The story of the night being the upset win for the Springboks, it was important to capture the two different sides of emotion displayed on the field. These images are the ones most likely to be run in news stories following the conclusion of the game.

Photographically speaking, this is not easy to do. You have to ‘look’ for these pictures, and often the pictures are to be found in backplay, on the reserve bench and on the sideline, or inbetween plays. It is important to always follow the play and to not stop shooting once the whistle blows. Some photographers stop shooting once the play stops to ‘chimp’ or go through their photographs and as a result can miss out on photographs of players/coaches reacting to a call or injuries etc.

Wallaby Full-Back Israel Folau reacts after turning the ball over during his sides’ 38 – 12 loss at the hands of the Springboks. 1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1000sec, f3.5, ISO3200

Wallaby Fly-Half Quade Cooper reacts after the final whistle blows during his sides’ 38 – 12 loss at the hands of the Springboks. 1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1000sec, f3.5, ISO3200

Injured Wallaby Captain James Horwill looks on during the second half of his sides’ 38 – 12 loss to the Springboks. 1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/640sec, f3.5, ISO3200

A great opportunity for capturing photographs of celebration (jube) is immediately following a try/goal/score. This is easier to do, but requires you to be in the right position. Being at the opposite end of the field when a try is scored isn’t going to help you, you need to be able to follow the play and get in position as the attacking team nears the goal line. With run-away tries this isn’t always possible, but you must give yourself the best chance by being ahead of the play and letting the players run towards you. Once the final whistle blows, look for photographs of celebration, but also of dejection. Photographs that combine the two are best (eg. opposition player in the foreground with celebration going on behind).

Springboks winger Willie le Roux celebrates with teammates after scoring for his side. 1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1000sec, f3.5, ISO3200

Springboks winger Willie le Roux celebrates with teammates after scoring for his side. 1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1000sec, f3.5, ISO3200

This advice applies to all level of photography, and all levels of sporting competition – not just professionals. Use this advice to improve your pictures and hone your skills.

– Chris –

The task involved submitting 3 – 5 images that were interconnected and told a story (about a ‘place’ I have visited). Regardless of the outcome of the competition, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of not only creating a single good image, or even five good images, but also ensuring they linked together and told a story. A good story.  This was something I have never been tasked with before, but is the challenge that photographers for publications like National Geographic do on a daily basis.

I found out about the competition only 8 days before the competition closed, so I was behind the eight ball from the start. I knew that such a competition would have a massive number of entries, so I tried to go with something a little different, something that the judges wouldn’t see in a hundred different entries.

A friend of a friend, after getting in contact is was agreed that Tom would give me his time in exchange for a family photo of he and his three children (Tom is a single father). Tom was very accommodating, and showed me the entire process of horsebreaking / training, as a result I was able to gain and understand of the processes involved and ideally show this in my images.

This is the series of images I was able to produce, shown in order with captions below.

Often a solitary occupation, Horse breaking and training often involves up to twelve hour days, seven days a week. Each horse receives careful attention and treatment in order to achieve best results. Tom is pictured riding ‘Brody’ during a warmup routine in the roundyard prior to commencing a training session (1DX, 24 – 70mm f2.8 @ 50mm, ISO 1000, f/13, 1/60sec).

Communication between horse and rider is essential. Tom uses a number of audible, hand and leg ‘aides’ to communicate with the horse. Fast paced activities such as cattle work require the rider and horse to work together in order to be successful. A well-trained stockhorse will even be able to move and turn instinctively while on the job, without the slightest need for input from the rider (1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1250sec).

Young horses are often flighty, and are introduced to new experiences and locales gradually. Here, Tom introduces Brody to cattle work, a relationship that will be important in his future as a stockhorse (1DX, 400mm f2.8 IS, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000sec).

As a single father and a strong family man; Tom’s three children mean the world to him. All three children help their dad with the running of the business. Tom’s youngest daughter Abby (pictured), is a keen barrel racer and strong rider. As the working day draws to an end, Tom takes time out to coach Abby and improve her technique (1DX, 70 – 200mm f2.8 @ 185mm, ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/2000sec).

Tom pauses to reflect after putting away his saddle and equipment. He says he doesn’t mind the long work hours, having worked hard to build a reputation as a quality horsebreaker & trainer, Tom finds great pleasure in what he has worked hard to establish (1DX, 24 – 70mm f2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 1000, f/4.0, 1/500sec).

Canon has just recently announced a product recall on some of its flagship model 1DX & 1D-C cameras.

Link here.

Having patiently waited for over 12 months to get my hands on a 1DX, I’m a little frustrated that I have owned one for just two weeks and it has already been recalled.

The recall is over an autofocus issue (big surprise, eh) – I wonder if there will ever be a stop to the problems with my Canon “Professional” Equipment!

There is no CPS dealer in my hometown (Brisbane) so that makes it all the more inconvenient as my gear has to be transported to and from Sydney for repair.

– Chris –

The 1DX performed superbly. I was most impressed by the autofocus, which was a vast improvement over the 1DmkIV. The image quality is excellent and the ISO performance has improved by 1-2 stops. I do plan to upgrade to the 1DX in the near future for use for my sports photography and my portrait & commercial work.

