Equipment Post - what would make this better?

Equipment - What Would Make This Better?

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I have seen a lot of people drop their jaws over new cameras lately.  It seems that some people are chasing the megapixels of a camera, others just want the latest camera.  And a few, are shrewd enough to realize an improvement can be done, but perhaps not the latest camera, but that you need the right camera.

My test was when posting this photo of a skater at the 2017 National State Games, to ask people what could make this photo better.  This was a group of heavy Sony users and many said the a7Riii or the latest a7iii.  Only one person admitted to getting the camera (that released over a year ago) might be the right path.  That was a suggestion for the a6500 with the Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM.  Sure, this would have been a near $4000 investment, but it didn't take me north of that with suggestions of the other camera's and the same glass. 

But the main thing that would give me the best increase in photo quality would be the lens.  Lens issue would help by this main factor.  The lens I used for this was the Sony 70-200 f4 G.  But the lens I wished I had was the Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM.  And  what that lens does is allow?  More light to hit the sensor.  More light means I can use a smaller ISO value.  Smaller ISO value means smaller grain in the photo.  Smaller grain means that the color and sharpness will be more pronounced. 

One other thing... you get better subject separation between subject and background/foreground.  This is called Bokeh, getting a fuzzy looking out of focus look.  It also makes the subject stand out that much greater from everything else. 

Now, what a better camera body would have given me: other opportunities.  The a6500 still has 11 frames per second, and that is a must.  But something else is that camera has eye auto focus on continuous focus mode.  Additionally, it would give me the option to use 8 fps speed, but give me the slight motion between those shots.  And that would help with tracking the subject.  This photo, while what I wanted, was only in the bottom two thirds of the frame. If I had gotten a much more centered photo, then I would have greater content to work with.

Product Amazon Links
Sony a6500     Sony a6000
Sony 70-200 f4 G     Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM
Sony a7III     Sony a7RIII

How I Shot That - Spinning Competitive Figure Skater

How I Shot That - Spinning Competitive Figure Skater

Lens Sony 70-200 f4 G OSS - http://amzn.to/2oUsCx8
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
Setting 1/500 second, ISO 1600, 200mm Focal

This is Kendal at a competition in Grand Rapids, MI.  Michigan was hosting the State Games of America competitions back in August of 2017.  This was a large cross section of sports from winter sports (hockey and figure skating) to the classic summer sports (baseball, track and field, boxing).

Kendal's heart was into this competition.  She had been used to this music for a long time.  I had to play catch up in terms of feeling the music and anticipating when movement would ensue.  So it is interesting that I feel like, even though I am not a skater in any way, that I've started predicting some movement.  Such as spins versus jumps. 

I've mentioned in a previous post that at this event I prepared by renting the Sony 70-200 f4 G OSS lens from Lens Rentals .com.  It was very useful with photographing these skaters on the ice rinks.  Even though this photo had to be zoomed in all the way, it was able to help capture all of the movement up and down the sheet of ice. 

When a skater starts spinning, it can be pretty nice for us photographers.  The spins usually have to be done several times in each position to be counted as a position, add to that that the skaters are trying to do several positions per spin!  Wow, what opportunity!  Here, Kendal is working on the grab portion of her spin, elongating her position with her hand over her head and yet maintaining balance.  I know I have the shutter speed set to freeze the motion, but this still tells you that there is movement. 

Something about a skater's dress, and the crystals on them.  Figure skaters have crystals such as these Swarovski ones that were applied to her dress. The dress had many added to it.  They were added to help her to be visually accentuating to her movements and position.  As you can see, it is easier to identify her bend backwards needed for this move.  Crystals like these are available in bags such as these from Amazon.com

Something of a technical nature when shooting photos at an ice rink, your light meter in your camera is going to be wrong. You will need to keep the meter at about plus 1 if you shoot manual. Make sure when shooting skaters that you have some room to move.  These skaters move fast so you need to be able to turn with them.

How I Shot That - Skating in Riedell Boots

How I Shot That - Skating in Riedell Boots

Similar Riedell Motion Boots - http://amzn.to/2CGzq6s
Shot with Sony 50mm f/1.8 - http://amzn.to/2FmZ82E
Camera is Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2ELLKIr
Buy this photo here

Figure skating is in general a difficult sport to photograph.  You will have fast moving people travelling in a low light environment. If that isn't enough to make you think twice about shooting professionally, then the ice is going to mess with your light meter.  If you don't know better, then your meter will tell you there is enough light, when in fact, there isn't.

Product photography hasn't been what I was after, but I do like to get the details.  A few great photographers have always said, "Get your wides, the mediums, your close ups, and your details."  I find this to be great advise.  As a photographer, you need to be considering the entire canvas... then remove what you don't want (I think that goes against those 360 Virtual cameras, but I digress).  Figure skating and sports in general is no different.

This is an exercise in finding that detail shot.  It is also an exercise in finding out how to be different, or to stand out.  So often, I find photos online of figure skaters twirling, jumping, being tossed by a pairs partner and so forth.  But ask any skater what item they care about the most, and you will undoubtedly find it being their skates. I know, duh!  To underscore this, my wife has ornament upon ornament of ice skates for a Christmas tree.

That is what inspired me to get down low while at a high school figure skating team practice.  I wanted that product type of photo of one of the skater's skates.  Obviously, this was melding two types of photo styles: Product and Action.  Normal product photography gets everything in a controlled environment.  People get together to have lights just right, place the products ever so still, and make sure that the smoothest and most detailed photo possible could be made.

Action on an ice rink makes that impossible, unless you have rented the rink and no one else is skating.  Nonetheless, my goal was to have some movement.  I wanted that skate to show it was in use.  My plan was to wait by the coach near the boards.  Eventually one of these kids were going to come near by to talk to her.  

Let the waiting game start.

But while I was waiting, I needed to find what settings would work.  Usually, I photograph a skater at 1/500 or 1/750 a second.  While fast, even at this shutter speed, you can find motion blur with a figure skater.  My ISO was lowered from 1600 down to 1000 while increasing my aperture from 1.8 to 2.4. The 1.8 to 2.4 was needed so that I had a better depth of field.  Normally, with the 50mm on a figure skater, they are far enough that f1.8  isn't a problem.  Actually, normally, that lets in all that more light so the photo doesn't need to be higher than 1600 iso (it makes for a less grainy photo, compared to higher ISO numbers).  

I found I had the frame speed I needed at 350th a second.  Enough to freeze the photo of a slower moving skate of a subject talking to the coach.  I probably took about 10 shots trying to get this one that I liked the most.  The skater was stopped, but they had just barely put their right boot and blade on the ice.  You can tell this skate is used.  You can also tell it isn't damaged, so it is cared for.