Tamron Blog: Angle of View

How to Seminars: 2) Kids Sports

By Jillian Bell

The second of the 4 seminars I am teaching is by far the most popular. Kids Sports Photography is a basic level class that was inspired by my family and friends needing advice on how to photograph their kids during the sports season.

Timing is everything – Kids Sports photography:

Join this session for tips on how to capture action as it happens. Indoors or outdoors, we'll discuss the importance of light when photographing any sport. Discover how anticipation, panning focus, and multiple bust modes will decrease the number of missed shots and blurry photos. There is a difficult aspect with sports photography in the fact that each sport has its own difficulties.  My goal is to give you the tools to approach your sports photography the correct way.  In return, you'll capture more consistent, better photographs.

After talking to several people, I realized that the hardest part about sports photography for beginners is that everything happens so fast, and there is so much to set up in camera to get the best results. The best thing you can do here is to set up as much as possible before hand knowing once you found settings that work, they will not change as long as your location doesn't change. I start in a Shutter-speed Priority Mode, and move to Manual Exposure once I know my exposure values. In this class, you will learn how to set up your camera.

Shutter speed is the biggest issue. With outdoor events, there is plenty of light for fast shutter speeds. I recommend using a longer focal length for the best results; my favorite is Tamron's SP 70-300mm VC USD lens. Its affordable, fast, and incredibly sharp!

Tamron SP 70-300mm VC USD @ F6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO200

Indoor events propose this shutter speed challenge. I start with a 1/250 sec, the lowest F-stop I can, and a rather high ISO setting. 1/250 sec is just about right for basketball, wrestling or volleyball. If your kids are older OR you have a faster sport like gymnastics or hockey, you will need more speed, F2.8 optics and a newer camera sensor are essential for the best results.

Tamron SP 70-200mm F2.8 VC USD @ F2.8, 1/250 sec, ISO1000

Another quick tip is to shoot compositionally loose. I generally shoot horizontally, with my subject in the middle for the best autofocus tracking. Compositionally this is not ideal, but with current technology I can safely crop out up to half of the photograph and still make 11x14 enlargements. Use classic Rule of Thirds ideas for dramatic photographs.

Tamron SP AF 70-300mm VC USD @ F8, 1/800 sec, ISO 100

The most important thing I can mention is, get there early and be prepared. Talk to your kids about running plays so you know the action before it happens. Take a look at the field/court/arena for your best place to photograph. Get to know the team and coach so they will be more willing to let you photograph the team. If you are in the same place often, take notes of the school and your exposure settings. If it worked last time, it will work this time and these values will give you a starting place.

Thank you for reading. Check out Tamron's event page for exact times and locations. http://www.tamron-usa.com/events/

Over Exposure

By Rob Moody

Most of the time when you are rock or ice climbing, you are either climbing or you are on belay with the other end of the rope to manage. This makes photographing these activities difficult if not impossible. On this day, there would be two other climbers allowing me to roam freely while photographing the ice climbing. 

I am myself a mountaineer and have climbed steep ice a few times. I am intimately familiar with all the moves, techniques and equipment involved with the sport. Even though this is the case, it doesn’t actually matter to me whether I am totally familiar or completely unfamiliar with a sport because I do the same thing before photographing. I read and learn about it taking in everything I can. I review past photographs from photographers who regularly shoot the sport to become familiar with the key moments to photograph. Then I actively pre-visualize the key moments and me releasing the shutter at exactly the right moment to get the shot! I do this every day until I am actually there to photograph the event.

One of the things about ice climbing that makes it difficult is the bone chilling cold. Of course, in order for waterfalls to exist, they must be out of the direct sunlight and very cold. For this reason, management of both equipment and personal comfort become the keys to freeing your creative energies for the shoot. I use zippered camera bags for this to manage the extreme change in temperature. As I walked from the warm car to the ice climbing routs in Vail, my equipment had over 30 minutes to slowly become the same temperature as the outside shooting environment. This helps to prevent fogging of your lenses and condensation inside your camera body.

As with snow, the key to ice climbing photography is exposure, over-exposure to be exact. While a modern camera is excellent at auto exposure most all of the time, snow or light sand will cause the cameras meter to under expose images. This is because images composed primarily of snow, ice and light sand are, as a whole, brighter than the gray value a cameras meter is set to base its exposure on. This is why we still need manual settings so we can compensate for this exposure difference. I can shoot it in manual mode, a challenge with gloves. Alternatively, I can use program or aperture priority mode along with exposure compensation to get the right exposure. I prefer aperture priority or aperture value on some cameras. 

