Month: January 2016

Same lens, but a different perspective can engage your audience.

by Stanley LearyNikon D4 / Nikon D750 / Sports
 
Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 5600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

The same lens and a different perspective can change a photo’s impact on an audience.

Nikon D4, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 5000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

Here is a clue to your photos having more impact. Find a perspective that the audience rarely will see or has access to.

Nikon D750, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 400, ƒ/4, 1/100

How often does the audience ever get to see the coin used in the coin toss to start the football game? It is even rare for them to see the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl coin.

Nikon D750, Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens, ISO 450, ƒ/4, 1/100

You are probably curious about what is on the other side once you see the coin.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 9000, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000

Using long glass like this 600mm ƒ/5.6 allows you to help isolate the flute player in the pregame show. Even if you were at the game, you most likely never will see this except if the television captures it and puts it on the jumbotron.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000

I had to share this photo because that is a former player for East Carolina University Pirates, Jeff Blake, and the famous coach Lou Holtz who were both honored as inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame. My alma mater is ECU.

Now many of the other photos I shot from a kneeling position in the end zone. Here are some for you to see.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1600
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1250
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1250
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000

These are all from a perspective that, even in the stands, you cannot get to see. So even those in the stands would want to see these later, giving these photos more value.

Now, remember those first two photos in this post. What if I shot the same lens from a different perspective?

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1250
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/2000
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1600
Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 DG OS HSM S, Sigma TC-2001 2x, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/1000

You might have seen this perspective if you were at the game and had binoculars. You might have seen this perspective if you were at home watching the game on TV. But many online galleries forget to show this perspective.

Tip

Look for a different perspective and then look for another one, and so on until you have a more well-rounded coverage of the event.

How to embed IPTC Metadata on NIKON D4 into each photo as you shoot

by Stanley LearyNikon D4 / Nikon D4s

This screenshot is Nikon’s IPTC Preset Manager application that you put onto your computer, fill out, and then embed into every photo you shoot on your Nikon D4 Camera. Now compared to the PhotoMechanic fields, there are not as many, but you can embed these into each image as you shoot.

PhotoMecahnic’s IPTC fields

IPTC Preset Manager is used to enter IPTC presets for cameras that embed IPTC information. “IPTC” stands for “International Press Telecommunications Council.”

The cool thing I discovered with my Nikon D4 was that it has built-in support for 14 more critical IPTC fields.

The D4 and the IPTC Preset Manager software support the following IPTC fields:

Caption
Event ID
Headline
Object Name
City
State
Country
Category
Supporting Category
Byline
Byline Title
Write/Editor
Credit
Source

You can save 10 Presets of these.

Besides doing this in the camera, you can also type all these on your computer PC or Mac, then put them on your memory card and import them into the camera. That software is available from Nikon here http://tooldl.nikonimglib.com/iptc/index.html.en.

It requires an up-to-date version of Microsoft Silverlight to download. Here is that link http://www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx

 

For those assignments, when you need to be sure all the photos are identified with some basic information, this is a great way to do this as you shoot. So now all the images have your data in each picture as you shoot.

Copyright

I also recommend setting your copyright information on your camera as well. This way, every photo has your name specified as the copyright holder.