Assignment 8: Recap

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Scott Thomas Photography

This assignment proved challenging.  To review Assignment 8 was on Travel Photography.  I stated I was looking for three (or more) photo essay.  InLet us see how you all did, shall we?

Carsten started us out with his excellent essay about Kandestederne, Denmark where he spent vacation.  I know have a better appreciation of the people who live and tried to tame Kandesederne.  Carsten’s essay talked about the history, ecology and economy of the area.  He showed scale of the dunes by including a person walking over them.  He finished with detailed and beautiful photos of the sand sculptured by the wind.

Isa, who lives in Swizterland, takes us in the life of the monks who live in an abbey in Hauterive.  Her essay called Slowing Down shows us the beauty,  history and spiritually of a the place and how it relates to the community surrounding it.  Very well done, Isa.

Nye started out her essay about the Flower Carpet at Biltmore by apologizing about the bad weather.  She need not have done so.  Her telling of the Biltmore tale and the flower carpet was interesting and entertaining.  The photos of the flowers taken in the cloudy, rainy weather brought out the magnificent colors of the well-kept flower garden.

Karen shows and tells us about her favorite place in Visiting Southern Maine.  From the Piscataqua River bridge to Kennebunkport, Karen shares with us the both the natural and man-made history of a place which is also a staple of her own family’s history.

Michaela of thedailyclick submitted part 1 of…well, she is still going as of this morning for her submission I will shorten it to Summer Road Trip.  In her first installment, we learn about a Fantastic Caverns near Springfield, Missouri.  The cavern was not discovered until 1862 and has been used in different ways since.  Not all of them lawful either.  Along the way we learn about how to visit, enjoy and photograph this natural wonder.

P. J. Grath submitted a photo essay with encouragement from Gerry of Torch Lake Views (Thanks, Gerry!).  P. J. introduces us to the “ghost town” of Isadore where her and her sister discover it is not as dead as they thought.

I have heard of the island of Crete but never took the time to learn about it.  Truels took care of my short coming with a delightful photo essay about Crete.  Not only do we learn about its natural history and lovely tourist areas, Truels introduces us to some of the people who live on Crete.  Excellent work, Truels!

Kathy chimes in just in time with an essay on the Laker William A. Irvin.  I have watched other ships like her (him?) for years from the shores of the St. Lawrence River in northern New York.  The essay entitled “How I spent my summer vacation” is a play on the old assignments we all got as kids when going to school.  Thank you, Kathy, you do get an “A”!

In her posting, An essay – Travel photography, Birgitte gives us a delightful view of what was and is her family’s summer home and we find it hasn’t changed much since her grandfather built it back in the 1940’s.  Her mix of old and new photos show how much has and hasn’t changed in Jutland.

You may have noticed I did not say much about the photography in these essays.  That is because each one had excellent photos which were well exposed with story telling compositions which enhanced the words which created informative articles.  I can think of no higher praise than that for all of you.  Thank you for contributing!

So, you may be asking, where is mine?  Well, unlike Kathy, I did not make the deadline and will have my essay coming up soon. Remember, I am the teacher. 🙂

I learned a few things with this assignment.  While the time given helped, I think it was too long as some people lost track of it.  In the future, I will keep them shorter and more specific starting with the next assignment which I will announce next week.  Hey, I got to get back on schedule!

Posted in Assignments, Travel | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Week 141: Epcot

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Scott Thomas Photography

Did a quick trip down to Walt Disney World over the Labor Day weekend.  Took the Nikon D700 digital SLR camera and the new Nikon 28-300VR FX lens which I received just before the I left.  Let me say my preliminary opinion of the 28-300VR lens after taking about 1,000 images is AWESOME!

Epcot's Innovention Fountain with Spaceship Earth in the background at dusk in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.

Epcot's Innovention Fountain with Spaceship Earth in the background at dusk in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/30s, f/5.6, ISO 800, EV -0.3, 145mm focal length.

Due to this trip, my recap of the latest assignment on Travel Photography is delayed until Friday.

Posted in Travel, Weekly View | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Why You Should Know About Concert Photography

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Scott Thomas Photography
Lady Antebellum performing on stage at the New York State Fair on Wednesday, September 1, 2010.

Lady Antebellum performing on stage at the New York State Fair on Wednesday, September 1, 2010. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/200s, f/4, ISO 450, EV -1.3, 200mm focal length, spot metering.

One of the unique opportunities I get each year at the New York State Fair is to photograph concerts of big name recording artists. Last year I photographed Sara Evans and, this week, Lady Antebellum. Normally such events do not allow digital SLR cameras and long lenses into the venue unless you are working for the media.  However, the skills used for concerts are also needed if you go to tourist destinations which feature live shows that allow photography like Walt Disney World (You just knew I was going to sneak that in, right?) or local shows, plays and concerts.

As you can see from the Lady Antebellum concert photo, stage lighting is an exposure meters nightmare. If you use matrix or evaluative metering the camera’s computer will try and balance out the bright subjects in the spotlights and the dark shadows which often surround them.  That is a very tough task for even the best of cameras.

To simplify the task, I switch to spot metering which takes the area the camera meters from the whole frame down to a small percentage.  The spot meter area can often be chosen in your camera’s settings.  Mine is 12% of the center area in my viewfinder.  By metering an area that small, the camera can easily determine the exposure to use.

From left to right are the members of Lady Antebellum Hillary Scott, Charles Kelly and Dave Haywood.

From left to right are the members of Lady Antebellum Hillary Scott, Charles Kelly and Dave Haywood. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/250s, f/2.8, ISO 1000, EV -1.3, 200mm focal length, spot metering.