To properly expose for the ice, I start at 2/3 (also shown as +0.7) of a stop over exposure and create a test shot of the ice with a climber included. Just as with snow, it is important to over expose enough to make ice lighter, but also to retain detail in the ice. My goal with this is to get the ice closer to its actual brightness without over exposing. Then, if needed, I go the rest of the distance in post production.

I want cut time at the computer to a minimum, so I believe it’s best to do all you can to create the best image possible in camera during the shoot. I refine all photographic processes to achieve this. Unlike the old days of film, I over shoot these kinds of activities because it doesn’t cost me a thing. I believe that once you own the equipment, shooting is free whether taking one shot or a million. For this reason, I fill my cards with images knowing the worst thing that will happen is that I will have to erase images. The images were created using a Tamron SP 70-300 f/4-5.6 Di VC and a Nikon D800.

Why the 17-50/2.8 is almost always my 'normal' go to lens.

By John VanSteenberg

At Tamron, a group of us travel extensively to fulfill the 350 events we stage each year teaching photography and training people and attending conventions, etc.. Those include everything from nature and macro workshops, “zoo days”, staff training events, convention booths images, and almost any kind of photography seminar imaginable. And, traveling to and from these events is often the time we get to make images.

Additionally, much of my personal work includes photographing “social events”. In my case, it involves appearances with athletes at social and promotional events. These often include group functions like awards dinners, public appearances, fitness clinics, etc.. Typically, these happen in restaurants, social halls, gymnasiums or the like. Often, they include meetings and dinners and are technically very much like photographing wedding receptions or business functions.

Because of the wide variety of situations, most involving small groups of people, in low light, many requiring specifically using flash or ambient light only; I find my Tamron SP 17-50/2.8 VC on my camera almost all the time.

1) Coverage. The 17-50mm range on an APS-C body is perfect for social functions. From portraits to table shots to “grip and grins” to couples in conversation, to dance floor situations, I seem to never have to change lenses. (For full-frame bodies, I would choose the Tamron SP 24-70/2.8 or SP 28-75/2.8 models.)

And when documenting seminar attendees, booth set up at conventions and even for fine art landscapes, the 17-50 fits virtually every situation except the most extreme wide or telephoto situations.

2) Hand held low light capabilities. The fast 2.8 constant aperture means I can work with ambient light in the situations requiring it. The additional capabilities of the VC technology enable me to work in light that we would never even consider a couple of years ago. I have never seen any stabilization feature that is as effective. Everybody’s ability to shoot hand held varies, of course. But, I find I can hand hold 1/8^th to 1/4^th of a second, depending on my caffeine intake.

3) Improved flash functionality. Having the constant f/2.8 is crucial for social events. I dislike the flat and high contrast usually associated with most on-camera flash photography. Therefore, in the field, to soften the light and create more wrap, I always use a fan type flash modifier, when flash is required. The drawback to this is that the effective flash distance is reduced about in half. The fast and constant f/2.8 aperture offsets this loss of light, allowing me both a higher quality of light and the greater distance required for many group shots.

4) Close focusing capabilities. In addition to citations and plaques, athletes are often awarded rings in recognition of certain events or championships. Just like the ring shots at weddings, these ‘ring shots’ come up often. With the ability to focus down to about 12 inches and a reproduction ratio of 1:4.8, I can fill the image with anything slightly larger than a business card.

5) Video clips. Today, photographers are often required to produce video in addition to still images. Again the constant f/2.8 aperture plays an invaluable roll. It prevents exposure shift associated with zooming when using a variable aperture lens. And, it allows for effective depth of field control to de-emphasize objectionable backgrounds.

6) Optical quality. The fast f/2.8 means that at f/4-f/5.6 my images will be sharper than any variable maximum aperture lens I have encountered (because they are not yet into their “sweet spot” of maximum sharpness). This means that from the eyelashes on portraits to the faces of everyone in large groups, I can be certain of great enlargement capabilities and satisfied clients.

Also, as with all SP models from Tamron, it is possible to get a bigger maximum enlargement size than with non-SP models. This becomes very significant when high quality display prints are the goal.

So, for all of these reasons, the 17-50 range is virtually my normal lens and is always on my main body unless I am traveling, then it goes to my 18-270 VC..

