The coming five days will see me visit a variety of locations in northeast central Saskatchewan and the subject matter that will to be covered is relatively varied to say the least. People have asked on a number of occasions "what's in my camera bag?" and I've never actually provided much of a response other than saying most of it is Canon. Well for the sake of getting some new content up on this blog for the first time in a while I've attached the photo below. It's one of many camera bags in my office and is the one that gets loaded into the truck when heading into a shoot which could very well require the use of any or all of the gear I own.

The bag itself is a sweet piece of gear. The Lowepro Pro Roller x300 is the largest of Lowepro's studio line of carriers allowing for the transport of a full studios worth of equipment in one hauler.

At the top is my Canon 400mm F2.8L IS in a hardshell carrier.

In the bag in no particular order is:

Canon 1D Mark IV and 7D Bodies

As for Lenses
Canon 100-400mm F4-5.6L IS
Canon 70-200mm F2.8L
Canon 24-70mm F2.8L
Sigma 10-20mm F.3.5-5.6 for Canon
Canon 50mm F1.4 USM
Canon 1.4X and 2.0X Teleconverters
Set of Kenko Extension Tubes

Other Stuff
Canon 580EX II Speedlight Flash
Pentax AF-500 FTZ Flash (my slave)
Pocket Wizards for remote firing of cameras or strobes/flashes
Remote Camera Trigger
Hoodman Right Angle Finder
SMDV Remote Camera Trigger
Canon Timer Remote Control - TC-80N3 (Fancy Cable Release with Time Lapse)

I rest this gear for the most part on a Manfrotto 804RC2 Three Way Head and Vanguard Alta Pro 283CT Carbon Fibre Sticks (that's a tripod)
The big glass is held in place with a Heavy Jobu Gimbal Head
There is also a Manfrotto Super Clamp in the bag with an attached 486 Ballhead in case I feel the need to attach a camera or flash to something other than tripod legs or my Manfrotto 680B Monopod

Also in the bag are a variety of lens filter, flash light shapers and filters, reflectors, batteries (camera and flash) and memory cards too numerous to list.

If it so happens there is a requirement to throw a whole ton of light at something I'm packing two 600 watt Camray heads, softboxes, umbrellas and stands of many sizes.

To help keep expsoures bang on and white balances accurate there is always a couple of grey cards and Color Balance Coaches within arms length.

To keep the cameras within reach they are typically attached to either a Cotton Carrier harness system, a Black Rapid R-Strap, or a Lowepro Voyager C Strap.

To keep things clean there are micro-fibre cleaning clothes and Lens Pens. If the weather gets out of hand there is a Lghtware Rain Cover even though most of my gear is sealed to the elements.

So in a nutshell, that's all I've got packed for this little outing. There should not be a situation for which I am lacking the right tool for the job this weekend.

Thanks again for reading. Devona will have another entry soon.

Don't forget to "Like" our Facebook group and follow us on Twitter. For that matter, show some love for sportsshooter.ca on facebook as well. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog... a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.htmlOur Services can be explored here, our Portfolios here, and those similar things in the name of photographing sports by Sportsshooter.ca here

Cheers!

Rob

Once again this December, as always, is a very busy one. Too busy for blogs, too busy for facebook updates and barely enough time to tweet. This year we finally got around to a couple of Christmas Lights Field Trips which only added to the pre-Christmas mayhem. My sportsshooter.ca business is busy doing up Christmas gifts of sports photos that had been taken throughout the year and my portrait clients are wanting prints for their famillies.
 
Devona spends pretty much every waking hour in December (some hours that she should likely be asleep) making sure Don's Photo is running seamlessly and you all have cool gifts to buy yourselves and others.
 
All that said, Devona and I did want to take the time to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas! Once again, I will be spending the month of December helping out at Don's Photo on a full-time basis so if you need some help with equipment purchases or upgrades come and see one of us. There are some awesome deals this year on the full-frame Canon 5D not to mention smoking deals on accessories.
 
If we don't get a chance to see you in advance, have yourself and Merry Little Christmas and an awesome photographically documented and creative 2012.

Yes, we do have some grand plans for the new year which may even involve out getting back on the podcast wagon so stay tuned.

To take you somewhere you've never been
To show you things you may not have seen
To capture an instance and leave not a trace
We share with you a window
To another time and place.
R & D

So the subject of the email reads "Blog", the first line of the email is "My writing sucks today and I want this to be funny so if I were you I would redo the entire thing."

At the end of the line is one of those sad little "poor-me" emoticons.

So now you better understand how our business relationship works and how things get done around here. Not exactly sitting at the round table voting on who does what. Round tables bug me anyway because it's always a struggle to find the power position or sit at the head of the table for that matter.

So here I sit on the first day of a much needed escape from the proverbial grind doing what? Working on a blog because Devona is suffering from writer‘s block. So much for holidays.

As soon as this is done, that's it. The voice mail and email vacation alerts have been set, the desk is cleaned off and for all you know I could be in Alaska, Italy, TukTiYukTuk, Cuba, or hiding under my sheets for the next ten days. Either way, I will not be an accountant, sales person, photographer, business manager, two-hour-a-day warehouse dude, PR director, toilet bowl cleaner or executive assistant for the next ten days. If someone needs a RFP answered or wants pricing to do a wedding re-shoot because the person they hired took a year to send the proofs and every image they select is "not good enough for editing or print" they are out of luck. I'm outta here, finished, terminado, befejezett, wrapped, history.

Wait a minute, is that the phone ringing? Should I pick it up? Nope. Gotta write this thing and then disconnect from all technology other than the coffee maker and the beer cooler. No cameras, no laptop, no crackberry, no interweb. Just me, some written word, and someone else’s photos of two-wheeled transportation devices… on paper.

So let us get this final pre-holiday task out of the way. Remind us again how two months go by without a blog entry. Oh yeah, life.

Note: This is where we go back to Devona writing the blog and I throwing in two cents worth set off with a pair of ~ for a change.

What has been keeping us so busy??

The end of June entailed shooting some grad photos of a cousin’s daughter in Saskatoon… the dress - beautiful!

ISO: 320 Aperture: 2.8 Shutter: 1/250 Exp. Comp.: -0.7

From there it was off to Fishing Lake for few days of relax - the daughter/pseudo step-daughter - beautiful! The pose - just a tad over the top. 

Below model/daughter gives mom the "you get one more frame here" look because last I heard there were no hundred dollar bills involved in posing at the lake.

Aussie Cowboy Rob headed out to Kelliher to shoot some images of a ranch rodeo for a client so Brooke and I decided to stop by for a bit. This image admittedly was shot with a camera phone so the quality isn’t exactly stellar.

