pixelens photography

Shoot tight, crop tighter…

Jason — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:34:55 +0000

I recently sought out an industry sports photographer to review my work and ended up contacting a local photographer who shoots for the Canadian Press. I was impressed first off that he replied to my request for critique, and spent some time gathering what I thought were my 15 best sports shots today. He replied the following day and out of those 15, only 2 made the cut and a third would make the cut with a crop.

Ryan Fortin vs. Jared Kilkenny at HeatXC4: Hysteria - made the cut

Nick Denis (top) vs. Jason Townes at Aggression MMA - didn't make the cut

He had this to say as well:

In sports, look for the action, the story-telling moment, or peak emotion. And as much as possible, shoot faces, shoot faces, shoot faces when you get the action and the emotion and the story-telling moment all in one frame. And crop.

Interestingly enough, browsing through the sports photography forums lately, it rang a bell and I’d heard the “shoot tight, crop tighter…” adage in quite a few different spots. Since I received his feedback a week ago, I’ve been going through my older stuff and trying different crops, and I do have to agree – it really draws you in. That being said, on the other hand in some cases a wider shot I think makes for a totally different print; but I think I understand now the key difference in newsworthy sports shots and “just” a sports shot. Here’s a couple before and after crops for your viewing pleasure.

Concordia Thunder Women's Soccer vs. NAIT Ooks - as submitted

Concordia Thunder Women's Soccer vs. NAIT Ooks - suggested crop

Josten Tardiff (top) vs. James Petryk at Aggression MMA - pre-crop

Josten Tardiff (top) vs. James Petryk at Aggression MMA - post-crop

On my last couple shoots – basketball and hockey, I tried to shoot tighter as well. The hockey was easier being in a better lit venue, was definitely tougher at the basketball games.

Concordia Thunder Women's Basketball vs. Augustana Vikings

Concordia Thunder Men's Basketball vs. Augustana Vikings

Concordia Thunder Men's Hockey

Fighting for 10th!

Jason — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:23:47 +0000

As most of you have probably heard, I’ve entered the Globe & Mail contest to try and win a chance to be a guest photographer at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Thanks to all your support I’m VERY close to reaching the top ten, roughly 20 votes away at the time of this writing. I’d like to thank you all for your past support and ask for your continued support over the next few days as the last day to vote is November 22nd. You do have to register, you do have to have a Canadian address, but each time you vote you also get a chance to win a laptop/dslr prize package from the Globe and Mail.

You can vote for me here:
http://journalismdream.theglobeandmail.com/entry_photo.asp?id=640

You can either comment on this post that you’ve voted or email me to be entered in a thank you draw for an 11×14 print of your choosing.

Thanks again and hope to be sending Olympic photos your way in February!

Featured on the Vancouver Sun!

Jason — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:55:03 +0000

The other day I was contacted by Chris Parry of the Vancouver Sun wondering if he could run a story using one of the images I took at Heat XC. A short while later I received another email wondering if I would send a number of images I’d taken recently and he’d feature it in a gallery on the site. Definitely didn’t expect front sports section exposure (was one of the top stories for a good portion of the afternoon/evening) as well as a featured spot on the MMA page of the sports section.

Thanks for the feature Chris!

Vancouver Sun feature gallery

Check out the full feature and gallery on the Vancouver Sun website:
Gallery: Canadian MMA up close and personal

Also, if you haven’t yet – please consider voting and helping out my bid to be a guest photographer at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver for the Globe & Mail! You can vote daily and each vote counts as a ballot to enter a voter draw of a laptop/dslr prize pack. It’s been a little over a week and with your support I’m over half way to tenth spot on the list.

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Heat XC 4: Hysteria

Jason — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:46:35 +0000

Shot Heat XC 4: Hysteria at River Cree Resort & Casino last night for the guys over at Top MMA News. Some good fights, here’s a preview of what’s to come! Be sure to check out the results over at Top MMA News as well.

Kajan Johnson (right) vs. Josh Russell

Kajan Johnson (left) vs. Josh Russell

Roger Hollett (right) vs. Aron Lofton

Roger Hollett (foreground) vs. Aron Lofton

Check out the images as they get added to the Heat XC 4: Hysteria set over on Flickr.

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Published!

