The Lead Jammer

Photo of the Day

Today I thought that I would post another photo from the bout that I photographed almost two weeks ago. This is the second bout that I have placed a remote camera high up on a pole. I love the new perspective that it gives. In a sport like roller derby where  position is very important it helps to tell the story. I think that it works best when the main pack skates by, but sometimes a lone skater can produce great results. I love this one of Brawlin’ Dolls skater Sugar Magnolia looking towards the pack. This was part of a thirty point jam for her, and I really love the way that the photo fades to black. You can view more of my pictures from the bout here on my Facebook page.

Technical Data

Once again I started with Matt Kloskowski’s HDR in black and white preset here. It really is a great starting point for a gritty black and white. When I need a finer black and white photo I open up Nik’s Silver Efex Pro. Here though I could get what I wanted very quickly. After applying the preset it was just a couple of tweaks using the sliders before I was ready to post the photo.

This photo is also the result of a very cool system that I devised. I use a Bogen Magic Arm to place my old Rebel XT on the pole. I have a $30 flash unit on top of the camera with a Pocket Wizard Plus III firing the whole system. It really is amazing to see the photos that come from this relatively inexpensive system.