Congratulations our Photo Contest Winner!!
June 7, 2008
Congratulations to Ian Chapin for winning our 2008 June Sports Photography Contest. Ian’s photo “Bringing It” exhibited good sports photography skills. The photo showed good player emotion, a good tight crop, and it was in focus.
Thank you to all those that participated.
Again, Congratulations to Ian Chapin who will receive a Think Tank Speed Freak Belt Pack.
Attention!! Sports Photographers
May 11, 2008
Sports Photographers get your cameras ready for our Sports Photography Contest. This month’s contest is sponsored by Think Tank Photo.
Basketball – Which Lens do you prefer?
March 5, 2008
Since, high school basketball championships is coming up, I get this question a lot. To help others in their photography, I’ll let you photographers out there help answer this question. Read more
Nikon D3 – 25600 Noise Test
March 2, 2008
By Steve Kajihiro
Last night, we were at a basketball game and my friend Jeff asked me to shoot at test shot with my Nikon D3 at 25600 ISO. Here it is. The first shot is the original. I just made it to 4X6 at 72 dpi. The next photo was cropped 4X6 at 72 dpi with about 50% crop, the last shot on the botom was tight crop to show the close up noise. I did not do anything with these photos. I shot this at ISO 25600, f/6.3, at 1/500 sec. at 200mm. Read more
Photo Tip – Don’t Just Shoot Action
March 2, 2008
By Steve Kajihiro
Last night, I was at the Snohomish County Explosion’s basketball game. I was shooting the game for my story. Anyway, I just wanted to share a tip for some of you photographers. Don’t always just shoot the action on the court, look for shots after the play or in the crowd. Sometimes you can capture great emotion from the jubilation shot or like last night’s game, injuries and pain. Read more
Gary Fong’s Lightsphere – Review
February 24, 2008
February 24, 2008
By Steve Kajihiro
Some of you might have seen photographers, with this weird looking plastic lunch bowl on their camera’s flash. Some people might joke that you can eat out of it, but it’s really the Gary Fong’s Lightsphere. Gary Fong, a famous celebrity wedding photographer invented this very strange but useful flash diffuser. Unlike some other flash diffusers that directs light forward, the Lightshere actually lights up the whole room. The inside surface of the lightsphere is textured so light is dispersed even more for a softer look. The lightsphere is soft and flexible so it can fit in most camera bags.
Nikon or Canon???
February 24, 2008
I have a questions for photographers out there. My friends and I have this constant argument of which camera brand is better, Nikon or Canon. I being a Nikon owner, I obviously chose Nikon.
So, I’m curious to what out people are using. So, my question is Nikon or Canon and why? Answer below by responding to this post.
Thank you…….
Basic Tips on Taking Basketball Photos
February 23, 2008
February 22, 2008
By Steve Kajihiro
Since high school basketball championships are here. I thought I’ll write some tips on photographing basketball. Last year, Mark McCollum of MTM Action Photo and I spent the year as team photographers for a minor league basketball team. It was a fun but tiring experience for us. Anyway, I don’t claim to be an expert of any kind. I’m just a “nut” that decided to throw some tips out to those that care read to this.
One of the most important parts with shooting basketball, especially in high school gyms would be your equipment. In order to get a half way decent shot, you will need at minimum a f/2.8 lens. I currently use a 17-55 mm lens but it seems to be a little bit too wide. And it’s even more so with my Nikon D3 , that has a full frame sensor. I personally would recommend a 28-70mm lens or something in that range. With my full frame sensor D3, which doesn’t have a crop factor, I normally use the 70-200 mm lens and sometimes a f/2.8, 300mm lens for basketball.
The next thing is a good SLR camera, you can use a Nikon or Canon but I personally use a Nikon. The better the camera, the better and easier time you will have in getting that shot. Last year, I used the Nikon D2H and the D200. The D200 worked better with noise than the D2H, since you will normally have to shoot at 1600 ISO in a high school gym to get a decent shutter speed, but even 1600 ISO it might not be good enough. My current camera is the Nikon D3. The D3 is by far the best camera I ever owned. The noise is far more superior to anything that I have ever seen. I routinely shoot at 3200 to 6400 ISO with no problems. So, for whatever camera you have or going to buy, make the best of it.
I also say positioning is another key factor in getting good photos at a game. It’s a key factor since alot of times the officials are in the way and you might get butt shots of the officials instead of dunks. For those of you that shoot any sport, you know what I’m talking about….at least I know my fellow photographer Mark knows. It’s like, right on, right on, I got the shot…oh but wait, the referee just stepped in the way…damn!!!
Anyway, I like to sit about 3 to 4 feet to the right side of the basket on the baseline or on the right or left corner of the courts. These are good for getting a shot of the layup or dunk. But, this is all up to you since sitting close to the basketball brings dangers too. Last year, a player landed on my head, it’s a good thing for all the fat under my chin which supported my neck…ha, ha., so be careful if you decide to sit there. For those that are thinking about using a chair, I personally don’t use a chair but alot of photographers use chairs like the crazy creek chairs since it’s light and easy to carry around.
Oh yeah, one last thing. Shutter Speed and Aperature. I recommend at least a F/2.8 or even a f/1.5 aperature and a shutter speed of at least 1/300 of a second. If you don’t have a f/2.8 lens, use the widest aperature as possible (lowest f/number). I like to use at least a 1/500 sec shutter speed but that is because the D3 can handle that. Since basketball is such a fast sport and tracking players are some times difficult, try to get the fastest shutter speed possible. However, I have also noticed that you could get away with a 1/250 shutter speed for dunk shots if you time it right. There’s a point a the top of the dunk that the players are slow enough to stop their motion with a slower shutter speed. Again all of this depends on your camera’s ISO ability, this is why some pros use strobes in the gyms and arenas.
One last thing, just go out and shoot the game and have fun. The most important thing here is that we are having fun at what we are doing. By the way, I plan to update this post with photos at a later time so come back to see if there’s any photos posted.
Sports Photo Tip-Reducing Motion Blur
February 17, 2008
Being a sports photographer, I get a lot of questions from parents about photography. One of the most frequently asked questions I get is how to get a clear images without motion blur. I don’t claim to be an expert in photography or even sports photography. But, one of the most important part of stopping action is to have a fast shutter speed. Your shutter speed should be around 1/500 of a second or faster for football, basketball, and other sports. One of the problems, people my have in reaching the fast shutter speed is the light quality. The lower the light, the harder it will be to achieve a fast shutter speed.
UW vs WSU Women’s Basketball
February 4, 2008
February 3, 2008 – Seattle, WA
UW’s #12 Sarah Morton goes up for a lay up in the first half as WSU’s #11 Colleen Betteridge and #24 Kezia Kelly defends, during the University of Washington vs. Washington State University game at Bank of America Arena in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Steve Kajihiro/CSM
On Super Sunday, I spent part of the day at WSU at UW Women’s Basketball game. You can say, UW pretty much “Blew Away” the WSU Cougars, 84 to 40. I was shooting this game for Cal Sport Media, a newswire service. Anyway, the first half went great and our photos were on their way. But, after the game the problems came. Problem #1: The SuperBowl started, Problem #2: I was late to a SuperBowl Party, and Problem #3: Photographers in the photo room were having problems with uploading photos to the server. I thought I was going good but nope I got home and only the first half photos were posted. I got a few hours left before leaving for my flight to Hawaii. Come back later and check out my pics as I report from the Pro Bowl in Hawaii…..that’s if I’m not at my favorite local food restaurant.
For the photographers, the photo was shot at F/2.8, 1/500, ISO 1100 with a Nikon D3.
