Sony Alpha Universe post on My Most Meaningful Photo of the Year
Lake Mills HS FB Coach Tyler Huber rides the bus with his team enroute to what would be their final game of the season in the third round of the playoffs against rival Lodi.
Frame grab from a Sony a7SIII with 24-70mm f2.8 GM II lens on a DJI Ronin RS3 Gimbal shot at 4K.
Here’s my longer post about the project which goes more into detail about some of the tools and techniques and distinctions that I gained from this project:
This year was full of wonderful weddings, portraits, and commercial work, but the project that was the most meaningful was my video-only project documenting the entire season of our local high school football team in a project I called “A Season With the L-Cats, 2022”.
Our town is small (6200 people) and located in south central Wisconsin and is sports crazy (in a good way) Football is probably the biggest sport for our town as in many towns across the country. We even have a true cross-town rival that is literally a walk across the street from our campus.
When head coach Tyler Huber reached out in the spring asking if I had any video from the previous season, I shared a couple of shorts that I did as little “concept videos”. They were rather raw, but he loved what he saw.
I asked if he would allow me access to document the team behind the scenes from the beginning of the season until the end and he was an enthusiastic yes. To my wife’s chagrin (she knows that she’ll be a “Friday night widow” during football season), it was a go!
I set out on this project for a few reasons:
One, I wanted to do a deep dive, BTS of the season so people could see and understand the glory as well as the pain that these kids go through. Football, I believe, is America’s game and the teamwork, camraderie and sheer brute force of the game is fascinating.
My primarily love over my career is documentary projects and particularly of sports. I have documented three previous football seasons (though primarily with still photos — two for Tesoro HS in CA and the 2019 L-Cats in our first fall back in Wisconsin) so this was my first doing all video.
Two, I wanted to fine tune and hone my video skills so that I could be as confident shooting video as I am shooting stills.
And three, I wanted to get significantly better and faster at video editing.
At the heart I believe that all photographers will become videographers if not now then some time in the future and I want to embrace what I consider to be inevitable.
I believe the project was successful on all fronts.
There were moments of great joy and sadness over the course of the season that I witnessed on the field and behind the scenes. From season-ending injuries for some players, to overcoming all odds and beating a dreaded rival at Homecoming, there was the full gamut of emotions.
As the season progressed, my shooting skills became significantly stronger, I believe. And while I’m not quite as “unconscious” (in a good way) as I am with shooting stills only, by the end of the season I found my groove and what proved to be my preferred working method.
(That method was a Sony a7SIII with a 24-70mm f2.8 GM II on a Ronin DJI RS3 gimbal with the “secret weapon”, the DJI Twist Grip Dual Handle that I supported by attaching a Peak Design Slide Lite strap (two small rig D-Ring screws were attached to the Twist Grip). The second camera was a Sony a1 handheld (on Active Stabilization) with a 70-200 f2.8 GM II with a Sony 1.4X tele extender. That gave me a bit more reach and then a fixed f4 aperture.)
For frame rates, I found that 60P worked best for me when shooting action and I preferred shooting the locker room at 24P.
I used a Rode Go II for part of the season with a small Rode Micro or Deity D4 mini attached to the camera using a Rode splitter cable. This allowed me to get a track of audio from the Rode Go transmitter and then a track of audio for the shotgun. That was on the gimbal camera.
On the a1 with the longer lens, I usually used a small shotgun microphone or, later in the season, I added the Sony ECM-B10(?) for high quality audio through the MIS hotshoe.
(I also tried a DJI Microphone over the season and found that I was having some issues with a too loud signal, which may very well have been my problem of having the gain too high on the camera. Both the Rode GO II and the DJI Mic record the audio track as well as transmit the signal so you have a back up…while not a 32 bit float recording unit, it does very well. )
The third and final goal from the project was to increase my speed, quality and confidence of editing (in Final Cut ProX).
