I spent the past three days photographing the Colorado high school track and field championships. Athletes from all over the state of Colorado participated. As far as I know, it is the only sport where finals form all five levels are held at the same venue.
Although it was the first time I had shot the track finals, it was a rewarding experience. Photographing track can be a challenge. It requires creativity to photograph a track event from a different perspective than other photographers. I experimented with panning to blur the background and give a sense of motion to some of the photographs. This worked particularly well with the 1oo meter dash. I also tried to focus on capturing the emotion of the event. I looked at the aftereffects of the race to see what the athletes were experiencing. Sometimes it was joy. Sometimes it was pain. Mostly I was just amazed at how fast the athletes could run or jump.
a relay runner is despondent after dropping the batonA participant runs a leg in the 4×200 relay5A boys hurdlesA Rampart high jumper celebrates a jumpA Durango long jumper4×100 relay300 m hurdlesA Meeker athlete competes in the triple jumpPole vaultA Monarch pole vaulter celebrates his winning vaultA track coach celebrates the athlete’s personal best in the pole vaultA Monarch pole vaulter celebrates his winning vaultA Lakewood discus thrower completes his throw in the 5A final2A 300 M hurdlesRunners in the 100 meterscheering on the 200 meters2A 110m hurdlesCelebration in the 100 MetersDisappointment in the 100 metersA Pine Creek hurdler can;t hold back tears after losing the final
Derek Regensburger is a Denver sports photographer who shoots college and high school sports. His high school photography is published on Maxpreps.com. Call 303 478-7586 to have him cover your event.
I don’t normally post individual high school games on my blog, but the girl’s soccer game between Mountain Range and Fossil Ridge today had a lot of drama for a high school game so I thought I’d post it. It had everything from great saves to key goals and emotional celebrations.
Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.
Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.
Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.
Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.
Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.Mountain range defeats fossil ridge in girl’s soccer 4-2.
I photographed the Colorado 4A and 5A basketball finals this past weekend. Twelve games in three days. What a grueling but rewarding task. I love shooting high school basketball because you see raw emotion on display at every turn. Colorado also has a Top 100 basketball recruit in Overland’s Deron Davis so it was fun to see him in action as well. A couple of upsets and an overtime game made for a good tournament. Congrats to Broomfield and Valor Christian for winning in girls and Overland and Air Academy for winning on the boys side.
I shot the game from a number of angles. I had the typical 70-200 and 300mm lenses. I also used a remote above the basket but got nothing usable from it. I will know next time to set it up higher and using a 16-35 lens instead of a 24-70. This shot calls for a really wide lens.
Colorado’s men’s basketball season came to a close Sunday with a tight victory over Arizona STate. It has been a disappointing year for the Buffs who were picked to finish third in the Pac-12 but never got on track. The game saw a lot of action unlike a couple of recent lackluster performances against Utah and Arizona. Hopefully, the Buffs will do well in the Pac-12 tourney.
For more than 100 years, black and white photography developed as an art form where the quality of the final print was directly related to skill in the darkroom. The artist either had to be proficient in developing and printing negatives or effectively communicating his vision to the local commercial printer (often with mixed results). Ansel Adams devoted entire books to the developing and printing of black and white negatives with this in mind.
But if you’re like me, working in a darkroom has little allure. I’m not a vampire; I don’t like dark, cramped spaces. But with the advent of Photoshop, the conversion of color photographs became a realistic option for creating black and white prints. Early on, this required scanning color slides or negatives and then converting the digital file to black and white. This method had its limitations, however, as scanned files would deteriorate if pressed too far in one direction or the other (banding in the sky being the biggest issue).
Enter the digital camera. Direct digital captures have more dynamic range than film does so more detail can be drawn out of shadow and highlight areas. More importantly, you don’t have to worry about the scanning process degrading the sharpness of the image or adding other artifacts. Today’s digital captures offer the artist an almost unlimited avenue for creative expression in the black and white medium. The final image can be made to mimic old-style darkroom prints (including sepia tones) or look like something entirely new and inventive.
