The London Olympics

Alas, the London Olympics begin today and I never got a call from any of the big sports networks or publications to cover the event. It's a shame, because sports photography can be fun. And frustrating. With an average "keeper" rate of something like one in twenty or worse, it can also be tough on the ego. Nonetheless, I'll be watching this year's Olympics from across the pond and in front of the television. But I will also be on the lookout for the countless great photographs that will appear on the internet and in print.

One of my favorite photographic styles is the sports portrait. So in celebration of the London games, here's a couple of my recent portraits of a great pole vaulter.

The Secret of My Success

Last Friday, President Barack Obama made the following statement while speaking in Virginia:

"If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet."

Did the federal government make your small business a success? Or did you?

As the owner of a small photography business, I was shocked and mortified that any elected official in the United States of America would make such a grossly ignorant, condescending statement. “I didn’t build my business?”  “Somebody else made that happen?” For these words to have been uttered by the president during an election year is stunning. To suggest that small businesses, the backbone of the U.S. economy, are successful only because of the federal government is insulting and inexcusable. If there was any doubt that the president is a socialist, those thoughts have been erased.

According to the Small Business Administration, firms with less than 20 employees account for 90 percent of U.S. companies and 97 percent of job growth. Small businesses hire almost half of the highly skilled workers (think engineers, computer programmers, etc.) and generate 13 times the patents per employee than large firms. And it’s no surprise that in a 2012 National Federation of Independent Business survey, the top three issues given as “the single most important problem for small businesses” were 1) poor sales (22%), 2) government regulations and red tape (21%), and 3) taxes (21%).

I’m proud of the small successes I’ve achieved. I got where I am because friends saw talent in me and encouraged me. I’ve found success because of initiative, innovation, and creativity. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve enjoyed success in spite of the federal government.

President Obama’s words are particularly insulting to me because of what I perceive as his hypocrisy. As best I can tell from examining his work history, Obama’s only private employment during his adult life was as a civil rights attorney in Chicago. He’s never manufactured a product (aside from his book). He’s never risked his own capital on a business venture. He’s never had to staff a company. He’s never created a private job. But he seeks through unabashed class warfare, to vilify those who have.

And for the record, despite President Obama’s misconceptions, the Internet was created by the U.S. Department of Defense, purely for military purposes. Not for job creation. And not by Al Gore.

North Captiva Lightning

This Fourth of July found me on North Captiva Island again. It was my third visit to this secluded private island getaway. I had hoped that there would be professional fireworks close enough to see--and photograph--either over the island or the ocean. While the conventional fireworks never materialized, those from God provided plenty to shoot. Within a hour of sundown, a thunderstorm crossed out of the Everglades out and over the Gulf of Mexico.

Photographing lightning during the day is a matter of skill, reflexes, and largely luck. Using a few easy techniques for night photography elinimates a lot of the need for luck, leaving only a little skill.
To take great night lighting photos, you'll need the following:

1. A good thunderstorm (Hey, a little luck will always be needed)
2. A tripod
3. A shutter release cable
4. A DSLR/SLR with a "bulb" shutter speed setting.

By using the bulb setting and the right combination of aperture and focal length, you can set up a reasonably well focused composition where varied distances of lighting strikes will be reasonable sharp. If you really want to get technical when selecting a focal length, spend some time studying "hyperfocal distance". Unfortunately, reading the settings on the barrel of  a lens and making fine adjustments in the dark is not easy, if not impossible. For me, a little dead reckoning, some trail and error, and a little dumb luck paid off.

My greatest challenge in capturing this image was the full moon over my left shoulder. With a fairly long time between strikes as the storm dissipated out over the ocean, my shutter was open for a pretty long time.This particular shot was 65 seconds at f5. While the distance of the lightning called for a fairly wide open apeture, the moonlight on the clouds caused a very overexposed image. Again, a bit of trail and error fixed the problem. And as an added bonus, the moonlight helped make a nice composition out of the foliage near the beach in the foreground.

This technique works best with minimal light polution, so the shooting location on an isolated island was ideal. If all else fails, it's an excellent excuse to seek a secluded location while waiting for the right thunderstorm to come your way.