Picture This

Our Favorite Reader Photos from the "Sports & Action" Assignment

Staff  |  Dec 4, 2015

 

Out In Front
David Hollenback captured this image during the Tacoma Twilight Criterium race with a Nikon D750 and a Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens at f/4, 1/1600 second, and ISO 500. “These men are serious bike racers and were really moving through the course,” he says about the photo.
© David Hollenback

Shooting sports and action can really put your gear and your timing to the test. But there’s more to a great action shot than simply capturing the moment and making sure it’s in focus. Shutterbug readers showed their fast action shooting skills this month with winning photos that captured a variety of sports, from bike racing to baseball and surfing to rodeo. For this assignment, we wanted to see sports and action images that had great composition, effective use of backgrounds and scenery, and powerful human emotion. Shutterbug’s sports shooters delivered. Here are our 10 favorite photos from the Sports & Action assignment.

Backbreaker
At a recent rodeo, Seth Riskin captured a bronco trying to shake its rider free. He shot it with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II and a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at f/2.8, ISO 100.
© Seth Riskin

Riding Horizontally
Frank Goroszko captured this wet and wild image at the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California. “I was shooting the surfing action from above the water on the Huntington Beach Pier,” he explains. “It’s often not easy to get a good shooting position because there are many photographers vying for a good spot close to the action. Long telephotos are generally required, at least 400mm on the long end. Lots of shots using burst mode will increase your chances of getting a good shot. At this point in the maneuver, the surfer looks like he is traveling horizontally along the top of the wave.” Goroszko captured it with a Nikon D300 DSLR and a Sigma 120-400mm lens at 330mm, f/9, 1/2000 second, +1/3 exposure, ISO 640.
© Frank Goroszko

Olympic 100m Men’s Final
Nick Moulds shot this at the start of the 100m Men’s Gold Medal race at the 2012 London Olympics, which was won by Usain Bolt.
© Nick Moulds

BMX Big Air
“Went to the local skatepark and got this photo of a BMXer before it started raining,” Joel Andersson says about this image.
© Joel Andersson

Beauty And The Beast
“A surfer tests his courage and talent against a massive wave,” Alena Nicholas writes of this gorgeous (and terrifying) shot.
© Alena Nicholas

Birdboy
Martin Hamm captured this image with a Nikon D610 DSLR and a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens at the Manhattan Beach Pier in California. “I saw this kid skating down the pier to this flock of pigeons, so I just waited for the right moment and then snapped away,” Hamm says.
© Martin Hamm

Adrenaline Rush
“The Bullock Race is one of the most entertaining sporting events in rural West Bengal, India,” Arindam Mitra says about this photo.
© Arindam Mitra

Trail Rider
John Larsen captured this motion sickness-enducing POV bike shot with a Canon EOS 7D and a Tamron 11-18mm lens at 11mm, ISO 100, f/13, 1/20 second. “I had the camera set to self-timer and added a bungee cord around my back to keep the camera as stable and close to my body as possible,” he explains.
© John Larsen

Jumping Home
“My nephew jumping over the catcher, who dropped the ball, to make it safe at home plate,” Zeralda La Grange says about this dramatic shot.
© Zeralda La Grange

Picture This! – Our Next Assignment
Wedding, Portrait, and Boudoir Photography
Show us your best wedding, portrait, or boudoir images for this assignment. And, as you can probably guess, we’re looking for interesting angles on these popular photography genres. We don’t want those standard “grip and grin” group shots from your Aunt Sally’s wedding reception and we’re not asking for cheesy boudoir images that look like they should be on the cover of a romance novel from the 1960s. Give us wedding, portrait, or boudoir photos that are striking and beautiful but don’t resemble images we’ve seen a million times before. We want to see photos with an edge.

X Factor
The image is part boudoir and part portrait photography and 100 percent sexy. I captured it during a photo shoot to help introduce Nikon software back in 2008 at Splashlight studios in New York City. The sword-wielding model was a guest of Nikon photographer Rob Van Petten who had organized the shoot to demonstrate the software. I captured this with a Nikon D3 and a 50mm f/1.4 portrait lens at f/1.4, 1/2000 second, ISO 3200.
© Dan Havlik

How To Submit Online
1. Go to www.shutterbug.com and register. Scroll down the page and on the right side you will see a box for entering your username and your password. If you have already registered and/or submitted images for the Galleries you can skip this step. Respond to the activation e-mail. Registration is free. You will use your username and password whenever you visit or, with some systems, it will automatically load for you when you visit www.shutterbug.com.

2. Check the assignment and closing dates in the magazine. When the magazine is printed we will create an appropriate gallery for your images. The limit is two images per assignment.

3. Select and prepare your images. We only accept files at a maximum 5MB size, JPEG format. Save the JPEG at a quality level of 10 or higher. Note that file size in your image folder directory will determine upload size, not the “opened” file size, as JPEG compresses at 1:4 at higher quality ratings. If your images do not load it probably means you have exceeded the file size or have not used JPEG format.

4. Click on the Galleries tab on the homepage. In the Category section use the drop-down menu to select the Picture This! assignment. Note that images are simultaneously loaded into the assignment category as well as your own personal gallery. When the Picture This! assignment deadline date has lapsed the assignment gallery will be removed, but your images will still reside in your own gallery.

5. In the Description box add title, camera, lens, exposure information, and your full name. Also add any other comments or anecdotes you think relevant. We reserve the right to edit comments as needed.

6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page. This uploads the image.

7. You retain copyright on the image.

8. We will choose the images after close of the due date.

9. Please feel free to comment on images submitted by other readers.

Please Note: If the photograph includes a minor or a recognizable individual or group you are guaranteeing that you have a signed model release form, and especially a parental or guardian release form for minors. You should keep a copy of that release in your files. Scan that release and keep it handy. If an image is chosen for publication, failure to provide a form when requested will eliminate the image from consideration. You can find release forms at http://asmp.org/tutorials/model-release-minor-child.html and other resources on the Internet. By uploading images you attest that the model release form is valid, that any depiction of a person is with their consent, that you have a model release form available on request, and that all images you submit have been made by you.

Scorecard
Deadline For Submission: December 1, 2015.
Images will appear in our March 2016 issue.

Our next topic: Food Photography
Deadline: January 1, 2016
Publication Date: April 2016

Please Note: By submitting you agree to give us the right to show the image(s) on the web and for publication. You give us publication rights in the magazine and on the website(s) of TEN: The Enthusiast Network, LLC.

Want to see images selected for past picture this! Assignments? Go to www.shutterbug.com and click on picture this! In the “more articles…” box on the homepage.

If you have any questions or problems e-mail us at editorial@shutterbug.com with Picture This! in the subject line.

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