153. Arrow - May 15-21, 2016
Paul-
Third time’s a…well, something.
As mentioned earlier this morning, this was my third attempt to get something I liked. (Which strikes me as little embarrassing since it was my theme.)
My first attempt involved begging my Tai Chi teacher to display a set of two movements (in a much longer form) called “Bend Bow/Shoot Tiger.” He wasn’t crazy about me taking the pictures before a class, but was a good sport about it. I wanted to try and capture it with a rear curtain flash approach. The results were awful—too much ambient light and a quick set-up. Had he seen them, he probably would have performed the Tai Chi “Bend Bow/Shoot Impudent Student” technique.
Next stop, the local mega-big box sports store which has a small archery alcove for testing models. I had the sales person, also a good sport, use a 55#* carbon-fiber compound bow that looked like it could take out someone in a M1A2 Abrams tank. Depending on the weight and material used for the arrow, once release the arrow is probably cruising along nicely at something over 300 feet-per-second. (To put this in context, that’s even slightly faster than my 2003 Subaru Outback coming off the line from a standing start.) I shot some pictures of this too in order to catch the moment when arrow was released—which at 5fps would work more from serendipity than skill. It worked, after about 15 minutes of shooting, but the background was really busy and I barely caught the tail end of the arrow leaving the frame. Feh.
Third outing. Hoping the Photo Gods would smile on me, I went to a Nebraska Games & Parks event this morning were kids of all ages--with their terrified parents watching helplessly nearby--could shoot arrows, fire guns, throw hand axes (I am not kidding), and try their skill at using an atlatl. (Very cool, but I won’t belabored you with how important these were in ancient history.) I good several shots I liked, but this one stood out because it was so personal and charming. This little girl went through the waiting line several times until she finally hit the target…and possibly closer to the bulls-eye than any of my attempts. I pretty much slunk the hell out of there after that.
Technically, I’m not crazy about a couple of elements in the shot, but emotionally this was the one I felt I just had to submit.
Getting to the point: 55-200mm lens set at 66mm; aperture priority; ISO 2000; matrix metered; -2.33 EV; 1/25 sec. at f/4.14. I was standing on a set of bleachers 30’ or 40’ feet away and chose the height and angle to see if it might make the composition a little more interesting.
* The figure of 55# refers to the “draw weight”: the peak amount of weight an archer will pull while drawing the bow. And that’s just drawing the bow. Now, stand there for a while trying to ignore screaming muscles and tendons as you wait for that deer to come into range. The compound bow I was shooting today—that was rated in the “Wuss Category” of the National Field Archery Association—was about a 25# draw and I didn’t feel like I wanted to be holding the bow like that for too long.
As mentioned earlier this morning, this was my third attempt to get something I liked. (Which strikes me as little embarrassing since it was my theme.)
My first attempt involved begging my Tai Chi teacher to display a set of two movements (in a much longer form) called “Bend Bow/Shoot Tiger.” He wasn’t crazy about me taking the pictures before a class, but was a good sport about it. I wanted to try and capture it with a rear curtain flash approach. The results were awful—too much ambient light and a quick set-up. Had he seen them, he probably would have performed the Tai Chi “Bend Bow/Shoot Impudent Student” technique.
Next stop, the local mega-big box sports store which has a small archery alcove for testing models. I had the sales person, also a good sport, use a 55#* carbon-fiber compound bow that looked like it could take out someone in a M1A2 Abrams tank. Depending on the weight and material used for the arrow, once release the arrow is probably cruising along nicely at something over 300 feet-per-second. (To put this in context, that’s even slightly faster than my 2003 Subaru Outback coming off the line from a standing start.) I shot some pictures of this too in order to catch the moment when arrow was released—which at 5fps would work more from serendipity than skill. It worked, after about 15 minutes of shooting, but the background was really busy and I barely caught the tail end of the arrow leaving the frame. Feh.
Third outing. Hoping the Photo Gods would smile on me, I went to a Nebraska Games & Parks event this morning were kids of all ages--with their terrified parents watching helplessly nearby--could shoot arrows, fire guns, throw hand axes (I am not kidding), and try their skill at using an atlatl. (Very cool, but I won’t belabored you with how important these were in ancient history.) I good several shots I liked, but this one stood out because it was so personal and charming. This little girl went through the waiting line several times until she finally hit the target…and possibly closer to the bulls-eye than any of my attempts. I pretty much slunk the hell out of there after that.
Technically, I’m not crazy about a couple of elements in the shot, but emotionally this was the one I felt I just had to submit.
Getting to the point: 55-200mm lens set at 66mm; aperture priority; ISO 2000; matrix metered; -2.33 EV; 1/25 sec. at f/4.14. I was standing on a set of bleachers 30’ or 40’ feet away and chose the height and angle to see if it might make the composition a little more interesting.
* The figure of 55# refers to the “draw weight”: the peak amount of weight an archer will pull while drawing the bow. And that’s just drawing the bow. Now, stand there for a while trying to ignore screaming muscles and tendons as you wait for that deer to come into range. The compound bow I was shooting today—that was rated in the “Wuss Category” of the National Field Archery Association—was about a 25# draw and I didn’t feel like I wanted to be holding the bow like that for too long.
