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......or an alternate title for this entry might be: "Showcasing Big D's Mad Photography Skills and my Kids' (and their friends') Taekwondo Talent."
There are a few things you might want to know about this post before I begin. The first thing is that I really know very little about photography. Secondly, when I use the term "Photoshop Elements," I really don't know anything about it. I have this program and regularly use the "auto correct" feature. Big D is the one who has achieved all of the cool looks, and I have no earthly idea how he did it. Finally, all of these ridiculous tips are focusing around taekwondo, but feel free to apply them to any and all of your photography. I would love to see the results you have photographing....oh, say....spelunking or four-year-old tee-ball or power-walking. Okay, with all of those disclaimers, let's get on with the tips....
1. Buy a good SLR digital camera.
Let's face it. In order to take some good action shots, you're going to have to figure out light and speed and know something about ISO settings and f-stops. I know absolutely NOTHING about what I just said, and these are the kinds of pictures I regularly take....
I don't even know which of the four munchkins in red head gear is my child. Big D has a Nikon D80 camera, and he owns, I think, four different lenses right now, which he switches out for different types of shots. I've heard the Canon Rebel is a really good choice too.
2. Timing is everything.
It took Big D a while, even with his good camera, to figure out when to click. He deletes A LOT of shots, which is the beauty of digital cameras. He has had to become very familiar with the art of taekwondo to figure out exactly when the best time to snap is.
Above is Harrison performing the very difficult and highly dangerous (not really for Harrison anyway....it would be for me) k-kick. It takes approximately .0025 seconds to perform the k-kick, but Big D was able to capture it perfectly. (Oh, and by the way, a small amount of blur and floppy hair is perfectly acceptable for sports action shots. So is sweat, grimacing, dirt and, at times, vomit.)
Above is another example of perfect timing. This is one of their instructors competing in the extreme forms competition, and she is perfectly perpendicular. A fraction of a second longer, and he would have caught her going down into her back bend which just makes a bunch of us middle-aged couch potatoes go "Ouch!"
3. Placement is everything.
Big D has learned that standing and snapping pictures is not always the best position. He stands on stuff. He lies down in the dirt. He contorts himself into the fetal position (not really).
Above is Harrison's good friend, Dalton. While Dalton is a very springy kid, he can't really jump ten feet in the air. Big D, positioned himself on the floor and shot up a little. I should know since I had a good view of Big D (that's me under Dalton's leg).
With the way Big D positioned himself for this shot, it appears that our friend (the one kicking) just lifted his opponent off the ground with his powerful kick, when in fact his opponent was just beginning to jump to try to land a kick himself. If Big D had been at the side or front, that would be more apparent. Our friend loves this picture, by the way.
4. Capture the drama.
Sporting events can be very tense. Big D takes hundreds of shots at the tournaments, trying to capture the essence of why we go to the trouble.
I love the above shot of Annaleigh. This was right before she competed in the forms division. She looked at her dad, right as he snapped and the nerves and excitement of the moment are written all over her face.
These two boys train at our school. They are brothers, and they are competing for first place in sparring. It was a real nail-biter, and it came down to the final point before the one on the left won the match. Their dad specifically asked Big D for some of his shots of this match.
5. Remember the little details.
Big D is forever taking shots of things that I wouldn't think to photograph. Like this...
That is a stack of mats, by the way. It's kind of a neat, behind-the scenes shot.
The above shot is Annaleigh looking on as other competitors perform their forms. I love how she is in focus and everything else is not. And she can always find consolation, even if she doesn't win (but she did), that her hair looked cute that day. I would.
And then everyone who takes taekwondo needs a shot of boredom-induced mouthpiece chewing.
6. Take shots that make your kids look good and make you feel justified in all the money you fork out for their activities.
The above shot always makes me feel good about six years of ballet lessons. There's no other explanation for her ability to kick so high and gracefully. Oh, and look, that's me and Indiana Mimi underneath that kick.
This shot almost makes me want to sign Harrison up for ballet because he'd probably be really good at it. I said almost.
And here's a fun shot of Annaleigh appearing to beat up a boy. It looks like she's hurting him. She isn't. It looks like she's winning. She didn't.
7. When all else fails, use Photoshop Elements. (See, I told you I would use that phrase.)
I liked this shot of Harrison's private lesson with his instructor who looks like Anakin Skywalker turned into black and white. The distracting background colors and paraphernalia are diminished. The mirror, which is always kind of tricky for photography, is not an issue either.
This ho-hum shot from a sword clinic turns a bit psychedelic when he plays with the saturation a bit. It actually looks like the little tikes are glowing, and you feel like you are on the set of Star Wars....especially since one of the instructors is a dead-ringer for Anakin.
This is one of my favorite shots of all time, and yes, it was staged at the request of the school owner's wife. She has recently had it blown-up and printed on a canvas, and it now hangs in a prominent place in the studio. He turned it black and white and then just turned up the saturation on the yellow. Very dramatic. Another little secret about this photo: they duct-taped the instructor's belt to his pant leg, so as he walked toward Big D it would stay in place. So make sure to always pack your duct tape for your sporting events. You just never know when you will need it.
Well, hopefully you learned something today and can hopefully take better pictures of your children playing table tennis or kickball or whatever. But I'd almost be willing to bet money that you learned absolutely nothing, except that I really am as strange as my blog paints me or that I have too much time on my hands or that I have absolutely no time on my hands and I should be giving Harrison a math test. Either way, I have to go. Bottom line: Have fun taking pictures of your kids being active.
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