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Transcript of Inside Photo Edition 8
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INSIDEphotoAugust 2009Edition 8
FUN W AYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
INSIDE ASSIGNMENTS: COM POSITION 102A new series understanding composition
DEADLINES:Corner action with Rally cars
SKILL FACTOR: SHOOTING SOCCER GAMESHow to shoot field games
TRAVELSHOOTER: ON ASSIGNMENTFrom the flightline
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CONTENTS
Page 6
Page 8
Page 20
Page 30
Page 26
Page 38
NEWS: A digital weekend at Wainui
with the NPSNZ
INSIDE ASSIGNMENT: COMPOSITION
Looking at ways to improve your im-
ages through composition 102
SKILL FACTOR: The Anatomy of a Soccer
match and how to shoot it
PROCESS: HAVING FUN WITH SEPIA
using Photoshop to add impact to your
images
DEADLINES: Shooting a car rally from
just one corner, skills for
aspiring news photographers
TRAVELSHOOTER: ON ASSIGNMENT
From the flightline
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PUBLISHER / EDITOR / DESIGNER /
PHOTOGRAPHER S/ WRITERS:
John and Kath Cosgrove
Email:
INSIDE photo e-magazine
is published by:
INSIDE photo114 Wakari Road,
Helensburgh
Dunedin, 9010
New Zealand
Ph: + 64 3 476 2493
Web: www.insidephoto.info
Material published in INSIDE
photo is copyrighted and cannot
be reproduced (or photocopied)other than for individual personal
use only.
www.insidephoto.info
WelcomeTo the August issue of INSIDE photo
This edition produced
with Serif PagePlus 9
Wow what a mission, at times Ithought it would never be fin-ished but firstly let me apologise for
the complete lack of an edition for the
past three months or so. I have had to
dedicate quite a bit of time to starting
my studies at Otago Polytechnic, solv-
ing some financial problems, conduct-
ing a couple of intensive but fun
photojournalism and digital photogra-
phy courses out of town and generally
get my head around being an student
of the arts for the first time.
Sadly the magazine was forced to take
a back seat during those months but
now that I am settled in to my new life
as a Masters student researching the
history of New Zealand Newspaper
photojournalism and other fun bits, it
is all finally becoming organised again
and I can re-establish my monthly
rhythm of producing INSIDE
photo.
It is great being around people again
whose passion for photography is in-
fectious, it reminds me of my years of
fun and excitement in Singapore, hope
everyone is fine up there.
This month as well as continuing the
series on composition I am also look-
ing at things mechanical with guides
on how to shoot car rallys from just
one corner when your time con-
straints dont allow you to visit other
locations, and how to have fun and get
some great pictures from the plane or
of aircraft on the flight line as you
travel around the world. Again many
thanks for your kind patience and look
forward to hearing from you all soon.
JohnC
3
Back editions of INSIDE photo areavailable in the archives section of
the website at www.insidephoto.info
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To see INSIDE photo in
all its glory as a DOUBLEPAGE SPREAD
1: Activate Adobe Acrobat READER 9 or KM
Viewer or in any other PDF viewing software.
2: Under the Menu Item VIEW -
Select PAGE DISPLAY.
3: Select Two-Up Continuous,
4: Select Show Cover Page During Two Up
and then enjoy viewing your free edi-
tion of INSIDE photo as a DPS.
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6
NEWS
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attended including Judy
Ashton, Eveline van Heyst,
Kath Varcoe, Pauline
Syrett, Nick Webb, Ken
Muscroft-Taylor, Jude
Frazer, Lisa Direen, Trish
Brown, Ross Blyth, Sue
Blair and Robyn Owen.
More info about the clubs
activities can be found at :
www.naturephotography-nz.org/
Members of the Christchurch
based Nature Photography
Society of New Zealand recently
joined INSIDE photo Editor John
Cosgrove at the YMCA Wainui
camp near Akaroa for a fun filled
weekend of digital photography.
Here are some of the great
images captured by those who
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ON ASSIGNMENT : Composition 102
8
The second in a series of INSIDE photo assignmentsdedicated to improving your digital images.
We all walk around with an average 5ft 7inch (170cm) high eye point and for many photographers this is the
primary viewpoint of their photography. We all look up and down at the world from this eye point and yet
very few of us take the time to investigate the amazing possibilities offered by altering your camera angles/
viewpoints to show viewers entirely new photos of everyday things.
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By John Cosgrove
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ON ASSIGNMENT
O
ne of the best examples of
radically altering your
viewpoint was the work done
by New York photographer and
all round funny man Chip Si-
mons (www.chipsimons.com)
whos I am a dog series was all
shot using a fish eye lens
mounted to his Nikon Camera
which was then attached to the
end of a pole lowered down to
the dogs eye level. It showed usall what the world looks like
well below our eye point. I met
Chip a couple of years ago and
he is indeed a very funny man
with a wicked sense of humor
which he translates well into his
professional photography ca-
reer.