I like high contrast black and white photographs. I love the way black and white photography can emphasize the line or shape of the subject. In particular, I like to convert images of the Southwestern U.S. and waterfalls to black and white. But almost any subject matter can be successfully converted. When converting to black and white, the first thing I look for is an image that either has high contrast built in or has lines or forms that are interesting to look at. I try to visualize how the image will look once it is converted.
Wahkeena Creek, Columbia River Gorge, ORA rock swirl in the Escalante National Monument
Step by Step Process of Conversion
There are four basic methods of converting a color file to black and white: 1) using the Black and White image adjustment function in Photoshop; 2) using the Channel Mixer to adjust the separate color channels and converting to gray scale; 3) desaturating the file using the saturation slider; or 4) using a black and white preset in Lightroom or other editing program. I find the first option (Black and White adjustment tab) gives the user the most control over the resulting image, so I prefer to use it over the other three methods. Both primary and complementary color channels can be adjusted under this tab as compared to the channel mixer which does only the three primary colors. This comes in handy when I want to adjust highlights in water or rock or darken certain areas of the sky. The use of Lightroom’s black and white presets can provide some nice results but the user has no control over how the image looks other than selecting a given preset. Desaturation is the least preferable of the methods because the user has no control over how the individual colors are desaturated to make the final grayscale image.
Default preset, Black and white tab, PhotoshopPhotoshop Desaturation SliderPhotoshop screen shot, Channel MixerLightroom infrared preset
Black and White Photoshop Tab
The black and white tab offers a number of options that mimic the effects of color filters used in conjunction with black and white film. I will often look at previews of a few of these before selecting the one I want to start with. The nice thing is that each preset is just a starting point—the user can then adjust the percentage of each of the colors to his or her liking from there. For shots containing blue sky, I often start with the infrared preset since it creates a dark sky. I will often then lower the Cyan and Blue colors even more to produce a completely black sky. I also find I often have to lower the yellow slider to prevent highlights from blowing out. Conversely, if I am converting a shot of a waterfall or foliage, I’ll select the green filter preset at the outset or just use the default setting. I also like the green or default preset for images of people. From the black and white tab, you can also add a tint and control the hue to add a sepia toned look to the final image.
Infrared preset
South Coyote Buttes
Green Preset
Norway waterfall
Default Preset
bridal portrait
Adding Elements of Color
If I’m being really creative, I will mask off a given part of the image, reverse the selection, and convert everything in the image but that one object to black and white. This works great for images that contain a flower or other element of color I want to keep in the image. The quickest way I’ve found to do a selection of a color is to use the color range tab under the selection menu. You can use the eyedropper tool to select the color you want masked. I’ve found I have to use the magic wand tool to add to the selection once I’ve started it using the color range tool. This is relatively straightforward when it involves one object but is more time consuming if you are selecting multiple objects.
Iris in black and white with orange beard
Final Touches
Once I’ve converted a given file to black and white, I’ll save the converted image under a different name so I don’t overwrite the color image file. I will then determine if the image needs any overall adjustments such as contrast or levels. After making these final adjustments, I’m done. Voila. I have created a black and white image in a matter of minutes that would’ve taken much more time in effort in the old days to create in the darkroom.
I recently rented a Canon 16-35 f/4 IS lens for my trip to Coyote Buttes in southern Utah. Since I knew I would be shooting swirling rock and large canyons, a 16mm is a necessity in this type of environment for good landscape photographs. I discounted a number of other options. The 16-35 II f/2.8 does not have a stellar reputation for sharpness. The Tokina 16-28 f/2.8 is really sharp but also has significant issues with CA. The 14mm f 2.8 would have only usable for some shots. I would have needed a different lens for many other shots. The same applied to the 17mm TSE. It’s a good lens but not very flexible. The Zeiss 15mm is considered the sharpest lens of the bunch but again I would be limited in use. The 16-35 f/4 seemed like the best of the options for what I was going to be shooting.
After using the lens for a week, I have to say I liked the lens a lot. It is is significantly lighter and easier to hold than a 24-70 f/2.8. It balances really well on the camera (in this case, a 5D MKIII) and the IS certainly comes in handy in certain situations. The 16-35 f/4 delivers very sharp pictures. I had very good sharpness except for the extreme corners at 16mm. I had no issues getting sharp images at 1/30 and 1/60 second. I used a tripod for images below that level.
