On shooting motorsports

An excellent post by ALMS shooter John Thawley over on the Photoshelter blog about shooting motorsports. Long, but worth it.

Funerals and memorials

Shooting memorial services is never easy. You try to stay out of the way, while still getting what you need. I was fortunate enough to get this one as the pall bearers were bringing the casket from the hearse to the chapel. As you can see from the uniforms, officers from several different departments came to the memorial.

Live Music

Shot two vastly different shows last week. Medeski Martin and Wood at the Westcott and Phish at the War Memorial. Medeski Martin and Wood was a pretty relaxed affair. No photographer babysitters, no PR people. Show up, shoot what you want, leave when you want. Contrast that with Phish … I shot 700 frames in 15 minutes, and I’m not allowed to post the photos here. Or on Flickr. Or anywhere other than thenewshouse.com. Call me old fashioned, but I’m a big fan of showing my work to as many people as possible.

One of the hardest things about shooting live music is the lighting. The rapidly changing, often colored lights can sometimes throw the meter for a loop. This was especially true for Phish. Their light shows tend to be more extravagant than just about anyone out there, and their lighting guy Chris Kuroda improvises right along with the band, so you never quite know what to expect. For Medeski Martin and Wood, I shot aperture priority, auto-ISO with center-weighted metering at -2.0 exposure compensation. I had the ISO set up for a minimum shutter speed around 1/80s, but I often hit the ISO ceiling first. Most of the pictures turned out well, and I was able to get a wide variety of images. We ended up running an overall and a cropped version of the upright bass above. See the article here.

For Phish, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it was going to be hectic. I used roughly the same settings, but only set for -1.0 exposure compensation. When I got back to edit down the pictures, I was surprised to see how many frames I shot at ISO 200. There were several frames that were either completely white or completely black, because the lights were changing so quickly, but technically, most of my images were dead-on. A little toning, dodging, burning and they’re ready to publish.

One of the big (HUGE) things I forgot on the MMW show was ear protection. I normally keep a good set of earplugs in my kit, but between switching bags back and forth, and going to Sierra Leone, I apparently lost mine. I have a tendency to stand in front of the stacks when I shoot. My only saving grace was that the main speakers were elevated above the crowd, so I wasn’t getting directly blasted. But my ears were still ringing when I woke up the next morning. There was no way I was going to make the same mistake for Phish, so I ran up to guitar center Sunday afternoon and picked up a new pair. It was still loud, but manageable.

Africa and things

I’ve been back from Africa for about two weeks, just getting situated with classes starting last week. The return trip from Sierra Leone was eventful. I missed my original flight. With a little luck (and a lot of help from American Express), I got on the next flight out. Spent the night in Chicago, and was back home in Syracuse the next day.

The trip itself was pretty good, at times frustrating, but I think I got what I needed. No pictures on the web yet, they’re embargoed until February.

You’re probably wondering what all this has to do with a blue Subaru. Well, nothing. I shot the SCCA rallycross at Black Rock Speedway in Dundee, N.Y. the day after I got back. I was testing a Nikkor 500mm f/4 VR for Jared at prophotorental.com. Unfortunately, monsoon season in West Africa killed my D700, so all I had was my D300. The 500mm lens on a crop sensor was actually too long at times. There was a Toyota Tacoma that I could barely fit in the frame. Image quality is typical for a long Nikkor prime. Sometimes I think I’m spoiled, because I’ve become accustomed to spectacular image quality every time.

Funk N Waffles

Just catching up on the stuff I produced last semester. This one was for the Student Voice economy special report. Funk N Waffles is a restaurant in Syracuse, New York, which does all sorts of crazy (and not so crazy) waffles. I spoke with co-owner Adam Gold about the restaurant, the economy and his plans for the future.

Images shot on Nikon, audio recorded on Sound Devices. Edited with Pro Tools LE and Final Cut Pro.

View it in HD

Funk N Waffles, Syracuse, N.Y. from Jamie De Pould on Vimeo.

Ice race photo essay

Working on my CNY Ice Racing pieces. This is the photo essay, it’s not 100%, but it’s close. I still need to tweak the middle split-screen section, and probably some of the timing. Shot with Nikon D300 D700, Nikkor 400mm f/2.8VR, 200-400mm f/4VR and 24-70mm f/2.8. Ambient sound captured on a Sound Devices 744T with a Sennheiser 416 shotgun. Edited on ProTools LE and Final Cut Pro.

Enjoy.
j-

View it in HD

Photo essay – ice racing from Jamie De Pould on Vimeo.