Capturing Speed Racer, from Wide to Tele

By Ken Hubbard

It's amazing what happens when you put supposedly mature adults behind the wheel of a Go Cart. The youngster that is still in there somewhere comes out and all they want to do is go faster than the next guy!!! I had the pleasure of giving a technical field training for a local dealer sales staff in Northern California, and for the hands on workshop portion of it we spent time at the track. While one part of the staff put the petal to the metal racing the go carts around the course, the other half positioned themselves around the track, Tamron lenses in hand capturing images of their co-workers racing. It was fun to watch how the good friendships off the track soon turn to fierce racing competitors on the track back to laughing and joking about the fastest and slowest racers once they were done. I believe everyone had a great time and learned a ton about Tamron lenses and how well they perform. Below are two images I took that day.

The first image was taken with the Tamron SP AF10-24mm Di II lens, which is designed for the APS-C sized sensor cameras, I used it on a Nikon D7000. Since I was able to get very close to the racing barriers, which allowed the racers to get within 6 ft, I decided on this great wide angle lens. It allowed me to get some of the barrier in the foreground, the racers in the middle and the back wall with corporate logos on it all in the shot, I then decided to go with a very slow shutter speed of 1/25 second, I wanted it slow so when I panned the camera with the racer the background and foreground would have a motion blur to it, as well as blur in the wheels from their movement. If you use to fast of a shutter speed, everything will be too sharp and it will look like they are standing still on the race track. The motion blur background helps create the feeling of movement, just remember to pan along with the subject while firing the camera. As I said earlier I wanted the logos in the background, and that was to add contrast to the background creating a more effective blur. With multiple colors and both light and dark, you create a more noticeable blur than if it was a solid color background.

 
The second image was shot with Tamron’s new SP 70-300mm VC USD lens. The speed of this lenses new USD focusing motor really came in handy trying to keep up with the racers. Looking at the lines of the track and picking a spot where I may be able to get more than one racer in the image was important for the shot I was trying to create. I decided to zoom out to 270mm to get a bit of a tighter crop, but still trying to create a more dimensional image, I positioned myself to get a little of the barrier in the bottom of the frame, the nice S curve of the barrier in the top right hand corner, as well as a second racer in the background. The compression a telephoto lens creates make it look like the racer in the background is only feet away from the person in front, when in actuality she was about 30-40 feet away. Again going with a slower shutter speed of about 1/60 second to blur some of the movement.

 

Kids Don't Sit Still For Long

 By Ken Hubbard

I'll start this off by saying that I don't have any kids myself, but do have 3 nieces and a nephew. So, I do know full well that kids just don't sit still for very long. Back in late September my sister's family and I went out for the last kayak trip of the year, we had a pretty good warm spell which made for a great trip. Emily, my niece, as usual went charging down the river as soon as she hit the water as fast as she could. The three adults, myself included, didn't even try and catch up, since this was going to be about a 5 mile trip and we needed to conserve a little energy.

I always bring a camera on these trips, and this time was no exception. Luckily for me I just got my sample of the new Tamron SP AF70-300mm VC USD lens and brought it along to try out. As the rest of us slowly paddled our way up river we came around a bend and there my niece was, just aimlessly floating about. She was sitting there in some really nice light, so I picked up my camera and started shooting, but within 5 seconds and maybe 6 shots she realized we were there and once again she was like a rocket taking off paddling out of sight. The 1st two images are from those six images. The ultra quick focusing speed of the USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) in the the new 70-300mm made all the difference in capturing the 1st shot of Emily looking sideways.

 
As the day progressed I took many more images but ended up liking this last image the best. My sister is just coming out from the darkness of a low bridge, so there is just enough light hitting her to show some detail, while the background is brightly lit. I also like the few droplets of water falling from her paddle. You can capture all these small details made even more clear because of the incredible sharpness of this new 70-300mm lens.

Olympic athletes toil and quietly inspire children to greatness

 By John VanSteenberg

Many years ago, I attended an event where legendary Olympic decathlon Gold Medalist Bob Richards spoke about the connection between generations of Olympic Athletes. He described his discussions with other Olympians each of whom recounted to him the exact day in their childhood when their personal Olympic quest began.

In each instance, an existing Olympian had come to their school, or their camp, or their church to speak about the path that had taken them to the largest athletic stage in the World: the Olympic Games. On each of those days, the kids met greatness in the flesh and listened to the story of their own personal small beginnings, of the decision to strive to excel, of the commitment to try a little harder, to seek a better performance and to focus on excellence; simply put: to do their very best. For 6 generations backward, he traced the specific day that the flame had been sparked in a small child who soon grew to replace their inspiration on the world stage.

Today, I got to go to such an event. I saw not just one Olympian, but two, happily toiling together in the hot humid sun of summer to celebrate and give back to the kids and coaches that they once were themselves.

