FIRST Photography: How do YOU cover it?

[Bur540]

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?
I am the main photographer on the team

What do you use?
Canon EOS 20D
18-55mm canon lens
28-300mm tamron lens f3.5-6.3

What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.)
I am good at shooting all subjects

What subjects do you prefer to shoot?
I like the action, robot shots

When at competitions, where do you shoot from?
Anywhere allowed

Anything you'd like tips with?

[Ben Lauer]

Originally Posted by geeknerd99

(Let us pray for those still shooting film)

Please read this article:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filmdig.htm

Originally Posted by geeknerd99

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?
What do you use?
What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.)
What subjects do you prefer to shoot?
When at competitions, where do you shoot from?
Anything you'd like tips with?
*EDIT*: WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA?

I wasn't really a "photographer" at all, but I take my gear everywhere when I leave the city I go to school in.

My gear:
Nikon D70s - This is my baby
Promaster 28-90mm lens
Nikon 70-200mm lens

What am I good at? Well, personally I am never really happy with my shots, I always think I have poor lighting, but I prefer to shoot candids and faces. Sometimes a completely different thought is captured when you just have the faces of a person {see link} http://flickr.com/photos/benthos/set...7594095448650/
I also documented DSK at the Indiana Robotics Invitational last year, you can see those pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/benthos/sets/634635/

Where do I shoot from? Right next to the field! I have been a field reset and referee and I bring my camera with me, if there is any down time, i get it out and start shooting.

My tip? Buy a flash if your camera supports one. You can make a decent picture an awesome picture just by getting some more light on the subject.

I will be in Atlanta, see me wearing stripes.

[Nita]

For you photographers out there, tell a little about yourselves:

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?
I took my camera to robotics meetings 3 times (during build time) and after deleting the photos I didn't like (10-20), I had 90 of them left to share with my team.

What do you use? DSC-P32 (Sony Cyber-shot: the kind they don't make anymore)

What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.) Anything within range

What subjects do you prefer to shoot? Nature ::cough::

When at competitions, where do you shoot from? Wherever I am when I take out the camera

Anything you'd like tips with? Not really, but I'd like a new camera

*EDIT*: WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA? CO regional is still going on. We'll see if my team makes it.

[geeknerd99]

Originally Posted by Ben Lauer

Please read this article:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filmdig.htm

Oops. I didn't mean to incite a riot when I mentioned film users. Nonetheless, they're still at a pretty big disadvantage when shooting action on the playing field.

That said, I still shoot film too.... just for landscapes and whenever I know I can get a good exposure, which is surprisingly often. I really hate wasting frames, for some reason.

As a matter of fact, this is shot on film. I consider it the best photo I've taken thus far.

[Joe Menassa]

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?

-I fee photography on my team is very important. There is nothing better for advertising, recruitment, and press releases. Team members who miss meetings simply use my website to catch up on the status. The photos are the like meeting minutes.

What do you use?

-All Canon equipment. 20D with grip, 17-40mm, 7-200mm, 50mm, 580EX with external, and a bunch of other things.

What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.)

-I am pretty good with group shots and people working shots (candids) as well as robot shots on and off the field.

What subjects do you prefer to shoot?

-I am most comfortable with the robot. I love capturing the mechanics of it

When at competitions, where do you shoot from?

-I follow the robot. I shoot in the pit and then go to the front of the field and shoot from there during matches.

-WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA?

Yes, I will be in ATL

I will share some tips later.

Check out my photo website.
www.joemenassa.com

[KenWittlief]

Film vs Digital? the answer is simple: how many people on this forum still use an 8mm movie camera (which is all we had when I was a teenager) and how many used camcorders?

Digital wins in all aspects: Hands down. A 35mm photo on 100 ASA film as an approx pixel level of 10M pixels. Switch to ASA 400 or 800 to shoot indoors and you are down below 5M pixels (easily).

Film is still used professional, and it has some unique characteristics that are hard to duplicate on a digital camera. For example, I have done a lot of night photography, where you set your camera on a tripod and hold the lens open (shutter on B) for several minutes. All the digital cameras I have gotten my hands on so far will only hold the lens open for several seconds at the most.

The real difference is cost of operation. Practice overcomes almost everything else, and you can shoot a digital camera all day, and it cost you $0 to see the results on your monitor screen. For example, if there is a thunderstorm coming through at night you can set your digital camera on a tripod and hold the lens open for its max exposure (several seconds) and do this over and over to catch lightning bolts. The frames where nothing is captured you delete. If you did this with film you could spend $100 on film and developing just to catch one bolt of lightning!

