daylight white balance

A few days later I went out to shoot the actual air show. I’d never actually been to one of these, always instead ending up shooting practice sessions, or whatever. So, I drove out early thinking I’d soak in the atmosphere, but got stuck in traffic instead. It took over an hour to get on the base.

Once there, I found the media tent, and wandered around for some general interest pictures. Which pretty much ended up being pictures of people trying to avoid the sun.

The Blue Angels were scheduled to go around three, so I went back and waited for the show to start. As I waited, I noticed more and more clouds rolling in — good for the heat, terrible for pictures. Instead of having nice blue sky, the planes are against bright white.

But whatever, the die had been cast, and it was time to get some photos.

I decided on using the 300mm f2.8 since it’s sharp, fast, and easy to hand hold. As the pilots flew around, I tripped out at how close they flew to each other. They looked like big blue darts in the sky.

My favorite photo came along when two planes were flying side-by-side, one upside down, the other rightside up. They approached from the right and I tracked them as they flew over the runway. The key was keeping them in the center of the frame, and getting a photo as they passed directly in front of me.

Luckily it worked out.

August 17, 2007 - Sean Akita, owner of the store Mechahawaii in Kaimuki, holds a Zegapain character in his store. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 (at 10mm), Manual, 1/200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, Daylight balance

These pictures go way back to August (I can’t write about anything that hasn’t been printed yet, and these pictures came out this week in our progress edition). The assignment was to shoot the owners of two toy stores in Kaimuki. I figured I’d do simple environmental portrait deals.

I decided to keep things as simple as possible, so I left the umbrellas and light stands behind, and went in to see what I could do with what I had.

The first store was Mechahawaii, which is filled to the gills with various Japanese toys and models. I looked around for a place that would show as much of what the store had, and found a corner lined with models. Sorry, I didn’t shoot a photo of the set-up, but it was essentially two Canon 580 EX speedlights with Stofen Omni Bounce units on them places on the shelves on either side of him. I used the Omni Bounces since I wanted light scattered around the room to show everything behind him. The light behind to the right was about a stop or two brighter than the one to left, which adds a bit dimension to the subject, while providing enough light to show the background. I had him hold a character figure “for effect.”

After that shot was done, I moved to the other store, Urban Toys, which was in the same building.

August 17, 2007 - Owners of Urban Toys in Kaimuki, Kathy Bachelott, left holds a Kid Robot Smokey figure, and Scott Nonaka holds a Kid Robot Geisha Dunny figure in their store. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 (at 10mm), Manual, 1/200 sec at f/5, ISO 400, Daylight balance

This store wasn’t quite as packed with stuff, and things were a little more spread out, so I figured I go with a wide view of the store with the owners in the foreground. One side of the store is just large windows, but the available light wasn’t all that great, so I decided to just light it up with my two Canon 580 EXs. Again, I wanted to light the whole room, so I stuck on the Omni Bounces. I was a little torn where to put them, though. While there was one convenient shelf to the left of the photo, there wasn’t anything on the right. So I stuck the strobe on the handle of a door to the side of me.

Strobe set-up. I stood a little off to the side of where my camera is on the floor.

The strobes were set at almost even power, if I recall correctly, but since they were a little closer to the strobe on the left (which was slightly behind them) that side is a little brighter and adds some depth. For the pose, I just had them grab a couple of toys they liked for that “holding a toy effect.” The only by-product of this “naked light” is harder shadows, and you can see shadows of the subjects thrown on the wall behind them (which didn’t thrill me too much…). I also could have used a third light in the far back to the right to light more of what was behind them.

The shoots were a good exercise in getting reasonable lighting using as little as possible to achieve it. I’m always looking to improve my work, and I learn more and more everytime I try different things.

September 14, 2007 - Kamehameha’s Popo Walker is brought down by Punahou defenders Siu Tafuna (7), Nick Kido (2), and J.J. Autele (99) in the first half at Aloha Stadium. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 400mm f2.8, Manual, 1/500 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Fluorescent balance

Working for a newspaper can be a lot of fun, since everyday is different. A new day, and there are new things to shoot. And lots of sports. Which I love to shoot for the same reason. Sure, it’s football again, but every game is different, and the action is always different, too.

There was some good action to be had at the Kamehameha/Punahou football game at Aloha Stadium Friday night. The players were really going at it, and the guys were taking some hits. When I saw the play above, all I could think was, “whoa, that’s gotta hurt.”

