*LAST EDITED: 1:31PM*
WOGA Classic Weekend
Lately I’ve been shooting things a bit out of my box. Earlier in the week it was Bill Clinton coming to OU and this weekend it was the WOGA Classic elite gymnastics meet in Frisco, TX. I had a small taste of gymnastics meets earlier in the semester when I attended an OU men’s meet in the McCasland Field House with Kelsey. Kelsey again brought me into the world of gymnastics shooting. She mentioned to her editor friend at International Gymnast Magazine (based here in the area) that she was going to attend the WOGA Classic as a spectator. A personal weekend for Kelsey turned into a working weekend when she was asked to do a bit of reporting from the event. Naturally, since she was covering, the mag wanted some photos from the event. That’s where I came in.
I naturally saw this as an opportunity to expand my shooting experience and rack up another title in the freelance section of my photo resume. Judging from the photos I took in the bleachers at the OU men’s meet, I was nowhere near experienced or qualified to shoot such an event. Not being a natural fan of the sport made it worse because I had no idea what to look for or who the big names were. Fish out of water.
So, Kelsey, Breia, Carter and I loaded up in Kelsey’s car and headed out to the Dallas area. Carter lives in Allen, about 20 minutes away from the venue, so it worked out really well to spend the weekend there. I spent a weekend there before during OU/TX in Oct. Quite nice.
Saturday
12:00PM
Lunch at Fudrucker’s in the middle of suburban Frisco. All four of us ordered a big kids meal that featured a small burger, chicken stick, fries, drink (kids size for me and not everyone else for some reason) and a cookie. The serving size was quite ideal. I must a be a big kid. The cookie was also crazy good.
1:01PM
Kelsey and I walk into the Frisco Convention Center for the event. As we entered the halls, Kelsey turns to me and says, “welcome to the world of gymnastics.” I felt pretty out of place, seeing as all the people around me were either 14-year old gymnasts or middle-aged coaches. That and gym moms. We walked further into the building and I got a glimpse of the place. It was probably one of the most intimidating shooting conditions I’ve ever walked into. First, all of the athletes moved very quickly and changed direction abruptly. The giant room was extremely ill-lit and offered two or three different light sources (refer to post about light temperature). The walls were dark tan and accented with what I could only describe as a rich royal purple, not exactly the best colors to go along with the dark room. The entire scene was particularly orange due to the tungsten lights and tan walls. Not good. Also, the audience was close and offered no give when it came to depth of field. If you caught a gymnast doing something, it was highly likely that the whole frame would be in focus enough to clutter the subject in a sea of random shapes and colors.
Poop. Now I had my work cut out for me. Luckily the elite meet didn’t start until 6 or so, and Kelsey didn’t really need anything as far as the mag was concerned until then. So, from 1 to 6 I had time to practice and nail down a suitable white balance (WB) for the room.
Here is an example of the conditions of Level 10. These are unedited to give you an example of what the camera saw natively (without edits such as level correction, WB correction, or saturation adjustments).
Lately I’ve been shooting things a bit out of my box. Earlier in the week it was Bill Clinton coming to OU and this weekend it was the WOGA Classic elite gymnastics meet in Frisco, TX. I had a small taste of gymnastics meets earlier in the semester when I attended an OU men’s meet in the McCasland Field House with Kelsey. Kelsey again brought me into the world of gymnastics shooting. She mentioned to her editor friend at International Gymnast Magazine (based here in the area) that she was going to attend the WOGA Classic as a spectator. A personal weekend for Kelsey turned into a working weekend when she was asked to do a bit of reporting from the event. Naturally, since she was covering, the mag wanted some photos from the event. That’s where I came in.
I naturally saw this as an opportunity to expand my shooting experience and rack up another title in the freelance section of my photo resume. Judging from the photos I took in the bleachers at the OU men’s meet, I was nowhere near experienced or qualified to shoot such an event. Not being a natural fan of the sport made it worse because I had no idea what to look for or who the big names were. Fish out of water.
So, Kelsey, Breia, Carter and I loaded up in Kelsey’s car and headed out to the Dallas area. Carter lives in Allen, about 20 minutes away from the venue, so it worked out really well to spend the weekend there. I spent a weekend there before during OU/TX in Oct. Quite nice.
Saturday
12:00PM
Lunch at Fudrucker’s in the middle of suburban Frisco. All four of us ordered a big kids meal that featured a small burger, chicken stick, fries, drink (kids size for me and not everyone else for some reason) and a cookie. The serving size was quite ideal. I must a be a big kid. The cookie was also crazy good.
1:01PM
Kelsey and I walk into the Frisco Convention Center for the event. As we entered the halls, Kelsey turns to me and says, “welcome to the world of gymnastics.” I felt pretty out of place, seeing as all the people around me were either 14-year old gymnasts or middle-aged coaches. That and gym moms. We walked further into the building and I got a glimpse of the place. It was probably one of the most intimidating shooting conditions I’ve ever walked into. First, all of the athletes moved very quickly and changed direction abruptly. The giant room was extremely ill-lit and offered two or three different light sources (refer to post about light temperature). The walls were dark tan and accented with what I could only describe as a rich royal purple, not exactly the best colors to go along with the dark room. The entire scene was particularly orange due to the tungsten lights and tan walls. Not good. Also, the audience was close and offered no give when it came to depth of field. If you caught a gymnast doing something, it was highly likely that the whole frame would be in focus enough to clutter the subject in a sea of random shapes and colors.
Poop. Now I had my work cut out for me. Luckily the elite meet didn’t start until 6 or so, and Kelsey didn’t really need anything as far as the mag was concerned until then. So, from 1 to 6 I had time to practice and nail down a suitable white balance (WB) for the room.