[RoboJedi75]

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?
I'm an animator, but since I don't do that at the competition, I can take film and/or video.

What do you use?
Canon Powershot A80
Canon Optura 60 (video)

What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.)
I'll shoot anything (thank goodness I can shoot 100s of pics).

What subjects do you prefer to shoot?
I love to shoot action pictures, catching a ball in midair is hard though.

When at competitions, where do you shoot from?
Sometimes there is a "Team Viewing Area" right next to the field. It's nearly impossible from the stands, Powershot A80 cameras don't have great zoom, even with a zoom lens.

Anything you'd like tips with?
There is no solution to a camera with only 3x zoom (6x with a zoom lens).

WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA?
Yes, but not on Thursday.

If I get another camera, it needs variable aperatures/exposure, better than 6x zoom. Pretty hard to find in a decent, but not overly expensive camera.

[Andrew Rudolph]

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?

Well since I dont live anywhere near the team I am part of I havent been prominent in any way except at lone star, but i did help with scouting since i was documenting what every robot looked like.

What do you use?

Nikon d50

What subjects are you good at shooting?

I think I get pretty good shots of everything, I particularly enjoy using depth of feild and focus to make interesting shots.

What subjects do you prefer to shoot?

I like when you have a person with the robot in a candid manner.

When at competitions, where do you shoot from?

Luckily at Lone Star they had a media pass for every teams so I was able to be relatively close to the feild, but I also took some pictures from the stands. Houston has a great venue with lots of room. But pretty much I just go wherever I can to get the shot.

Anything you'd like tips with?

Not really, I like that Monopod/remote idea though.

WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA?

Maybe, probably not.


If you wish to look a my pictures from Lone Star Click over to my Flickr set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4465190...7594097315290/

[Matt Royek]

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team? Pretty large, I'm one of 3 that take pictures, the other two being Doug and Kyle.

What do you use?
Canon FT QL 35MM Camera with normal lens and Telephoto zoom lens. I usually pack higher speed film, with at least 400, but going for 800 for larger and more prominent shots.

What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.)
I mostly take pictures of the robots on the field and the guys in the pits/booths on field, and have taken only a few candids and groups.

What subjects do you prefer to shoot?
On field competitions and robots

When at competitions, where do you shoot from?
I try to get the best vantage point usually from the stand and get a telephoto lens which allows for more coverage of the field and less light disruptions

Anything you'd like tips with?
Probably focusing. That's about the hardest thing, but I've got it down to an almost exacting science.

*EDIT*: WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA?
Heck yeah!

[Carol]

I am usually volunteering so am not the "official" photographer, but I did get some good shots this weekend at Philly. I use a Canon Rebel SLR Digital which I am still learning to use. To get shots of the stands was very hard; I set the camera to ISO 800 (no flash) but they were still somewhat blurry - the first attachment is when the Volunteer of the Year Award was announced (Bill Enslen - a mentor on the team) and is reduced in size in order to get it to upload.


The second is my favorite and was taken from the sidelines with the camera on Auto - the flash went off but I don't know if it had any effect. I took several in a row to get the balls right at the goal (again, reduced to fit as an attachment.)

Any hints on how to get the low light shots and not get blurry?

Another question - how do you get the pictures pasted into the note?

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Carol

Any hints on how to get the low light shots and not get blurry?

Tripod would be your best solution. Things that move will be blurred, but that will be part of the action.

Letting the flash fire for shots like that comes out good sometimes. The flash will freeze the subject, but if the shutter stays open you will also get some blurring from the frozen-part showing the motion along with the detail.

[geeknerd99]

*Edit: Oh wow. Ken posted a quick and easy answer while I was writing this guide! Tripod works, but is a pain in the neck on field. Usually. If you can get one and don't mind hauling one around, tripod is the best solution. Use the below guide for handheld shooting*

Originally Posted by Carol

Any hints on how to get the low light shots and not get blurry?

I can't tell from your reply if you're using the original Rebel or the Rebel XT. There were some (very useful) options that were locked out in the Rebel, and could be unlocked through downloading a hacked firmware. The XT has all of these features unlocked. I don't know if ISO was one of them.

Arrgghh... the problem with CD is that you don't know how much experience a person has in photography. Carol, If I make you look like an idiot, I apologize now. I'm just starting from square one. Heck, might help others anyways.

With that matter out of the way, I would suggest setting your ISO to 1600. If you're using the XT, 1600 isn't that bad, as long as the exposure is good. Secondly, I would suggest taking a little more control of your camera in shooting, rather than leaving in automatic.