Jason — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:27:49 +0000

Awhile ago I was contacted by a student in the UK wondering if she could use one of the photos I’d taken for a student magazine project on pregnancy. The image was used in an article written by Aastha Gill and was part of a coursework project for the MA Journalism degree program at the University of Westminster. Aastha was kind enough to mail me a hard copy and I must say, I was very impressed! A lot of work went into the project and it looks great. The picture they used appears below, the placement in the magazine appears as the main image of this post (so click through if you are on the main page of the blog or viewing this through a news reader).

Thanks to my sis-in-law for being such a great model!

.dream

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My Olympic Dream – I need your help!

Jason — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:59:48 +0000

As some of you may have seen, I asked for your help in picking 5 images I could submit for a really kick @$$ contest that I would LOVE to win. For those of you who responded, thank you very much for assisting me with my selections.

I’ve entered the contest with the images that you see on this page (both above and below). Their rule on voting is “one vote per category per user per day”. Voting runs until November 22nd, and on the 23rd the top 50 submissions by popular vote are then further judged on various criteria until a winner is chosen. I honestly cannot tell you how much I’d love to have this opportunity to shoot the Olympics – it really would be my Olympic dream, especially considering I’m not a huge sports player ;).

You can vote for me by visiting my entry on the Globe and Mail contest site.

So vote daily, get your mom & dad to vote, your friends to vote, get everyone you know to vote! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support!

Cheers,
Jason

Jason Lambert (left) vs. Matt Horwich at Aggression MMA: First Blood

Concordia Thunder Hockey

Concordia Thunder Women's Soccer

Concordia Thunder Women's Volleyball

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Globe and Mail Contest

Jason — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:49 +0000

The Globe and Mail has a contest and the prize is for one writer and one photographer to be “guest journalists” for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. As some of you know, I’ve been delving into the realm of sports photography and this contest/opportunity is really exciting. I need to post 5 images (which I will be doing later tonite I hope) and I’d like to ask your help to pick the BEST 5 images below. Send me an email at jbouwmeester at gmail dot com (or via Twitter – @pixelens, or Facebook if a FB friend, or leave a reply in the comments section below) with the numbers of your picks. Alternately if you have an image in mind from my Flickr stream, feel free to include that number – the 5D###### should be a tag on the Flickr page.

A couple things from the site, on the main page their their blurb reads:

Demonstrate your passion for sports. Capture the drama. The glory. The heartbreak. The humour. The artistry.

As well, from the judging rules:

Judging for the overall quality criteria in the ‘Photography Category’ entries includes, without limitation, originality of the shot(s), clarity, sharpness and focus.

Just things to keep in mind while selecting your choices from below.

I’ll be letting you all know which ones I pick and will also be asking for your assistance in helping me make the final set by voting – One vote per category per user per day.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you all being part of this process and for your support!

Cheers,
Jason

Click on an image below for a larger view:

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Aggression MMA: First Blood – Lenny Wheeler vs. Amir Uddin

Jason — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:30:20 +0000

These were taken at Aggression MMA: First Blood on October 24, 2009 while shooting for Fused Logic who was doing the live internet video stream of the fights. Lenny Wheeler defeated Amir Uddin by TKO at 0:30 in Round 1.

Lenny Wheeler (left) vs. Amir Uddin

Check out more pictures of the Lenny Wheeler vs. Amir Uddin fight at Aggression MMA: First Blood over on Flickr.

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Aggression MMA: First Blood – Adam Lorenz vs. Rolando Perez

Jason — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:52:55 +0000

Taken at Aggression MMA: First Blood. Adam Lorenz defeated Rolando Perez by unanimous decision after 3 rounds. Definitely one of the best fights of the night! The guys over at www.fightsource.ca and Red Dragon Fight Company, www.rdfc.tv, are sponsors of Adam Lorenz and will be hopefully posting images soon on those sites.

Adam Lorenz (right) vs. Rolando Perez

Check out more pictures of the Adam Lorenz vs. Rolando Perez fight at Aggression MMA: First Blood over on Flickr.

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Aggression MMA: First Blood – Corey Lautischer vs. Robin Black

Jason — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:52:19 +0000

These were taken at Aggression MMA: First Blood on October 24, 2009 while shooting for Fused Logic who was doing the live internet video stream of the fights. Corey Lautischer defeated Robin Black by guillotine at 0:31 of Round 1.

Corey Lautischer (left) vs. Robin Black

Check out more pictures of the Corey Lautischer vs. Robin Black fight at Aggression MMA: First Blood over on Flickr.

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