**EDIT** Got an e-mail regarding Popo Walker. Turns out he suffered a concussion on the play. I hope he’s doing okay.**

September 14, 2007 - Punahou’s Kameron Steinhoff can’t get a handle on the pass ahead of Kamehameha’s Chaz Bajet in the first half at Aloha Stadium. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 400mm f2.8, Manual, 1/500 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200, Fluorescent balance

I love those “right-on-the-fingertip” catch photos. So when I saw the Punahou QB air out the ball in my direction, I immediately started getting my hopes up. The receiver was headed straight to me, and I started tracking him. Plus there was a defender right on him… added drama. And yeah, it was on the fingertips, alright… but just out of reach. Oh well… there’s always the next game, right?

The next day, I was pegged for the mixed martial arts affair at the Blaisdell. Love shooting the fights, but hate it when they’re in a cage. Last time I shot a cage match, I was right up against it, so I could shoot right through it no problem. But when I arrived at the venue this time, I was, to put it lightly, not thrilled to see we were a few feet back.

Ringside before the MMA fights. Far, far away from the cage…

So I bellied up to the edge of the catwalk thing surrounding the cage, and found that my autofocus was useless - dazed and confused by the fence. Now it was time to rely on the old-school “manual focus” technique (cue sinister music here).

Hrmph.

Luckily there were a number of undercards and other fights before the good stuff, so I could get a feel for the action (read: uh, practice).

September 15, 2007 - Robbie Lawler, left, gets some hits in on Murilo Rua during the EliteXC Middleweight Title Match at Blaisdell Arena. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 70-200mm (at 110mm) f2.8, Manual, 1/640 sec at f/2.8, ISO 1250, Tungsten balance

By the time the Lawler main event came around things seemed okay. Bodily fluids from the ring were minimal (aside from some guy who spit water all over us… “gross” is a kind way of describing it).

And I was able to make my photos, although some were a bit (ahem) softer than I’d like.

September 15, 2007 - Robbie Lawler, left, goes in for a kick on Murilo Rua during the EliteXC Middleweight Title Match at Blaisdell Arena. Exposure details: Canon EOS 1-D Mark II, EF 70-200mm (at 70mm) f2.8, Manual, 1/640 sec at f/2.8, ISO 1250, Tungsten balance

September 13, 2007 - The Air Force Thunderbirds flew over Honolulu during a practice run for Saturday’s show. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 300mm f2.8, Manual, 1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 800, Daylight balance

Sorry, been on vacation, thus a lapse in bloggage… But I’m back, and refreshed. A new man, if you will…

Word on the street was, that the Air Force Thunderbirds were in town.

I was working in the office at Restaurant Row yesterday, and went down to the street for a relaxing smoke break. It was right around 9:30 a.m., and suddenly jets came out of nowhere, screaming like so many banshees over Honolulu.

Ahhh yes… the Thunderbirds.

I figured they’d just be hanging out over Waikiki, but apparently flight paths were drawn over the city. Well, this is fun, I thought, as I watched the jets zip over buildings.

Then I got to thinking… “Well, there’s another practice run at 2:30, I should probably come down here to the street again and try to get some pictures…”

I liked the idea that they were flying over the city, which would give me a chance to try and put the planes in some kind of context, rather than the stock “planes against blue sky” shots.

So I grabbed the 300mm and stuck it on my 20D and went downstairs to the sidewalk. I had noticed earlier that they flew over the Keola La’i building up the street, and thought that would be a neat shot.

September 13, 2007 - The Air Force Thunderbirds flew past a construction crane at the Keola La’i building under construction on South Street. They were doing a practice run for Saturday’s show. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 300mm f2.8, Manual, 1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 800, Daylight balance

Of course, I looked like a weirdo standing on the street with a big lens aiming at the sky. People walked by, looking at me, my camera, then the sky, then back at me, and kept walking, scratching their head. But then again, I’m used to this, since I routinely stand around with a camera waiting for a shot, looking like a complete nut-case.

But I digress…

Since I’d be shooting between buildings, I really wouldn’t have time to track the planes as they apporoached. I figured I’d have have to be quick to get the planes framed and get a few pictures before they disappeared behind more buildings and trees.

I wanted a relatively high shutter speed to stop any blur of the planes, and a fair amount of depth of field since I was hoping to get both buildings and planes in the shot, so I set my camera to 1/3200 at f8, which needed an ISO of 800.