Our annual summer field trips have started up once again and have been a huge success…here are some shots from the first “Peoplescapes - Portraits in the Park” session that from a few weeks back: 

Below is an image of Brooke … I know that you are all thinking that she must get her vertical from her mother ~ROTFLMAO~ ~See Devona, now this is funny.~

The weather that evening was absolutely perfect… nothing like the warm evening light when shooting portraits. Ick, just realized how Hallmark cardsish that must sound. ~Wait, I can help a bit here: Graced with the warm kiss of golden hues our models find themselves ever so softly wrapped with light as smooth as flower petals. Shadows fall ever so gracefully behind our subjects and air fills with the sound of shutters firing like those of fully automatic assault rifles.~

Rob (Vanna) demonstrates how reflectors can be used to fill in shadows:

Another shot of the “shooters” 

When your subject is moving sometimes you can use a panning effect with a slower shutter speed to really show the movement in the photo. It is important when trying to achieve this effect that the camera move on plane with and at the same pace as the subject you are photographing.

ISO: 500
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 1/50
Exp. Comp.: +0.3

Another shot of the group:

Lastly, this image of my nephew is brought to you by Rubbermaid spas and hot tubs:

Until next time…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

And so goes Devona’s entry. As mentioned, while her holiness takes part in leisure activities and tends to her day job some of us work.

Said work this month has involved some shooting a little freestyle:

Lens (mm): 24
ISO: 320
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 1/1000
Exp. Comp.: -0.3

and a little high speed fill flash from my 580 EXII Shooting on the waives at Tobin Lake rendered not much more than images of guys fishing without life-jackets (Doh!) and speck of bald eagle:

The very hospitable folks (George & Jean) of Torch Valley Country Retreats put my brother/assistant Howard and I up for a couple of evenings. Rather than extend the afternoon nap I spent a few minutes honing my multi-exposure skills. 

The days preceding Canada Day were spent at the Pasquia Regional Park. The visitor centre and Pale ontological Exhibit was a smallish room that with the exception of the natural light coming through the glass door and one tiny window opposite the display that needed capturing, had so little light that the backlight on the camera needed to be activated so as to read the camera settings. This presented a few challenges. (Yes, on rare occasion I still need to look at a camera to change settings - lol)

On the opposing end of the light spectrum there was a requirement for images of the public pool… can you say sweet light even at two in the afternoon. Balanced light accomplished thanks to a highly reflective body of water.

How many of you have ever heard of Kelliher, SK? Look it up and get there if country style sporting events peak your interest. To supplement the traditional rodeo they put on annually, the small town played host to a “Ranch Rodeo” on the second of July that saw participant compete in events that simulate the day to day activities of a modern day rancher. Very, very entertaining.

Trailer Relay

Team Penning 

There were also calf branding and wild cow milking competitions that you just have to see for yourself.

Canada Day celebrations at the Nipawin Heritage Museum:

Threshermen’s Festival in Yorkton Heritage Museum on the August long weekend

ISO: 100
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 1/15
Exp. Comp.: -1.0

Notice a theme here? Photographers work long weekend which is why, at times, albeit the times rare, we take a weekday off to ride motorcycles and wax toys.

Playtime involved, surprise, more photos. Pseudo step-daughter paddling the kayak just off Leslie Beach in such amazing light that the beer needed to be put down.

Image below depicts another recreational activity that involves cameras where one need not put down the beer in left hand to actuate the camera with cable release in right hand.

Can you tell we are on holidays? All this talk of beer leads me to believe it is time for a beer.

My mother on occasion would refer to me as a bit of a horse’s ass…. This is my research project and am failing to see the resemblance.

See ya!

Thanks again very much for taking the time to read this. Sorry again for the wheels have fallen off the podcast train but there are only so many hours in a day and I'm sure you can appreciate that we all need to choose our battles. Don't forget to "Like" our Facebook group. For that matter, show some love for sportsshooter.ca on facebook as well. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog... a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.htmlOur Services can be explored here, our Portfolios here, and those similar things in the name of photographing sports by Sportsshooter.ca here

Wow time flies when you are a hamster on a wheel! Okay, not exactly but that is the only reason that can be given for the blog being a weeeeee bit behind once again. The past few months have been a bit of a blur with a trip to California as well as the booming metropolises of Prince Albert, Lloydminster, Saskatoon and just this past weekend, Calgary. Truthfully one of the other reasons for the delay in publishing this blog is the fact that Rob lost his motorcycle blog on sportsshooter.ca which is published using the same application... one he no longer trusts all that much. Over a years worth of writing and trip photos vanished into interweb space and he is still trying to find the time to put it back together. Granted it may have been his mistake but something that should have been easily rescued with a "restore" has cost a significant amount of cash and way to many hours of frustration and telephone support calls. With a little help from our friend Shane he may well get it back into place but until then, the stress level when the subjects of blogs comes up will still be rather high.

Hopefully all of you have been heading into the great outdoors with your cameras in hand. With this beautiful weather we have had of late there really is no excuse unless of course you too are suffering from “Hamster on a wheel syndrome” and then we completely sympathize!

Onwards and upwards and onto some photos as I know that besides my witty banter that is the number 2 reason why you are here. My good friend Lana and I decided that it would be a fantastic idea to get together and have a girls night pj party a few months back so we loaded up the vehicles with king crab, beef tenderloin and all the fixings as well as some scrumptious chocolate and caramel fondue and a couple of movies and away we went. The image below is just a small preview of the first course and it was absolutely amazing!

The following images are from my trip to California. My God-Daughter Valentina was getting baptized so I spent the better part of a week out in Carlsbad, California.

Lens (mm): 42
ISO: 400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/2500
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Lens (mm): 42
ISO: 400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/4000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0


Could she possibly be any cuter??!! And Valentina is pretty adorable too

Nothing like a short walk down the hill to the ocean! There are tons of photo opportunities along the way!

Cozy little community


Lens (mm): 50
ISO: 320
Aperture: 5.6
Shutter: 1/80
Exp. Comp.: +0.7



Lens (mm): 10
ISO: 320
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/1600
Exp. Comp.: -0.7

After a busy week getting everything ready for the Baptism we decided that a much needed spa day at the Marriott in Palm Springs was in order!


Then it was back home to reality and more volleyball tournaments.


We had a great time gathering with family over Easter. Thanks Goodness for stretchy pants!!!



Little nephew Ethan loves to pose for the camera.


Lens (mm): 50
ISO: 800
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/100
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

 
Another weekend another volleyball tournament. Take note that it isn’t always about getting that peak action shot. In this image you can see the intensity just by looking into her eyes.

and at this point, I will hand things over to Rob for more on the subject of sports.