As one of the prime composi-
tion tools, camera angle is also
one of the simplest ways of
controlling composition in your
images, and its so simple to do.
The difference between an okay
photo and one remembered by
everyone is simple a step to the
left or right or lowering the
camera down or lifting it above
your head. This change in view-point creates unlimited possibil-
ities for a new image and raises
the obvious question in the
viewers mind of How did they
get that shot.
Photographing from a different
viewpoint or camera angle can
alter the dramatic angle of a
photo of offer a new view of
something familiar that we walk
past every day.
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Simply by changing your viewpointchanges the impact of the image.
The pleasing arrangement of subject matter and elements within the picture area
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ON ASSIGNMENT
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Whichever way you shoot an
object the camera angle and
unique viewpoint is the first
thing that attracts the viewers
eye. If you have the opportu-
nity you should always walk
around your subject and view it
from all angles. Take your time
and investigate how it looks
from high or low view points,
then get lower, try lying on the
ground and see just how it ap-
pears when you get below it orclimb up a nearby fence or wall
and see how things look from
up there.
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ON ASSIGNMENT
Viewpoint
The camera is held down low on the MTB rider to
give a unique viewpoint not normally associated
with mountain bike racing.
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While sounding alike, the per-
ception of the phrases
Viewpoint and Camera Angle
are often used to mean the
same thing and while sounding
similar they actually mean dif-
ferent things.
Camera Angle is described as
the angle at which the camera
lens is being tilted. You can tilt
the lens up or down to add
drama to your image. When
using a wide angle you can re-ally bend the perspective to
create wonderful merging lines
images.
Viewpoint is best described as
the relationship of the angle of
the Camera in relation to the
subject so when you hold the
camera above your head or
down below your legs it cre-ates a unique viewpoint.
It always pays to check out
how far you can push the enve-
lope when photographing sub-
ects, just bear in mind the
relationship of your subject to
high or low viewpoints or cam-
era angles. Cars look powerful
and aggressive when photo-graphed from road level, rugby
stars also like being photo-
graphed from a lower view-
point to make them look mean
and powerful to their oppo-
nents. Women on the other
hand need to be photographed
ust slightly above their eye
point so that you get them to
lift their heads slightly and we
dont see any double chins or
nose hairs.
High viewpoints can be fun but
watch the pear shaped heads it
creates and while you can iso-
late your subject better it can
also be very confusing to view-
ers about just what you were
photographing.
There are many movie stars
and self absorbed politicians
who demand that they be
photographed from a slightly
lower viewpoint to accentuate
their greatness and the list
goes on. So always experiment
with your subject and see how
far you can alter the viewpoint
while changing the camera an-
gles. Keep it simple.
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Camera Angle
The camera is tilted upwards to isolate
this road sign against the blue sky
Camera Angle and Viewpoint.
A combination of both Camera Angle and Viewpoint
to make this car appear strong, attractive and unique.
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ON ASSIGNMENT
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The next compositional fac-
tor we will look at is how to
Balance the objects in your
image.
Balancing your digital composi-
tion is simply the matter of
making all the elements in your
picture appear harmonious
and interrelated. They have to
be there to portray the state-
ment you are intending to
make. Every colour, shape,
shadow, building, person or
line contributes to the overall
effect of the image and if there
are any odd elements in there
that shouldnt be there then
the picture can jar the senses
and cause viewers to become
confused and move on to look
at someone else pictures.
The Placement of your subjectsand supporting elements
within a picture must be care-
fully considered.
Sounds heavy but it isnt be-
cause when we come across a
scene, the juxtaposition of
shapes and colours is automat-
ically coordinated in our brain
and then we get the flash mes-
sage that Hey there is some-
thing to shoot here and off we
go - snapping up a storm.
This feeling of Balance in our
images quickly becomes sec-
ond nature to even the most
novice of photographers as it
comes as the result of experi-
ence and practice something
digital allows us to do a lot of
cheaply. So shoot heaps as it
helps you to compose better
pictures.
To balance the composition in
your images we can use either
of these two methods, either
symmetrical or formal balance
and asymmetrical or informal
balance.
Symmetrical or Formal
balance
This is where the components
in our image are of equal
weight/size so that they are the
same size or shape. This is arather static and boring image
but they can appear dignified
and equal.
A classic analogy of a symmetri-
cal balance is a sunset/sunset
horizon shot whereby the
colour is reflected in water in
the lower half of the frame.
Both parts are the same and it
always asks the question What
was the photographer actually
photography? Top landscape
photographers counter this di-
vision of their image frame by
placing the horizon in either the
upper or lower third of the
frame.
Asymmetrical or infor-mal balance
A much more interesting way
to arrange all the elements in
our pictures. Instead of mirror-
ing objects equally in each half
of the frame as per Symmetri-
cal Balance, try to look for dif-
ferent sized objects with
different colours, shapes ortones to help balance the size
or shape of your main subject.
