Photo Of The Week

Being able to control light is key to photography. Sure, you can put the camera on program and let Japanese engineers who programmed the software in your camera decide how to take your photo, but learning how to expose your photo correctly is key to making better images.

I had to shoot an all-area sports portrait last week and had to think about it for a little while to come up with an idea. I’ve seen portraits done with side lighting for a dramatic effect and thought I’d try it.

I met Crescenta Valley’s Coltrane Powdrill in the school’s gym in the afternoon, the lights were on and the skylights were bright, but I needed the gym to appear dark.

I dropped my ISO down to 100, set my aperture to f.16 and my shutter speed to 250. This made the gym go black, regardless of the available light. Then I started adding light back in by putting two strobes to the left and right of the subject.

I did a couple of test shots and decided to add a light from the floor light the ball a little. I had Powdrill give me the look he gives the opposition and I had a nice little portrait.

— Roger Wilson