Josh Katz is a young photographer with great skills and an ability to teach them to others. In this tutorial he provides eight steps for adding impact to action photos with a simple camera panning technique.
Fujifilm reimagined the medium format photography game last fall at Photokina with the introduction of their 51-megapixel GFX 50S compact, mirrorless camera and three unique lenses to take advantage of everything this camera can do. In the video below you’ll see what extreme sports photographer Daniel Tengs was able to accomplish with the eminently mobile, large-sensor GFX 50S.
Everyone loves B&W photography and most shooters appreciate great sports and architectural imagery too. But how often have you seen images like these that combine the best of all three genres?
Chris Burkard is an adventure photographer who travels the world looking for epic images of our untamed planet. He recently garnered a lot of attention for the once-in-a-lifetime shot above of a surfer in Iceland lit by the Northern Lights, and the video below gives you the backstory.
Photographer Jaanus Ree visualized this image in his head before he shot it but the idea to use a cat was a last-minute decision borne out of necessity. “After seeing a portrait in a bookstore where I was able to see the photographer’s silhouette against the reflection of an eye, I got the idea to make something similar,” Ree notes.
Sports photography shares much in common with capturing images of wildlife: You’ve got an active scene captured at a distance requiring specialized equipment and knowledge of the subject’s activities while anticipating what they are going to do next…or not. Sure, you’ll need fast, long focal length lenses but you will also need camera supports and other gear that along with specialized knowledge separates the virtuosos, like Regis Lefebure (regislefebure.com), from the wannabes. Here’s a look at some of our favorite tools of the sports trade.
Most of the photographers were set up at the front of the pool for the 100-meter butterfly final, but Jeff Cable decided to try for a different view of Michael Phelps in that event. You wouldn’t know it from the photo, but he was actually 20 rows up in the seats on the opposite side of the starting block.
Today’s camera gear is faster than ever and much of it is tailor-made for capturing any sort of motion or movement. So then why do so many photographers struggle to shoot compelling images of action? Part of it has to do with timing and part of it has to do with composition. Your camera and lens can only do so much and there’s more to a great action shot than simply capturing the moment and making sure it’s in focus. For this assignment, we were looking for images of anything from basketball to dance to wildlife, just as long as there was some kind of action in the scene. For the winning images, we were looking for great composition, effective use of backgrounds and scenery, and powerful emotion: human, animal, or otherwise. Here are our six favorites.
Gabe Rogel gets a kick out of viewers’ reactions to his photographs. “It’s fun,” he says, “to watch people look at the pictures and realize, Oh, you had to be there, too!”
Tyler Stableford had always been passionate about storytelling, dating back to his college days. It began with the written word but soon metamorphosed into still photography. Before long, Stableford was working as an editor on two outdoor adventure publications, first Climbing Magazine, followed by Rock and Ice Magazine, where he was also able to pursue photography combined with his passion for adventure sports, which had had a hold on him since his teen years.
Shutterbug was co-sponsor of the Mountain Click Photo Comp at the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado, this past summer and we’re excited to spotlight the work of two of the winners in Full Frame this month. Steve Gandy won the Mountain Click (Anything Goes) competition, which required photographers to enter three images shot during the Mountain Games using any camera.
This month we talk with seven photographers pursuing their passion for action, adventure, and sports and find out how they are getting the work: Aaron Belford, Tegan Keller (Tegan K. Studios LLC), Chayce Lanphear, Joe Morahan (Morahan Visuals, LLC), Elli Morris, Jayms Ramirez, and Robert Snow.
Baseball fans everywhere were pretty excited Wednesday night when the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series after an agonizing 108-year wait. While the Cubbies came through in dramatic fashion, the performance of Chicago’s two newspapers covering the event was a mixed bag—at least when it came to photography.
The annual Red Bull Illume international photo contest showcases some of the most spectacular action and adventure sports images anywhere, and the finalists and winning images for the 2016 competition are amazing as always.
Some folks say motherhood is the toughest job there is. But if you throw in the added responsibilities of a sideline photographer, well, then you have something even more challenging.