Scott Kelby is offering a new show on KelbyTV dubbed Photography Tips & Tricks and it’s off to a fantastic, and mighty informative, start.
This first episode “features Scott Kelby, RC Concepcion, and special guest Bill Fortney sharing tips on using Auto ISO, bracketing, and setting up a remote camera in places to which you don’t have access.”
scottkelby.com
Photography educator and photographer Scott Kelby has recently tested gear while shooting sports photography at football games.
Shooting for the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome, Scott set up a remote camera using PocketWizard Plus® II radios as a trigger. This enabled him to capture dramatic shots of the players running out of smoke as fireworks went off. Then the unthinkable happened! “Epic remote-camera fail,” as he called it.
Thankfully for us, for Scott, and for the NFL, Scott persevered, found the problem, and got it right at his next game! Turns out, all that happened was the sync cord popped out after he tested it. With the sync cord screwed firmly in place, Scott set up his Nikon D3 with his Sigma 15mm fisheye lens on the ground where the players would run onto the field. Every time he took a picture with his Nikon D4, the remote D3 was triggered.
©Scott Kelby
We genuinely get excited when we see someone posting a photography how-to column on their blog. Here’s one which is worth your time and careful study.
More and more photographers are coming to realize PocketWizard radio triggers can be used for more than just triggering off-camera lighting. If you want to make the most out of your shooting opportunities, why not throw an aging camera up in the rigging or down on the floor of the track, doubling or tripling your coverage with one click of the shutter?
The blog inciteimages explains how Nikon shooters can do just that by publishing a post entitled “How to remotely trigger a Nikon camera using a PocketWizard FlexTT5 and PocketWizard MiniTT1.” Fourteen steps are outlined in the uncredited story. Presumably written by Mark Watson, an Australian photographer, the piece goes into detail on how to get your Nikon bodies shooting in sync with PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radio triggers.
Even if you don’t shoot Nikon, you can learn something in this informative piece. Enjoy.
Check out more of Watson’s work at his site.
Justin Olsen was recently interviewed by Stan Horaczek for PopPhoto.com. Olsen goes into detail about the custom mount he created to secure a DSLR to his chest. Oh, the other part? Olsen does some serious mountain bike activity, like flying through the air, as one of his Canon cameras clicks away.
Why not just use a helmet cam? Well, you couldn’t get images like this, for instance. With the camera lower on the shooter’s body, you get a different perspective than if it was atop a helmet. The action, and the bike in particular, seem a lot closer.
Olsen has a PocketWizard attached to his Canon in order to trigger the camera remotely. Check out his site for more extreme action shots. Great job, Justin!
When we last checked in with Philipp Schmidli, he was creating inventive remotely-camera photos of bobsleighs in action. Now he’s traded ice for water, and has some great images from a kayak shoot done this summer.
©Philipp Schmidli
Photographer Donald Miralle blogged about an assignment for ESPN the Magazine. For a special Photo Issue, Miralle shot the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championships at Penn State.
Miralle has achieved some beautiful images with his atypical camera angle. In the below photo, we see the emotion of both the winning Ohio State Buckeyes in celebration on the left and the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos walking away dejectedly on the right.
©Donald Miralle for ESPN the Magazine.
In a brief but comprehensive listing, Miralle reports he shot the scene with a Profoto Pro-7b with a Profoto Magnum Reflector and 10 degree grid spot positioned over the net. A second Pro-7b was positioned in the stands. He used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with the PocketWizard FlexTT5. The PocketWizard technology allowed him to get his shots at an incredible 1/1000th of a second.
“If you haven’t got one of these yet, go out and do it. You won’t have to use a leaf shutter again to freeze action with strobes,” Miralle writes.
Be sure to check out some really fine photography on his site. His blog is worth viewing, too. Miralle is a talent worth following, and we’re excited to see his future work.
We love learning about inventive ways photographers put PocketWizard gear to the test. See the Red Bull Illume video below to learn how Vitek Ludvik photographed Olympic kayaker Vavra Hradilek in action.
Ludvik mounted an Olympus E3 to the bow of a kayak using foam and duct tape. PocketWizard Plus II units were used to remotely trigger the camera as Hradilek pushed against the current in some driving water.
Now that’s an inventive way to get some compelling sports photography. If you have any unique ways you’re using PocketWizard radio triggers, feel free to let us know. You might have us asking your permission to share your story with our many readers.
Don’t forget, PocketWizard does not recommend exposing your PocketWizard gear to water. Doing so will void the warranty. PocketWizard units themselves are not waterproof. Please be careful with your investment.
Just a tidbit today. Looks like this morning’s royal wedding was going to be covered by PocketWizard units doing remote camera triggering duty, according to Phil Noble, who wrote a Reuters blog post covering the gear to be used.
PocketWizard MultiMAX units as part of the Reuters team covering the royal wedding. ©Reuters
Noble reports, “Many of these will be fired remotely using pocket wizard [sic] wireless triggers and will shoot using wider lenses to give an overview of the pomp and ceremony as the day goes on freeing us to concentrate on the more important tighter pictures….”
Can’t wait to see the images, Phil! Thanks for showing the world how hard you and your team work. Cheers!
The White House recently hosted a ceremony for the Chicago Black Hawks as 2010 Stanley Cup Champions. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program promoting exercise and health for America’s youth was also tied in, with a street hockey game for kids.
©Jim Young for Reuters
Photographer Jim Young, who grew up in Canada, is no stranger to hockey, and wanted to shoot the event for Reuters with some unique remote camera triggering action. Check out his recent post on the Reuters site to see the plastic container he fabricated to protect his Canon EOS 5D Mark II and PocketWizard MultiMAX from all the hockey action.
Nice job, Jim!
©Jim Young for Reuters
Click on the Reuters logo to visit the story at their site.
Reuters has published “Shooting the perfect dunk,” which is a showcase of some great remote camera triggering. The story by Lucy Nicholson has great photos of the NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest, where players got to showcase their flashiest dunking skills.
PocketWizards were used to remotely fire a camera in the rafters and another courtside. Check out the full story for frozen motion and great angles!
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