I had the opportunity to shoot our school’s fall musical, Annie.
Shooting in a dark theater is a challenge, but I have learned to trust my D300 and pushing the ISO up to 1600. If I go much over that, I begin to get some noisy images. Open up my 70-200 to f2.8 and wait for the spot to hit the subject and I can get some pretty good images.
Annie
Orphan Girls
The other thing I did was produce a picture of the entire cast. Not an easy job, given the situation. Low light, limited room, and a wide subject on stage. The solution? A panorama. Yes, a panorama. I took a series of shots of the cast and stitched them into a panorama. Photoshop has a great panorama stitching capability.
Cast and Crew
If you want to see more of the images from Annie you can see them in my gallery.
Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago. Add a comment
…and people start to think you’re an expert.
That’s the tag line for Chuq Von Rospach’s web site called Chuqui 3.0. I first contacted Chuq over Twitter, responding to some of his tweets and having short conversations over direct messages.
We found out that we were both going to be attending the Morro Bay Photo Expo last year. We met, talked, and I found my self very interested in what he had to say.
He was raised in SoCal, but lives in the the San Jose area in California. He worked for Apple and is very involved in the technology industry. He has written fiction and non-fiction and been published.
He is an avid birder, loves hockey, and dabbles in photography. Ok, he is actually a very good at photographer; as in really good.
He isn’t famous. He isn’t Rick Sammon or Scott Bourne or some of the other rock-star photographers. So why am I writing about him if he isn’t “great”? Because he is better.
Chuq gives back to the community. He does it in a way that is unselfish and friendly. He is honest and is willing to answer questions without expecting anything in return.
At the Morro Bay Photo Festival, we were on a boat learning how to shoot aquatic birds. Chuq would point out and identify different birds as well as other wild life that people could view and shoot. If you contact him on Twitter or through his website, he takes the time to respond.
His posts are informative, yet still entertaining. I admit, I am not always interested in hockey or some of the tech stuff, but for those that are, he puts it out there. He puts it out there and doesn’t expect any money, praise, or even acknowledgment.
How many times do you read some blog, tweet, website, or whatever that seems to be helpful only to find that it is a semi-helpful post that wants you to buy a book or join a group or enter a workshop? That isn’t what Chuq is doing. He is just putting himself and information out that he thinks can help the public be better at what he is passionate about.
Chuq is a refreshing breeze in an environment where the wind howls and everyone seems to be looking for an angle to make a buck or promote themselves.
Take a look at his site. You’ll wind up bookmarking it.
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago. Add a comment
Again, I look to Jeremy Cowart for my inspiration to use my photography for giving back to the community. Every year our school has a staff vs. senior softball game where all proceeds go to the Cancer Society. I offer my photography to the cause shooting each player as they take their turn at bat and also some of the plays out in the field. The biggest contribution I make is to take a picture of all the players on the field and then make 8×10 prints that thank the sponsors.
We all know someone who has had their lives touched by cancer. I know I have several. This was an opportunity to give back to them.
The players
Mr. Warren founder and coordinator of the game.
The Field and Crowd
Miss Kline at Bat
Saibrah White at Bat
Mr. Ermert Rips One to Right
The Staff - Winning Team
And for the record: the staff beat the senior 17-5.
Posted 1 year, 8 months ago. 1 comment