I would guess that by the end of the season my editing time per episode was cut by 30-50% if not more. I also got better at exposure at capture plus having a better sense of what I wanted and needed for the particular episode as well as having a running catalogue in my brain about what had already been done.
Bottom line with editing, I found: Quick keys are your friend and learning the basics such as setting an in point (I) and out point (O) and then favoriting a clip (F) were critical but some less well-known quick keys such as Option-Left Bracket (to delete all the footage BEFORE the playhead on a clip) and Option - Right Bracket (to delete all the footage AFTER the playhead on a clip).
Learning those last two commands probably saved me and my wrists from the tedious task of using the blade tool, highlighting the clip, and then selecting the gap to delete.
I am extremely grateful to Tyler Huber, the head coach, as well as the rest of his coaching crew, Athletic Director Steve Considine and the school administrators who graciously allowed my presence during the season from the first day I showed up (in the rain) to the heart-break of losing to Lodi in the third round of the playoffs.
I also want to thank the players, student trainers and their parents for allowing me to document this aspect of their lives. The kids were open to the project without any hesitation and just did their thing while I did mine all through the season. I can only suspect that it had to be hard knowing I was there for the heartbreak as well as the joy, and yet they were great sports about it.
This labor of love project showed the capabilities of these Sony cameras and lenses and what can be done by a one-person crew. It was a tremendous experience and only makes me want to do more of this type of work in the future.
This image is of Coach Huber quietly riding the team bus to what would be the final game of the year, their playoff loss to rival Lodi High School.
Shot with the Sony a7SIII, 24-70mm f2.8 GM II on a DJI Ronin RS3 gimbal using PP11 (S-Cinetone).
Sony's announced the new 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II lens today....
...and it is everything I had hoped it would be.
It's 22% lighter than the original 24-70 GM and this one comes in at 695 grams (1.5 pounds). The original is 18% larger and came in weighing at 1.9 pounds or 886 grams).
User reports that the lens feels more balanced and less front heavy, something that Sony has been doing since the launch of the 400 2.8 G Master which spread out the lens elements so that weight was more evenly distributed.
It's also got improved focus motors, newly added control of the zooming mechanism (Smooth and Tight)
The lens also has a mechanical aperture ring and the ability to de click the aperture like most of the recent G Master lenses have contained.
Sony reports that they have improved focus breathing in video and the breathing compensation with the Sony a7IV works so that should improve performance of these still lenses when used for video production.
All in all, it is a worthy update and one I will get. Yesterday I had a video shoot and used the a7SIII and the 16-35 2.8 GM and the 24-105 G OSS (mostly this one) on the gimbal all day.
For video I really like this 24-70, 24-105 range when using a gimbal. For me, it just works especially in fast, run-and-gun situations like a wedding or event.
If you want to see some good information on the new lens, go first to AlphaUniverse site for the overview:
Then the Matt Johnson YouTube video is very good (and he's not a real 24-70 f2.8 fan)...
I love Matt's reviews because he is a person who uses the tools for paying client work and that gives him real credibility in my eyes.
Gerald Undone does great technical reviews, and here is his:
There are more of course and you can find them at youtube https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sony+24-70+gm+ii
What are your thoughts on this lens? Please comment below!
Taylor + Lucien's Winter Wedding at The Tinsmith
For the second Saturday in a row, I had another lovely wedding on a cold and clear winter day.
Taylor and Lucien were married in front of family and friends at the Tinsmith in Madison, a modern and industrial venue site on the east side.
Lucien and his groomsmen got ready at home along with their two gregarious large dogs Tizzie and Stanley. The men watched golf on the big screen as the dogs went from person to person looking for attention.
The girls were staying downtown at the AC Hotel just off the square and had hair and make up done at a nearby salon, Arch Apothecary.
On the 9th floor of the hotel, there is a stunning view of the Capitol and it was the location where they had their first look as well as a private reading of their vows.
