Some Rules To Shoot By



The back story to this photo is unremarkable, but the result gave me something to think about.

A local fitness center was sponsoring a 4-hour basketball "camp" featuring three members of the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. Needless to say it was wall-to-wall kids in the indoor basketball court. I had allocated myself only one hour to make an image, and as (bad) luck would have it, the session started 20 minutes late. I didn't have a particularly goal in mind. but thought the shot should include a globe trotter and a CK (cute kid) or two. I had taken dozens of shots of kids dribbling and doing passing drills under the watchful eyes of the Globetrotters. But photographing a six-foot plus adult along with a seven year old child was a bit of a challenge, and the tight schedule didn't allow for many compact, well-composed, Kodak moments.

One thing I did notice were the skylights that allowed light to spill onto the court in specific locations. As luck would have it, young A. J., holding a basketball, was lining up, getting ready to take a shot while standing in the "sweet spot". I grabbed the shot, hoping for the best. I didn't realize the ball had "Harlem Globetrotter" written on the side until after I got back to my office.

It turns out that Julio Lara, a staff writer for the Journal, noticed me shooting. He was working on a story, and had interviewed A.J.'s mother in great detail. He asked if he could run one of my shots with his story on summertime sports camps, so I sent him this one, along with some others. The staff and he must have like it, as it ran across 3 columns on a 4 column spread. In other words, it ran huge.

In retrospect, I was very lucky to have been given a shot as nice as this one, joined to an article that provided the necessary context. Just then I realized that there are several axioms we should embrace, along with some others that could benefit from some "airing out". So here's to A.J.'s shot, and others like it, and the mantras we should chant to encourage a few more just like it coming our way. 

Axiom #1: Every photograph is a gift. Sometimes you get exactly what you want, sometimes not. Just smile, say "Thank You", and move on.
As a photographer, there are times when  you can do no wrong. Other times, you can do no right. Most of the time, we're somewhere in the middle. Whenever you work with real people, you are at risk of having something go wrong. The grandmother who looks away at the last moment, the lovely foreground with the incongruous background, the list goes on and on. Photography is like golf. You play the shots were they land.

Axiom #2: You must give before you can receive.
When working the "social desk" you are bound to run into the same publicists over and over again. These are the people who can make sure that your needs are taken care of, that you have a seat near the front, or make sure that all of your questions are answered. When times get tough, nothing beats the cell phone number of somebody who has the authority and the ability to help you on location. To this end, I enter their cell phone numbers to my contact list, and greet them by name should they call me. And when the event is over, I'll make my images available for their use. This may sound like blasphemy to some, since I'm giving something away that might have monetary value. But for me, the good will is far more important the any money I might receive for a copy of a print. And in a day when Facebook has replaced the scrapbook, most people only want a JPEG for their "walls". Incidentally, I am identified as the photographer in all released images.

Axiom #3: Mistakes will help you grow only if you address them.
Okay, okay. There are some mistakes I keep making over and over again. So many things I forget to tell my subjects. Don't make a fist. Don't spread your fingers. Don't point your hands directly at me. All people with glasses should move to the same side. If you're wearing glasses turn your head slightly. Use your commander as a fill light. Choose an aperture that keeps everyone in sharp focus. Use your loupe to check your final image before you let your subjects go. The embarrassment of a re-shoot the same day is not as bad as the humiliation of asking for it a week later.

That's a pretty long list. But you should have seen it last year. At least I'm making some progress. You should too.

Axiom #4: Scoff not the other person's camera. It may contain the photographs you should have taken.
I don't remember the exact wording, but this catches the essence of the truism. This came from Simon Nathan, a photographer and feature writer for Popular Photography. His column, "Simon Sez", spoke directly to the experiences of a working field photographer, one who relied heavily on 35mm cameras and available light. His earliest writing extolled the virtues of the Nikon S2, a rangefinder camera that was a cross between the German Contax and the Leica. He, along with David Douglas Duncan, did much to popularize Japanese cameras among working photojournalists.

Axiom #5: A good picture today is better than a great picture tomorrow.
This advice came from Bambi Cantrell, via Neil van Niekerk's column. She, along with other photographers like Bill Stockwell, Rocky Gunn and Monte Zucker, helped re-defined how weddings were photographed, and as a group promoted the "wedding story" as a new photographic genre.

There will always be "woulda, coulda, shoulda" moments. But the shot that you've stored on your card is something you can bank on. This doesn't mean that you can't attempt to clean up subsequent shots. Just don't bet on being able to improve a shot on a second take. Sometimes, it gets worse.

I'll add more axioms in time. But if you remember to chant these axioms while you're meditating, your images will be better for the effort.

