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"Rich Clarkson's Sports Photography Workshop"Workshop at the Ranch Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch.
One of my favorite workshops of the year has just concluded,
Rich Clarkson's Sports Photography Workshop in Colorado Springs,
Colorado. With the United States Olympic Training Center (USOTC)
as the workshop's primary venue the class of 60 participants
had the opportunity to photograph some Olympians on their way
to Beijing, China for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Also in
the mix of venues were Coors Field and its MLB team the Colorado
Rockies, Motocross at Wild Rat Race Track, White Water Kayaking,
Equestrian competition, and a variety of other sports and athletic
venues along the front range of the Rocky Mountains.
What a great week of learning and image making.
Sometimes I wish I was a student so I could take more pictures.
I hope this article gives you an idea of what the week was like.
Past Workshop at the Ranch Issues
May, 2010
April, 2010
March, 2010
February, 2009
December, 2009
November, 2009
October, 2009
September, 2009
August, 2009
July, 2009
June, 2009
May, 2009
April, 2009
March, 2009
February, 2009
January, 2009
November, 2008
October, 2008
September, 2008
August, 2008
July, 2008 |
Image
#1 Andy's Abs ...
I had arranged to have professional body builder Andy
Haman, Mr. Colorado, join our class on lighting using
the Nikon SB800 Speedlights. While Andy has spent years
sculpting his body for competition our class would learn
to sculpt him with light. We started with only one SB800
and step by step worked our way up to four. Along the
way I demonstrated how I build a lit portrait and arrive
at a combination of Speedlights that included a strong
image of Andy's incredible abdominal muscles. At one point
during the class a student asked "how many sit-ups
do you do each day?" ... I answered "none, but
Andy might do a few." Nikon D3, ISO1000, 1/60 at
f9, Nikon 24-70mm Lens, WB 6250K, 4 Nikon SB800 Speedlights,
2 were slightly higher than Andy's height and almost directly
profile to him on his left and right and 2 were on the
floor about 3/4 angle behind him both left and right.
I used the Warming Gels that come with the Speedlights
on the SB800s to the left of the frame (both the high
and the floor Speedlights). The high and floor speedlights
on the right did not have warming gels. Power Output was
-1.3 on the high left and floor right Speedlights, -1.0
on the high right and -0.3 on the floor left. The floor
left SB800 also had a LumiQuest Snoot. I really like the
ultra warm skin tone that the warming gels and 6250K White
Balance gave. Nikon SU800 Commander, Lexar 8G Flash Card.
Image
#2 Body Architecture
... With the indoor studio location portion of the class
complete we moved to the outdoors and a view of the
Marriott's architectural design. It is about 5:00 pm
and the sun is still shining. I decided to teach my
Moody Blue Formula (February Workshop at the Ranch 2006.)
I have underexposed the background by about 1 and 2/3
stops. Then I revealed Andy using 2 Nikon SB800 Speedlights
each with a warming gel and a power output of +3.0.
The Speedlights are hand held by a student standing
on the wall and just out of the left side of the frame.
I want the Speedlights close to my subject so I had
the student step into the frame and then back out until
he was just out of the left edge of the frame. The 2
Speedlights were rubber banded together in tandem to
make an easy to hold unit. I asked the student to hold
the tandem Speedlights higher than Andy's face and slightly
in front of him so the warm light would cover the upper
2/3 of Andy's body. Nikon D3, ISO200, 1/500 at f6.3,
Nikon 24-70mm Lens, WB 3030K, 2 Nikon SB800 Speedlights
each with a warming gel and power output of +3.0, Nikon
SU800 Commander, Lexar 8G Flash Card.
Image
#3 Corner Duel ...
I had made arrangements for a Motocross venue to be
available for the workshop. Wild Rat Raceway is about
a 30 minute drive east of Colorado Springs and was a
perfect venue for the class. I was joined by fellow
instructors Mark Terrill, Mark Reis, and Mark Kettenhoffen
at Wild Rat to help our students make some great action
pictures of motocross racing at its best. The race track
was all ours for the late afternoon sunshine and a dozen
talented athletes gave us non-stop action and close
up access. This shooting arrangement was similar to
a controlled commercial shoot as we had the run of the
course and were able to position ourselves perfectly
anywhere we wanted. These guys never stopped jumping,
flying, racing and competing all in an effort to provide
our class with the best pictures possible. Several of
the students brought their Nikon SB800 Speedlights as
did I. We set ourselves up in various corners and worked
on slow shutter speed rear curtain sync panned images
with flash. I let my Nikon D3 with 51 point auto focus
3D tracking follow the action while I held 2 SB800 Speedlights
(rubber banded together Tandem for easier holding) off
camera high above my head to help give a more studio
lit feel to the rider. Nikon D3, ISO100, 1/30 at f22,
Nikon 24-70mm Lens, 3D Focus Tracking with 51 points,
WB 7140K, Two Nikon SB800 Speedlights, SU800 Commander,
Lexar 8G Flash Card.
Image
#4 Rider in the Sky
... Todd Bannister flew high overhead along with many
of the moto-men. Our class enjoyed every jump and fly-by.
As thunderheads began to build up in the Colorado sky
and sun rays streamed through, I slowed down my shutter
speed to 1/100 of a second and allowed for a little motion
blur to occur. Freezing the action perfectly is usually
preferred, but sometimes I like to give an image a little
personality. The slower shutter speed did just that. I
love the spinning motion of the wheels and the pan-blur
of the storm cloud. I also used 2 SB800 Speedlights to
add just a little bit of fill flash on Todd. The SB800
Speedlights made a big difference in revealing Todd from
a complete silhouette and defining the motorcycle engine,
exhaust pipes, and front forks. Nikon D3, ISO100, 1/100
at f22, Nikon 24-70mm Lens, WB 10,000K, 2 Nikon SB800
Speedlights with a power output of +3.0, Nikon SU800 Commander,
Lexar 8G Flash Card.