The following images all by sportsshooter.ca - "Anticipation is Everthing" (shameless self promoting plug)

Last week we covered the concept of being friendly to your subjects and perhaps avoiding the use of "impact" photos that often distort the body of facial features. This week we'll go a little deeper into sports and discuss other important peak and non-peak action images that can help tell the story. (It goes without saying that I've had zero time in the last five months to shoot anything other than sports)

Let's start with "Environment". We all love tight sports shots but there are times when it is important to portray the scene just a little wider so as to allow the viewer to experience the environment in which the athletes work. We've all seen the netminders supersave where said goaltender snags the puck from mid-air with a quick trapper or kicks out one of those mattresses to stop the puck from getting into the bottom corner or covers the five-hole butterfly style.... but where did that puck come from? How does it feel to be that netminder. In the image below, you see the shooter, the puck and the netminder giving the viewer more of the story and not just another save photo. In these days of 10 frame per second slr's nearly anyone can get an action shot, it takes though, positioning, and composition skills to "create a feeling".

How about the traffic a netminder needs to deal with on a daily basis and the concern about how this puck in the face is going to feel.


And the same can be said for someone trying to go over the top of a pair of defenders.


"No Ball" images are photos that do not include the puck, ball, bat, stick etc. but instead speak to the other battles that are taking place during the game, the spectators or those team members not currently in play.


Classic basketball "no ball" image of players on the key battling as a free throw hits the rim.

The "no ball" image shows players on the bench engaged in what their team mates are doing.

A coaching "no ball" image in which you actually get to see what the coach is coaching

Then there is the case for the "all ball" image where the ball itself is the subject.

Another sports photography topic of importance is that of eye contact. Eye contact in sports is not about eye contact with the camera, it is eye contact with the activity said athlete is engaged in. There can be peak action without eye contact but without eye contact there can be no emotion. If you have a bunch of sports photos of players looking into your camera you may want to ask said players if they would preferer a modelling career promoting plastic surgeons over playing sports. You can't win smiling at the photographers.

You can have traditional two-eye contact...

but where I come from eye is not plural.

And finally a case for the non-peak action no ball eye contact emotionally engaged image. lmao ;) or just some cute kids. lol

{Thanks again very much for taking the time to read this. Sorry again for the wheels have fallen off the podcast train but there are only so many hours in a day and I'm sure you can appreciate that we all need to choose our battles. Don't forget to "Like" our Facebook group. For that matter, show some love for sportsshooter.ca on facebook as well. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog... a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.html
Our Services can be explored here, our Portfolios here, and those similar things in the name of photographing sports by Sportsshooter.ca here.

Well it’s that time again…okay, truth be told it’s WAY past that time again but better late than never right? What’s new and exiting in the world of Those Two Photographers over the past few months? To start off, a photo vacation down to scenic Kalispell, Mt. over the New Year and it was absolutely perfect for the first day and a half. Midway through day 2 on our second leg of the drive between Medicine Hat and Kalispell we hit hurricane force winds that were topping 100 km and we all know what happens when you mix that mad combination of wicked winds and fresh snow …you got it… blizzard! After plowing through 3ft snow drifts in the middle of the highway we finally made it into safety and shelter that the ice covered mountain passes offered us. LOL. We did manage to crawl into Kalispell just before dark and headed strait to the liquor store to buy some much deserved beer to calm the nerves and plan the exciting and fun filled week ahead.
To give you the rest of the week in a nutshell: We received about 4 ft of snow over a 4 day period making taking any photos next to impossible as you literally couldn’t see the mountains even though we were right in the valley between them. Managing to get in 2 days of snowboarding lessons at Whitefish saw Rob proceed to dislocate his ribs at some point not making him a very happy camper to live with (hard to believe I know). On the second last day of the vacation it began to rain and not just the regular light rain that you get in the summertime but POUR rain…in the middle of January…in the mountains. We made a quick decision that morning to pack up everything as quick as we could and get the heck out of dodge a day early because otherwise we would be stuck in this valley indefinitely. Most of the drive was okay with the pouring rain following us all the way to Fernie, BC., then as we neared Medicine Hat of course said rain turned to freezing rain thus making us once again crawl into the city past the overturned 4x4 vehicles in the ditch... you know, those guys/gals with the all wheel drive suv's and big trucks who think they are invincible. ;o[  Our planned 1 night stay in the Hat turned into 3 wonderful nights in a raging blizzard that had the highways shut down…the end.

Wow, that was a crazy long narrative so now we better finally move on to some photos: {Once again, I, Rob Weitzel, will add a note or two or long-ass commentary here in these funny little bracket things.}
 
One of the rare days that we managed to get out and do a little bit of shooting. I kept waiting for a big wave to come along. {I got nothin to say here - RW}

Lens (mm): 50
ISO: 200
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 1/200
Exp. Comp.: +0.7

Holy cow I could almost see a bit of a mountain!
 
The way that the icicles formed below this tree branch really caught my eye.

Lens (mm): 34
ISO: 200
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/320
Exp. Comp.: +0.7

Rob chimping his latest and greatest shot
Lens (mm): 50
ISO: 200
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/250
Exp. Comp.: +0.7

{Even though the light was a flat as a floudner, we drove all the way out here so had to shoot if for no other reason than to model our fancy new Cotton Carriers even though they aren't real visible given the colour of our outdoor getups. The following are my take on a very expensive venture to get a half dozen so-so photos. - RW}

Well at least she smiled when she looked up.

"shootin you shootin me..." there is a song here I know it.
Lens (mm): 190
ISO: 400
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/1600
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Now you may ask yourself having perhaps lent an ear during one of our workshops, "why no exposure compensation?" Answer, look at the amount of white area in the image and the amount of dark area in the image and then average the two together, pretty good chance you will end up with 18% mucky green which equals 18% grey which means... I need not say more.

Now if I was to pick this image apart a little bit I would say "good looking smiling subject shown appropriately positioned within the frame/environment with the exception of where the water meets the land cutting off the top of her head. Shot again I would recompose ever so slightly to move the horizon up a wee bit." One may also tell the model to put the sunglasses on the toque a little straiter.

Without a CPOL (photo geek talk for Circular Polarizer) there was no colour or for that matter visible rock in the foreground of this image.

When the sky refuses to help out, shoot tight and take advantage of the lack of shadows.
Lens (mm): 12
ISO: 200
Aperture: 5.6
Shutter: 1/80
Exp. Comp.: +0.3 (because the reflection off the water was shutting us down a bit)

You've all heard us preach about the strong foreground element and the having things enter in the corner of images.

Frozen Springs - This is a fairly common sight where we were traipsing around, problem was parking anywhere near them and not having someone pile into your vehicle. At some point I will get back and spend a lot of time shooting around these. I blew off the on-camera flash ever so lightly in order to pop the green on the twigs in the foreground.