Formal balance is where both halves balance e
Great Wall of China. Below this image of trolle
balance as the two at the rea
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The old school but very relevant US Navy photogra-
phers guide to composition has one last point about
simplicity. Tell only one story. Ensure there is only
enough material in the picture to convey one single
idea. Although each picture is composed of numerous
small parts and contributing elements, none should at-
tract more of the viewer's attention than the primary
object of the picture. The primary object is the reason
the picture is being made in the first place; therefore,
all other elements should merely support and empha-
size the main object. Do not allow the scene to be clut-
tered with confusing elements and lines that detract
from the primary point of the picture. Select a view-
point that eliminates distractions so the principal sub-
ject is readily recognized. When numerous lines or
shapes are competing for interest with the subject, it is
difficult to recognize the primary object or determine
why the picture was made.
other as in this photo above of tourists on the
rby competitors in Dunedin employs informal
pport the racer in the front.
This racer could be called both informal or formal
as she has elements to support both descriptions.
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Factors to take into
account when construct-
ing balanced images:
1: An object located far away
from the center of the picture
gives the impression of having
more influence than one
placed near the center of the
frame.
2: Locate an object in the up-
per part of the frame and it will
appear to visually dominatesame sized objects in the lower
part.
3: Isolation in the frame seems
to increase the emphasis of an
object.
4: Intensely colourful or unique
objects always appear to have
more compositional influence.
5: Regular shapes seem to
have more power than irregu-lar shapes.
6: Because we read left to right
components of your image
placed on the right side of an
asymmetrical picture appear to
have more significance than
elements of the same size lo-
cated on the left hand side of
the picture.
7: The obvious directions in
which people, lines or shapes
appear to be traveling within
the image frame are important
to the overall balance.
8: When you sense the feeling
of direction within a scene, it
tends to upset the balance if
you judge it on the size of the
subject alone.
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This garden appeared to scream out for a great photo but where
was it? Change your view point and then change of lens and ap-
erture to alter the cameras view and point of focus, and there
we have it - some interesting photographs.
It is essential for you to learn about the factors that are required
to create pictorial balance in your images. Once you have gained
an understanding of the basic principles of pictorial balance,
achieving balance in your images becomes an easy process.
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Skill FactorsSKILL FACTOR
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By John Cosgrove
Shooting Soccer or any sporting event is all about planning. Plan you shoot well and you will be rewarded
with great shots even from even the most boring of matchs as there is action everywhere and all you have
to do is find it and this is where planning can massively increase your success rate.
You plan of attack is primarily based
on the equipment you have in your
camera bag. Most of us have at least
a 200mm zoom while some even
have 300mm lenses packed away.
What you have to do is work outyour Area of Operation: the space
on the playing field that you can
capture images that will fill the
frame and dont make the players
look like dots in the middle of the
negative.
Most photographers over-shoot
with their lenses. I remember stand-
ing on a rugby field one day when a
women shooter turned up with her
D100 mounted on a tripod and her
stock 18-55mm lens mounted and
then proceeded to shoot the actionwhile myself and the rest of the
photographers watched in amaze-
ment.
We were waiting there with our long
lenses on, waiting for the action to
return to our areas of operation,
while she was happily snapping way
at the action as it happened on the
furthest part of the field.
The mistake she made was that she
could see all the action through the
viewfinder and yet she never once
considered that it was so small inthe frame it was unusable.
We all tend to watch the action as it
happens and forget to once in a
while look around the viewfinder to
see just how much of the sensor we
are using in most cases less than
10% of it.
The quick guide to how far away can I shoot
is to look and see if in either horizontal ( land-
scape) or vertical (portrait) shooting position
are the players standing tall with a small
amount of space above and below them? If
they only occupy less than half of your image
then you are shooting too far away.
Then start to think about your camera angles,
if you crouch down the players look bigger and
stronger and you can really clean up your
backgrounds which can make or break your
images.
Working out a plan of attack
The areas marked in red show just how much wasted space
you can get when shooting too far away, while the yellow
marks shows that you are effectively framing the subject
with enough space to record any extra action such as
another player entering the frame. We all have limited
megapixels so use them all and fill the frame. As the players
get closer turn and shoot in vertical mode.
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SKILL FACTORWhat are your area of operations?
If you stand on the edge of a soccer field with a 70-200 zoom
mounted, then you really only shoot effectively within about a
25m arc from your position. Anything that comes into that arc is
yours, you own it and you should maximize the opportunities.
Suns position
Play with the sun against your
back where possible as this will
give you better exposures with
higher shutter speeds, that is to
say dont ignore the other end
of the field, just watch your ex-
posures when shooting into the
sun. You may have to take the
camera off Av mode and shoot
in Manual to account for the
increased shadow areas.
Stop look and listen
When you get to a game stop
look and listen find out who is
expected to win and then go
and stand on the opposite end
to them so that you can get at-
tacking pictures of them rather
than defensive images. Nothing
is set in stone so look out for a
under rated team that suddenly
takes over the game and domi-
nates play, if the other side rises
to the challenge then quickly
change ends for better action
pictures, dont sit there hoping
they might come back as this is
a waste of your time.
