See the photos below from BigEd.org’s recent Calypso Cruise fundraiser. BigEd.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping cancer patients and their families in Eddie Hall’s honor. Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket. It was a perfect summer evening.
Photos by John Munson of Beacon Photography.
Below is a slideshow of the photos I (John Munson) took during Arianna Roy’s recent christening at St. John’s The Evangelist Parish in WInthrop. Mikey and Monica asked me to capture this special day for them and it was my pleasure and honor to do so. It was a beautiful day and Arianna behaved great. Click “Play” below to see the slideshow.
The first key to taking good christening photos is to check with the church or priest to make sure you follow all of their rules. Some churches prefer you not use a flash during certain parts of the ceremony, so it is wise to ask in advance. Secondly since most churches are dimly lit, you must have a very fast lens (f/2.8 or lower) or use a flash (if it is okay). One of their stipulations was that I not move once the ceremony began, so I positioned myself near the end of the front pew and got my 70-200 f2.8 lens ready. I also put my camera’s ISO setting up to 400 and sometimes 800 if I needed more light. I also had my second camera ready with a wide angle lens and a 580 EXII flash.
I personally like to also capture the interior of the church since many are beautifully constructed with amazing stain glass windows. To do so, you need a tripod and a wide angle lens. Put it on aperture priority mode and set it at f11 (give or take a stop or two), set camera to timer mode so the image doesn’t capture the movement of your hand while pressing the trigger. Then set tripod up with your preferred composition, and fire away. The shutter usually will have to stay open for several seconds, so that is why a tripod is essential.
I (John Munson) took these photos of the Winthrop Men’s Summer Basketball League championship game on August 19, 2010. Congratulations to the Della- Brown Club on a hard fought win against the Sax Club for the league title . An article will appear in the Transcript in next week’s edition hopefully with some of these photos.
To view full screen slideshow click here “Slideshow”.
To order prints or Facebook photos go to “Online Gallery”
The most important thing about taking good basketball photos is to freeze the motion, in order to get a crisp shop of the action. Some blur can be cool to show the motion, but it is very rare that you will see a lot of blur in a Sports Illustrated or ESPN photo. So you will need to set your camera on Shutter Speed priority mode. On most Canons that is the “Tv” mode. On Nikons it is the “S” mode. To freeze most action in basketball, your shutter speed needs to be 1/400th of a second, but if you have enough light, then I would shoot everything at 1/800th of second. Unfortunately the lack of strong light is a typical situation with indoor basketball games. And if you are shooting near dusk outdoors, it is also a major factor. So the typical ways to battle that are to get fast lenses (f/2.8 or lower) or increase your ISO setting. The better the camera, the less digital noise (graininess) you will get when cranking your ISO up.
Another important aspect of basketball photos is allowing your camera to auto adjust its focus on a moving target. With Canons you need to change the auto focus onto AI Servo mode. This allows your lens to continuously adjust its focal point as the subject moves.
Basketball Photo
Another key aspect to great basketball photos is getting the right angle and composition. To get those great shots, you need to position yourself where the action will be and also anticipate it before it happens. If you watch an NBA game, you sill see several photographers positioned underneath the basket. There is also a camera secured above the rim, which makes for awesome shots of people dunking. Note: for the record there was at least one dunk during the championship game in Winthrop. Impressive! I also like closeups of people’s faces, while shooting or defending.
Anticipating Jump Shot
Closeup of Shooter
