Light Pockets are Your Best Friend
By Mark J. Rebilas
A few years ago when I attended the inaugural Sports Shooter Academy (SSA) I learned something that has completely changed the quality of my photographs. Nope, not photoshop! That something was utilizing light and clean backgrounds.
Great action shots are a dime a dozen these days and most photographers who shoot just the standard imagery likely won’t land many new clients. But if you can get that same action photo with gorgeous light and clean backgrounds then you will go much further.
A lot of the images you will see in this posting were shot at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It has a retractable roof which is closed roughly 90% of the early afternoon games where you have a chance of light hitting the field. But the one awesome thing about the stadium is there are some windows along the whole top of the stadium that when the time is right it produces very unique light pockets that can turn a boring dime a dozen photo into an interesting image that can make you some money.
The above photo is a reference shot to illustrate what I’m talking about. On an afternoon game in roughly the 7th inning or so the light makes its way across the infield. I have yet to get my dream shot of a spectacular play at second base or a play at the plate but I have a few more years of shooting to accomplish that goal.
Nikon D2x, 80-200mm, 200iso, f2.8, 1/800th
The above photo is Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton as he rounds the bases after hitting his second career home run. Without nice light and dark backgrounds this photo would be garbage and would never have seen the light of day but with how it came out it ran in a few different publications and made it worth my time.
Nikon D200, 400mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/1600th
This was a hit up the middle that I thought had the potential for a play at second base but the ball got through and ruined the shot. But hey if it was easy everyone would be successful! Maybe next time.
Nikon D200, 400mm, 1000iso, f9, 1/800th
I really liked how this image came out of the right fielder bathed in the 10ft strip of light as it maoved through the outfield. Once again this was an almost shot that woulda been amazing if he was diving for a ball but once again no luck! When people accuse you of being unethical and you know you didn’t do anything wrong that is a sure indication that you did a good job with light pockets!
Nikon D3, 80-200mm with 1.4 convertor, 250iso, f5.6, 1/1250th
Ok moving on to NASCAR. Unlike baseball all races take place outdoors so depending on race start times several tracks have amazing light pockets to work with. The above image of Matt Kenseth was shot at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the closing stages of the race. The strips of light are a result of sun shining through the space between giant advertising billboards that circle turn one and two. When I came across that light my usual quest for crashes took a back seat as I hung out there to get stock images of every car in the race.
The above image is just to show you the billboards I was referring to. The picture was taken after the shafts went below the racing line which is why I was no longer in the shooting position of the earlier shot.
Nikon D200, 400mm, 250iso, f5.6, 1/2000th
Ok now we are moving on to my home track Phoenix International Raceway about 35 minutes (25min if I feel like driving triple digits) from my house. They have 2 races a year at the track. A day race and a night race. The best part is the night race starts when there is about an hour of good light left and the day race ends when the good light is in full effect. The above picture was shot during driver introductions and worked out wonderfully compared to a typically standard shot of drivers waving to the crowd.
Nikon D200, 400mm, 400iso, f5, 1/1600th
The above image is from the exact same spot of the previous shot when the race was actually going on. The way the shadow of the car worked out made for some cool images. Thankfully this car was really bright because I was several stops underexposed on the front of the car (which was in the shadows) to get such a crisp shadow.
Nikon D2x, 400mm, 320iso, f4, 1/3200th
Shot Jeff Gordon on pit road during afternoon qualifying for the Phoenix race. A light shaft across pit road provided some decent light and certainly a break from the normal boring light. The crazy part was a lot of the photogs around me were using flash on their cameras and totally missing the awesome light.
Nikon D2x, 80-200mm, 250iso, f5, 1/1500th
More light pockets at PIR, I love how the cars look like they are pasted against that black background.
Nikon D200, 80-200mm, 320iso, f5.6, 1/1600th
Same turn as the previous image shot from the roof of the main grandstands to get a bit different effect.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm with 1.4 converter, 320iso, f7.1, 1/1600th
The above image was shot during qualifying for the race at Richmond International Raceway (RIR). Driver Scott Riggs was sitting on the pit road wall with a black pit wagon behind him with some nice side lighting. Unfortunately it isn’t a bigger named driver so I am sure it will never make me many sales but maybe he will do something famous…..or imfamous and get his name in the news!
Nikon D200, 17-35mm, 100iso, f2.8, 1/500th
This image of driver Kasey Kahne was shot at Infineon Raceway just north of San Francisco. I forget exactly what caused this reflection onto his face but I believe it was a reflection off the car in front of him. Regardless it made for a cool frame.
Nikon D2x, 85mm, 100iso, f1.8, 1/8000th
The above image was shot at the Talladega Superspeedway as the field came to take the green flag to start the race. My shooting position at this track is a favorite of mine because you can use the crowd to really produce a nice looking shot. The cloudy sky cast perfect shadows across the frame and got me a doubletruck in Sports Illustrated.