Positioning yourself for the action
Its only at All Black matchs where you will see photographers limited todown the side line. It pays to be considerate of the fans watching the gam
of the way of linesmen. Never stand right beside the goal as you can dist
mouth as this will allow you better shooting opportunities.
22
Your a
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Fill the frame
Allow the subjects to run through your lens and keep on shooting even
if the moment of high drama has happened because the reaction to
the action can be more photogenic than the action itself.
ic or roving positions, at all other matchs you can easily move up andd remember to stand at least 1m back from the line so that you are out
him or the shooter. It pays to stand at 45 degrees away from the goal
On the Field
You will see that you can get re-
ally good shots only around the
goal area , out to the goalies box
or in the middle of the field. This
is where most of the action hap-
pens during a game, in between
these areas the players are usu-
ally sprinting ahead with the ballor kicking it.
23
of operations is about 25m in a semi circle
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The reaction
Top sports shooters always shoot the re-
action to the action and you can too. Sim-
ply keep the shutter depressed and
follow the action through its cycle, dont
lift off when you think you have captured
the ball or players at the peak moment,stay on them to see what happens next,
you will discover a whole new arena of
emotions as players miss shots at goal or
get an elbow in the face.
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to the action
Players wear brightly coloured outfits, its a sponsors fest
out there so learn how to compensate for the bright
colours when shooting a soccer match. I tend to always
use Av (Aperture Priority mode) at a setting of about f5.6
but keep a sharp eye on my shutter speeds and use theISO to boost it when the light falls. Against the sun use
manual mode and check you progress.
You are shooting action so try and stay above 1/500th of
a second to stop the shakes and blurs and freeze the ac-
tion.
Even though Im only using a 70-200 zoom on my Canons
I still mount it on a monopod to increase protection fromcamera shake. It saves my arms and increases the suc-
cess rate of sharp images.
Camera set up
Finally
Protect your gear at all times,
cover it in plastic bags during rain
or snow storms, and remember to
also stay warm and healthy.
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PROCESS
Lets have some fun
Take a good image with a narrow tonal range, here is
one I shot during a recent Queenstown assignment. Its
of the stunning Remarkable's Mountain range and I shot
it on a Canon 20D using a Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 tele-
zoom.
Step 1:
Ctrl+J to copy the layer and then lets turn it into a
black and white image using a gradient map so that the
conversion has more contrast than my usual Channels
Mixing technique.
Set your Foreground colour to Black by hitting the D
key then choose Gradient Map from the Create New
Adjustment Layer pop-up menu at the base of the Lay-
ers Palette.
Now you image is a contrasty black and white image
which should convert to a Sepia toned image quite well.
Using Adobe Photoshop CS or Elements.
START FINISH
Sepia Fun
26 27
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Step 2:
Again under the Create New
Adjustment Layer pop-up menu
select Solid Colour.
In the menu window select
Colour Libraries (CS4) Custom
(earlier CS versions) and here I
went to the Pantone Solid
Coated library and select Pan-
tone #142 C.
The image will go one solid
colour so now change the Layer
mode from Normal to Colour
and then reduce the layers
opacity a bit to give a more re-
alistic sepia effect.
Then I would undertake a little
bit of burning and dodging us-
ing the layer method to bring
up the sky and lighten some of
the rock formations.
Step 3:
Now hit the M key to select the
Rectangular Marquee tool and
make a big selection of your im-
age leaving a good sized space
to create a faded border
around your image.
Under the Select menu choose
Modify then Feather and select
a good sized number (I choose
30) to give a nice soft edge to
your image.
Then choose Ctrl + I to inverse
the selection and hit the Delete
key.
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PROCESS
28
Step 4:
Deselect your selection (Ctrl+D)
and we will move onto the next
stage of our creative fun.
Step 5:
Create a new vertical A4 sized
blank document. Then back on
your sepia toned image use the
Move tool (V) drag the layer
containing it over to the newdocument. Ctrl +T (Free Trans-
form) to select the new image
and then Ctrl+0 (zero) to see
the edges of your selection and
holding down the Shift key drag
the image inward to resize it to
fit in to the top half of your new
page.
Now all you have to do is addsome text to make it interest-
ing. I used Papyrus for the main
headline and the body copy is
set in Adobe Caslon Pro.
Try it as a horizontal or a verti-
cal advertisement for the new
airline JetPlanet.com
Enjoy....
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PROCESS
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Every year the VantageAluminum JoineryNewZealand Rally Champion-
ship races around the back
roads of five provinces in New
Zealand. From April to Septem-ber each year they race on
gravel roads considered some
of the very best in the world by
the expert drivers in the WRC.