Here is an example of the conditions of Level 10. These are unedited to give you an example of what the camera saw natively (without edits such as level correction, WB correction, or saturation adjustments).
Note the wall color, darkness and light sources. Ouch!I will spare you from the other photos. I’ll just say that they are horrible. I was already nervous from being out of my element and shooting in such a crappy condition for the camera, and we have a little altercation with a photographer there. A photographer from Champion Images comes up to me while I practice on the floor and states that he has sole rights to shoot the event since they paid for it. I then told him that I was shooting with International Gymnast and that it is for magazine use only. He then gave both Kelsey and I more lip and empty threats. He would leave for a little bit and come back asking if we made any progress getting someone on the phone or in person for him to talk to. In the in between time, Kelsey and I cursed his douche-bagginess and ran scenarios in our heads of funny things that would happen. Oh the things we do to vent frustration. I remember imagining punching the man in the face and throwing his own camera at him. I would never actually do this, but imagining it was nice.
4:00PM – Kelsey and I left the Level 10 meet in order to get a bite to eat before elite started. Meanwhile, Breia and Carter enjoyed an afternoon at the nearby mall. From what I hear, they walked every foot of the place and saw about as many children as I saw at the meet. Good for them. At dinner, Kelsey and I discussed various things, including our past and our future careers. Needless to say, we’re both a little apprehensive with the idea of the future, but are ready for the challenge (that wasn’t cheesy at all…).
Throughout the day, I bitched to Kelsey about how the lighting in the convention center was about as good as a bathroom in a small truck stop. Having shot for about 3 hours, I still was not satisfied with both the WB and ISO settings I was using. ISO 1600 is not ideal unless you’re shooting with a D3. If that were the case, I would have set it at ISO 6400 and called it a day. Not so with my lowly D200, a fine camera for what it is, just not ideal in this situation.
5:00PM – No more fucking around. I had to get useable images out of the Elite meet if I wanted to be useful to my newfound client. After much internal debate I finally settled with suitable settings. The following settings will give you an idea of what I was dealing with: Shooting Mode Manual with 1/250 at 2.8 or 3.2, ISO 1600, WB 3200-3500 Kelvin, AF Auto or Middle Setting depending on event.
The Autofocus was having such a hard time, it would focus hunt on obvious subjects like someone’s hair. It caused me many a out-of-focus image and the occasional fit of frustration.
9:00PM – Score discrepancy occurred, making us wait for about 40 minutes until they resolved the issue. In the meantime, Kelsey and I got free waters and I ate a plate of some delicious meatballs at a coaches’ lounge area. Apparently all the bad asses were there. Kelsey will be able to explain better than I.
Despite not knowing the hotshots, I will remember the entire day. It was quite challenging and frustrating at times, but overall it was quite the experience. Thanks again Kelsey for bringing me into a world that is totally new to me. I learned a lot.
Here are a few good shots of the day. These are edited on Photoshop. Hope you like them. See you for the next posting.
Here's Victoria Komova, one of two Russian gymasts, and one of the smallest people I've ever seen (second only to her fellow Russian gymnast). Nikon D200, 200mm, 1/250 at F/2.8, ISO 1600, WB 3000K, PS CS3 level edit.
The team from Japan was especially enjoyable to watch. They scurried to and fro trying to find their way. Nikon D200, 65mm, 1/40 at F/5, ISO 1000, WB 3200K, PS CS3 level edit.
Rebecca Bross and her coach Valeri Liukin. Bross was having a horrible day but still finished strong. Kelsey explained to me that Valeri is a supreme bad ass (the first to do a triple back on floor...whatever that means). I could almost feel is power. Nikon D200, 195mm, 1/500 at F/2.8, ISO 1600, WB 3000K, PS CS3 level edit.
Here is the littlest gymnast I ever did see, Alia Mustafina. Nikon D200, 145mm, 1/250 at F/3.2, ISO 1600, WB 3000K, PS CS3 level edit.
Samantha Shapiro on beam. Nikon D200, 85mm, 1/250 at F/2.8, ISO 1600, WB3000K, PS CS3 level edit.
The winning teams. Funny that the team hosting the event wins. I guess they are just that bad ass. Look at those little Russians on the left. Crazy awesome. Nikon D200, 50mm, 1/20 at F/4.8, ISO 800, WB 3200K, PS CS3 level edit.
Kelsey (right) interviews Nastia Liukin (left), today's gymnast de bad ass. Despite being 18, her accolades include nine World Championships medals and being a U.S. National Champion in artistic gymnastics four times. She is currently tied with Shannon Miller as the most decorated American gymnast in World Championships history. She is the "Michael Jordan of the sport." Kelsey was a bit nervous to say the least. But, after a few hours of hesitation, Kelsey grew some balls and went up and interviewed her. Kelsey ended up being disappointed with the interview, saying that Nastia said almost nothing of value. So much for Michael Jordan.
Kelsey (right) interviews Nastia Liukin (left), today's gymnast de bad ass. Despite being 18, her accolades include nine World Championships medals and being a U.S. National Champion in artistic gymnastics four times. She is currently tied with Shannon Miller as the most decorated American gymnast in World Championships history. She is the "Michael Jordan of the sport." Kelsey was a bit nervous to say the least. But, after a few hours of hesitation, Kelsey grew some balls and went up and interviewed her. Kelsey ended up being disappointed with the interview, saying that Nastia said almost nothing of value. So much for Michael Jordan.At least she got to interview her.
No comments:
Post a Comment