Nikon D200, 400mm, 500iso, f5.6, 1/4000th
The above image was shot from the same spot as the previous photo but during the truck race a day earlier that started at a different time. As the field of trucks were going away from me into turn one they went through about a 100yard light shaft that is nothing amazing but as previously said a million times it is better than normal light!
Nikon D2x, 17-35mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/1250th
This image was shot at the Dover Speedway in lovely and funfilled Delaware! (to all those who actually live there I give you my heartfelt sympathy!) It was during a Friday afternoon race of no named drivers that most photogs never stick around to shoot. I love racing so I shoot every race! As the sun was dipping lower the massive grandstands provided a nice shadow to make for a cool shot. The outside of the track is in shadows since the pavement dips down below the sun line.
Nikon D2x, 80-200mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/500th
Got lucky when a crashed car was towed by me through the nice light pocket. At the time I told my friends it reminded me of a racing version of the famous National Geographic aerial shot of the camels with their shadows. Perhaps not?
Nikon D200, 400mm, 200iso, f6.3, 1/320th
This image was shot at the Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC. Earlier in the day driver Bill Elliott (who I was doing a commercial shoot of) got in my face and yelled at me for shooting him. So I threw on the 400mm and shot from further away when I stumbled across some nice light going through the cockpit and lighting his eye. In the photo you can tell he’s giving me the death stare! Wooo hoo.
Nikon D2x, 80-200mm, 100iso, f5, 1/1000th
This is a picture from back in my military days. One of the back seat officers in an EA/6B Prowler is illuminated by a pocket of light. I miss some of the photo opps from the Navy but I definently don’t miss the Navy!
Nikon D2h, 300mm, 200iso, f10, 1/250th
Back in the Navy days I shot this photo on a port visit to Perth, Australia. Being the photo nerd I am I took my gear out on the town with me and shot this koala bear at a local zoo as it was bathed in partial sun light.
Nikon D2h, 12-24mm, 200iso, f8, 1/500th
This image was shot from the top floor of a massive mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had just finished up with some friends at my first international Chilis when we looked down to see a fashion show going on in the mall courtyard. Made for a cool pattern of the sun light shining through the glass roof.
Nikon D2h, 300mm, f4, 1/3200th
The above image was shot at the Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA. I was stationed up in the Seattle area for my last year in the Navy and on weekends I would head out to local race tracks and shoot images then print them up on a Canon I9900 printer run off a power inverter in my car to make some extra cash (anyone who has been in the military will understand the need for more income!) The image was at a small motorcycle race. The track had a bunch of elevation changes on a tree lined course. The afternoon sun through the trees gave me several light pockets to mess around with such as that.
Nikon D2x, 80-200mm, 800iso, f2.8, 1/320th
Another photo from when I was stationed in Seattle. Would drive the 45 minutes around the Pugent Sound over to the city to shoot Seattle Thunderbirds games. Prior to the game they would have spot lights going all around the stadium and I would expose for the bright light and hope for a player to skate through. Not perfect but good enough.
Nikon D200, 80-200mm, 200iso, f5.6, 1/1250th
For an assignment I went to San Diego, CA and shot off road truck racing. Other than the insane amount of dust it was a very enjoyable shoot with some sweet light pockets which worked well with the flying dust. Good times.
Nikon D2h, 12-24mm, 400iso, f5.6, 1/1600th
During my time in Seattle I shot several Seattle Seahawks games, including every home game of their 2005 Superbowl season. The above image was shot during the first few plays after the pyrotechnics and smoke of the pregame introductions. The light peering over the edge of stadium mixed with the smoke still hanging around made for a classic looking photograph.
Nikon D2x, 400mm, 200iso, f2.8, 1/1500th
One thing I learned early on with shooting sports is most of the photographers are too lazy to actually move around the stadium. Shooting from a different perspective can really make for some unique and above average shots. You can really set yourself apart from the rest if you take some initiative and run all over the place to provide full coverage of a game. If I stayed on the field the whole time every game and shot the same exact pictures that I shot the week before I might kill myself out of boredom.
Nikon D200, 400mm, 250iso, f5.6, 1/1600th
Shooting at the Rose Bowl is one of my favorite places t shoot. In the late afternoon on a sunny day the stadiums light is second to none. If you don’t believe me ask anyone who has shot a game there. Its a magical place.
Nikon D2x, 400mm, 400iso, f2.8, 1/5000th
Monster Park in San Francisco, CA is equally as great of a place for an afternoon game as the Rose Bowl. If only there was an amazing play going on in this light. Maybe next time!
-Mark J. Rebilas is a freelance sports photographer based in Arizona. His work is seen regularly in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, USA Today and many others around the country. Next month he will be updating his blog (and Askthephotographer.com) as he covers the Summer Olympics in Beijing China.
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