Otago always turns on a good
show for the competitors and
this year was no exception, the
rain stayed away almost- and
it was its usual cold and dusty
but rally car racing is all about
chasing the clock. Competitors
often only ever see their fellow
racers at the start of each leg
or at the pre-determined ser-
vice stops, the rest of the time
the drivers and their map read-
ing co-pilots are racing against
the clock to see who can get
through a special stage thefastest without crashing.
Rally driving is also rated as
one of the great photo oppor-
tunities for photographers
seeking impressive action shots
of cars at the limit of adhesion
or sliding around corners,
splashing through river fords or
cresting humps in the road atspeed. Its a chance to get up
close and personal with mo-
torsport and see drivers testing
the limits of their cars from a
Assignment:
22
DEADLINES
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safe position and with the advantage of seeing
some great scenery devoid of messy bill boardsand advertising hoardings.
Because the roads used in a car rally stages vary
in length from a few kilometers to more than 40
kms and are usually located well off the beaten
track out in the farming hinterland, it pays to al-
ways plan your coverage of a rally and for many
it usually comes down to downloading the
course map from the rally website or visiting
supporting service stations to pick up a hardcopy.
One good thing the organisers have done over
the years is to always highlight on the event
maps the prime public viewing points for specta-
tors and photographers to safely see all the ac-
tion from. We are not privy to the course notes
the drivers use so we need to rely on the or-
ganisers to tell us where these prime sites are.
They carefully balance the need for spectators
to see good action and the overall safety of thedrivers competing. The last thing a driver wants
to see as he slides around a blind corner at
speed is a dumb photographer standing on the
wrong side of a corner. So when you get to
these prime sites you will find they usually have
marshals in place to guide you to the best view-
ing positions. This will allow you to shoot good
action pictures from a position thats as close to
action as safely possible. Dont muck these mar-
shals around, they are usually volunteers and
they have to spend hours standing there in the
cold while you can always leave and return to
your warm car, but they have your interests at
heart and its good to see many are also keen
photographers.
Now because the of the great distances covered
by car rally in a day, it is impossible to cover the
whole event as a photographer so you end up
playing this very carefully planned game of leapfrog to try and stay ahead of the competitors.
The best photo opportunities always come from
the open class or top rated drivers in the latest
32
DEADLINES
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model Subaru or Mitsubishi 4WD cars because
they are in a serious competition for the pointsand the overall glory, so they are going for it.
Behind them the supporting drivers are often
less experienced so they take it a just a tiny bit
more careful. Then you have the classic vehicles
racing in classes assigned to rally cars such as
Escorts or Cortinas or RX7s from earlier era and
here you can find some real sportsmen and
women, keen to go fast in older cars that only
have two-wheel-drive so they will give you
some really spectacular photos.
Like I said it all comes down to planning and for
the Otago rally I didnt have the luxury of being
able to spend the whole day racing around the
district chasing cars so I went to just one corner
and shot up a storm there.
On the day I got to the corner about one hour
before the cars were due to arrive and saw it
was a 90 degree left-handed transition corner
with the cars turning from a tar sealed road
onto a gravel road. This meant a high speed ap-
proach into the corner which could offer me
some dramatic photos as drivers mucked up
their approach.
I then spent the time scoping out the layout of
the corner, noting the safety zones clearly
marked off and the different angles offered by
the slightly elevated position overlooking the
start of the corner, I then decided to shoot the
drivers as they turned left into the gravel cornerfrom a position slightly below the road level.
Shooting with my usual 80-200mm zoom I
added on a 1.4x tele-convertor to give me a
closer aspect viewpoint and help clean up the
background.
The cars would speed into the corner then
brake heavily before sliding off the tar seal onto
the gravel then accelerating away. So I selected
a position whereby I could shoot them ap-
proaching the corner, braking heavily, sliding
and turning and then getting a head on shot as
they sped past me.
From a spectator point of view it was a perfect33
1: Always try and get there early on day one to a good photo point
as this is where you will find the most number of competitors alltrying hard to win and providing the better, high drama, action
photos. Day two is usually about just getting to the finish line in
one piece to garner points so there is often less action to photo-
graph from the supporting classes, although you have to listen to
race commentary closely to spot any drivers letting it all hang out
to beat their rivals in a final dash for the finish line.
2: Plan your route well and always arrive early to get a park closer
to the corner. Rallies are usually held in hard to reach places so
you may have to walk into the area to find a better position. Al-
ways think safety and remember you cant just wander about on
the roads so plan your access carefully as it can take hours for all
the cars to race through one spot.
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DEADLINES
corner as it gave people a couple of
good views after the cars had gone
through the corner, you could see
them racing away across the hills for
about three kilometers or so before
they disappeared into the forests.
For the many photographers assem-
bled there it looked like this corner
would initially offer four distinctly dif-
ferent viewpoints, head-on as the
cars arrived into the corner, a slightly
elevated viewpoint, a head on cor-nering shot and a view of them
speeding away but as the rally cars
started arriving I saw I was in the
best angle and I could get two good
shots from where I was standing.
