I spent the weekend honing my action photography skills. The Llano Crawfish Festival is a local event. One of the highlights is a three-day team roping competition. I’ve long wanted access to a rodeo or any event featuring horses in action. I learned of the roping competition from my barber on Thursday and immediately went into planning mode. After searching the internet and studying the schedule in our weekly local, I awoke Friday morning and was in the Cowboy Camping Area before daylight. The first thing I learned was that cowboys are NOT the early risers I had assumed.They ARE big partiers.

In my professional past, I have had easy access to the events that I covered and to the competitors.My Press Pass or race credentials got me inside the action. This was different. I was just another citizen. I needed a way to get into that arena. The least I could settle for was a position by the fence.

Since there was no one present, I took a camera and several lenses with me as I circled the arena just to see what I would need and where I should be. With a bright sun starting its ascent to a high point in the southern hemisphere, I knew to expect very contrasty lighting. The roping wasn’t scheduled to start until ten o’clock. I chose a place with the sun behind me, putting most of the heavy shadows on the opposite side of the subject. My trusty 80~200mm zoom lens would get me close enough while keeping me at a safe distance. The spot was inside the arena.

I strolled through the cowboy camping area, killing time and looking for interesting pictures in the morning light. There were some beautiful horses but backgrounds were terribly distracting. Cowboys have lost a lot of their mystique. They’ve gotten “citified.”The area was like an RV park with motor homes and expensive self-contained horse trailers parked bumper to bumper.

When I returned to my parked truck the activity had picked up. Vendors were setting up their areas and officials were preparing for the ropers to register. I still had no idea how I would gain access to a primo spot in the arena but found someone who looked important and asked the question. “Where can I get to take pictures?” I was directed to an important person and told that I was welcome to take pictures and “where did I want to get.”She first said that I would not be allowed inside the arena. I told her about the light problem and requested a place at the far end of the arena, a long way from where the steers were released and the cowboys started their timed runs. She agreed. I was allowed in the arena and practically had the run of the place. They made me feel important and quite welcome.

The moral of this story is “Just Ask.” If you are serious about photography and want access you can probably get it. Most promoters or event officials are pleased to have your interest and might even ask to buy some of your pictures. The worst that can happen is they say “NO.” Even if they say no, they will likely offer alternative locations. So, gather your gear, choose an event, plan an approach and practice … practice you photography skills and your negotiating skills. You may surprise yourself.

I’ve selected several images from the Llano Crawfish Open to scroll the HomePage. I will allow them to scroll until the next blog post — or until I get tired of seeing them.

With the current price of fuel I can hardly afford unnecessary road trips.  After the previous photo safari produced so little in the way of wildflowers, I’m hesitant to go exploring again.  There are a few bluebonnets but they are sparse and spindly.  Bluebonnets usually predict the quality of other wildflowers, Indian paintbrush, black-eyed susan, Indian blanket, winecups, etc.  Unless we get a lot of rain soon there will be little to photograph along our highways, byways and meadows in coming months. 

I have a few wildflower pictures scrolling across the homepage.  They are from previous years and even from places other than the Texas Hill Country.  I enjoy my Big Bend Bluebonnets and the Lake Buchanan Lighthouse but would much rather be photographing huge fields of well saturated local bluebonnets to scroll across a computer screen.   It’s not just the photographers being disappointed.  The lack of wildflowers in the area is a bust for tourism, photographers and the local business people.  The weekend is due to be a large infusion of money into the Texas Hill Country and the Highland Lakes Area especially.  Even the Burnet Bluebonnet Festival is likely to suffer.   Maybe the nice weather will attract crowds to the local air show.

We had some rain this week.  Hopefully, a little more will give us something to look forward to as the wildflowers change from blue to red to yellow.  Perhaps the cactus and yucca will produce some photogenic blossoms.  I hope we don’t have to wait all the way into June for sunflowers.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I spent this past Friday with my friend and colleague who just happens to be the designer of my website. It was a cold, dank day. Despite the weather we persisted in our planned photo safari. The wind restricted access to our primary subject, wildflowers, so we searched out and photographed structures, animals and flowing water. The flowing water was Bob’s idea. He has a new Nikon D80 and wanted to experiment with slow shutter speeds. Overall, the day was a success and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Experimenting with slow shutter speeds and avoiding the motion created by the wind had me thinking of my background — motor sports photography. It is all about stopping or controlling motion. Also, Bob had asked me about photographing an indoor action event. I thought I would post a few tips on photographing action.