My daughter is big into volleyball so every once in a while I pull out my camera (or force Rob to) and get some action shots for her... mine first:

Lens (mm): 104
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/500
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
 
A few more of some other players:

Lens (mm): 70
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/800
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Lens (mm): 126
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/500
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

{At this point I am going to speak to the importance of image selection and being friendly to your subjects - RW}

Brooke with perfect setting form and a little expression of exertion on the face just prior to full impact.

Now with 8 and 10 frame per second camera bodies chasing this "moment of impact" is no longer much of a chase. Fact is, quite often the body and face distort so much at this point that actually publishing the image without some attention to detail can be doing the athlete a dis-service if you will. Have you ever examined the leg and for that matter the rest of the body of a person whose foot is making impact with a soccer ball... not nice. For that matter the most perfectly fit runner photographed at the point at which their leg first impacts the pavement creates an image of said leg no self-repsecting athlete would ever want published and no self-respecting photographer should ever publish it.

Keep your images to the point just prior to or just after impact at which time the body is or has returned to its good looking state. The couple that follow are what I mean by choosing good frames. I always have frames of all these young ladies that non of them would be happy to have their future boyfriends see. Those frames always hit the round file.

The image 1/10th of a second after this was not real nice.

Due to the bitterly cold temperatures we had to postpone our original date for the WinterScapes 2011 fieltrip but we did manage to get out a few weekends ago. Even though the weather did not 100% cooperate as we had no sky to speak of as well as quite a bit of snow we still managed to have a fantastic time.
 
Terry after showing the rest of the participants how to fall over sideways in snowshoes

 
 
Rob instructing the group on how to shoot some slower shutter speed images of the running stream

Lens (mm): 47
ISO: 250
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/2000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
 
Terry managed to right himself to get some very nice images of the creek

 
This image was in fact Bill’s idea but I thought that it looked cool nonetheless

Lens (mm): 38
ISO: 250
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 1/2500
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
 
The way that the snow covered half of the trees really stood out as we walked up to the clubhouse.

Rob decided to create a bit of action for the participants to shoot. Here he appears to have bit off a bit more than he could chew and managed to fill his pants with snow! {Photography just is photography without a little action - RW}

As always, there needs to be a semi-formal group shot for our field trip.

{Thanks again very much for taking the time to read this. Sorry the wheels have fallen off the podcast train but there are only so many hours in a day and I'm sure you can appreciate that we all need to choose our battles. That said, I already have several images ready for the next blog... keeping them as if these blogs were to get too long you may choose other reading battles and we don't want that to happen. Don't forget to "Like" our Facebook group. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog... a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.html
Our Services can be explored here, our Portfolios here, and those similar things in the name of photographing sports by Sportsshooter.ca here.
 

Well everyone we are finally getting some time to add a new entry as life has been a bit of a whirlwind as of late. What's new...what's exciting since we last blogged you ask? Well, in a nutshell there was a quick trip to Mexico, a few workshops and a Winterscapes fieldtrip among a billion other things!

Let's start this blog by having a brief discussion on the weather. In my furthest memories (which as aging takes hold granted are only a few years at best sometimes) I cannot recall ever having almost a month of hoar frost and fog filled days. One would think that out of all of them there would have been ample opportunity to get out and shoot at least one photo of such wierd meteorological events right? Wrong. Oh well, moving forward there is always next year. The one thing that did become abundantly clear throughout the gloom was that sunshine is my friend and I would have a really really hard time living somewhere like Vancouver!

Well...enough idle chit chat about weather and gloom. Let's move on to some pictures. We will begin with a trip that was taken with my cousins to sunny Mexico... this was a different kind of trip as normally my bag would be absolutely stuffed with at least one if not two digital slr's as well as a wide variety of lenses but this time my photography equipment consisted of a Canon Powershot G9 and a Gorillapod (fancy mini tripod)...yep, that's it folks. There is something to be said on rare occasion for just taking a break away from everything and that is exactly what happened... lot's of reading, walking on the beach and sitting by the pool. {Yep - this girl is learning from the best - remember me, damn near a month in Costa Rica with a stinkin point and shoot - Yes, I will once again provide semi-useless, strangely bracketed comments - RW}

ISO - 200, F 7.1, Shutter Speed - 1/100th Nothing beats taking long walks along the beach to destress!{Where exactly is the walking in this photo? - RW}

A shot with my cousin Rachel... what you don't know is that this took several takes as we were trying to look casual in between getting pelted from behind by the waves. {I thought I recognized the enema smiles}

Rachel's re-enactment of what must have happened to the windshield on this golf cart.{Speaking of which, at first glance I thought this was another enema pic but alas, I noticed the comment about the windsheild}

ISO- 400, F 4.5, Shutter Speed - 1/30th

The above shot was in the back of the resort. Very cool architecture and very "Italian" like. As you can see by the EXIF data a tripod was used for this shot as the shutter speed of 1/30th sec was too slow to be handheld... the image was also converted to black and white in Photoshop.

It is impossible to go to Mexico and not sample some of the tequila. This picture is indicative of two things... 1)  This was definitely not my favorite sample of the day. 2) Without a shadow of a doubt this proves that I do not always have to look like a supermodel (if that were possible) to be in the blog...

If you ever find yourself in Puerto Vallarta going to Pipi's and ordering one of their margaritas is an absolute must! Another must is hailing a cab within roughly half an hour after consuming such a beast to go back to your resort for a short siesta lol...

ISO- 200, F 3.2, Shutter Speed - 1/320th sec.

The above image was shot while lying on my lounge chair by the back pool. 

We had the opportunity to go whale watching one day. {and all you got was a piece of tail}

The best part of the whale watching excursion was coming across a huge pod of dolphins {and a time share pitch I'm sure}. There must have been at least a few hundred of them and they surrounded our boat.

Men with machine guns and smiles on their faces... interesting.

ISO- 200, F 2.8, Shutter Speed - 3 seconds.

These buildings were right outside our balcony and I loved the way that the light hit them at night. This image was shot at about 9:00 PM

Cocktails at the pool bar...for the record most of them were not mine {anymore}... we were there with a big group who just weren't in the picture!

ISO - 50, F 4.2, Shutter Speed - 1/400th sec.

The crab above was more than a little bit creepy. Everytime that the shutter was about to be pressed he would either do this little twitch thing or jump. He (or is it she??) was actually about 6" long and the image was shot about 2" away.

Okay... back home from Mexico and onto some more local pics!

A good friend of mine is starting up a new comapny called Vino Tapederas so I wandered over there one day and shot some pictures for her. Check out the website especially if you love having the odd drink in the great outdoors! {We would love to but you failed to provide a link right folks}

Rob and I were out with a great group yesterday as we conducted our Winterscapes 2010 fieldtrip and had a fantastic time! Below are a few images from the day.