In car rallys its all about capturing
the moment and unlike circuit car
racing you only have one chance,
they dont come around for multiple
laps and if you wait until another
stage later in the day they could have
crashed out of the rally so it pays to
shoot heaps at the start. The trick is
to use the road clearing official cars
as crash test dummies. There are two
of them and they come though every
stage first with sirens wailing and
lights flashing at speed just moments
before the actual race cars arrive tomake sure it is safe to compete
there. They are looking for safety in-
fractions and animals or spectators
on the road. They are usually ex-rally
drivers so they dont hang around
and they give you an idea of how the
cars will attack the corner in front of
you.
Rally equals speed so its all about
your auto focus and capture rateworking fast enough to freeze the
action. Set your camera to the run-
ning man scenic mode or select Ai
Servo AF and High Speed continuous
capture rate.|
Next plan the exposure for your area
of operation (the corner you are
shooting). Rally cars are often
brightly painted to display sponsors
logos well and this can fool your light
meter, the trick here is to manually
exposure for the mean average or
middle gray tone values (the gray of
the tar seal road or the grass nearby
or even your hand). This sets thecamera to exposure properly and not
be tricked by a white or black car.
Use your LCD to confirm the result,
bear in mind its all about speed so
aim for the highest shutter speed
with the lowest ISO you can get away
with. This means you dont automati-
cally select ISO1600 and hope the
camera will give you great results. I
always start on ISO 100 and then only
increase as the light diminishes. As
the day was quite dull and overcast I
eventually ended up shooting at
ISO1600 as it gave me the 1/1000th of
a second shutter speeds I wanted.
The depth of field was about f5.6 as
this allowed for the car nose and
driver to be in focus but the back-
ground would blur out nicely.
Remember the higher the ISO, the
more you have to fill the frame with
your subject to reduce the impact of
noise and graininess on the overall
image.
Todays DSLRs offers very good Ai
Servo AF that is capable of easily fol-
lowing the car as it turns making cap-
tures easier and your sharp image
success rate much higher, so select a
single middle frame point rather than
the wide area selection mode as
stray objects in the foreground will
often cause the AF to hunt.
SHOOT heaps - digital allows us to
keep the finger on the shutter button
for longer so pick the car up as it ap-
proaches the corner and keep on
shooting until it has left your field of
view. Dont worry about whether you
got the action or not as you will see it
as it happens through the viewfinder,
just keep on shooting because if the
car is going to roll you will capture itall happening rather than missing it.
Once the first car has gone through
you only have a minute or two to
check the results then plan for the
next car. As the cars race through
your positions you will notice which
competitors are trying hard and
which are just motoring through the
stage.
I quickly noticed that the top guns
would cut the corner greatly, driving
across the grass and gravel berm as
they sought to cut precious seconds
off their times. As they drove into the
area their front air dams dug in dra-
matically showering the road ahead
with gravel and earth so this was my
prime shot and I concentrated on
capturing the action, freezing therocks as they showered out from the
car.
Later in post I was also impressed
with the number of facial reactions I
caught of the drivers and navigators
in each car its something you cant
see out there when you are shooting.
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Look at ways to frame your shots tighter.
Look for ways to vary your camera angle.
Vary your shutter speeds.
Try panning and flashing, to create new images.
SHOOT heaps.
Think safety at all times.
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28
DEADLINES
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29
Summary:Plan your day well,
ook for unique angles and viewpoints to
help you create different photos,
oot tight or wide to accentuate the speed
or moment,
nally always think safety - yours and the
competitors.
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38
A grab shot of British Airways Boeing 777s queuing up at
Heathrow at the start of the summer holidays.
Canon 30D, 1/1000th sec at f3.5, ISO 100
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37
Ive lost count of the number of airports I have transited while traveling this lovely planet, and I am
sure there are many readers out there, like me, have experienced some trepidation at the thought
of spending hours waiting for a flight to leave or arrive. Such large amounts of wasted time that
could be used constructively tackling other more enjoyable pursuits like photography.
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Carrying cameras around the world is my stock intrade and if you spend any time in an airport everysecond passenger has one around his or her neck.
Some time ago I discovered that I suffered from a condi-
tion, no its not terminal but it does at times get irritating
to others I love and care for, its one that causes me to
always aim to arrive hours before departure at an airport
so that I can indulge my passion for all things aviation.
Aviaology is an affliction infecting thousands of keen
aviation buffs around the world, many graduated to
planes after years spotting buses and trains. Sites such as
www.airliners.net or www.jetphotos.net, all service
their addiction for stunning images of planes in action.
Unable to get up into the cockpit to shoot images of the
caliber I have seen on the various sites I visit regularly, I
am forced to shoot from the observation windows at
airports or out of the cabin windows as I fly along at
35,000ft.
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41
The view from the cabin window from an Air Asia Boeing737-300, enroute from Singapore to Bangkok as we flew
over the coastal Islands east of Malaysia.