Soon there was a roar, and planes appeared from behind Waterfront Towers. I was hand-holding the 300 and got the planes in the viewfinder and shot as they went across the sky. They flew behind some palms, which was nice to get some “sense of place.”

I was still hoping for something with the Keola La’i building, maybe the crane, and kept shooting whenever they came through. Finally, they came by at the right angle, and I was able to get the planes as they flew past the crane.

September 01, 2007 - The University of Hawaii Warrior football team takes the field before the start of the game against Northern Colorado at Aloha Stadium. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6, Aperture priority, 1/100 sec at f/11, ISO 800, Auto white balance

In case you missed the hype, UH football started again at Aloha Stadium this past Saturday.

Since it was the first game of the season, I thought I’d try to get a “players running on the field” shot. I wanted to get a little higher angle, with the smoke and stadium all around… something a little different than the same old field-level deal.

So I decided to try out the “camera on a stick” technique. I put my 20D with the 10-22mm on my monopod, and shot that way. It gives me the height and maneuverability to move around and adjust angles on the fly. I attached Pocket Wizard remote receiver to the camera, and triggered the camera with another Pocket Wizard transmitter which I held in my hand.

Me holding the pole-cam as the players took the field. I’m holding the trigger for the remote in my right hand. Star-Bulletin photo by Jamm Aquino.

I took some test shots prior to everything starting so I could gauge the angle I needed to hold the camera to get players and stadium in the same shot. Once I had that down, it was just a matter of waiting for them to take the field.

I’m not sure I really like the results, but pole cam was nice to have. I did like the results from the pre-game haka, as well as some other pre-game stuff. I already have some other ideas on what I can do with the “camera on a stick” and will be trying them out in the coming weeks. Photo involves a lot of trial and error, and sometimes you’ll end up with a total bust, or some wild stuff. Don’t be afraid to get out and try seemingly weird ideas. I’m sure people in the stands were looking at me thinking “whoa, what’s that guy on?”

September 01, 2007 - Hawaii’s Gerard Lewis holds up the fumbled ball he recovered from Northern Colorado’s David Woods in the first quarter at Aloha Stadium. Behind is Karl Noa, and at left is Fale Laeli. Exposure details: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, EF 600mm f4, Manual, 1/1000 sec at f/4, ISO 1250, Auto white setting

We’re always looking to get peak action pictures, but many times, an even better picture is the celebration shot after a big play. It’s nice to see emotion from the players, and so I keep my eyes peeled after plays to see what I can find.

September 01, 2007 - Hawaii QB Colt Brennan throws against Northern Colorado in the second quarter at Aloha Stadium. Exposure details: Canon EOS-1D Mark II, EF 600mm f4, Manual, 1/640 sec at f/4, ISO 3200, Fluorescent setting

And yeah, Colt is the big thing this year. So I’ve been stocking up on the Colt shots. We can never have enough of them. It was nice to see, however, the other QBs getting some play time, too. Good time to get stock pix of them, too.

August 03, 2007 - UH Warrior quarterback Colt Brennan for the Warriors Report magazine photo shoot. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 50mm f1.4, Manual, 1/250 sec at f/7.1, ISO 400, Daylight setting, Canon 580EX speedlights

University of Hawaii football starts play this weekend, and that means it’s time for another episode of the football preview magazine saga.

This is the third magazine the Star-Bulletin produced for which I was responsible for the photo shoots. I got involved a few years back with the QB and Warrior 3D magazines.

Previous magazines I’ve shot

This year I was again tapped to shoot the photos for the player profiles as well as something for the cover.

I met with the magazine’s designer Michael Rovner and photo editor George Lee back in July to find out what the game plan was.

The theme was going to be a pseudo-Consumer Reports type deal, and the pictures needed to be clean and relatively simple. After looking at some mock-ups of the magazine, I started thinking how I would approach shooting it. It looked like a simple white backdrop and a couple of lights is all I would really need.

I prefer the less-is-more approach, and decided I wouldn’t need anymore light than I normally use, or perhaps a few more strobes to get the background really white.

George secured a day for us to go to UH and shoot all the players in one fell swoop. It would be kind of an assembly line deal, since the players were coming in on their lunch break, and I didn’t think they’d be in the mood to sit through some photo shoot.

