As I mentioned in last night's Aaarrgghh post, our dojo is in the middle
of belt tests. I look at my photography as a small way that I can give
back to the community, so I try to take photos of each person's test,
and other major events. It involves an interesting mixture of skills,
and no small amount of luck, though a K-5 and good lenses really helps too.
The lighting is challenging forcing a lot of compromises between shutter
speed, depth of field and high ISO noise. There is also the constant
battle between not wanting to risk losing shots, and wanting to take
risks to get some great shots. What I've been playing with this week is
varying my shutter speed during each person's test. When they are doing
slower techniques, the slower shutter speed allows better image quality
without a lot of motion blur. However when people are moving, anything
below about 1/100 second will show significant blur. So I've been
playing with high ISO and shutter speed, and also using my monopod so I
can really slow things down, and rather than fighting the blur, embrace
it. This leads to more lost shots, but a few really cool ones.
Here is one, ISO 6400, at 1/160 sec. The 16-50 is zoomed out to 34 at f/2.8
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/6365374731/in/set-72157628055619395/
As part of his brown belt (2nd & 1st kyu, Byron is now 2nd) exam, Byron
is demonstrating, koshinage, which are hip throws.
At the other end of the speed spectrum this one was shot at 1/10 second,
at f/3.2, ISO 640 and 16mm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/6365394997/in/set-72157628055619395/
Starting with blue belt exams (4th & 3rd kyu, Dan is now 3rd) part of
the test involves defending yourself against multiple attackers. I sped
the camera up later in the randori, but wanted to get the start
emphasizing the action of people closing in.
I've been shooting with the 16-50 on the K-5 and the 77 on the K-x. The
77 is a little long for a lot of what's going on, but at least it is
nice and fast. I also played around last night with the 31 and my 50 on
the K-5 to get a bit more speed in the lens and not push the sensor
quite so hard.
I'm definitely appreciating the value of the K-5, good glass, a monopod,
and especially mixing things up at an event like this. Take a few
"safe" shots, just to make sure, but also take risks and try to get a
few "great" shots. Another thing that is really nice about the K-5,
btw, is how quiet it is, and that it's not nearly so distracting as, for
example, Beau's D700.
--
Larry Colen [email protected] (from dos4est)
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