LifesMomentz Photography

The Canon April roadshow was quite inspirational. The new format included useful training on the autofocus systems used in the Canon 7D2,5D3 and 1Dx.

Some new pointers I got on landscapes was scouting the scene a bit more before shooting.I am quite aware of composition taking into account strong foregrounds, leading lines, rule of thirds etc. but I tended to rush because of the fleeting sun. I normally composed with my filters on which does tend to hamper composition clarity.

Landscape - New Approach
This time I slowed down and took fewer shots. I experimented with a few compositions until I found a few that I liked and then repositioned trying to balance the sun and rocks in the scene with leading lines.

I was quite happy with Landscape 1 but it did not have the impact I wanted.

As suggested I tried a few different compositions. Shot 2 had more of what I wanted but the angle was wrong.

Landscape shot 3 is the one that worked best for me. It had sufficient impact and tended to draw you into the scene a bit more. It also had the benefit of showing details of the grains of sand and strewn sea shells. The jack knife water angles just added to the drama.

Using the same approach I captured the following.

Going for minimal objects and sweeping water.

Wide Angle Alternate Use
I never thought of using wide angle for action shots. My 16-35L f/2.8 is my landscape lens -or so I thought until I saw the presentation on news photography. I was amazed at how this lens places you in the action. My normal weapon of choice is the 24-70 f/2.8 Mk2. I happened to stumble on the Red Bull PuppetMasters Wake Boarding event after shooting my morning landscapes. I did not have my ideal sports camera (1Dx) but armed with new my knowledge on the autofocus system (thanks Manus) I decided the 5dMK3 could pull it off. I took special care when firing off at the action knowing that I had a different buffer capacity and fps than the 7D2/1Dx.

And a black and white seemed appropriate given the Puppet Masters theme.

The results I hope make you feel you were there. I went as close as I could to the action and tried to get under the riders.The falling action was also quite impressive ...

In case you are wondering - yes my camera body and lens got drenched a few times !! Not to worry it is a Canon X-Series and L lens :-).

You can catch the rest of the puppetmasters action here

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Posted on May 3, 2015

Filed Under: Action, Featured, Landscapes, Training