I also tried out the lens on a couple of astrophotography shots. It has a lot less coma (lens aberration that elongates stars in the corners) than my 24-70 2.8. While the 16-35 is still not perfect in this regard, it at least produces a usable photo. I’d like to do further testing against one of the Rokinon lenses which are supposed to be much better in this regard in comparison to most of their Canon counterparts. The downside of this lens for astrophotography, is of course, its maximum aperture of f4. This means that to utilize the 25 second shutter speed rule to prevent star trails with this lens at 20mm or so, you will have to use ISO 6400.
The one downside I noted is that lens hunted a lot to focus on fine detail such as lines in the rock at close distances. This could of been due to a couple of things: my rental lens was not up to snuff or the rock lines didn’t provide enough contrast to focus on. I didn’t have any issue focusing on larger objects like trees or mountains so again, I will have to do more testing to see what was causing this phenomenon.
Overall, I really like this lens and would consider adding it to my bag if I end up needing an ultra wide zoom on a regular basis.
Boulder County offers a number of wedding venues ranging from historic hotels to outdoor wedding and reception sites. This article explores some of Boulder’s premier wedding venues and gives you insights into what makes each unique.
Hotel Boulderado
The Hotel Boulderado is a historic hotel built in 1909. Located at 2115 13th Street, it borders the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder. The interior of the Boulderado is dominated by an ornate, wooden staircase. Countless period antiques dating from the early 1900s adorn the interior as well. Even the room decor is reminiscent of the early twentieth century. It contains 160 guest rooms and suites and three bars and two restaurants. The hotel emphasizes its top notch food and high-quality service to engaged couples. But perhaps its biggest selling point is its sense of history. The hotel notes it is a place where couples can keep coming back to and become part of its history.
Couples getting married in the hotel have two choices–the main mezzanine level of the hotel or the attached Event Center. The mezzanine seats guests all around the central staircase. Couples can choose to be married on the landing of the staircase with guests gazing down from above. The mezzanine level is situated above the lobby and below the stained glass ceiling. While the mezzanine holds 120-150 guests depending on the configuration, couples looking for a larger space can opt for the Event Center which encompasses the grand ballroom and patio. This space can accommodate up to 240 seated guests. Couple can hire vendors of their choice except must utilize the hotel catering.
Lionscrest
If you’re looking to do an outdoor wedding in Boulder County, complete with an elegant ballroom, then Lionscrest Manor is a great choice. It is one of the premier destination sites in Colorado. Dramatic views of Longs and Meeker Peaks and the red rocks of Lyons can be had from the grounds of the Victorian manor house. The manor house itself is elegant and airy inside. The grand ballroom provides panoramic views of the mountains to the north and west.
One of the highlights of getting married at Lionscrest is the expansive grounds. Fifty acres of land surround the manor. Photographs can be taken in a seemingly limitless number of places, many providing panoramic views of the mountains. For those looking for a more rustic feeling, an old barn and a classic truck adorn the grounds.
Ceremonies are usually held outdoors on the lawn or balcony, but there is enough space inside to hold an indoor ceremony in the event of inclement weather. The lawn site is a favorite with Steamboat Mountain providing a dramatic backdrop. Both the ballroom and lawn can accommodate up to 250 guests. The interior of the ballroom can be configured with multiple different lighting and decor options to customize your wedding.
Lionscrest offers a wide variety of packages and options to prospective couples, including an all-inclusive vendor package. Lionscrest has been family owned and operated since opening its doors in 1994. The staff prides itself on providing personalized service. It holds only one event at a time and has a 2-event maximum for the day (one during the day, one at night). It is located at 603 Indian Lookout Road just outside the town of Lyons.
Rembrandt Yard
Getting married inside of an art gallery is many couples’ dream wedding. The Rembrandt Yard tries to make that dream become reality, combining a cutting edge art gallery with a window-filled gallery overlooking downtown Boulder. Open Arts curates the gallery with exhibits changing every 3-6 months.