Holy paparazzi !!!

Artsy fartsy chain link.

ISO- 160, F 4.5, Shutter Speed - 1/5000th sec.

Same shot in essence but converted to black and white.

A few images of the participants.

ISO - 160, F 5.6, Shutter Speed - 1/160th sec

This image has some special significance as it was none other than Shane (pictured above) who went through the ice in our Winterscapes fieldtrip last year... go figure.

My version of "footprints".

I have found that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. The first image below was shot when Rob and I were out at Buffalo Pound a few years back and the one following was shot yesterday. 

_________________________________

Now for my two bits - RW

Four days last weekend were spent in semi-sunny Lloydminster, AB where we gave a bunch of mini seminars. We had fun and they were very well received. Chances are we will head back there at some point. Being the driver of a rather large half ton this should not likely come from my mouth but my god there are a lot of large trucks in Lloydminster. Not often anymore that I'm stricken with truck envy but admittedly was on a few occassions. That said, that town needs to enlarge its parking spots accordingly.

On the trip we had a couple of spottings, the first being a bald eagle sittting on the ground just outside of Hanley, SK. We drove about a mile past it before looking at each other and saying "What the hell was that, a bald eagle?" with neither of us wanting to sound like an ass. After another mile decided to turn around. Upon approach we had convinced ourselves that the sighting was more likely an oil barrel with a bit of snow left on it. Well damned if that oil barrell didn't fly off into the air when hassled by a couple of ravens snacking on a deer carcas. You know how the rest of this story goes.... wind chill below freezing and Rob in a t-shirt and cowboy boots standing on an ice patch trying to mount a body on a 400mm and get some form of shot of this. I should really know better.

Closer to Lloyd we had a bit more success however I was still unable to stand up in the damn boots so just grabbed my 70-200 and blew off a couple frames. Hardly a show stopper when it comes to semi-wildlife but I just wanted you to note a couple of things compositionally speaking. Said subject matter (Elk) are composed on the bottom 1/3 horizontal line. The close crop on the animal on the left and the space on the right side of the frame make for "room to move". 

As for "ass vision" which is my own term for hindsight, I should have grabbed a bit more depth of field by increasing my aperture value. This was shot at F3.5 at 1/800 so had some room to move.

Tripped over a little more wildlife hanging from the trees in Bud Miller Park.

 
A little bit of fill flash here to soften the shadows in the face and if you look close added some nice catch light to her eyes.

The rest of the month has been fairly quiet as far as shooting for fun goes... sometimes I wish photography was a hobby as hobbyists tend to have more time to shoot.

1/500 @ F2.8 - +1EV - ISO3200
I know you have heard it said before but eye contact is everything. Not necesarily with the camera but with the activity yrou subject is engaged in

Changed it up a little with the Future STARS portraits this time as the typical portrait was getting a bit old. Went for the single light low-key in an attempt to do something a little more adult with the little guys. Who would have thunk that the biggest challenge would be getting them standing.

Make sure that you get out there and enjoy springtime with your camera in hand!

As always, thanks for visiting and your interest in our blog. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog. This is a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.html

Our Services can be explored here and our Portfolios here.

You are also more than welcome to subscribe to our podcast by searching for thosetwophotographers in iTunes. Industry news, tips, and interviews with photographers are just a few of the things your ears will tune into.

Cheers!

Till next time,

Devona & Rob

First off, for those of you who are not privy to our facebook group (join us by the way - just search for ThoseTwoPhotographers on facebook) we had a wee bit of a Snow Day in Regina, SK on the 25th of January. We thought we would take a couple of photos. Nothing earth shattering here photographically speaking but know there are a few subscribers to this blog living in places that snow is not an issue:

My parking lot. (If you look closely you can see me inside the car begging for a morsel of food and a glass of water -DH).


My filthy truck beside my parking lot.

My still filthy truck in alley north of parking lot. As it turns out, we have nothing on the state of Washington.

______________________________________

Chapter Two

The idea of making sausage had never once crossed my mind. Sausages are something found in a grocery store or sitting on a fence post because a neighbor was being neighborly. We've all come to grips with the fact that animals comprise a significant part of most of our diets and some people actually hunt. I'm not one of those hunters. I've damn near killed myself trying to avoid hitting rodents on the highway. Yes, there was a time as a child that a gopher's life was taken for my entertainment and that still bothers me. Hunting with a camera is the only hunting you will ever find me doing. That said, no amount of modifications will turn a Canon 50D and a 400mm F2.8 lens into a meat grinder so when approached by my neighbor to take part in a sausage making gathering and reap the spoils I could not turn him down. I love sausage made form wild meat, just had no idea how much manual labour could be put forth to make it. Eight hours of hand cranking a meat grinder and hand mixing a few spiecies of dead animals into a variety of spices, three of us had damn sore shoulders and a good glow on from the hydration products one must consume when in attendance at such an event. Only mid way through the exhaustive process did we start talking of the availability of more automated devices for the tasks. The following are a few images created during this experience - most of them with my trusty old 50mm 1.4.

(To add to Rob's story all that will be said here is that when told about this upcoming "boy's sausage making day" what continually ran through my mind was the blue satin-suited stud in the Bud commercial informing everyone that "there will be no sausage party tonight boys". For those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing this yet just follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkzfDr6Bv9w. - DH)

"The Grinder" - Pentax K7 - 50mm
1/160 @ F2.8 ISO400 EV-0.3

"The Outcome"
1/60 @ F4.5 ISO400 EV-0.7

These next three images are more about the expression on the sausage makers face that anything else. It kinda takes me back to my preteen days. (There is so much that I am forcing myself not to say right now - DH).

"Fascination"

"Pride"

"40 Something"

1/30 @ F4.5 ISO400

1/40 @ F4.5 ISO400

1/25 @ F4.5 ISO400

1/40 @ F3.5 ISO500 EV-0.7

So much for this weeks food photography. On to sports.

The University of Regina Cougar Athletics Basketball program recently added some new interest in the form of Mr. Jimmy Scroggins. Jimmy hails from Phoenix, Arizona where he attended and played a little ball for North High. He was born on August 8th (just like my little bro), 1988 and eventually attended Mount Mercy College in Des Moines, Iowa before coming to the U of R. He last played at Bakersfield College, where he was a two-year member of the Renegades and averaged 5.7 points per game during the 2006-07 season, as Bakersfield went 30-3 overall and won the Western State Conference South Division co-championship with an 11-1 conference record. Jimmy also scored 5.6 points per game in 2007-08 with the Renegades.