Nikon D100, 1/750th of a sec at f7.1, ISO 200
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Shooting through glass
Windows are horrible things to
try and shoot through. On
many a flight I have arrived at
my seat to find that the previ-
ous occupant of the window
seat had used it as a restingspot for their greasy head and
had smudged the glass making
it almost impossible to see
through. Then there are those
airlines who dont bother to
wash their planes that often
(washing saves money by re-
ducing drag from the accumu-
lated dirt and grime on the
aircrafts outer skin therefore
saving the extra fuel needed to
push the plane through the air)
and the windows are covered in
streaks and scratches. Then
when you arrive at your desti-
nation and the difference be-
tween your aircrafts freezing
cold exterior and the hot humid
local conditions cause the win-dows to immediately fog over
rendering any chance to shoot
as you taxi in, impossible.
But getting past all these hin-
drances you can find many
unique views can be achieved
from the window seat as long
as you get to plan your seating
in advance. Julieanne Kost,Adobes famed expert trainer
even produced a fine coffee ta-
ble book of photos she shot
from the window seat titled:
Window Seat: The Art of Digital
Photography and Creative
Thinking in 2006.
Obviously there are only a set
number of window seat avail-
able on any flight and your
chances of securing one of this
is dependent on a: whether the
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4143
Clockwise from above: Shark Bay looks spectacular from 33,000ft above North Western Australia, the sun sets as we
cruise along high above the South China Sea, another stunning sun set above the Gulf of Thailand, I managed to
catch thunderstorm activity one flight high above Malaysia on my way back to Singapore, and Manila fades into the
distance on a flight from there to Hong Kong.
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flight is a code-share continua-
tion flight from an earlier origin
point, ( then you are loaded in
the back and middle because
they got the good seats first) or
b: how early you check in be-
cause the terminal staff seat
according to a weight distribu-
tion plan that starts from the
middle of the plane outwards in
economy (business and first
class photographers dont suf-
fer the same sorts of problems
we suffer in cattle class, and c:
in the case of LCCs (low cost
carriers) how fast you can run
when the terminal doors open
to grab a window seat up front.
Thats right the further up the
plane in front of the wing the
better your chances of attain-
ing good clean aerial images.
Wing root seats are useless and
ones near the back can be af-
fected by the jet efflux
(exhaust) which limits their visi-
ble area.
The next part gets a wee bit
tricky and it is all governed by
your level of cheek. Remember
as your flight taxis out or is po-
sitioning itself to join the land-
ing pattern at your destination
you will hear the broadcast that
tells you that all electronic de-
vices must be switched off andyet as we take off or coming
into land you can often get
some of your best images. So
ignoring this PA message can
put you into conflict with air
hostesses but remember they
are strapped in and wont want
to get up to tell you to switch
off your camera. I was once on
a flight from BKK to SIN and I
am sure half the passengers
were aviaologists as there was
a veritable symphony of shut-
ters firing off as we taxied, took
off and later landed.
Back to the problems of shoot-
ing through cabin glass.
Window Glass reflects, refracts
and generally isnt a good me-
dium to shoot through. But its
all we have between us and a
slow death from instant frost-
bite, hypothermia and oxygen
starvation at 30,000+ft.
On the Ground
On the ground the large airport
terminal observation windows
are often grubby and tinted.
To stop the reflections firstly
plan to wear darker tops when
you are sitting in the window
seat, then get your camera lens
as close to the glass as possible.
Then I want you to remember
to manage your aperture so
that the lenses hyper-focal dis-
tance factor doesnt bring into
focus anything on the surface
of the window. As I shoot most
of my images at f8 in Av mode I
have only struck problems
when using the standard zoom
on really wide settings to try
and get the wing in the frame.
Then I have had to reduce the
depth of field aperture setting
to stop the scratches appear-
ing. The last control element
for shooting through glass win-
dows is to always try and shoot
directly out and dont shoot at
an acute angle as light refrac-
tion will cause large areas of
blurriness in your final image.
When shooting with a wide an-
gle zoom through a cabin win-
dow in a plane if you focus on
the wing tip and shoot at f11
or greater then, the hyper focal
Children watch a Cathay Pacific B777 from the
observation window at Changi, Singapore.
Haneda Airport and ANA planes in Tokyo
(Above) while new Air Asia planes wait for pas-
sengers at Kuala Lumpur KLIA LCC base (below).
Baggage trolleys move around at Hong Kongs
new airport, Chek Lap Kok.
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Hyper-focal distance
In photography, the phrase
hyper-focal distance refers to
the distance beyond which
all objects can be brought
into an "acceptable" focus.
One way to describe the con-
cept of hyper-focal distance
that if your focus on an ob-
ect then there is a certain
amount of the foreground
(between you and the sub-
ect) and the background
(beyond your subject) that
will also be in focus depend-
ing on which aperture youuse. Think of it as a fancier
name for Depth of Field
(DoF).
The wider open the aperture
the shallower the depth of
field, select an aperture of
f11 and above and you will
start to pull objects in front
of your subject into focus.