You need two things to get good action photos: some basic action-shooting skills, and some knowledge of the activity you’re photographing. The skills include panning, peak action, follow-focusing, prefocusing and developing a sense of timing. The knowledge helps you anticipate those perfect peak moments that make for great action photos. It does take some practice to perfect the techniques, so once you read about how to do it, go out and practice, and practice some more. Soon you’ll become proficient, and you’ll have some great action photos to show for it.

Start with a fast shutter speed – a fast shutter speed and NONE of the shutter lag usually associated with digital photography. In action photography, there is no place for shutter lag. Neither “prosumer” nor “point-and-shoot” cameras offer the shutter response required for fast action.

When I switched to digital photography my first camera was a Panasonic DMC-LC40. It is a wonderful little 4 MP point-and-shoot with 33~100 (35mm equivalent) Leica lens. I took some excellent action shots of my grandson on his dirt bike but there was a lot of luck involved. It never took a picture of what I was seeing when I pushed the shutter release.

When I returned to professional photography, I bought an 8 MP Panasonic DMC-FZ30, a powerful prosumer digital camera with 12X optical zoom, Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 35~420mm f2.8-f3.7 lens with Macro Focus and Optical Image Stabilizer. It sucked for action photography. The first motorcycle race that I covered was a near disaster. It was good old American flat track. The bikes reach speeds in excess of 80mph. The shutter lag would not allow me to follow focus. The electronic view finder would go black, I’d lose the action, and the camera would record a sharp image of blank dirt track. Prefocus was hit and miss at those speeds. I reverted to what I knew from my past – full manual.

A DSLR is really the only choice. There is no evident shutter lag and the DSLR offers an auto focusing system that is much more sophisticated. It allows tracking a moving target. The “follow focus” capability is discussed in the post about my Nikon D80 . The larger size of the DSLR processor also allows shooting at higher ISO speeds without creating the grainy effect of “digital noise.”

Second is a lens that can get you close to the action without endangering your life. My most treasured photographic possession during my photojournalism days was a zoom-Nikkor 80~200 f4.5. This was before auto focus. Its only auto function was indexing. I still have that lens but mostly as a keepsake.

Today’s lenses offer much more. My AF-S Nikkor 18~135 3.5-5.6G, a “kit lens” that came packaged with my Nikon D80, is equivalent to the old 80~200 in length. The D80 “crop factor” of 1.5 pushes the 135mm to an effective 202mm. It is a bit slow, however.

The AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4 is my latest addition. It cost more than my D80 and the “kit lens” combined. Doubling as a wildlife lens justified the expense. I added a 1.4 teleconverter that gives the lens an effective reach of 630mm at f5.6. At 300mm, this lens is fast and is great for compressing a group of racers in a corner. Compressing emphasizes the bar-to-bar action of a group of racers.

A better choice may be the AF-S Nikkor 80~200 f2.8. A bit more expensive than the 300 f4 but it is much faster and experience has shown that it has enough reach for most situations. It also is the choice of most photographers shooting indoor sports/action. This is what I would recommend for my friend who is shooting poorly lighted indoor action.I’m writing this in Nikonese because that it what I know. Canon, as well as others offers the same choices.

I started writing this from scratch but googled the internet for help. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I will link to one of the most comprehensive articles I have ever seen on the subject. www.steephill.tv/photography/action-photography-tips.html

An all-inclusive article on action photography is overwhelming. Therefore, I am deferring to the referenced article. It is dated August 2003. Equipment and terminology may have changed but the techniques are as relevant as ever.

As this is posted, a few of my action shots are displayed on the Home page. Some are good examples of the techniques referenced in the article. The images will be displayed for only a short period. They may be recalled if requested. I have left this post open for comments. A subject this significant deserves some discussion. Here’s hoping you will join in.