In the photo above, I metered off of Charles Kelly’s face.  His skin was the brightest under the lights and once I got him exposed correctly, I did not worry about the dark shadows.  I still needed to do one extra step which was to dial in the exposure using the exposure compensation button.  You will notice the EV number is -1.3 which was needed to control the highlights coming off the performer’s skin.  Even then I had to recover some highlights in post-production.

Let’s review

  • Change Exposure Metering to Spot
  • Meter off the brightest part of the scene
  • Use Exposure Compensation button to control highlights

Oh, yes, and practice.  If you are asked or want to photograph a play, for incidence.  Ask if you can come to dress rehearsals when full stage lighting is used.  I got to practice a lot over the course of this fabulous two hour concert. 🙂

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Barrel Racing at the Fair

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Scott Thomas Photography

This is my fourth year of photographing the New York State Fair Barrel Racing Championship event.  Barrel racing is an exciting horse riding event where rider and horse circumvent around three empty 55 gallon barrels arranged in a triangle.  The object is to race around each barrel without knocking any of them over.  Time is kept for each run and the fastest horse and rider wins.

Rounding a barrel during the New York State Fair Barrel Racing Championship on Saturday, August 2, 2010.

Rounding a barrel during the New York State Fair Barrel Racing Championship on Saturday, August 2, 2010. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/160s, f/2.8, ISO 5600, EV -0.3, 70mm focal length.

Horses dig in as they round each barrel leaning at almost impossible angles.  Dirt being thrown in all directions. Riders looking ahead to the next barrel.

Crash! A barrel is knocked over which will result in a time penalty for the rider.

Crash! A barrel is knocked over which will result in a time penalty for the rider. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/160s, f/2.8, ISO 5000, EV -0.3, 200mm focal length.

The 2010 event featured a lot of barrels knocked down and, for the first time, I saw a horse loose its footing and go down.  I think a lot had to do with the change of surface in the Coliseum.  In years past it was a thick layer of natural dirt.  In an effort to save money, there is now a synthetic dirt surface which is not as good for the horse’s footing on such a high speed agility course.

A horse and rider go down during the barrel racing event at the New York State Fair on Saturday, August 28, 2010.

A horse and rider go down during the barrel racing event at the New York State Fair on Saturday, August 28, 2010. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/160s, f/2.8, ISO 2800, EV -0.3, 116mm focal length.

Considering they have less than 30 feet to stop after breaking the timing laser before hitting the end boards, they fly at full gallop after rounding the last barrel.

Upon rounding the last barrel, riders urge their mounts at full gallop to the finish line.

Upon rounding the last barrel, riders urge their mounts at full gallop to the finish line. Nikon D700/70-200VR, 1/160s, f/2.8, ISO 3200, EV -0.3, 160mm focal length.

The Coliseum at the New York State Fairgrounds was where my daughter competed in show horse competitions for years.  I was never able to get any good photos of her as my film cameras and lenses were not good enough, even with flash and panning, to get consistent results.  The Nikon D700 digital SLR camera and Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8 lens gave me excellent results without flash.  No noise reduction was used on any of the photos above.

Posted in Animals, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

View 140: Record Fair Day

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Scott Thomas Photography
The New York State Fair had its best first Saturday ever. 115,324 people attended eclipsing the old record of 94,959 set back in 2003. Yes, it was crowded but added to the fun of the Fair.

The New York State Fair had its best first Saturday ever. 115,324 people attended eclipsing the old record of 94,959 set back in 2003. Yes, it was crowded but added to the fun of the Fair. Nikon D700/50mm, 1/200s, f/8, ISO 400, EV +0.3.

Me and over 115,000 of my friends attended the New York State Fair last Saturday.  It was a perfect Fair day.  Blue sky, temperatures in the 80’s, low humidity and a full day of fun events, entertainment, displays, vendors and food.

Speaking of food, I ate through the Fair. Enjoyed a breakfast of blueberry pancakes and home fries at the Grange’s Ox Roast restaurant which is something of a tradition.  Later, I had a lobster roll and root beer for lunch, dinner at Baker’s Chicken Coop (see below) followed by a piece of raspberry pie and ice cream and ended my Fair day with a late night snack of a hot meatball sandwich from Danny D’s food stand on the Fair’s restaurant row.

The half chicken dinner from Baker's Chicken Coop featuring salt potatoes, a roll and Baker's famous marinated BBQ'd chicken.

The half chicken dinner from Baker's Chicken Coop featuring salt potatoes, a roll and Baker's famous marinated BBQ'd chicken.

For those of you who were interested in salt potatoes, here is what they look like.  Served hot with melted butter.

No visit to the Fair is complete without a trip through the barns and animal buildings.  Here a friendly llama and his handler check out my camera.

A curious llama and his handler stop to check out my camera at the New York State Fair.

A curious llama and his handler stop to check out my camera at the New York State Fair.

As the hot day turned into a very comfortable evening.  I took advantage of the concert at Chevrolet Court included with admission to see one of my favorite bands from my college days as Saturday night’s entertainment was the band Styx.  Styx was popular back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.  I even saw them at the Carrier Dome back in 1981.  They played all their big hits to the delight of the crowd.

Tommy Shaw of Styx jamming on the Chevrolet Court stage to the delight of the thousands at the New York State Fair.

Tommy Shaw of Styx jamming on the Chevrolet Court stage to the delight of the thousands at the New York State Fair.

Posted in People, Travel, Weekly View | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments