Regardless, whatever type of sport action you’re interested in shooting there are some techniques that will help you create action photos that set you apart.

1. Know the sport. In order to get great action photos you need to be able to anticipate where the action will take place so that you can be in the best position to capture that decisive image. Plan how you will get into position as the action unfolds and pre-set your focus, zoom and exposure. All you’ll have to concentrate on is capturing the action.
2. Know the rules. Knowing the rules of the sport allows you to capture images of important moments that occur and may have a decisive impact on the outcome of the competition.
3. Have the proper gear. Be prepared for the type of conditions, access and distances from the action that you’ll be facing. I use remote capture frequently because you just don’t want to be downrange during a shooting competition. Instead of getting the shot, you might get shot. Although I use good equipment I don’t use my best equipment where there is a possibility of damage.
4. Talk to Officials. Talk to the Officials and ask them where the best opportunities are for great shots. This involves them in the decision of giving you access. Discuss with them how you would like to capture the action and get permission and buy-in from them. If they don’t agree with your plan respect their decision and that goodwill likely will get you where you want to be in the future because they will remember you as being cooperative and professional.
5. Become known in the sport. Over time I have become known by many in the Action Shooting community and have developed friendships. Because of my relationships I am trusted that I won’t get in the way or interfere  with the competition. Especially in a sport where there is a necessity for Safety Officials they don’t want to have you as one more thing to worry about.

It doesn’t matter if you’re covering Action Shooting or Motorcycle racing, professional sports or your kids soccer games these tips apply. To get the real action shots you have to be where the action is and prepared to capture it.

I have a blog dedicated to the Action Shooting Sports called The Action Shooting Podcast where I cover events as well as training, tips, interviews, and articles about Action Shooting.

The Mega-Pixel wars are upon us. Camera manufacturers sling about the Mega-Pixelosity of their latest models luring buyers in with promises of photo excitement, living the mega-cool Flickr© life-style. Are more pixels really the path to photo nirvana or are there hidden costs to this pixel orgy? …More and more pixels are being crammed into smaller and smaller camera bodies at lower and lower prices.

Only a couple of years ago a 6 mega-pixel camera would cost you around $1,000. A 12 or 24 mega-pixel would cost $5,000 – $25,000.  Canon introduced 10 new compacts this month all in the 12 mega-pixel range priced from $129 – $350. We are likely experiencing only the first skirmishes of the digital camera wars, the next few years promise to be truly interesting.

When you move up to high mega-pixel cameras you need to be aware of the hidden impact that all those pixels can have on your wallet. When your camera is able to capture 10, 12, 15 and even 24 mega-pixel photos the files become quite large. In some cases downright huge.

These large files may require you to add more storage space on your computer, more computer memory, a faster computer, better software, a better printer. If you’re not careful that new camera you just bought may cost you a bundle.

How much camera do you really need? Are more mega-pixels really better? Well it depends. It depends on what ultimately you intend to do with the pictures. In general the more pixels your camera can capture the better the photos. Are more pixels the holy-grail? The answer of course is… yes and no.

Boy, we’re not getting very far here are we?

While it’s true that the more pixels you have the more image information you have to work with. But you also need to consider the quality of the information you’ve captured.

Noise is the enemy of digital photo capture. Noise shows up in your photos as random colors in areas where they should not be. Blue or red pixels in shadow areas for instance.

The sensors that are used in modern digital cameras are made up of a matrix of photo-sites. Think of them as little buckets that fill up with light. Each bucket represents a single pixel. The greater the number of pixels on a given sized sensor the smaller each bucket has to be.

These smaller sized photo-sites tend to be noisier than larger photo-sites. This means that at some point higher pixel counts begin to diminish the quality of the captured image at a given sensor size. Camera makers use a variety of techniques to combat this diminishing return but as a user your concern should be whether or not the camera suits your need and at what cost? So what should you consider?

1. How do you typically use your camera? How you use your camera will have a big say in the importance of mega-pixels in your life. If you typically are taking snapshots of your kids or friends at social events your pixel needs are probably only moderate. You may want to choose a camera based on other features such as face recognition. If on the other hand you are using your pictures for publication then pixels become more important.

2. In what lighting conditions do you typically photograph? If most of your photography is outdoors in sunny weather conditions with plenty of light available the amount of noise in your images will be low, even non-existent. You may be able to trade off low-light performance for other features like image stabilization.

3. How do you display your photos? How will you be displaying or using your photos? If you are printing your photos at sizes above 8 x 10 for framing and display, more pixels will become important to you. The more pixels the larger the prints without resorting to software to scale-up the photo. If you typically email your photos to friends and family and occasionally print a snapshot or 5×7 then other camera features may be more beneficial to you.

4. Do you do any post-processing? Whenever you manipulate a photo after you have captured the picture you run the risk of degrading the photo. If you’re doing a lot of digital enhancement you’re better off starting with as much information, (pixels) as you can. If you are simply correcting red-eye, or fixing the color or simple cropping, or doing no photo enhancement at all, once again pixel count may not be the most important feature to consider.

5. What type of supporting equipment do you use? The higher the pixel count the larger the file sizes. If you’ve got a computer mainly set up for simple email and web browsing you might find you need a better computer. You’ve also got to consider how you’ll back up those important photos you’ve been taking. What happens if your computer crashes and you lose your photos?

A high mega-pixel camera can end up costing more in upgrades than the camera itself.

At the moment a compact camera in the 10-12 mega-pixel range will give very good results in decent lighting. Many of these cameras also feature image stabilization, face recognition and red-eye reduction. Decide how you will use your camera and make your selection on the features that will most benefit you. Mega-Pixelosity might be cool, but getting the right camera for your needs is Mega-Cool.

Regardless of the steps you take to correct color cast or white balance, or to set white and black points the principles remain the same. Lee shows you how to handle both routine image correction and touch up as well as dealing with difficult image problems.

This book is not a basics of Digital Photography or Photoshop book. It assumes you have a modest level of understanding of both. Lee starts out with a basic chapter describing the tools and technology but quickly moves into setting up Photoshop and creating a custom camera calibration. (Side note: You can download the beta camera profiles and editor from Adobe).

The book then covers some basic lighting and lighting equipment for portraits with example lighting setups.

The real meat of the book and what Lee explains so well begins with the chapter “The Color of Skin”. I have yet to see an image that can’t benefit from some attention being paid to color correction. The chapters on tone and contrast and image retouching pull the entire workflow together.

The remainder of the book then goes into altering focus, special effects, and color manipulation to really make your images special. Finally one of the most useful sections of all, “Preparing for Print” getting that image off the screen and onto paper. I’m always looking for ways to streamline the output side of the workflow and getting my prints to look as good as what I see onscreen.

The companion CD has the files that Lee works on so that you can follow along if you want.

Great book, I should have bought it earlier. You can buy it right here.

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I call Adobe and get a customer service rep whose accent was so thick I could barely communicate with him. I am told that my order is pending and will be shipping next week.

Next week goes by, no CS4. Call again, same situation. I can’t hardly understand the service rep,…I’m told I’m good to go, shipping next week. No answer as to what happened to shipping last week.

Another couple of weeks no CS4. Call again, this time I insist on talking to someone I can understand. I’m connected after a long wait to someone in the U.S. I know because I asked. I’m told that my original order wasn’t setup correctly in the first place and that’s why I haven’t received my upgrade. But the good news is that it’s now corrected and I should receive it in 3-4 weeks.

WHAT? No way, unacceptable let’s review. Supervisor is consulted and authorizes the shipment to be sent next day.

Next day, no CS4. Ok I’ll give them one more day. No CS4. I call and am told that it was delivered and signed for the day before. What address did you send it to? They of course sent it to an old address that had not only been properly updated but that I had specifically verified when I placed my order.

Luckily I still had access to that mailing address and was able to pick it up. I’ve been an Adobe customer for years and have never had this experience before so I guess I can’t complain too much. Photoshop CS4 more than makes up for the aggravation so all is now forgiven.

However the use of foreign call centers where English is a second language and typical accents are heavy is not a trend that I agree with. Certainly Americans of all nationalities employed in customer service jobs can also have this problem. That is why it is imperative in your business that you choose carefully those who will represent you. Pick someone with good communication skills, who is articulate, empathetic and who genuinely  wants to serve your customers.

Watch for an upcoming review of what I like about Photoshop CS4.

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So what is proper exposure? That depends on you the photographer and what you are trying to achieve. There is no single answer but rather a series of choices you will make to create the image that you want. Simply, exposure is controlled by how much light is allowed to reach your cameras sensor and for how long that light is allowed to reach the sensor. The amount of light is controlled by the size of the aperture-opening of the lens expressed in f-stops. Confusingly the larger the f-stop the smaller the aperture or the less light allowed. An f16 lets in less light than f5.6. Think of it in terms of slicing up a pie. If you slice a pie into 16 equal pieces, each piece will be smaller than a piece of a pie sliced only 6 times. The aperture chosen will also affect the depth-of-field, or how much of the scene is in focus. Again, exposure is a combination of choices.

Published by Wiley as part of their Photo Workshop series of books “Exposure” deals with the subject in a clear easy to understand manner. Written by Jeff Wignall the book covers a full range of exposure challenges. Each chapter offers an assignment to practice the concept covered in the chapter. As with all the books in the series, Wiley maintains a website that encourages photographers to upload the chapter assignments for review and critique. I recommend not only this book but the other books in the Wiley Photo Workshop series as well. If you’re ready to improve your photo results regardless if you have a point-and-shoot or a full featured Digital SLR this is a great place to start.

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