... the hyper-focal distance
setting ... is simply a fancy
term that means the distance
setting at any aperture that
produces the greatest depth
of field.
How to Use Your Camera, New
York Institute of Photography, 2000.
When you shoot at f11 and above the Hyper-focal effect of the lens pulls into
focus the scratches on the glass above forcing you to spend quite a bit of time
using the Healing Brush tool or Cloning Tool in Photoshop. To stop effect this
shoot at about f8 or f5.6. It wont matter too much as you are shooting on a
wide angle lens and the DoF is huge.
effect of the lens will bring into
focus all the scratches on the
window in front of you. Some-
thing we dont want.
Exposure and shutter speed
relationships
Aircraft are often painted white
or light gray so they reflect a lot
of light and are extremely
shiny, this will affect how your
light meter provides exposure
readings for your final image
capture. As I said earlier I shoot
at f8 in Av mode but I also dial
in minus 1/3rd exposure com-
pensation which solves most
exposure problems when
shooting out an aircraft win-
dow or out onto the tarmac. I
also try and shoot at a fast
enough +1/250th of a second
or better shutter speed to re-
duce any shake cause by myself
or the movement of the plane.
White balance is always bestkept at AWB but when you are
shooting a sunset/sunrise it
pays to switch it over to cloudy45
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to bring up the yellows. Shoot-
ing RAW also helps.
Legal's
Now comes the fun part. There
are many legal constraints, es-
pecially in these times of in-
creased security, to shooting at
airports around the world. On
any flight passing over or land-
ing in India you will be advised
that it is illegal to photograph
at airports or from a plane in
India. In France most of the air-
ports deny permission to use a
camera inside their terminals,
British airports have varying de-grees of security and currently
the police there and also in the
US of A are being decidedly of-
ficious about anyone pointing a
camera in the direction of their
terminals or planes.
In Asia it varies so you just have
to be carefully and look around
before shooting to see whatothers are doing. At Bangkok
one day I watched a whole tour
party of brits sitting there re-
cording or spotting plane num-
bers and later shooting from
the terminal windows and no
one was bothering them but at
Singapore they have removed
any chance for visitors to watch
ramp operations by relocating
or removing viewing areas en-
tirely.
In Japan its the opposite
many airports there have dedi-
cated viewing platforms with
large lens chunks cut out of the
security fences to allow you to
shoot through using a big lens.
At Zurich they have even takenit one step further and opened
up whole sections of the termi-
nal roof for visitors to view the
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action at their airport. They charge
for it and other more exciting avia-
tion viewing services but it is really
worth it and it makes the airport one
of the countrys premier tourist at-
tractions, even bigger than the Mat-
terhorn.
In New Zealand major terminals have
viewing areas and you can get close
to the approach runways to shoot
planes coming in over your head.
Queenstowns tight and dangerous
approach to its airport is very similar
to the famous St. Maarten - Princess
Juliana (SXM / TNCM) in the Nether-
lands Antilles, where planes come in
right over your head at low altitude
to land at the short runway.
But always remember that if anyone
objects simply smile, pled ignorance
and move along, it saves any aggra-
vation or arrest. Once I walked
through Mumbais airport carrying a
600mm lens as it was too valuable to
check in and all the armed guards
queued up to look thorough it,
mainly at the pretty ladies and stew-
ardess there.
Angles and Viewpoints.
Try and vary your angles whenever
possible. From the terminal roof its
often very hard to apply any variance
in your shots so look for ways to use
different compositional elements to
make your images more interesting.
You dont have to show the whole
plane just the tail can be enough
sometimes especially if it is framing
another plane.
Look for lines, curves, colours, scale
and repeating patterns or patterns
with breaks in them to add interest
to your shots. Visit the website's
mentioned earlier to see how others
are shooting great images.
From the cabin window do the same,
look for ways to maximise your
unique viewing angle to show how
the world looks different for you.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand had an amaz-
ing photographic exhibition that trav-
eled the world recently showcasing
his stunning aerial views of the world
we live in.
I once snapped some great aerials
while circling in traffic above Tokyo,
it was a rare day when the pollution
levels were low enough to see cars
on the freeways there. You too can
shoot images like that if you remem-
ber to carry your camera aboard with
you and have it nearby when you are
flying the friendly skies. Take your
time, plan your shots, have fun and
stay safe.
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(Above) Another rainy day at Narita airport, 60km outside Tokyo, Japan. Even if the weather packs up still look for
odd shots. (Below) Zurich airport in Switzerland is amazingly supportive of photographers allowing you unprece-
dented access for a fee. Here a Delta B767 departs for Boston while and El Al B737-700 arrives from Tel Aviv. Look
for scale to aid your composition at airports.
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Two images captured out the window on an A330 Garuda Airlines flight from Bali to Sydney. Sunrise was captured
over the Simpson Desert and the nice shot of the Sydney harbour bridge was snapped as we prepared to arrive at
Kingsford Smith International.
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