New Website

Come on over to my new website VincentMartinez.squarespace.com where I put all my new content. Whether you are looking to hire a photographer in the Kern County (Bakersfield, Wasco, Shafter, Delano, Taft, Arvin) or you are looking for information about photographer check out my new site.

New Blog

I have stopped using blogger (for now) and I have moved my personal blog to my own website.  vincentmartinez.info.  There you can find information about what I am shooting and how I am shooting in addition to reviews about the products I am currently using.

I may review this blog at some point, but right now it is just to much work to run a site and a blog in addition to actually going out and shooting various events.  I am also writing for a photo news site LessonsfromDad.info where you can find some great information and also some product reviews.

New Sites

I have not updated my blog as I have decided to move most of my content to various websites.  I plan to update this more in the future, I have just been really busy updated the websites.  You can find a lot of posts related to photography news at LessonsfromDad.info.  My actually photography business website where I discuss actual events I shot and how I did it can be found at VincentMartinez.info.  Most of my sports photography can be found at KernSports.info.  If you would like to see large gallerias of my work or order prints of my photography you can find it at VincentMartinez.smugmug.com.

I am trying to update these sites a few times each week with news, tips and reviews about photography.  I have expanded from focusing on sports photography into more portrait photography.  The means I have had to focus a lot of getting my skill regarding flash photography up to par.

Sports photography is still my favorite, but portrait photography is what pays the bills, so I am more than willing to make the transition to doing more portrait work than before.

I wanted to move my blogs to my websites because I have more control over how the content and images are displayed than here on Blogger.  But I will still try to update this blog from time to time.

Photography is all About Light

When it comes to the world of photography, it’s all about light.  Without light you will just have a black canvas.

There are things we can do to create powerful images even in the lowest of light, but we have to have at least light available to us.  How we use that available light whether it is from a natural or artificial source is going to make or break an image.  But to understand how to use light correctly we have to understand the characteristics of light.

Quantity

Whether we are using natural or artificial light the first thing we have to think about is the quantity of light.  In other words how much light or better yet the intensity of the light we are working with.  What kind of light do we have and how strong is the light source?

When you walk into a movie, you can’t see anything for the first few minutes.  You can’t even find your seat.  But in a few minutes your eyes adjust.

Conversely when you walk out of a movie the sun is overpowering making it hard to see.

When you walk into a movie that is like an underexposed image.  When you walk out of a movie that is like an overexposed image.

Canon 7D Price Drop

When I attend sporting events I get get asked all the time what camera I use.  People send me messages on Facebook all the time asking what camera I recommend they start out with.  Well right now anyone wanting a great camera is in luck.  The camera I personally use for 90% of my photography, the Canon 7D is dropping in price.

The reason the Canon 7D is dropping in price is because the new Canon 7D Mark II is expected to be released in the next month or so.  With the new camera bodies release everyone is trying to clear out the old body style from its stock.  Do I plan to make the jump to the new camera body, yes.  But I probably won't make it anytime soon.

The reason is the Canon 7D is still a very good camera.  Especially for sports photographers.  Yes, their are better camera's out their.  But, given that you can pick up the Canon 7D for just over $700 refurbished from Canon http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-7d-body-refurbished its hard to beat the price.  You can also get an entire starter kit for under $1400 from Amazon.com.

Night Game Sports Photography

One of the most challenging things to photograph in my opinion, is nighttime or indoor sports.  Fast moving action and poor lighting are a photographer’s worst nightmare.  Throw in things like crowds of people and fences to obstruct your view and it only makes things worse.

When I started I scoured the internet looking for advice on shooting low light sporting events and found information that was all over the place.  Some of it was great and right on.  Some of it, in my humble opinion, was just flat out wrong.

I am not the best photographer, nor am I the most experienced.  But people do pay me for pictures of their kids playing sports, so I must be doing something right.  So I decided to put together this little guide based on what I have found works best for me.

The pictures in this tutorial were shot using a Canon 7D and a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 lens.  Not the best equipment in the world, but in my opinion they give me the most bang for my buck.

All the pictures were shot handheld without any flash or strobes.  Obviously flash is not allowed at sporting events.

How to Take Better Low Light Photos

One of the most frustrating things for anyone who owns a DSLR is trying to capture a low light photo.  Whether its a Christmas Pageant or a basketball game we all get frustrated when the light gets dim and our expensive camera is not working the way we want it to.  Here are some tips to help you take better low light photographs.

1.  Get fast glass.

Something that most beginning photographers do not understand is just how important their lens selection is in regards to image quality.  Lenses are even more important than the camera body itself.  Fast glass is a photographers term for a camera lens that has a large aperture.  Typically, fast refers to any lens with an aperture of f/2.8 or larger.

He is the confusing part, your lens that came with your camera is probably f/3.5-5.6.  With aperture size the smaller the f/number the "larger" it becomes.  So any f/2.8 is considered larger than f/4.

The difference is in the amount of light the lens lets into the camera.  An f/2.8 lens lets in twice as much light as an f/4.  An f/4 lets in twice as much light as an f/5.6.  So the difference in low light situations is dramatic.

2.  Reduce your shutter speed

When you take a picture with a DSLR your shutter opens and closes.  That is the clicking noise you hear when you snap a picture.  The amount of time the shutter is open is your shutter speed.

With a DSLR you can adjust your shutter speed.  A fast shutter speed is great when their is a lot of light.  It gives you the ability to actually freeze motion.

A slow shutter speed allows the shutter to stay open for a longer period of time.  During that time your camera is collecting light.  The longer you allow your shutter to stay open the more light it will collect.  But when you leave your shutter open, any moving objects will begin to blur.  This is how photographers put a slight amount of blur into moving cars or athletes in motion.

But when the light gets dim slowing your shutter speed down allows you to collect all of the available light for your images.  The trade-off becomes how much motion blur is acceptable in your image (this only applies if you have moving subjects in your picture).