The gallery has two separate floors–one or both may be rented out for a wedding ceremony and/or reception. Artwork is tastefully hung on both floors. The third floor has a large main space plus a smaller, more intimate room complete with piano. The third floor gallery has space for 220 seated guests and the main level can accommodate up to 120. Along with the artwork, the gallery has a flower wall which can be rented as a backdrop for photographs or as decoration. The manager encourages you to also bring in your own masterpiece to customize the space for your wedding or event.
Outside vendors are welcome and Rembrandt Yard has full catering equipment for them to utilize. An in-house stereo system and projection system is included in any event rental.
Rembrandt Yard has been open as a gallery for 12 years and is in the 10th year of hosting events. Located across the street from the Hotel Boulderado, Rembrandt Yard is conveniently located on the corner of 13th and Spruce, a block from the Pearl Street Mall.
St Julien Hotel & Spa
For those couples looking to be married in a posh, luxury hotel, the St Julien is one of Boulder’s most elegant choices. It bills itself as Boulder’s only high-end hotel. In addition to its spacious ballroom which can accommodate up to 220 guests, the St. Julien has an outdoor courtyard where both the ceremony and reception can be held. Its centerpiece gazebo has a commanding view of the Flatirons from downtown Boulder.
The St. Julien contains 201 rooms, including 12 suites. It also boasts a 10,000 sq. foot spa complete with 12 treatment rooms. The hotel has won multiple Best of Boulder awards, including best hotel and day spa.
The hotel staff emphasizes customer service. To that end, couples getting married here must have a wedding coordinator. Couples may choose any vendor they like, but must use the hotel’s catering service. All wedding packages come with complimentary cake cutting and dance floor set-up.
Wedgewood Wedding and Banquet Center
The Wedgewood is one of Boulder’s newest wedding venues. Located on the site of the old Red Lion Inn, the Wedgewood has become one of the hottest venues in Boulder, offering a stunning scenic backdrop for a wedding or special occasion. The venue is situated on the banks of Boulder Creek about 3 miles from downtown Boulder. From the large, spacious deck, one can get a panoramic view of Boulder Canyon and the surrounding mountain landscape. A path leads along the creek, providing for any number of photo opportunities.
The Wedgewood staff emphasizes value, service, and convenience to prospective wedding couples. It prides itself on stress-free planning and site attracts a number of out-of-state brides for this reason. Indoor or outdoor ceremony and reception packages are available. The facility uses a large tent to house outdoor gatherings that can accommodate up to 250 guests during peak months or the indoor ballroom can hold up to 110 guests. A ceremony of up to 60 guests can even be conducted along the creek. The facility also features both a spacious bridal and groom’s suite.
All inclusive packages are available or couples can select their own vendors (Wedgewood catering and liquor are still required).
Wedgewood Groom’s SuiteWedgewood BallroomWedgewood ExteriorWedgewood Creek StaircaseWedgewood Bridal Suite
I recently ordered a pair of Dynalite Baja B4 strobes for my sports work after seeing a write up on sportsshooter.com. I photograph a lot of high school events, and the dim conditions require flash. One problem with high school gyms, however, is that power outlets are often few and far between. This means that traditional strobes requiring AC outlets are problematic to use. In the past, I have used either Quantum flashes or Canon 600 EXRT’s mounted to gym railings to illuminate one half the court. I had limited success with theses flashes. Small strobes don’t pack a lot of power and their recycle times can be very slow. I bought lithium battery packs to reduce the recycle time but even then, results were mixed.
So when Dynalite announced their new battery-popowered strobe, I was intrigued. The Baja B4 units are feature-packed for the price. A two strobe kit can be purchased which comes with case (a large padded shoulder bag), remotes, and a transmitter. The strobe itself is 400 W/S which is plenty of power for most high school gyms. It has a 7 stop power mode or a T mode. T mode has slightly reduced power at each setting but is supposed to have much reduced recycle time, and more importantly, much shorter flash durations. The unit also has a C-mode for stroboscopic flash which can fire 5, 10, or 15 flash bursts. The Baja B4 lights have the same mounting configuration for accessories as Bowens S mount, so many standard reflectors and speed rings will fit the flashes. I also purchased 2 Dynalite telephoto reflectors to focus the light better (These are quite large and don’t fit in the supplied Tenba case).
