For my second weekly round-up, allow me to get you caught up on my happenings. This time, it’s a very picture-heavy post, rather than a narrative-guided one. 
All of the following were taken with the Sony NEX-7.
First up, I’ve been tasked with taking “Environmental Photos” of the professors at my university. The goal here is to capture a professor while teaching:
50mm, ISO 400, f/2, 1/80
105mm, ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/200
105mm, ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/200
105mm, ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/200 (slightly OOF, but I still like it)
For another department, I was assigned to shoot my first-ever soccer game at night. I was particularly worried about this due to having to shoot wide-open with my 300mm f/2.8, at ISO 1600, AND at only 1/400. This is simply setting me up for disaster as detail can be low (along with some purple fringing), noise is appreciable, and there is a real possibility for motion blur (even on a monopod). Luckily, steady hands and panning saved the day. I had to do some manual white-balance tweaking due to the odd stadium-style lighting. Apologies if it’s not perfect. 
For some reason, verticals in these posts tend to be soft. There’s some sort of problem with the pixel count of the post versus the pixel-count of the photographs. Still working on a proper size to keep this from happening. Full-size, verticals look better (click on them!).
The next day I was asked to document an annual bonfire event. This was particularly fun seeing all the marshmallows and s’mores. Wish I could have eaten some, but I didn’t want to get my camera all sticky!
50mm, ISO 1600, f/1.4, 1/50
50mm, ISO 400, f/2, 1/40
50mm, ISO 3200, f/1.4, 1/30
Yum.
50mm, ISO 3200, f/1.4, 1/20
50mm, ISO 1600, f/1.4, 1/50
50mm, ISO 1600, f/1.4, 1/50
50mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/200
Candid
50mm, ISO 3200, f/1.4, 1/30
Up-Close
50mm, ISO 3200, f/2, 1/40
The very next day I was assigned to shoot the men’s soccer tournament finals. Conditions ranged from mildly cloudy to sunny. Regardless, I was always able to stay at a high shutter speed and reasonably low ISO. Made me very happy to be able to shoot my 300mm f/2.8 at f/4.
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250
300mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1000
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2500
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1600
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2000
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2000
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2500
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1600
300mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/1000
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1250
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2000
Victory
180mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2500
That’s all for this weekend update guys and gals. Hope you didn’t get too swamped by all the photographs. I wish I could find time to post these during the week, but for now, it’s just not meant to be. As always, thanks for dropping by, and have a great day! See you next week (or hopefully sooner!).
Fabulous shots. Love the ones by the bonfire. I’ve tried that a couple of times. I get the fire right but the people end up moving.
Thank you! The key is to avoid using auto-exposure and stick to manual. You’ll want a fast aperture (at least f/2) to get enough light to the sensor, a high ISO to keep everything properly exposed (usually from 1600-3200), and a fast enough shutter speed to stop people movement (usually at least 1/50 if you can manage it). Even then, it’s still a challenge.
How do you manage your time doing all those assignments? but as always beautiful and nice shots.
I won’t lie, it’s tough–hence why I’m having to drop to 1-2 posts a week. I also have to cut back on things like keeping up with others’ sites and posts, which I hate having to do.
I hope this doesn’t continue to next semester, we’ll see. 