the_sword_july_2015

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Learning to shoot fencing where you are incontrol of the camera means managing thesethree factors – shutter speed, aperture, andISO – and knowing when one should be higherand another should be lower. If you’re shootinga saber match with reasonably good light, forexample, you might be set at ISO 3200, 1/800shutter speed, and f/3.5.Your Camera and Lens Matter.Buy the best-quality digital SLR (meaning mostlikely Canon or Nikon) you can afford, built themost recently, so that it has the best-qualityand highest-ISO image sensor and fastestframe-per-second rate. Then buy the bestquality“fast” lens you can afford that’s suitablefor how far you’ll be from the fencers. If you’restanding just beside the piste, you don’t needa telephoto lens (e.g., 70-200mm) but rathersomething in the 24-70mm range. A “fast” lensmeans a lens where the aperture remains thesame at all focal lengths—meaning if you zoomin, less light enters the camera and your shotswill be underexposed. A fast lens will have adesignation on the outside of it like “f/2.8”or f/3.5” as opposed to a slower lens that willshow a range, such as “f/3.5-f/5.6” (which isless desirable, but also less expensive).Focus, Focus, Focus.The ability to focus on a subject gets toughwhen they’re moving across a piste. Higherendcameras have the ability to track a subjectat very high speed, but that’s not alwayspossible depending on your camera gear.Plus, pro photographers “cheat” by changingtheir camera settings to what’s called “backfocusing” – meaning changing the button youuse to snap the shot. This allows them to usea semi-automatic focus and keep it locked-in,instead of refocusing each time they take aphoto. To optimize your ability to get imagesin-focus, follow these tips:Position yourself about 30 to 45 degreesfrom the center line of the piste, to the leftor right of the referee and a bit behind him.If you’re following a specific fencer, youshould be on the opposing side from wherethey are fencing. If they are left-handed,you may want to be on their weapon side,if possible, as you’ll get more of the bladein the shot and, consequently, get a more“complete” shot of a touch when it occurs.If you are in this 30-45 position, you havethe optimal amount of the visual field ofthe piste in focus, and you will not need toadjust your focus as much as if you werefarther to one side.We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ WhiteBalanceYour dSLR will have a way to adjust thewhite balance to a specific setting or colortemperature (measured in degrees Kelvin)or to be set automatically. Most sports hallshave those awful sodium-vapor lights or,even worse, fluorescent lighting. Some newvenues are using LED lights, which are muchbetter. The former type of lighting causesmillisecond variations in light, meaning thecolor temperature is changing rapidly. As aresult, whether you’re shooting on a fixed colortemperature or on automatic, either way it’sanybody’s guess what the color temperature isgoing to be from moment-to-moment. If yourcamera shoots 10 frames a second, you mightget 10 different shades of white – cream, blue,white, yellow, etc. – in one second of shooting.As a result, I don’t recommend even worryingabout this setting, and for anything that lookstruly out-of-whack, you can fix it later whenyou’re editing.Don’t Be Afraid to Shoot Tight.While it’s good to get all of the fencing actionin one image, sometimes you want to givesome dramatic effect, and shooting “tight”helps this. Try and get close-ups of faces,hands on grips, blade interaction, and thelike—but don’t do only those. Experiment withshooting on a random spot where you thinkfencers will pass by and hold a tight shot on it– then wait and see if they pass through yourspot and shoot!Tell a Story.I’m primarily a photography documentarian,meaning I spend each day documenting theentire event. Even if it’s just one fencer, try totell a story with your shots – for example, fromthe salute, to the first engagement, to theargument with the referee, to the frustrationof falling behind, to the victory of winning, andthen the celebration and finally the medals.This can be done in a sequence of five to tenphotos, which tell a quick visual tale of whathappened.Use your camera’s ability to change wherethe focal point is located. The default oncameras is to focus