From there, the couple and the bridal party headed for the East Steps of the Capitol, just a couple blocks away. The dogs were brought there by a friend and stayed focused in the cold for a few minutes as they were photographed with the couple.
Then the bridal party came out for a very brief group portrait — the cold was bitter and the wind blowing making anything longer difficult.
It was off to the Tinsmith for indoor family portraits and the final preparations for the ceremony that started at 5 pm.
As guests arrived the excitement grew and the ceremony began. Taylor’s friend from fifth grade, Kat performed the ceremony.
At the last minute, they decided to read their vows (the ones that they had read earlier in private at the hotel). They were personal and poignant and led to happy tears.
And just like that, they were married and the party began.
I had first met them in early 2020 and they had originally planned for a March 2021 wedding but it was postponed due to the pandemic. Thankfully they were able to celebrate their day surrounded by a group of friends and family that had an incredible time dancing and partying late into the night.
Congratulations to the couple and thank you for having me and second photographer Wendy document the day!
#sonyalpha #sonya9II #sonya1 #sonya7sIII #wisconsinweddingphotographer #weddingphotography #winterwedding
The Think Tank Retrospective 7 -- Rekindling my affection for a run and gun wedding bag
I hope you're having a great start to your week.
It's a cold day here in Wisconsin and we're expecting a storm this afternoon -- pretty common for a midwest winter day. At the local coffee shop and having a hot chocolate.
On Saturday I had another winter wedding (which is rather amazing because I have probably had more weddings in Wisconsin in February this year than I ever remember having in CA during a February when we lived there).
For the past couple weddings I have been using a shoulder bag that I have owned for a several year but haven't used much of late.
That bag? The Think Tank Retrospective 7 (in black).
Mine is the version one, and the version two looks to be a solid upgrade. https://www.thinktankphoto.com/collections/retrospective-series?rfsn=140905.1cb641 (this is an affiliate link).
What made me bring this back into the rotation? I had been using a bag from another manufacturer and that bag is very contemporary and stylish. The thing is that I found it difficult to simply "jam" gear into and out of it as is common when you are in a run-and-gun world of weddings.
The other bag's tighter configuration made it tougher to grab and go that is my (bad) habit from years of newspaper work.
That bag is more like skinny jeans and I guess my Think Tank is more like cargo pants.
The Think Tank just has a little bit more room for lenses and other accessories and is not much bigger so it works incredibly well as a day long carry (using the bag slung across my right shoulder, bag on the left side).
The Retrospective lines harken back to the original canvas bag that many of my contemporaries from the news biz used back in the 80s and 90s -- the ubiquitous Domke bag. Domke was named after the Philadelphia Inquirer news photographer (Jim Domke) who designed and manufactured the bag before selling the brand a long time ago.
Think Tank is often known for their great rollers (which is well deserved) but for folks that like to work out a small shoulder bag that has real utility, I encourage you to look at the Retrospective Series because I think they are superb.
Hope you have a great week!!
Paul
Krystal & Steve's Winter Wisconsin Wedding | 2.12.2022
On an Arctic February day, Krystal and Steve receited their vows at St. Mark’s Ev. Lutheran Church (W.E.L.S.) in Watertown.
After the ceremony in the vintage mid 1800s church (which is directly across the street from another W.E.L.S. church!), the couple and their bridal party wound their way to Beaver Dam where the reception that was held at Cantafio’s Buckhorn Steak House which wasclosed to the public for the reception.
The cozy country restaurant was filled to the brim and the food prepared individually for each guest. It was quite the feat and yet the wait staff handled it with ease, grace and speed.
The members of Krystal’s family asked the restaurant staff to create special “Grasshopper” drinks in honor of Krystal’s grandmother who tragically passed away early in the morning of the wedding day. It was her favorite drink.
Love triumphed on this bitterly cold day and Krystal and Steve and their families and friends were a joy for me, Wendy, Jeremy and Henk to document in both photographs and video.
