My First Director of Photography Position

[kingfisher]

Congratulations don

very well deserved this

greetings
gustav

[David Kilpatrick]

Looks like your firework experience plus the football experience comes in handy! Now all we need is some squirrels trained to do cheerleading, and life will be complete!

You have been very busy, and this looks to me like winner - a site bound to get high levels of hits.

David

[caporip]

Don

At what level is the CIFL?

What i mean is is inter state? professional amateur etc. I'm curious to know what the corresponding league/level in English Football (soccer) would be

Richard

[Javelin]

Hey Don.. alway nice when your accompanied by the girls

do you get to travel with the team when they play out of town?

[Javelin]

thats cool... do you have a 400mm long expense account too ?

[KevinBarrett]

You've been rather scarce around here, Don, but you seem to be enjoying yourself with the new gig. Glad you keep us posted!

[David Kilpatrick]

Don, my wife has had a belly button thingy for 15 years or so, our daughter has one, our son's girlfriends always seem to have 'em - is there ANY decent looking woman in the world without metal in her navel?



David

[alphaomega]

Don, you state that:-

Here are a few snaps of the Pepsi Max Wild Things (Wisconsin)...the Wild Things dance in one of the darkest arenas in the league, the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

That being the case (darkest arenas) I would assume you were using your A700v.4 but it would be interesting to know what lens you were using and ISO settings. Presumably you have an uncanny ability to judge just when there is s "still" pause in the movements or maybe you have the girls "posing"? I have always admired your ability to get sharp pictures in relatively dark areas with plenty of fast movement of the main actors. Maybe you could elaborate a little on how you took those pictures posted on 17 April.
I must say that the more I use my A700 the more i like it. In fact I have given up reading detailed reviews of new DSLR entrants from other makers as I have no need to upgrade. The A700 can do everything I require it to do. I switch to my A350 only if I need the LV functionality.

[bakubo]

Don, I notice that the football looks almost white. I don't recall ever seeing one that color before. Is it the same size as an NFL or college ball?

[bakubo]

Henry, it's the same size ball, but it is a very light colored ball made by Adidas that you can see against the dark indoor arena backgrounds when it is in the air. It sorta looks like a regular colored football that has been severely paled and faded from sitting in the sun for a few years. FTR the fans get to keep most of the balls that go into the stands...so on any given night a team may lose 10-20 or more footballs to the fans.

Good thinking on their part. I have sometimes wondered about even NFL/college games at night, but those venues are usually very well lit.

[Mark K]

Nice images here Sonolta.
I wonder if.....if the new 70-400 G will do the job, if the optical quality is acceptable.
I have just let go my Sigma 70-200/2.8 EX and has been thinking to get the Sony one, for indoors and for weddings. Can't think of any indoor sport shooting without a fast focusing camera and a big gun like 300/2.8

[Mark K]

Just tried 1680 and my old Minolta 100/2.8 variosoft for indoor sport...definitely not made for this on an A700.
I have to convince myself there maybe in the near future an A700 upgrade will have a better focusing AF system, and more lenses with inlens motor for assisting autofocusing. Just my thought. It will be frustrated when shooting these events, when everyone around me are using either C or N, I fail to capture some great moments.
I did cheat myself shooting fine jpg leaving minimal latitude post adjustment.

[David Kilpatrick]

The new Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 apo HSM is probably a good answer for you. It is not guaranteed to lock focus on all subjects in all lights, but it matches Canon or Nikon sonic focus speeds and frequency/accuracy of fine adjustments. I don't believe the camera body is holding you back. I test cameras as you know, and Canon or Nikon are NOT magic bullets for these conditions - I have been faced with a Nikon D3X refusing to focus at all on floodlit iceskating at night, misfocusing hopelessly when using wide apertures in low light and 51-zone tracking with complex moving subjects (like teams in action), with current Canon models like the 50D certainly no more reliable in AF on moving targets than the A700.

You are assuming that all the Canon and Nikon shooters are getting correctly focused images all the time and you are not. The 100mm SF certainly isn't an action lens, the 16-80mm has surprisingly fast AF but the 28-75mm which Don uses will access the centre f2.8 AF sensor and get more accurate focus most of the time - also, it's a very fast focusing lens in Sony form and surprisingly slow in Canon or Nikon form.

But the move to SSM lenses, and the availability of Sigmas with HSM, brings the Alpha system in line with Canon USM and Nikon AF-S.

David

[henniebez]

Congrats, I have to brag as well. I have won my first photography competition! Yeah! And my long awaited Macro 100m is coming tomorrow!

[alphaomega]

Fine photos Don. I rate the dance ones as No. 1. Trust you are signed up for next year as well. Considering your reservations about current Sony equipment you are doing fine. Maybe you want Sony to take over some of your endeavours and photographic judgements to make life easier?