I assume you're using the kit lens. Not to rub it in your face that you don't have fancy lenses or anything . The kit lens is actually quite nice, and is often underrated and laughed at. It's got a decent range, it's lightweight, and has surprisingly good glass for a kit lens. As a matter of fact, I should probably use it more often, since at the moment all it does it rot on my bookshelf. Anyways even though it's not nearly as fast as most people would want to use in such dim lighting, but evidently it's still usable, seeing as I shot VCU mainly with a f/3.5-5.6 too.

Back to the task at hand, you can probably try doing what I did for VCU.

Seeing as everyone's lenses (unless you happen to own the $5k 50mm f/1) won't have a wide enough aperture to effectively use shutter-speed priority ("Tv"), set your camera to aperture priority ("Av"). Then, open your aperture all the way up or stop it down a notch for a (usually dramatic, not sure about kit lens) increase in image quality.

This should give you a somewhat usable shutter speed. As a coup de grace, if you can under the lighting on field, set your exposure compensation to -2/3 or -1/3. This will not only reduce the glare from the excessive lighting, it will also give your shutter speed a rather hefty boost. Note that so far, I've yet to mention flash. With my 420EX and the above settings, I was getting about 1/125 for most of my shots on field. With the built-in flash, I'd guess anywhere from 1/60 to 1/100 would be your result.

In case you got lost, heres a checklist.

1. ISO 1600 (or highest you're willing to go)
2. Aperture Priority.
3. Open the aperture up, wide open (smallest number).
4. Ehhh... I'm not sure about built-in flash. Experiment and see.
5. Experiment! That's the great thing about digital! Shots not working? Play with exposure factors like shutter speed and shooting angle!

Oh, and this hastily written guide can be used for any DSLR. Needless to say, the better equipment you've got, the better result's you're going to get. Still, almost anything can be used to counteract a slow shutter speed. If you've got an SLR, you can play with many factors. Together they all add up.

Well, covered shooting on field. Now, onto getting the crowd.

Unfortunately, I had lots of trouble with this too. Even a full-power blast from my flash wasn't that good. All it did was blind the people in front of me and dimly illuminate the crowd a little more. What I discovered you can do is get a more general shot of the crowd, perhaps walking as far away as you can, and then getting the entire field and as much of the crowd as you can in a single shot. This helps also create a sense of atmosphere. As for individual teams and such in the stands, this is very difficult. If I couldn't do it with decent gear, then no one can with insane gear. That's the way light works.

Man, this is a huge post. I hope it helps.

Daniel

[lallamavolador]

How prominent is your role as a photographer on your team?
I really do not have an assigned role as a photographer

What do you use?
Canon Powershot s80
Cannon Rebel G (35MM)

What subjects are you good at shooting? (Robots on field, Candids, group photos, etc.)
People, robots

What subjects do you prefer to shoot?
people

When at competitions, where do you shoot from?
stands, pits, floor level

Anything you'd like tips with?
In my opinion my top of the line point and shoot digital camera will never meet the quality and greatness of pictures than that of 35mm camers.

*EDIT*: WILL YOU BE IN ATLANTA?
YES!

[MissInformation]

Originally Posted by Carol

Any hints on how to get the low light shots and not get blurry?

You've gotten some good advice on this from others, but here's one more: try using the sequence mode if you have one. I use one of my sequence modes a lot (my camera has 3) while photographing the robots in action and while it gives me a lot of similar photos to weed through, I almost always get a good shot. Here are examples of sequence mode: sequence photos taken on an overcast day. I get the same results with robots zooming around the field.

Heidi

[dhitchco]

This thread has gotten a bit off the starting subject, but doesn't matter:

1) I'll be teaching a class on digital photography and editing on Thursday in Atlanta as part of the FIRST conference.

2) For low-light hints and tips:
-- Almost all digital cameras have some sort of a "manual" mode which allows you to override the aperture and shutter speed (even though digital photography really neither).
-- Try setting your camera to 1/30 second shutter speed (no slower to avoid jiggly pics).
-- Hold your elbows FIRMLY in at your sides; press the trigger slowly
-- In your camera's menuing system, also look around for settings of the 'film speed" and change it to "800". This sometimes gets you photos that are clearer in low light but also may be a bit grainier (digital film noise)

lastly, make-up some "business cards" with your team number and e-mail address and ask one of the other team "media" photographers to e-mail to you pics of your team, robot, etc. Most people "graciously" will do this, or in my case, we park a lot of pictures of ALL teams in our field of play onto rollingthunder.smugmug.com for you to see and download yourself.....