I’ve moved!

I have moved my blog over to www.scottroeder.com/blog. Bookmark it, read it, subscribe.

a helping hand and a behind-the-scenes perspective

My friend and fellow New University staff photographer, Brandon Wong, helped me out on a shoot I did for the newspaper the other day. He helped me set up and also managed to run around and get a ton of great shots.

He wrote on his blog about the shoot: http://www.brandonwongblog.com/2009/04/scott-roeder.html

Makes my life easier….although I’ll probably post in more detail about the shoot next week after the photos are published.

think fast and shoot

Before I attended my first Sports Shooter Academy workshop I used to shoot in Av or Tv modes. I knew how to take pictures, but I was far from a photographer. At the workshop I was asking about settings and one of the main staff members was astonished that I shot in any of the auto modes. From that moment on I was set on truly learning how to use my camera. Since then I’ve shot in Manual mode and haven’t thought once about going back. There is so much control when shooting in manual and it allows for much more creativity. Honestly, I just can’t get myself to trust any of the auto modes.

But what happens when something is happening really quickly? What if I dont have time to check my settings, meter, change ISO, etc?

When I see amazing spot-news photos, photo stories, and candids, I wonder what was going through the photographers mind when they shot it. Did they pick up their camera and put it into Av and start shooting? Tv? Or did they think fast enough to manually set everything? Was the shot composed that way on purpose? Did they try to get a silhouette effect? Or were the settings underexposed when the picked up their camera?

The ability to think fast and adjust is one of the most valuable skills in my opinion. I feel like I play it safe too much and I pass up on a ton of good photo opportunities. I know what I’m looking for and I wait for it. I want to be able to evaluate whats happening and then adjust. This way I’ll end up with a better variety of photos. I definitely have a lot to work on.

Here is a photo that I shot on the fly a few weeks ago. A friend pointed it out. I grabbed my camera. Quickly adjusted settings. Then shot. I got the shot I wanted and got it before the moment was over. It was composed how I wanted it. It was exposed how I wanted it. The shot is nothing too special, but the process helps me learn more about how to shoot.

Is this how it works?

the good life

Im not the biggest fan of beach ultimate but com’on…SoCal sun, LA, the beach, and ultimate….it doesn’t get much better than this.

Other pictures from the Lei Out beach tournament can be found here.

rainy day fun

During Presidents Day weekend I shot an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in San Diego. The last day of the tournament was moved to San Bernardino due to rain and field closures in SD. I came prepared with water-proof pants, jackets, rain cover for my 70-200mm, rain cover for my 400mm, gloves, etc.

I had shot in rain before but nothing had prepared me for this. It rained all day, from the moment I woke up till I got back home from shooting. It didn’t just rain, it poured. It was cold and wet. In between each game I went back to my car and turned the heat on full blast for about 10 minutes just so I could feel my fingers again.

It was a three day tournament, and I got a lot of good photos on each day. But its not everyday, I shoot in such extreme conditions. I know a lot of photographers shoot in conditions like this or worse everyday, but in Orange County its pretty rare.

Here are some of the shots from the rainy day.

Here are links to the full galleries:
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

UCI Mens BBall vs CSUN…Blacked Out!

Last week our school got blacked out in Eater Nation t-shirts for the ESPNU televised basketball game against Cal State Northridge. UCI beat CSUN 73-51. Here are a few photos from the game:

updated tear-sheets

I just updated my tearsheets on my website.

Recent work

Check it out.

getting paid

I was asked by a friend to do some product shots for a client of his. At first I was a little hesitant. This would be one of the first real photo shoots I would be in charge of. I’ve assisted several important shoots. I’ve shot stuff for the school newspaper. I’ve freelanced when I knew there were several other photographers.

This was different. I was being asked how much I charge. The client was trusting me with his money. More importantly, I had to trust myself to get the job done and get the job done right.

I borrowed a 9ft wide backdrop kit and bought a roll of white seamless paper to go with it. I borrowed a ProPhoto 2400 watt kit from UCI, which came with 3 heads, 1 power pack, 2 soft boxes, 3 lightstands, several umbrellas, and more. I had to put down my back seats in my car to get everything to fit. My car was transformed from a four seater to a one seater/portable studio.

The nice thing about this particular shoot was that they wanted all the photos to be consistent. Once I got the lights setup right, all I had to do was switch out the products. Pretty easy.

I had my laptop out and after taking test shots I would upload them and review them with the client to make sure that it was exactly what they wanted.

Even though it wasn’t sports, it was a good chance to work on something different. Plus it paid pretty well. And at this point in my career I can’t really afford to be picky.

Basketball : UCI vs Oregon

I got there 3 hours early to setup a clock-cam. I was denied. When we play big team, its best to get there at least 4 hours early. I sure learned my lesson. I had to settle for a post-cam, which wasn’t too bad, but definitely not what I was hoping for. My friend Brandon Wong was at the game shooting too and he let me use his 85mm f/1.2 for a little. That is an amazing lens to shoot with.

Anyways, there was an actual crowd at the game and for once and I could finally start to feel the school spirit. Hopefully it wasn’t a one time thing.

Goalie Portrait

I did a quick portrait of UCI’s Mens Soccer team goalie. I used a ProPhoto 1200 watt kit. A softbox to the left of the camera and another light to the right and behind the goalie. Heres how it turned out: