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!).
Matthew Durr Photography 
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. 🙂