U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team (color)

This post wraps up my coverage of the retirement ceremony for Capt David Newton.  This post features some color photography of the U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill team (opposed to the black and white presented in my last post).

As you are likely aware, I am biased toward black and white photography and have written frequently about my thoughts on this subject (if you enter “why black and white” in the search box at the top of the page, you will be rewarded with a number of prior posts describing my thoughts on choosing black and white over color photography).  However, sometimes color works…even for me.  In the case of the photographs in this post, I’m not sure the choice of color complies with my normal rules.  For these photographs I believe it may be a matter of psychology completely unrelated to photography.  There is not much important color in these photographs.  In other words, the color does not provide a notable level of new information that would not be present in the black and white photography – the color simply does not play an important role.  My theory in explaining my choice to maintain the color is that after spending 27 years in a Coast Guard uniform, I somehow had to save at least a few color photographs in reminiscence of my time in blue.

I hope you have enjoyed this series of photographs from Captain David Newton’s retirement.  I had a great time shooting this event and look forward to similar opportunities.

Craig

U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team (B/W)

This is my third of four posts of photographs taken at the retirement ceremony for Captain David Newton.  This post features a set of black and white photographs of the U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team.

The final post will feature more of the U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team in color.  The real challenge of these photographs was the lighting.  The shots were taken outdoors in full midday sun – the least pleasing time of day with respect to lighting.  On the other hand, the bright lighting allowed me to use a high shutter speed and stop the motion of flying and twirling rifles.

Another photographic point to make about these shots is preparation.  Although I am happy with the photography, I was not adequately prepared.  These shots were taken with my 70-200 f 2.8L which performed well – as this wonderful lens always does.  However, I would have preferred to get closer and use a wider lens such as the 24-105 f4.0L to get more interesting angles and perspectives.  Regrettably, I was distracted (probably at the bar already) and the activity started before I was able to think about the performance and change lenses.  The result was a series of shots “on plane” with no opportunity to explore angled perspectives in the vertical plane.  The lesson to take away is one of understanding the shots you want to get, and being prepared before the activity begins.

A common theme that runs through this photography and the composition is the use of repeating patterns.  For more of my perspective and examples of using repeating patterns to add interest to photography, see my post “Repeating Patterns.”


Have fun and go make some great photography.
Craig

U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard

In my last post I presented some event photography from the retirement ceremony of a good friend (Event Photography – Retirement of Captain David Newton) and wrote a bit about my experiences with event photography.  In that post I promised to post some additional photos of the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team.

This post is the first of three sets of photographs I will post featuring the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team.  This set of photographs features color shots of the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard.  As regular readers of the Craig Corl Photography blog will recall, I generally don’t like to mix black and white photography with color photography although I occasionally break this rule.  The pending posts will feature some of the black and white photography.

The photograph above is another example of exposing for the highlights of the subject, allowing the bright background to blow out, increasing contrast and sharpening and also increasing the exposure to allow the background to blow out even further.  I discussed this process in greater detail in the last blog post - Event Photography – Retirement of Captain David Newton.  I intend on exploring this process further.  The question that comes to mind is “how far can I take this and still get good photographs?”



Stand by for more of the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Silent Drill Team.
Have fun and go make some great photography!
Craig