So Mike and I drove up to Hale Aloha cafeteria and set up about an hour before the players would arrive. I brought a roll of white paper and a bevy of 580 strobes just in case.

We had no idea where in the cafeteria we’d be, but were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a large room we could use. Lots of space, and the ambient light (basically dim fluorescent light) was easily controlled. I set up two umbrellas on stands equidistant from each other, and taped a couple of strips of white paper to the wall (which was an off-white color).

August 14, 2007 - Michael Rovner, assistant editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin stands where the football players would for the Warriors Report magazine photo shoot. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF-S 10-22mm (at 10mm), Manual, 1/250 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400, Daylight setting, Canon 580EX speedlights

I was worried that the background might not be lit enough and had brought a couple of extra strobes borrowed from Jamm Aquino, but it turned out there was enough spill from the umbrellas that they weren’t needed.

Mike knew essentially what kinds of poses and pictures he needed, so as the players came in, we put on their pads and uniform, and ran them through a series of poses, looking left, right, looking tough… whatever. They were all really nice guys and were great to work with.

August 03, 2007 - UH Warrior WR Davone Bess for the Warriors Report magazine photo shoot. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 50mm f1.4, Manual, 1/250 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400, Daylight setting, Canon 580EX speedlights

A few players couldn’t make it that first day, so we had to return a week later to get them. I drew a quick diagram of the set up, noting exposure, ISO and all that, so it would be easy to replicate what I had shot already for seamless continuity.

For the most part everything went smoothly, and we got the look we had wanted for the photos.

August 19, 2007 - The arsenal. Top: 2 Photoflex 3′ convertible umbrellas, 2 Bogen 3330 light stands. Right: PowerMac laptop. Left: Tamrac waist pack. Center: Canon EF 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EOS-1D Mark II with EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS, Canon EOS 20D, with EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5, flashlight, 2 Canon 580 EX speedlights, Canon EF 2X II extender, Canon EF 1.4X II extender, Canon EF 50mm f1.4, 2 Stofen Omni Bounce units, Canon ST-E2 transmitter, pack of smokes, extra AA batteries. Exposure details: Nikon D2H, AF Nikkor 20-35 2.8D, Manual, 1/250 sec at f/10, ISO 200, Daylight setting

“Are you a photographer?”

For some reason I always get asked that as I walk down the street, cameras dangling from my shoulders.

So, yeah, I guess I am. At least that’s what I’ve been told.

I try to keep my equipment to a minimum, and the photo above shows what I carry with me on a daily basis when working for the Bulletin. Less is more.

Flash Set-up:
The umbrellas and stands are always in the car. I like to keep them on hand since I’ll never know what assignment I’ll get, so if a portrait comes up I’m ready. I carry two 580 flashes which I use with the umbrellas for a quick lighting set-up. I trigger them remotely with the ST-E2 transmitter. Nice light, cheap, and quick and dirty. I use the Omni-Bounces when I need to go on-camera with the strobes. They soften the light a little, and disperse the light for a somewhat softer look than straight, naked, on-camera flash.

The Bag:
I’m not much of a bag man. I prefer to keep my cameras out so they’re always ready. And since I don’t carry much else, I just use a waist pack to hold my strobes and transmitter, the 50mm, the extenders, and some extra batteries. The 28-135 comes with me sometimes, otherwise it’s in the trunk. Just in case. The smokes… well…

The Cameras:
I carry two bodies. The Mark II and the 20D. The 70-200mm is always on the Mark II since the 10-22mm only fits on the 20D. Most of what I shoot here is done with those pieces of equipment. The Mark II is great for sports and fast moving subjects, and does well in low light. I also really like the 20D. Sure, it’s a “prosumer” camera, but who cares. The color is good, and I can use the super-wide zoom on it. I like the 10-22 a lot and that’s why I got that camera. Gotta take care with it though — beware the “cone head effect.” If you shoot at 10mm and put people in the corner of the frame they tend to end up looking like cone heads. But I like the look of really wide photos where there’s so much context jammed into one frame.

The Laptop:
We’ve been fully digital at the Star-Bulletin since 2001, and we use our Mac laptops to process and edit our daily work. Of course, since the advent of digital, this also means we can send pictures to the office from the field. So after a football game we can whip out the computer, edit our take, and send the pictures to the office with our wireless air cards. Makes things a lot easier. It also helps when we’re off-island since we can send from anywhere there’s a cell signal.

And now the cat’s been let of the bag.