What? No Ball? - Eyes, Emotion, Peak Action - One of or more of these three things need to play a part in any sports image or else it hits the proverbial cutting room floor. Some people get hung up on the requirement to see the object of an athletes focus as in the ball, the puck, the horseshoe or... you get the point. You need not hang yourself on such a notion if you can find an alternative interest in an image. The above image is about the intensity and you see that through Jimmy's eyes and the fact that the guy who he just beat has a look on his face that totally speaks to where that elbow was a split second before. If you don't know this is a basketball image without the ball given the garb of the day and the body position then you should probably go back to reading your romance novel and grooming yourself with those knitting needles as you are obviously not into sports. Compositionally Jimmy (the primary subject) is in the top right interscetion of that grid you keep hearing us rant about and those are the reasons this image works without a ball.


This would be Jimmy making a sweet over-under-over move to the basket. The eyes are just as important in this shot as the ball. Note the body position taking up the area on the right hand vertical third line and his eyes on the top horizontal. He is on the right because his attention is turning back to the left side of the frame where the basket was.

Canon 50D w/ 70-200mm 2.8L @ 165mm
1/250 @ F2.8 ISO1000 EV-0.3
Not usually a big fan of the free throw photo because they are usually a little boring. Not to mention the fact that some guys (fool inconsiderate photogs) will jump right under the basket right in the face of the player to get this overdone shot. Yes, this is ignorant. Think about it, the player has enough to deal with given the fans in the stands working over their concentration, they don't need some little peon with his camera jumping in his face just prior to putting it up. Even worse is when it is done right in front of a blank wall so the only thing there is the basket and the photog. So take a tip, shoot this shot from the side somewhere a little away from direct line-of-site and then challenge yourself to compose it proper (thirds) and keep the player sharp while getting some movement in the hands and ball

Not all emphasis should be placed on Jimmy as the women and those other athletic teams who are important to us all should also get their due.

A good drive to the hoop by Polish born University of Texas at Elpaso Guard Joanna Zalesiak.

and a little sport art of our own Gabrielle Gheyssen

and a little hockey "no ball" if you will shot in an arena with no light and no strobes and what light exists is six different colours - ask me if I am bitter. Go Ahead! Am I pumped about a new arena next year? U better believe it!
Canon 50D w/ 70-200mm 2.8L @ 125mm
1/800 @ F2.8 ISO6400 EV+1.0
Forward Ryan Sawka - Note eye position relative to top horizontal third and body position on right moving into space on left.

Gilbert Musonza laid a licken on a few guys in the 57KG category to pick up the win at the Cougar Invitational. The following images are here to display a few interesting portrait compositions. I challenge you to work on these poses the next time you can get two people to model naked for you ;o)

If you are not now smiling you should go check your pulse.

For more sports images visit www.sportsshooter.ca and challenge yourself by going through galleries and for each image take note of how the rule of thirds was applied. Eventually it will just start to happen.

This issues final image was captured just outside of the supermodels igloo where I found her fashionably clad in a fur (fake) headdress and complimenting Helly Hansen jacket. (Apparently I am a really REALLY good sport as when this headdress was purchased a vow was made that no human eyes would view it while being worn - DH).

_____________________________________________
Devona Start - So that is more or less the end of Rob's comings and goings and now I will post the few images that I have as unfortunately life has been way too busy as of late to do much shooting The first few images will take you WAY back to Christmas when we had a chance to do some shooting at our friend Normiiin's place.

 
The above is shot with a macro lens as the actual object is only about 1 or 2" in total.

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 5
Exp. Comp.: -1.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 2.5
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority


The above photo shows the effect of the shallow depth of field when using a macro lens with your aperture set wide open.

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/6
Exp. Comp.: -0.3
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

My daughter Brooke was in a tournament last weekend in Saskatoon with her team the RVC's Voltage. They went undefeated all the way through to win their 14U division In the images below you can see the effect that occurs when shooting at extremely high ISO's. Unfotunately due to the extremely dim lighting in the gym there was no way around this as shooting at a lower ISO would have rendered too slow of a shutter speed resulting in blurry images.

 
Lens (mm): 70
ISO: 6400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/640
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

and a little more Sport Art.

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/1000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

Devona End
________________________________________

And now for a reach into our mailbag. We are going to do our best to address your mail as it comes in and when we feel it of value to our readers, we will respond to that mail publicly (last names withheld of course) via this blog or our podcast. If you include photos we will include those as well when we can.

Rob & Devona,

Just a short note to say thanks so much for last night! (this opening sentence leaves a lot to the imagination...) It should be classified a small miracle that I took ANY decent photos prior to attending your workshop.
 
One question for you regarding AV setting: if you're taking a photo of more than one person, how do you focus on multiple subjects when selecting the red light? This is where I've struggled a lot when attempting to capture my two little darlings in a photo....unless they're lined up perfectly (ha!), one of them is usually out of focus so I often revert back to automatic just to be safe.
Thanks again - you rock!