I shot 3,721 frames over the weekend. I decided to pull four out and convert them to black and white. I deliberately increased the contrast and deepened the blacks to provide a more striking series of pictures, enjoy!

Canon 1DX & 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1600sec, ISO 3200 f/2.8. Image: CHRIS TIPPELT/Sportography/QLD Reds

Canon 1DX & 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1600sec, ISO 3200 f/2.8. Image: CHRIS TIPPELT/Sportography/QLD Reds

Canon 1DX & 17 – 40mm f4 @ 23mm – 1/1000sec, ISO 400 f/4.0.  IMAGE: CHRIS TIPPELT

Canon 1DX & 400mm f2.8 IS – 1/1600sec, ISO 800 f/5.0.  IMAGE: CHRIS TIPPELT

Last year I covered this exact same race meet and shot a lot of tight images using my 400mm. So this year I decided to go with something a little different and shoot a few wider, panning images to try and show how fast these bikes go! I used a circular polariser to bring out the colours in the sky a little better & increase overall saturation as it was a very sunny day.

Enjoy!

Ben exits turn 3 – Morgan Park Raceway 2013. IMAGE: CHRIS TIPPELT

5D mk III, 17 – 40mm f4 lens @ 17mm, 1/100sec, f/9, ISO 160. Circular Polariser.

Ben enters turn 3 – Morgan Park Raceway 2013. IMAGE: CHRIS TIPPELT

5D mk III, 17 – 40mm f4 lens @ 17mm, 1/500sec, f/8, ISO 500. Circular Polariser.

Ben crosses the finish line – Morgan Park Raceway 2013. IMAGE: CHRIS TIPPELT

5D mk III, 70 – 200mm f2.8 lens @ 70mm, 1/60sec, f/8, ISO 100.

A little behind the scenes action of me photographing racers on the exit of turn 3. The sound and speed of these machines is unbelievable.

– Chris –

Digby Ioane is tackled by Henry Speight.

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds

Qld Reds forwards move in to support Rob Simmons (with ball).

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds

Eddie Quirk is tackled by Ben Alexander.

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds

Will Genia passes the ball in attack.

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds

Jesse Mogg reacts to pain in his shoulder during the second half.

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds.

Ben Tapuai looks on in defence during the 1st half.

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds

Quade Cooper kicks for goal.

Image: Chris Tippelt / Sportography / QLD Reds

– Chris –

I still shoot the Reds with them, and love every minute. Before the start of each game, I try and find an interesting angle/composition to cover the team as they enter the field. A few weeks ago, when the Reds played the Western Force – I captured this image of Ben Tapuai entering the field.

Images are copyright protected by the QLD Reds / Suncorp Stadium – Reuse or Redistribution of any kind is strictly prohibited

I shot this picture just as Ben ran onto the field using my 5DmkIII & my 17-40mm f4 lens. 1/80secs, f5.6, ISO 1000 at 17mm. I used a very slow shutter speed and ‘panned’ with each player as they ran past me, this gives the blurred background, leaving the subject sharp and in focus. This was my favourite image from the series.

Just before the Brumbies match last week I ran up into the stands to try and capture an image of the team as they ran through their banner and onto the field. This was my best photo from the sequence, I was trying to capture some of the team on either side of the banner, a bit of a ‘before & after’ style image.

Images are copyright protected by the QLD Reds / Suncorp Stadium – Reuse or Redistribution of any kind is strictly prohibited

Shot on my 5DmkIII & 17-40mm f4 lens. 1/125secs, f5.6, ISO 1000 at 17mm.

With only two home games remaining in the season I am still looking for interesting & unique angles, I will let you know how I go.

– Chris –

Other features include:

–        25% lighter and 30% smaller than HD Hero2

–        Faster image processor (2x faster than Hero2)

–        12MP still image capture (at up to a 30 frame per second burst)

–        New lens, resulting in sharper images

–        New exterior design, including a HDMI port

– Chris –

Check it out here

My shooting time was cut short by a bad crash and the resulting injury to a rider. He was stretchered off the course and taken via ambulance to Nambour hospital. The steepness of the course meant that this took some hours, once racing commenced I was able to capture the following image.

I have photographed mountain biking many times before and enjoy using a slower shutter speed and panning to show the unbelievable speed of the riders. In this frame I have captured a rider flying through the air and used a speedlight to provide fill light and used the short flash duration the ‘stop’ the action and provide a sharp image.

My camera settings:
1/80

f18

ISO1000

To create a slightly more dramatic look I underexposed the background/ambient light by 2/3 of a stop and used my flash to correctly expose the rider and create a very contrasty image.

– Chris –

I have always been a fan of workshops & sheds, their variable lighting and cluttered appearance provide heaps of interesting lighting opportunities. In this frame, I used a single speedlight as an off camera strobe to add light to the motorbike. The overhead fluro lights provided quite soft, directional light, which lit my friend (visible in the picture) as well as a smaller fluro above the bike (not visible).

I had been thinking about this frame for a good hour before it was shot, this resulted in a set up + shoot time of less than 15mins – not bad! I look forward to sharing more creative portraits with you in the future.

– Chris –