I set up the Dynalites on the gym railings using Superclamps and Manfrotto extension arms. I was a little worried about the sturdiness of this setup but it did hold the lights to the railings without issue. I did attach a safety cable to the set up.
I shot the game using T-mode on T4 and T3 settings (I preferred T4 since the power output was greater). Flash recycle time seemed to be around 1.5 seconds. The flash duration was also short enough to stop the action on most shots. The transmitter seemed to work well, although I noticed if I didn’t fire a shot for a minute or two, I would occasionally miss the first shot of my next sequence. There may be a power off setting I am unaware of, so I will have to troubleshoot this. The channel setting on the remote and receivers is a manual/analog dial so I had to be sure this wash;t bumped between setups. Otherwise, the system worked very well.
I measured the recycle time of the flashes rather unscientifically using a stop watch. Here are the times I measured in each of the 7 T modes.
Colorado men’s basketball kicked off the New Year right with a win over UCLA at the Coors Events Center last night. The game was filled with exciting action. There were some great moments to photograph including Xavier Johnson’s emotional reaction after a game changing dunk got the Buffs rolling at the end of the game. I even experimented with some motion blur shots. One came out very well. I used a shutter speed of 1/30 of a second and panned with the action to capture a player driving past a defender. It looks like COlorado will be playing a lot of close, low scoring games this year. I’m looking forward to the 2015 Pac-12 season.
Photographing engagement sessions can become monotonous if you don’t get creative. I decided to do a 1940s themed, engagement portrait session with models. I love the era of the 1940s from the clothes to the movies to the music. I wanted to produce 1940s style engagement photos that would bring out the mood and flair of the era. I purchased zoot suits (yes, they are still made) and some vintage dresses for the session. I also borrowed some period jewelry. This project gave me the opportunity to explore some different lighting and posing techniques as well as using the bold colors of the clothing to make a statement with the portraits.
Locale
I collaborated with two local wedding venues for the project–Bella Sera and Dove House. Each has some decor that provided the perfect complement for my 1940s style photographs. Bella Sera is styled after a Tuscan villa and has a large wrought-iron staircase and benches. Dove House is an old manor house that contains many period antiques. Dove House also has a yellow truck and a bright red phone booth on the grounds. What more could I ask for?
For the shoot, I used two models from Barbizon modeling college in Denver. Ian and Katie were great to work with. Ian even knew how to swing dance! I wanted to add a high fashion feel to the shoot so having modeling students gave me some added flexibility.
Engagement Session
We started the session at Bella Sera in Brighton. One of the cool pieces of furniture at this venue is a wrought-iron bench with back-to-back seats. I used this for an old-style Italian portrait. I then went up on the balcony and shot down on the couple swing-dancing. The top-down view from the balcony definitely provides a different vantage point. What a cool perspective.
We then went to Dove House in Lafayette. I had scouted this venue a couple of weeks before and knew the places ahead of time I wanted to shoot. The living room has ornate furniture that made a great backdrop fro a proposal shot. Dove House also has a number of pianos so we couldn’t resist recreating the Michelle Pfeiffer shot lying on the piano from the Fabulous Baker Boys. The bridal room has a great settee which is perfect for portraits. Unfortunately, the bridal room is narrow, so it was interesting to work around light fixtures and the like.
After the shoot, I had fun editing the photos. The colors were indeed vibrant as I had hoped. I also converted a few of the photos to black and white to make the session have a more authentic feel.
A man proposes to his bride-to-be at Bella SeraA man proposes to his lady at the Dove HouseA gentleman helps a lady into the truck at Dove House
A pin-up girl pose in a 1940s style dressA pin-up girl pose in a 1940s style dressA woman sits seductively on the piano at Dove HouseA man proposes to his belle at Dove HouseA swing dancing dip in period clothingA couple poses by a phone boothA couple swing dancing at Bella Sera