Sincerely,

Janita

~~~~~

Janita,

Thanks for the positive feedback. The situation you face is not all that easy and "Auto", although it may work on occasion, is not the answer. The direct answer to "how do you focus on multiple subjects when selecting the red light" or single point of focus is you can't. Fact is, focus, as you have figured out, works based on distance of the subject from the camera so unless both your subjects are parallel to the camera, one will be out of focus. Increasing aperture, which is all that Auto is doing, will increase your depth of field and your chances of having both in focus but you may have to up your ISO to ensure a fast enough shutter speed to handhold (you probably don't want to go beyond 800 with a Rebel). That is the technical answer.

Now the real answer, even though you are photographing two children, rarely is the image going to actually be about both of them. One must be "The subject", as one is usually doing something with or to the other and that child which is the primary must be the most in focus. If the image truly is about both of them and they are interacting with each other, then your positioning relative to their activity is what needs to change. There is almost always a way to position yourself so they are both (facially) approximately the same distance from your camera but not always is this easy.

If you just want the shot and could care less about it looking natural, then "A-Dep" (if on your camera's dial) and multipoint auto focus, or "P" on combined with your on-camera flash will give more depth of field.

Stay in touch and let us know how else we can be of assistance.

Rob & Devona

________________________________________

A special thanks to our readers and subscribers for their support. Our WinterScapes '10 Field Trip sold out in a record day and a half. Given the response to this event we probably could have filled two or three of these but our schedules just don't allow for it. Our plan is to have another sometime in May so if you want to guarantee a spot just get in touch and let us know. 

As always, thanks for visiting and your interest in our blog. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog. This is a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.html

Our Services can be explored here and our Portfolios here.

You are also more than welcome to subscribe to our podcast by searching for thosetwophotographers in iTunes. Industry news, tips, and interviews with photographers are just a few of the things your ears will tune into.

Cheers!

First off, for those of you who are not privy to our facebook group (join us by the way - just search for ThoseTwoPhotographers on facebook) we had a wee bit of a Snow Day in Regina, SK on the 25th of January. We thought we would take a couple of photos. Nothing earth shattering here photographically speaking but know there are a few subscribers to this blog living in places that snow is not an issue:

My parking lot. (If you look closely you can see me inside the car begging for a morsel of food and a glass of water -DH).


My filthy truck beside my parking lot.

My still filthy truck in alley north of parking lot. As it turns out, we have nothing on the state of Washington.

______________________________________

Chapter Two

The idea of making sausage had never once crossed my mind. Sausages are something found in a grocery store or sitting on a fence post because a neighbor was being neighborly. We've all come to grips with the fact that animals comprise a significant part of most of our diets and some people actually hunt. I'm not one of those hunters. I've damn near killed myself trying to avoid hitting rodents on the highway. Yes, there was a time as a child that a gopher's life was taken for my entertainment and that still bothers me. Hunting with a camera is the only hunting you will ever find me doing. That said, no amount of modifications will turn a Canon 50D and a 400mm F2.8 lens into a meat grinder so when approached by my neighbor to take part in a sausage making gathering and reap the spoils I could not turn him down. I love sausage made form wild meat, just had no idea how much manual labour could be put forth to make it. Eight hours of hand cranking a meat grinder and hand mixing a few spiecies of dead animals into a variety of spices, three of us had damn sore shoulders and a good glow on from the hydration products one must consume when in attendance at such an event. Only mid way through the exhaustive process did we start talking of the availability of more automated devices for the tasks. The following are a few images created during this experience - most of them with my trusty old 50mm 1.4.

(To add to Rob's story all that will be said here is that when told about this upcoming "boy's sausage making day" what continually ran through my mind was the blue satin-suited stud in the Bud commercial informing everyone that "there will be no sausage party tonight boys". For those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing this yet just follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkzfDr6Bv9w. - DH)

"The Grinder" - Pentax K7 - 50mm
1/160 @ F2.8 ISO400 EV-0.3

"The Outcome"
1/60 @ F4.5 ISO400 EV-0.7

These next three images are more about the expression on the sausage makers face that anything else. It kinda takes me back to my preteen days. (There is so much that I am forcing myself not to say right now - DH).

"Fascination"

"Pride"

"40 Something"

1/30 @ F4.5 ISO400

1/40 @ F4.5 ISO400

1/25 @ F4.5 ISO400

1/40 @ F3.5 ISO500 EV-0.7

So much for this weeks food photography. On to sports.

The University of Regina Cougar Athletics Basketball program recently added some new interest in the form of Mr. Jimmy Scroggins. Jimmy hails from Phoenix, Arizona where he attended and played a little ball for North High. He was born on August 8th (just like my little bro), 1988 and eventually attended Mount Mercy College in Des Moines, Iowa before coming to the U of R. He last played at Bakersfield College, where he was a two-year member of the Renegades and averaged 5.7 points per game during the 2006-07 season, as Bakersfield went 30-3 overall and won the Western State Conference South Division co-championship with an 11-1 conference record. Jimmy also scored 5.6 points per game in 2007-08 with the Renegades.

What? No Ball? - Eyes, Emotion, Peak Action - One of or more of these three things need to play a part in any sports image or else it hits the proverbial cutting room floor. Some people get hung up on the requirement to see the object of an athletes focus as in the ball, the puck, the horseshoe or... you get the point. You need not hang yourself on such a notion if you can find an alternative interest in an image. The above image is about the intensity and you see that through Jimmy's eyes and the fact that the guy who he just beat has a look on his face that totally speaks to where that elbow was a split second before. If you don't know this is a basketball image without the ball given the garb of the day and the body position then you should probably go back to reading your romance novel and grooming yourself with those knitting needles as you are obviously not into sports. Compositionally Jimmy (the primary subject) is in the top right interscetion of that grid you keep hearing us rant about and those are the reasons this image works without a ball.


This would be Jimmy making a sweet over-under-over move to the basket. The eyes are just as important in this shot as the ball. Note the body position taking up the area on the right hand vertical third line and his eyes on the top horizontal. He is on the right because his attention is turning back to the left side of the frame where the basket was.

Canon 50D w/ 70-200mm 2.8L @ 165mm
1/250 @ F2.8 ISO1000 EV-0.3
Not usually a big fan of the free throw photo because they are usually a little boring. Not to mention the fact that some guys (fool inconsiderate photogs) will jump right under the basket right in the face of the player to get this overdone shot. Yes, this is ignorant. Think about it, the player has enough to deal with given the fans in the stands working over their concentration, they don't need some little peon with his camera jumping in his face just prior to putting it up. Even worse is when it is done right in front of a blank wall so the only thing there is the basket and the photog. So take a tip, shoot this shot from the side somewhere a little away from direct line-of-site and then challenge yourself to compose it proper (thirds) and keep the player sharp while getting some movement in the hands and ball

Not all emphasis should be placed on Jimmy as the women and those other athletic teams who are important to us all should also get their due.

A good drive to the hoop by Polish born University of Texas at Elpaso Guard Joanna Zalesiak.

and a little sport art of our own Gabrielle Gheyssen

and a little hockey "no ball" if you will shot in an arena with no light and no strobes and what light exists is six different colours - ask me if I am bitter. Go Ahead! Am I pumped about a new arena next year? U better believe it!
Canon 50D w/ 70-200mm 2.8L @ 125mm
1/800 @ F2.8 ISO6400 EV+1.0
Forward Ryan Sawka - Note eye position relative to top horizontal third and body position on right moving into space on left.

Gilbert Musonza laid a licken on a few guys in the 57KG category to pick up the win at the Cougar Invitational. The following images are here to display a few interesting portrait compositions. I challenge you to work on these poses the next time you can get two people to model naked for you ;o)

If you are not now smiling you should go check your pulse.

For more sports images visit www.sportsshooter.ca and challenge yourself by going through galleries and for each image take note of how the rule of thirds was applied. Eventually it will just start to happen.

This issues final image was captured just outside of the supermodels igloo where I found her fashionably clad in a fur (fake) headdress and complimenting Helly Hansen jacket. (Apparently I am a really REALLY good sport as when this headdress was purchased a vow was made that no human eyes would view it while being worn - DH).

_____________________________________________
Devona Start - So that is more or less the end of Rob's comings and goings and now I will post the few images that I have as unfortunately life has been way too busy as of late to do much shooting The first few images will take you WAY back to Christmas when we had a chance to do some shooting at our friend Normiiin's place.

 
The above is shot with a macro lens as the actual object is only about 1 or 2" in total.

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 5
Shutter: 5
Exp. Comp.: -1.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 2.5
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority


The above photo shows the effect of the shallow depth of field when using a macro lens with your aperture set wide open.

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/6
Exp. Comp.: -0.3
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

My daughter Brooke was in a tournament last weekend in Saskatoon with her team the RVC's Voltage. They went undefeated all the way through to win their 14U division In the images below you can see the effect that occurs when shooting at extremely high ISO's. Unfotunately due to the extremely dim lighting in the gym there was no way around this as shooting at a lower ISO would have rendered too slow of a shutter speed resulting in blurry images.

 
Lens (mm): 70
ISO: 6400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/640
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

and a little more Sport Art.

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/1000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

Devona End
________________________________________

And now for a reach into our mailbag. We are going to do our best to address your mail as it comes in and when we feel it of value to our readers, we will respond to that mail publicly (last names withheld of course) via this blog or our podcast. If you include photos we will include those as well when we can.

Rob & Devona,

Just a short note to say thanks so much for last night! (this opening sentence leaves a lot to the imagination...) It should be classified a small miracle that I took ANY decent photos prior to attending your workshop.
 
One question for you regarding AV setting: if you're taking a photo of more than one person, how do you focus on multiple subjects when selecting the red light? This is where I've struggled a lot when attempting to capture my two little darlings in a photo....unless they're lined up perfectly (ha!), one of them is usually out of focus so I often revert back to automatic just to be safe.
Thanks again - you rock!

Sincerely,

Janita

