Photography challenges

[Brad]

Whether you are taking pictures of animals or sports, they all seem to have their challenges. In most case you have to deal with the lighting you have and the positioning choices can be limited.

Yesterday I went to a waterski school to take pictures. You can either take pictures from the boat or some vantage point along the course. If you are in the boat, one direction might have good lighting and the other you are shooting into the sun. I was able to shoot while April Coble skied the course just days after she won the Nationals for 2008 in slalom. Trying to shoot from inside the boat gives a great spot, but the speed is something you have to adjust to very fast - or you missed the whole thing. A friend of mine got the boat seat and I was shooting from a tower part way down the lake almost to mid-course.

The pictures are at http://public.fotki.com/bradbradstre...8-08-23-april/

Here are a couple of examples.

Rounding ball #3


Cutting across the wake


Coming across the wake.

[Charlie]

for a min i thought you had a ponytail and had your legs waxed brad

but its not you

looks good brad love the way the water splash looks

[TrishandAlex]

Brad, your pictures are great. Keep shooting and posting.

[Brad]

Brad, your pictures are great. Keep shooting and posting.

I "need" a faster camera. When it goes into burst mode the pictures are not fast enough for that type of action. It is rated at only 3 frames per second.

[TrishandAlex]

I "need" a faster camera. When it goes into burst mode the pictures are not fast enough for that type of action. It is rated at only 3 frames per second.

I know nothing about photography. I just know what I like when I see it.

[KD Talbot]

I'd say you're doing alright with what you've got!

KDT

[h2oeco]

Brad,

What camera and lens do you have?

[Brad]

Brad,

What camera and lens do you have?

The camera is a Canon D60 (hand me down from my son). The lens I was using when on the tower shooting of April's runs was a Canon 28-135mm IS. For some of the longer shots on a different lake I was using a Canon 70-300mm IS f/4.0-5.6 lens. April asked me to take pictures around the facility to see if she can update some of her web site pictures. For wide angle pictures there I used a Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 wide angle.

All Canon 28-135 IS pictures
http://public.fotki.com/bradbradstre...8-08-23-april/

All Canon 70-300mm IS pictures
http://public.fotki.com/bradbradstre...8-23-zach-jon/

Some were the Canon 16-35mm Wide Angle in this album
http://public.fotki.com/bradbradstre...08-08-23-area/

I experimented a bit with my son's Sigma 50-500 4.0-6.3 (unbelievably heavy) lens with a 2x extender. It did not work well. I just could not get the focus right and I did not set up a tripod as I had to move around quite a bit all day. I will be using this lens for my air show shooting coming up September 20th. It is a good workout to use it all day and take about 2,000 pictures.

All of the above including the 50-500mm in my backpack weighs a total of 12.0 pounds. And yes, I did carry it all on STP.

[MsCntry]

Brad,

Those are some great shots!! You sure you are an amateur??

[Brad]

Brad,

Those are some great shots!! You sure you are an amateur??

I have been wanting to go to the local technical college to learn how to do this. That would be better than trial and error - mostly error.