Me And My D70

Introduced in 2004, the Nikon D70 became the pivotal camera of the time because it both broke the $1000.00 price point and bested the similarly priced Canon Digital Rebel introduced the previous year. The 6 mega pixel sensor was pretty much the edge of Nikon's envelope until the D2X nearly doubled the mega pixel count to 12.8. In my opinion it is the digital counterpart of the venerable 35mm Pentax K1000, an inexpensive first camera for thousands of photographers. If you're curious about what state of the art was in 2004, check this original review.

The D70 was discontinued when it was replaced by the D80 in late 2006. D70 bodies show up on eBay and in camera stores that sell used equipment. Before purchasing any D70 or D70s, be sure that the serial number starts with the number "3", the number block reputedly reserved for camera imported by Nikon USA. This may come in handy if you every need servicing or decide to have repairs done. This is especially important when purchasing a D70 (but not the D70s) due to some quality control issues in early production cameras. Click here for a service bulletin that describes the problem. Click here for some comments on the malady nicknamed the Blinking Green Light of Death (BGLOD). I have several D70 bodies and have experienced this failure in one of my cameras. And it was repaired for free. You may get lucky, too. Addendum: There is also a firmware update for the D70 that will improve the camera's performance. Click here for more information.

In spite of its seemingly unimpressive specifications, I use my D70s frequently, and often on outdoor assignments for the paper when the camera's unique qualifications trump its weaknesses. “Outdoors” is the operative word here, because the relatively high level of ambient (sun) light minimizes some of the camera's shortcomings.

• The camera’s focusing system is nearly 10 years old, and not as sensitive or responsive as the focusing engines found in newer cameras. However, open shade provides more than enough light for the D70 to assure usable response times.
• The relatively higher ambient light levels allow for lower ISO settings. With the ISO set to 200, noise is at an absolute minimum.
• High ambient light levels allow the photographer to select lens apertures on the small side of F 5.6. In bright sunlight, the Sunny 16 rule suggests that a photographer with an ISO setting of 200 and an aperture of 5.6 would set the shutter speed at an action-stopping 1/1600 of a second. Under the same conditions, setting the shutter speed to 1/200 allows for a corresponding aperture of f 16.

Field Carry: When I use a D70 (or D70s), I normally carry it with the following accessories:

• Wide Angle Lens: This was almost always a Tokina 12-24 f4, a relatively slow but sharp lens. Lately I’ve been carrying a Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5. The latter is definitely a outdoor lens, as its wide-open performance is fair at best. Stopped down, it picks up considerably.
• Normal Lens: I normally carry the Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G, the standard kit lens for the D70. The lens is a satisfactory performer.
• Long Lens: My hands-down favorite is the Nikon VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G.
• Speed Light: One Nikon SB-800 is carried in a side-care pouch on the camera bag. I also carry flash cables and filters, should they be needed.
• Miscellany: 2 spare batteries, 2 spare 4 gig CF cards, a small multi-tool, a notebook, and some pens.

This kit, carried in a Tamrac messenger bag, weighs only 10 pounds. If I am on assignment, I normally add a second body, allowing me to have instant access to two different lenses, and a backup if something goes awry.

July 4, 2012: I was sent to bring back a "Fourth of July" image from the Redwood City parade. Using my long lens, I made a very simple photo of a "senior" fire engine in the parade. Simple shot, made from from some distance away. Slam dunk easy.

This following shot shows the greatest single advantage of the D70 body: The high flash synchronization speeds. The native speed is 1/500 of a second, a full stop faster than the native sync speed of any current Nikon DSLR. (For the moment, let's not discuss Nikon's High Speed Synchronization). I did not submit this shot for publication, but it was one of the photos taken during the assignment.

This was pretty much a straight shot. Shoe mounted SB-800 is hot-shoe mounted and set to iTTL metering and an exposure compensation of plus 2/3 stop. The D70 exposure settings were 1/500 second at f 16 with an ISO setting of 400 and a Cloudy preset white balance. In some ways the shot is counter-intuitive, since the highlights, fortified by the speed light, could be over exposed, and the shadows slightly under. It works here because the slight underexposure of the highlights would receive a lighting "boost" from the flash fill. Using a wide angle lens allowed me to get close enough to the subjects for the flash to provide enough power to properly illuminate the scene.

Direct sunlight exposures will always present exposure challenges. In spite of the fact that the shadows are nearly as bright as the highlights, the image is, in my opinion, "properly exposed" because there are no hot spots and there is plenty of detail in all of the important shadow areas. The most important quality is that the imaged doesn't look overly "lit". This image would reproduce well.