Black and white, infrared, odd processing

I accidentally loaded infrared black and white film into my digital SLR, and photographed a soccer game...

Actually, of course, this is a simulation (from an ordinary digital original raw file) of an infrared biased response curve, then turned into a negative.  Only visible light was used for the original capture, so it doesn't qualify as an infrared photo.  I did it all with Adobe Lightroom®.  There was no need to even open Adobe Photoshop®.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/09/black-and-white-infrared-odd-processing.html

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Juliet India Lima Charlie Papa... and Soccer in a spring rain shower

I sometimes am asked what JILCP stands for (because one of my primary websites is at www.jilcp.com). It is nothing more than my initials and those of my business name, Classical Photography. My first name is so often misunderstood in telephone calls that I have been known to try to describe it as"Juliet Echo Sierra Sierra", but that use of the "NATO alphabet" simply led to gender misapprehension: "Juliet who?" Which reminds me of Romeo, who is also in this spelling alphabet, and Shakespeare's phrase "what's in a name?" And drawing from the end of my middle name, who is in the Hotel?

Anyway, speaking of Hotel Echo Alfa Delta Echo Romeo Sierra (ridiculous segue, I know), I shot a soccer game in the rain Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, all kinds of leaping and running was going on.

The slick, rain soaked ground led to a few spills.

The players soldiered on, and so did my camera, which was covered with water (but the lens hood kept the glass dry).

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2013/04/juliet-india-lima-charlie-papa-and.html

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Double Header

If last Sunday was a cold day for the first U-12 women's soccer game of the season (for the team I photograph), today was a balmy spring day in advance of the equinox. I was looking forward to some more ease of movement, but I wasn't expecting to catch a double header. No, I don't mean two games in a row, as in major league baseball. What I mean is this:

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2013/03/double-header.html

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Abstract art in action sports photos?

Today was a cool day for Raleigh, with the temperature a bit of a hindrance to athletes trying to warm up. It also led to cold stiff fingers for photographers, especially this one, who had a sore foot that prevented sprinting around the edge of the soccer field.

When photographing sports like soccer, the first aim would generally be to capture the moments of peak action. Shooting an exciting play at the right moment from a great angle is the photographer's dream. Although "fortune favors the prepared mind" (Louis Pasteur), no matter how well one knows a sport, anticipating moves will never guarantee being in exactly the right place to catch that great photo (but it may improve your chances).

Well, I'm not about to post a killer action shot from the game I shot this afternoon, but I do want to show one that demonstrates the confluence of both preparedness and luck. I like it as an abstract image, as one with some human interest, and almost secondarily as an example of snagging sports action.

This was a corner kick, so I knew it was coming. I hobbled to a spot that gave an unobstructed view of the flag, hoping that no other player would move in front of the kick as it happened. I made sure the safety was off my hair trigger response circuits, and was lucky enough to capture the ball not only in-frame, but separated from the pole. Here's where serendipity really helped: the player's right shin guard came off with the impact of the kick, and was frozen between her shoe and the flag pole. It made an almost perfect symmetry with the ball. And the second happenstance: the spectator glancing back at the play with her body in an interesting walking posture.

As for the kicker, all four of her limbs are just where I would want to place them if I were painting the scene free-hand, and the curve of her back adds to the dynamism. Even the chalk lines, the flag pole, and the fence posts and rails in the background add to what I see as an abstract unity, with the two human bodies forming the focus.

So, in the end, this can be seen as just another mediocre soccer shot - cluttered background, not an exciting or unusual play - but I'm glad I caught it, and I think I will probably enjoy looking at it from time to time. Please give it a second look and let me know what you think.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2013/03/abstract-art-in-action-sports-photos.html

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Spherical intersection, aka soccer headers

In the last two soccer games I shot, I decided to try to catch some headers, and had a few chances to do so. I'm hired to cover a team, so I essentially follow their players, rather than going for action regardless of who it features. Anyway, I saw a few instances of using the noggin to propel the ball, and tried to anticipate them, time the shots, and focus at the right place. Even shooting at high fps (frames per second), action like this moves so fast that the best chance of catching the peak comes from timing the shutter release. Of course video at 30 fps, or even better, 60 fps or higher, would mean a very high probability of catching any desired moment of action, but as of now, the quality of a frame grab for a print is not equal to what comes from a still camera. Technology moves fast, and eventually high speed video will be ultra high resolution...and some of the fun and challenge may disappear from action photography. It's wonderful the things that have been studied and revealed through ultra high speed photography in scientific research, so I certainly have no regrets about the way things are progressing. But back to my little world of photography.

Aside from technology and reflexes, there's the whole issue of being at the right place for the best view. When you shoot from sidelines of the field instead of a raised press box, you have to scurry to get a clear view through closer players, referees, and sometimes spectators. Here's a shot that was a little late (about .05 second after contact - no I'm not exaggerating). I like it because it shows the leap, the player's face shows concentration, and the opposition player is watching.

Got the timing here, but everyone was facing the other way. I haven't worked out how to teleport to the other side of the field!

Almost...

A glancing header.

Ah, caught the moment here.

I had this one anticipated, but the opposition player was taller and intercepted with her head.

This could have been a successful shot if the ball had come down more on my side of the player.

Here's what I like to catch! A clear view, and timed well enough to show the compression of the ball.

Here's a closer look at the same shot. I think that's pretty much maximum compression of the soccer ball.

And one more. My only disappointment with this shot is the cluttered background, but of course I can't control that. I was shooting with the widest available aperture for this long focal length, to blur the background as much as I could.

Cropped, it doesn't look bad. Some compression too.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2012/11/spherical-intersection-aka-soccer.html

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Fall Soccer, Rain or Shine

I was asked to photograph a soccer game (young women, U12 division) that I thought would be postponed due to heavy rain. In spite of an already wet field, the game began as scheduled, in a medium drizzle. The rain never let up, but neither did the players. You can see the rain drops and wet hair in the early photos...

...then mud begins to show up  on the players' knees.

One down, and another about to follow.

Before contact with the grass, evidence of earlier scrambles is in evidence.

Still some smiles at timeouts and halftime.

Also some concern showing. I love the challenge of capturing moments of peak action, but my interest in faces and gestures never goes away.

Sometimes a young face full of sunshine makes the rain seem to go away even when it's all around us.

Someone has been waging a "grass roots" campaign today.

 

Back to the game, still raining, still playing hard.

She seems to be airborne about 80% of the time.

 

 

Here's a drive to the goal. Find a small opening between defenders, push through it.

 

Kick hard, and...

What proved to be the winning goal!

It's pretty easy to tell when victory has made its mark on their faces!

 

 

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2012/09/fall-soccer-rain-or-shine.html

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