Jerry-
The search for "arrow" took several days. The first try was the arrows on the dash of my car with the four way flashers on, the next was the Pontiac Arrow over the side garage door. The third try was the arrow seen on the entrance to the parking ramp at work. The fourth try, which is my submission, is of the "one way" arrow sign in Dinkytown. This was taken with my new camera, a Sony A6300, with its 16-50mm lens set to 50mm. Exposure was 1/400 @ f11, ISO 400. The image was cropped but no other changes were made in Photoshop. But it was a severe crop, about half of the original and yet its surprisingly sharp. I had wished for a longer lens, hmmm. Maybe later. The A6300 is not full frame but is the DX format like the D5200 and 3300. I like it for its compactness though seeing the image "electronically" is kind of weird. The 16-50mm kit lens is not all bad.
Don-
My actual submission is the arrow at Big Arrow Pawn. Note the phone sign behind the
car. That is not seen much anymore. Shot with D810 with a 24 to 70mm lens set to 40mm.
Exposure is f/14; 1/80th sec; and the ISO at 64.
car. That is not seen much anymore. Shot with D810 with a 24 to 70mm lens set to 40mm.
Exposure is f/14; 1/80th sec; and the ISO at 64.
Byron-
I had the photo in my mind but I didn't want, or have the ability to shoot the arrow with enough accuracy to make a good photo. I was at an archery range near Otsego. There were several people milling about so I announced my desire for an archer that could make my picture work. There was a guy named Bill Tell that made some overtures about doing it but then backed out. I tipped my hat to him and continued. I found a girl with an unusual technique that said she would do it. I only had one arrow so she would have to make the first shot count. Using sophisticated technology, I set it up so the instant the arrow pierced the target, the camera would take the picture. I didn't dare get too close because I didn't trust her accuracy. As it turned out, One shot, one picture.
ISO 400, f8, 1/125 sec, 55mm, white balance set to cloudy.
ISO 400, f8, 1/125 sec, 55mm, white balance set to cloudy.
Deron-
Nothing spectacular, but if you didn't know about this design feature, you'll never look at a FedEx logo the same again.
Kevin-
Oh, there were so many things I wanted to do with Arrow.
First, a remarkable new car was just introduced at the Geneva Motor Show. The Apollo Arrow. But alas, there are actually no versions of this new 1000hp hypercar cruising up and down my on the street yet.
I thought about firing an arrow toward a row of water balloons, capturing both the exploding balloons and the cascading water globes, but the studio space I use was booked every evening I could use it.
I wanted Paul to pose for a photo, with a cherry on top of his head, while I fired an arrow at the cherry. But Paul’s legal team put lots of requirements into a contract, that would have taken too long to negotiate. Bah!
Byron agreed to pose with the cherry, but I forgot to account for the impact of gravity (silly me) and a perfect arrow shot pierced Byron’s skull instead. Double bah! Fortunately Don has agreed to submit two images each week, one in Byron’s name, to carry on the tradition. He will use Byro-products for each of these shots. Biro-Lite, Byro-Snoot, Byro-Flag, Byro-Etc. He will even replace his Harley with a Byro-Bike.
So I had to go with a simple shot of an arrow, portraying the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
And I don’t think it turned out bad considering the fact that rather than being shot with a bow it was actually clamped to the end of a C-Stand. I placed a 3-stop ND filter over the lens and also set f/22 as the aperture. This gave me a long 1/2 second shutter speed which allowed me to zoom my 24-70mm Nikkor during each exposure creating a sense of movement. Nikon D4s, tripod mounted, ISO 100.
First, a remarkable new car was just introduced at the Geneva Motor Show. The Apollo Arrow. But alas, there are actually no versions of this new 1000hp hypercar cruising up and down my on the street yet.
I thought about firing an arrow toward a row of water balloons, capturing both the exploding balloons and the cascading water globes, but the studio space I use was booked every evening I could use it.
I wanted Paul to pose for a photo, with a cherry on top of his head, while I fired an arrow at the cherry. But Paul’s legal team put lots of requirements into a contract, that would have taken too long to negotiate. Bah!
Byron agreed to pose with the cherry, but I forgot to account for the impact of gravity (silly me) and a perfect arrow shot pierced Byron’s skull instead. Double bah! Fortunately Don has agreed to submit two images each week, one in Byron’s name, to carry on the tradition. He will use Byro-products for each of these shots. Biro-Lite, Byro-Snoot, Byro-Flag, Byro-Etc. He will even replace his Harley with a Byro-Bike.
So I had to go with a simple shot of an arrow, portraying the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
And I don’t think it turned out bad considering the fact that rather than being shot with a bow it was actually clamped to the end of a C-Stand. I placed a 3-stop ND filter over the lens and also set f/22 as the aperture. This gave me a long 1/2 second shutter speed which allowed me to zoom my 24-70mm Nikkor during each exposure creating a sense of movement. Nikon D4s, tripod mounted, ISO 100.