Three time Olympian, multiple GOLD Medalist, and multiple world record holder "Butch" Reynolds has, for 15 years, returned to his home in Akron, Ohio to stage the Butch Reynolds Care for Kids Foundation, Track and Fun Camp. This year, he called upon 2008 Olympic Team member and North American Boxing Association Jr. Middleweight Champion, Shawn Porter (a fellow Akronite) asking him if he might like to come down and talk to the kids too.

(Shawn (L) and Butch (R) spend a minute connecting.)

For Shawn, it was a no brainer. Anywhere there are kids and sports, Shawn is always as available as his busy schedule permits.

So, this year, over 200 kids from several organizations came to a playground to run together, to have fun and compete. They got to meet and interact with each other and these two history making athletes. Kids were everywhere. They ranged from tiny to preteens. All just being kids together. No big entourages were present. No media. Just two guys that wanted to say to these kids that if they did it, so can you, to kids from all walks of life.

 
(Butch, Shawn, Ken Porter, a host of volunteers and a few dozen participants gathered for this photo.)

When you see the look on a 6 year olds face when he first sees Shawn display a REAL professional title belt shining in the sun; when you see these famous guys drop down to their knees to tie a kid’s shoestring or just spend 3 minutes in real conversation connecting with a kid that can be changed forever; you (and they) forget the thousands of hours of work and dedication they each had to demand of themselves to be able to be real to the kids. You also see the beginnings of the idea of greatness light in the eyes of those kids that are touched by the possibility of future accomplishments. "All anybody can ask is that you try your best. That's all we ask of you today." said Reynolds. "I came to this very track to run when I was getting ready to go to Beijing." said Shawn.

(Butch & Shawn address the crowd before the running started)

Every one of these kids ran a little harder today; and a few will run harder for ever, I think. We owe these and many other great under appreciated athletes and volunteers a debt of thanks far beyond what we know. Neither of them would miss a meal if he chose not to come do this ever again. Yet, neither of them is ever likely to forego the chance to be there. The truth is they want to be out there where they began, with the kids again. You can see it on their faces.

There are great advantages in being "the photographer!" You get to go extremely fun places and hang with people you might NEVER get to interact with otherwise. Today I got to hang with 200+ kids, two of which were a little taller and played like fun was the only record they were aiming for.

You can visit multiple Olympic Medalist and World Record setting runner Butch Reynolds at: www.BRworldclassspeed.com

You can visit former Olympic Team member and Professional North American Boxing Organization Jr Middleweight Champion Shawn Porter at:www.shawnporterboxing.com

Fall Football

   By André Costantini

The rattle of the freight train was loud, at least loud enough that picking up the ringing phone was futile. I was outside of Milwaukee watching 7th and 8th graders play football, supporting Getty Photographer, Bruce Bennett teach a Tamron sports photography workshop. As Bruce said, " The trains on railroad tracks behind the field are really quaint, I feel like I'm in middle America." "Bruce," I reminded him, "we are." Armed with my D3x and Tamron 70-200 f2.8 I was ready to stop some action. Not even the first thirty seconds, there was a player down. Smashed at the knee which had him out for the rest of the game.

ISO 400 200mm F2.8 1/1250

So that sort of set the tone for the game, at least for the home team, despite a couple of nice runs.

ISO 500 70mm f4.5 1/2000

Anyone that knows me knows that I know almost nothing about sports, but I know something about people. Often focusing on the emotion can make compelling images.

ISO 500 140mm f4.5 1/1250

Events Photography

By John VanSteenberg

One of every photographers roles in life is to be drafted to photograph an event sometime someplace. Family, friends, associates, etc.

Recently, I was asked to photograph the Lake Erie Boxing Association awards banquet. LEA an affiliate of USA Boxing’s amateur National Championship and pre Olympic program. I thought it would be a nice evening of dinner and speeches and some nice kids gaining well earned recognition.

Little did I know that I would meet and photograph 2 members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, several former world champion boxers and the current Middleweight Champion of the World: Kelly ‘The Ghost’ Pavlik.

Kelly revisited his old amateur association and reminisced about the road trips he took as part of the Lake Erie Association, on the way to becoming the international star that he is. In his remarks, he also acknowledged the influence exerted on him by the others in the room that came before him and the inspiration they instilled in him.

One great surprise was how nice all of these great champions are. And how much they respect each other and how they encourage and invest time and energy in the future of the young athletes coming behind them.

I learned something while there, too. Parents who are worried about having their kids participate in boxing should realize that there are about 13 sports played in high school that result in more injuries than boxing. Safety of the kids is their first concern.

The photographic issues: A medium size banquet room with 10’ high ceilings, about 150 people squeezed into it.
The equipment: My lens choice was the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 SP, a great all around choice for events like this, wedding receptions and other events. It manages tight spaces with wide angle scenes as well as short telephoto ranges needed for ‘grip and grins’. The rest of the gear and the process was: a Canon 40D with a 340 flash with a Luma Quest pocket bounce (to soften the harsh flash), mounted on a Custom Bracket and TTL(ed) via a remote extension cord.

As always, in unpredictable light, I shot in RAW+JPEG and edited the files in Bibble PRO, my favorite RAW converter and workflow management software.

The 17-50 is my lens of choice for event photos because it is so versatile. It is easy to view through with the f/2.8 aperture. The constant aperture also eliminates the worry about running out of flash volume at distances where variable aperture lenses might limit range dramatically.

In terms of versatility, cram 150 people, tables, podium, etc., and things get crowded. So, being able to compose in tight spaces zoom without moving a lot is critical to event shooting. These events often produce images of individuals, small groups, intimate discussions and even a few larger groups. The 3X zoom ratio is well suited for all of these in a venue like this. I used the Luma Quest pocket bounce to enlarge the size of my light source which acts to soften the light and minimize harsh shadows.

I use the Bibble Pro software to process because there seems to always be a wide variety of lighting in these rooms causing white balance issues; plus, the ability to fine tune exposure makes these images much more viewable.

 A standing ovation for the former great Heavyweight Champion of the World Jimmy Bivens (1940s-1950s).

Former IBF Lightweight Champion of the World Harry Arroyo spends a minute with a fan.

Jimmy Bivens, gets congratulations from Ken Porter and Gene Glenn (standing l-r) of the Association while watched by Jimmy’s daughter.

2008 Olympic Team members Shawn Porter (L) and Miguel Gonzales (R) receive congratulations from Gene Glen for their successes.

Kelly Pavlik hugs Shawn Porter while Ken Porter ‘coaches’

Special Guests:

Kelly ‘The Ghost Pavlik, Current Middleweight Champion of the World

Harry Arroyo, Former IBF Lightweight Champion of the World

Jimmy Bivens, Former Heavyweight Duration Champion of the World (as declared by Joe Louis on his induction into the Army in 1942).

Shawn Porter 2008 US Olympic Team Member

Miguel Gonzales 2008 US Olympic Team Member

Gene Glenn President of Lake Erie Boxing Association

The Gymnastics Meet

By André Costantini

With the use of the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 at it's maximum aperture and the quality of higher camera ISO's, the opportunity to get great available light action shots has never been better.  These images were captured just using the fluorescent lights in the room.  The ISO was at 3200 and at f2.8 that put the shutter speed at 320th or 400th of a second.  The focal lengths were 122mm for the flip and 190mm for the jump.  With a longer lens I was able to stand back and have a clear shot without having to be concerned with obstructing the 80 or so people watching the events.

Shooting Indoor Kids Sports

  By Ken Hubbard

Recently I had the chance to shoot some images of my niece's volleyball match, which was a much appreciated change of pace for me. Knowing that the lighting conditions were going to be less than ideal I decided to use the Tamron 28-300mm VC lens on a Nikon D700. 

The Vibration Compensation feature is an important feature when shooting in situations of very low light, causing a slower shutter speed as well as having to hand hold at such long focal lengths. Luckily, the D700 has a sensor that handles high ISO like 3200 with ease, which helped increase my shutter speed to 1/125 sec. This was high enough to somewhat stop (freeze) some of the action happening on the court but still a little slow for hand holding at 300mm.  The Vibration Compensation performed well in helping me to capture my niece in many action shots.  

 

ISO 4000 (yes 4000), F/6.3, 1/125 Sec. Auto White Balance

Since this was held in a Junior High school gymnasium, where seating is at a premium,  I was not fortunate enough to get close to the middle of the court, where I would have been able to capture the action on both sides of the court equally.  Once again the 28-300mm lens with it high powered zoom range became the perfect choice.  Being able to zoom out to 300mm allowed me to get in close to the action without moving from my seat.  

 

I wanted to show the action going on on the court while maintaining my niece as the main subject of the image. Using a wide open aperture of F/6.3 (widest @ 300mm) I created a shallow depth of field, which blurred out the opponents & teammates, allowing my niece to be more of the focus in the image. 

 

ISO 4000 (yes 4000), F/6.3, 1/125 Sec. Auto White Balance

Don't expect all your images to be perfect, sports are difficult to capture. With some trial and error and practice you will be capturing great images in no time.