[Read more…] about Fifth graders learn about government at the Wyoming State Capitol
Fifth graders learn about government at the Wyoming State Capitol
Cheyenne Central keeper Kelley Fisher
As I sometimes do before a portrait shoot, I turned to Google’s image search for some ideas. My assignment was to photograph a local high school keeper. Initially I wanted to do a low-angle shot of her diving for a ball, but as I looked through the results of my “soccer keeper portrait” search, I noticed that there were no overhead angles. All of the portraits I could find were either low angle or eye level. I love a good overhead shot so I thought I’d try something a little different. I borrowed a six-foot step ladder from the photo editor and shot an action portrait wide from above. It’s definitely not an angle you see often in soccer photography. At this particular high school, it’s extremely hard to get a clean background because of stadium lights, bleachers, a small building, fencing and – believe it or not – a windmill behind one goal. Shooting from a high angle down gave me a clear background that doesn’t take away from the subject.
I talked to the subject on the phone around 6 p.m., drove out to the school at 6:30 p.m. and started the shoot around 7 p.m. Unlike magazines and larger newspapers, we don’t enjoy the luxury of time when it comes to a lot of our shoots. In this particular case, I found out who I would be photographing at noon on Monday and had the entire shoot done by 8 p.m. The lighting setup was extremely simple. I used one Canon 550EX speedlight shot through an umbrella at 1/8 power above the subject on camera right. That light was held by one friend from work while a second friend lobbed the soccer balls to her.
Holga frames from Wyoming
This weekend I finally got the first two rolls of film from Wyoming processed and scanned. I’ve been a bit off my game since I moved out because I’ve only shot two rolls. Now that I’m starting to get settled in at my new gig here, I’m hoping to shoot more using my Holga. I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping it in my truck at all times, and I bought a second body so I can have two different types of film ready depending on the weather and exposure outside. I made some modifications to the Holga before loading the second roll. I removed the 6×6 mask inside the camera to allow for increased vignetting and a more imperfect picture. You can see the results of this in the edges of the third frame below.
Ready, set, Easter
I shot a couple Easter egg hunts on Saturday morning for Sunday’s Easter newspaper. I had never photographed one before, and I found it a bit challenging. The kids tend to scoop up all the eggs very quickly, meaning you have to work very fast to get them in the act. After two hunts, this was my best frame from the morning:
Cheyenne pinewood derby