~~~~~

Janita,

Thanks for the positive feedback. The situation you face is not all that easy and "Auto", although it may work on occasion, is not the answer. The direct answer to "how do you focus on multiple subjects when selecting the red light" or single point of focus is you can't. Fact is, focus, as you have figured out, works based on distance of the subject from the camera so unless both your subjects are parallel to the camera, one will be out of focus. Increasing aperture, which is all that Auto is doing, will increase your depth of field and your chances of having both in focus but you may have to up your ISO to ensure a fast enough shutter speed to handhold (you probably don't want to go beyond 800 with a Rebel). That is the technical answer.

Now the real answer, even though you are photographing two children, rarely is the image going to actually be about both of them. One must be "The subject", as one is usually doing something with or to the other and that child which is the primary must be the most in focus. If the image truly is about both of them and they are interacting with each other, then your positioning relative to their activity is what needs to change. There is almost always a way to position yourself so they are both (facially) approximately the same distance from your camera but not always is this easy.

If you just want the shot and could care less about it looking natural, then "A-Dep" (if on your camera's dial) and multipoint auto focus, or "P" on combined with your on-camera flash will give more depth of field.

Stay in touch and let us know how else we can be of assistance.

Rob & Devona

________________________________________

A special thanks to our readers and subscribers for their support. Our WinterScapes '10 Field Trip sold out in a record day and a half. Given the response to this event we probably could have filled two or three of these but our schedules just don't allow for it. Our plan is to have another sometime in May so if you want to guarantee a spot just get in touch and let us know. 

As always, thanks for visiting and your interest in our blog. Comments, questions, concerns and credit cards are always welcome. For convenience, please subscribe by clicking on the "Subscribe" Button on the Main Page of this blog. This is a mechanism that will provide you with notification each time we publish a new blog. For information on photo workshops and field trips please visit http://www.thosetwophotographers.com/Classes.html

Our Services can be explored here and our Portfolios here.

You are also more than welcome to subscribe to our podcast by searching for thosetwophotographers in iTunes. Industry news, tips, and interviews with photographers are just a few of the things your ears will tune into.

Cheers!

Update: This was originally posted well before Christmas and was creatively titled "Is it Cold Enough for You???" but we ran into trouble with our blog so it just sat in space until now. That said Devona occassionally gets trapped in a time warp so you probably are not surprised at all. Now that I have managed to rectify some of these issues perhaps we can even get back to regular podcasts as well. (RW)

What is it about that saying anyway?? Not sure what it is but it has always bothered me even though it is well known that all that they are doing is using it as a conversation ice breaker. It is effectively -34 C outside right now BEFORE the windchill add the windchill in and we are hovering at a balmy -50 C ... what kind of answer am I supposed to give?? Nope...not quite cold enough for me yet as I was hoping that I could bear witness to a -75 C day !!??? Seriously for those of you in the know you no longer have to feel compelled to ask that question as from now on I am going to just let you in on a secret to let you know that anytime the temperature dips below +20 C it is cold enough for me!

Onward and upward and onto some pictures of what we have been up to for the past month. Even though time has been short for both Rob and myself we have still managed to get out on a couple of fun excursions. Here are a few images that were shot back in November of the Cougar Sports teams. Rob shot the volleyball and I shot the soccer...very hard to imagine that almost exactly a month ago when the soccer was shot outside there wasn't a trace of snow on the ground!

Lens (mm): 160
ISO: 3200
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/500
Exp. Comp.: +0.3

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 3200
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/500
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Now onto the soccer... 

Lens (mm): 200
ISO: 250
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/2000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Lens (mm): 200
ISO: 250
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/2000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

A Group of Investment Advisors Rob shot in late fall:

An image captured during my annual Labour Day trip to Red Deer. Looking at the exif data at the bottom of the pic you will see indication of a very long exposure shot at night ... the orange glow to the trees was from a fire that was about 20 yards away...

Lens (mm): 33
ISO: 200
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 278
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Below display the effect of different shutter speeds on moving water in a photo... the first image as shown is shot with a much faster shutter speed than the second: 

ISO: 125
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/640
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Lens (mm): 55
ISO: 125
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 8
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Jim who was kind enough to move some of the cattails out of the way for a shot of mine... actually, now that I think about it I'm sure that he was moving them out of the way for a shot that he was taking and I just took advantage of it...

My daughter Brooke just finished playing in the city finals wit her volleyball team and I am very proud of her as they are second in the city! Here are a few pictures of the season:

Lens (mm): 135
ISO: 1600
Aperture: 2
Shutter: 1/800
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

Lens (mm): 70
ISO: 3200
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/800
Exp. Comp.: 0.0

 Here is an image that Rob shot of the Regina Cougars women's basketball team:

Lens (mm): 78
ISO: 6400
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/1250
Exp. Comp.: +0.3

A few weekends ago my daughter and I spent the day at my sisters house making gingerbread houses... very hard to get the houses done when my neice and nephew were just wanting to eat all of the decorations!

Yummy gingerbread...

For some reason Brooke seemed to think that she was better off without my help... no idea why? And seeing how I can already hear all of the comments...it was a Sunday and I was in my comfy clothes without any make-up on or my hair done... 

I am certain Devona had some witty closing comment to add here so I will close this off for her.

Stay Tuned and Keep your Stick on the Ice.