My first attempt at down-range photos

[BritinUSA]

Got my camera and remote control all figured out so I gave it a try at the local match in Aurora, CO.

I used a 42mm for these shots. I should have used a longer lens and covered up the eye-piece while shooting, I think the aperture was off a little bit, so the colors look muted.

This was an awkward stage to set up a camera, there was some steel down-range and I was a little worried about splash-back hitting the camera, so I set it off to one side, right next to a target . I think Jerry's shooting lead bullets propelled by black powder, he was getting lost in the smoke.

I need to take account of what is behind the shooter. As an action shot this is okay but the shooter is lost among the other competitors in the background.

Edited May 4, 2009 by BritinUSA

[L-10_shooter]

Hey that is some cool stuff. I like the different view from down range. THe reload is cool because you never get to see that from the front (down range). Keep up the good work!!

[SA Friday]

Those look pretty damn good to me. Some of the color difference might be from the early morning cloud cover too.

If you have any more of me, I would love to have copies. I'll PM you my email if you don't mind.

[Bigpops]

Is Friday sporting a goat? Retired life is good!

[Shawn Knight]

Some people make the funniest faces when they are shooting.

Ever see Taran Butler's??

Awesome Pics Brit!!

Edited May 4, 2009 by Shawn Knight

[AzShooter]

Excellent work. Did you use a wireless remote or a sound sensitive trigger on the camera? Very good composition and detail.

[S&W627shooter]

Nice pics. The only pic I have from a downrange remote shows me holding my breath. No wonder I cannot focus my eyes.

[BritinUSA]

Excellent work. Did you use a wireless remote or a sound sensitive trigger on the camera? Very good composition and detail.

I found a remote transmitter on amazon.com. There's a receiver that plugs into the shutter/interface port and a separate hand-held unit. Both have 16 settings so it can be customised if two people have the same setup at a match, kind of like a RC plane/car. I set the camera up on a tripod and set the camera to C-AF which is continuous auto-focus to make sure that the shooter was sharp when taking the pictures.

They came out pretty well, for a first attempt. I'm going to try the longer lens at the next match, work permitting.

[AzShooter]

Thanks. I've got the remote. I've got to give this a try.

[waxman]

That is really neat. I bet people would pay for photos of themselves like that. please post more, if you get them

[Lead slinger]

thats pretty slick I am going to have to try that with my camera with the remote.

[raz-0]

I started doing some down range shoots last year, heres' some stuff I learned.

1) Use the eyepiece cap, or your exposure metering WILL be wrong lots of the time. Shooting ranges have some common features that make it nearly a certainty.

2) Take a LOT of pictures. With this kind of remote setup, all the photographer can do is make sure they don't screw up the setup. Good shots are mostly a matter of luck regarding the subject, their framing and behavior.

3) 17-70mm on an APS-C sized sensor is about right to get most full sized adults in a portrait oriented framing from about 7 yards to about 15 yards IIRC. If you want upper body only, you need more lens , or some heavy cropping.

4) depending on your camera, turn image stabilization off while shooting on a tripod. It tends to amount to effectively reducing the resolution of your lens. This is a problem if you need to crop heavily to get tight shots.

5) Composition is problematic. Even at the best of times, that guy with the timer winds up sticking parts of himself and the timer in the shot. There is a reason why a lot of downrange action shots are people poking themselves through ports, or around corners. it tends to give you better odds of achieving composition.

6) sponsors need more stuff on the front of shirts and the sleeves, because downrange pictures are usually much more interesting.

[Alan Meek]

I started doing some down range shoots last year, heres' some stuff I learned.

1) Use the eyepiece cap, or your exposure metering WILL be wrong lots of the time. Shooting ranges have some common features that make it nearly a certainty.

2) Take a LOT of pictures. With this kind of remote setup, all the photographer can do is make sure they don't screw up the setup. Good shots are mostly a matter of luck regarding the subject, their framing and behavior.

3) 17-70mm on an APS-C sized sensor is about right to get most full sized adults in a portrait oriented framing from about 7 yards to about 15 yards IIRC. If you want upper body only, you need more lens , or some heavy cropping.

4) depending on your camera, turn image stabilization off while shooting on a tripod. It tends to amount to effectively reducing the resolution of your lens. This is a problem if you need to crop heavily to get tight shots.

5) Composition is problematic. Even at the best of times, that guy with the timer winds up sticking parts of himself and the timer in the shot. There is a reason why a lot of downrange action shots are people poking themselves through ports, or around corners. it tends to give you better odds of achieving composition.

6) sponsors need more stuff on the front of shirts and the sleeves, because downrange pictures are usually much more interesting.

Another tip. look to setup for a cross bay shot, where the shooter is moving between 45 and 90 degrees. Better chance of having the berm in the background.

[BritinUSA]

One option to deal with the RO in the shot is this; Before the beep, take a shot of the area where the shooter is expected to be. If the action shot has the RO in it, you can mask them out using the background that you took before the beep.

I tried some cross berm stuff, but the berms at the range are kind of narrow so it all depends on the stage setup. I didn't get any shots of Stage 5 at the match as there was simply no good angle available.

It's definitely a learning process.

[Tiny Warrior]

Awesome pictures!!

I saw Yamil using a remote for his camera at the SS Nats last weekend. Its a cool idea.

I think I know someone who might want one of these for his birthday.

[raz-0]

One option to deal with the RO in the shot is this; Before the beep, take a shot of the area where the shooter is expected to be. If the action shot has the RO in it, you can mask them out using the background that you took before the beep.

I tried some cross berm stuff, but the berms at the range are kind of narrow so it all depends on the stage setup. I didn't get any shots of Stage 5 at the match as there was simply no good angle available.

It's definitely a learning process.

This might work. I tried it, but had so few successes that I don't consider it worth the effort in most instances. (well realisticly, snapping an extra pic isn't the issue, I still do that in fits of optimisim, its all the photoshop work after that I'm referring to) The problem is wind, and unless there is a lot of distance between your subject and the bits being blown around, it's hard to convincingly erase even parts of the RO without doing a whole background replacement. Which creates the issue of masking out the primary subject convincingly.

[BritinUSA]

That's true. I've messed around with Photoshop before and it is a time consuming process to get it right. If I can get the composition and camera position just right then it should not be much of an issue. I can always ask the RO to take a step back when the shooter is in 'frame'.

I'm looking forward to trying it at Pueblo this weekend. They always put on great stages and their berms are a lot wider which gives more options for camera placement. I took over 200 shots at the first match to get maybe a dozen that were usable, always taking 3-5 shots of each shooter to make sure that there are some brass cases flying through the air or getting the gun in mid-cycle.