on the center of theviewfinder; however, if you focus therewhile aiming at two fencers, you’ll likelybe focusing on the audience on the farside and not the athletes. Instead, learnhow to adjust your camera’s focal settingsto focus on the fencer to the oppositeside from where you are shooting. Focuson something more geometric, like theweapon or the mask, as it will be easier foryour camera to “catch” the subject. While Iemphasize shooting using manual exposuresettings, I do not suggest shooting usingmanual focus—it’s nearly impossible to keepfocusing manually on moving fencers.Focus on something… like the weapon or the mask, as it will be easier for your camera to “catch” thesubject. (Pozdniakov (RUS) v Montano (ITA)-Bronze-Beijing)22 THE SWORD JULY 2015
Try and get close-ups of faces.Don’t Use a Flash.If you’re on the field of play or beside the piste,you aren’t allowed to use a flash in any venue(do you really want that angry Russian coachblaming you for his fencer missing that finaltouch?). If you’re in the tribunes, your flashhas no effect. All those little twinkling flashesthat look so nice in stadiums or big venues?They’re only serving to illuminate the gent’shead in front of the shooter. Light falls-off soquickly that flashes are really only effective atvery close range, so save them for the medalceremony.Hold Your Camera Correctly.You hold a dSLR still camera differently thana video camera. You use your right hand tocontrol the shutter release and adjust otherexposure functions. Your left hand cups thelens underneath, with your thumb to the left.This is the way it was designed to be held,and further stabilizes your camera so youcan get images that are more in-focus. If thelight is really low, and if your camera is olderand doesn’t have the ISO capabilities of thenewer ones, consider using a monopod to helpstabilize your shots.Be Creative with Your Angles.When I began shooting fencing, I tried toshoot what no one had before. One of thesefirst shots involved climbing up into a catwalkat a grand prix in Algiers, Algeria and shootingdown on the top of the fencers (a littleharrowing in an African venue with nothingmore than some rebar holding me up). Findinteresting angles for shooting your fencingsubject can produce some very rewardingimages. Stand at the end of the piste for a fewshots, hold your camera high in the air whilezoomed to the most wide setting, lie down onthe ground, and in general look for innovativeways in which you can view the same-oldsport. This will help round-out your fencingTell a story. (Flessel L (FRA) v Shutova L (RUS)-prelim-2008 Beijing World Champs)“story” and inevitably find some interesting andfun shots.Post-Production.The best photos are created at the momentthey’re shot, not on the computer. That said,working with your images after you take themis an important step and can be fun but alsotime-consuming. Choosing photos is a toughjob, and deciding if they need some touch-upsuch as cropping or level adjustment is animportant part of finalizing your story. Usingapplications such as Lightroom, ACDSee Pro,and Photo Mechanic can do a lot to optimizeimages, fix minor problems, batch-processlarge numbers of images, manipulate imagesizes to ready them for print or screen, andgenerally get your images set for publicviewing.This is a very involved topic, however, and bestsuited for a future article…Be creative with your angles. (BeijingOlympicGames)JULY 2015 THE SWORD 23
Page 1 and 2: THESWORDBritish Fencing MagazineJUL
Page 4 and 5: News in BriefBAKU 2015The British O
Page 6 and 7: BRITISH FENCINGMARKS VE DAYTaster S
Page 8 and 9: BUPA WESTMINSTER MILEThe BUPA Westm
Page 10 and 11: SENIOR EUROPEANCHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT
Page 12 and 13: BEAZLEY BRITISH FENCINGCHAMPIONSHIP
Page 14 and 15: Birmingham InternationalTournament
Page 16 and 17: Hertfordshire Junior CountyChampion
Page 18 and 19: MASTER’S AND REVENUREPORTSCOMPETI
Page 20 and 21: MEDICAL AND SCIENCEBecoming Mentall
Page 24 and 25: Fencing Flashmob 2015A Worldwide Ev
Page 26 and 27: SENIOR INTERNATIONALROUND UPby our
Page 28 and 29: By Beatrice FannonROUND UPWHITCHURC
Page 30 and 31: EMAIL TO THE EDITOREmail tothe Edit
Page 32 and 33: RESULTSYOUTH DOMESTICBRITISH U23 SA
Page 34 and 35: RESULTSWOMEN’S FOIL1. BEATTIE, Ke
Page 36: 36 THE SWORD JULY 2015

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