Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Today during my Sports Photography class we virtually met with Bert Hanashiro who works for USA Today (35 years) as a Staff Senior Photographer and the founder of Sports Shooter.

It was extremely insightful to hear about the events he has covered(sports, award shows(backstage/ seat in the house) and celebrity work) and what his thought process is like when he does.

It is incredible to me hearing how quickly he works. He only has about forty five minutes to an hour to setup(figure out a background/lighting) and anywhere between two to ten minutes if you are lucky to get a good portrait. There is no time to waste. Everything has to be very well prepared and setup. For instance, no checking the exposure and "chimping." (look at it from time to time but no point to continuously to look, you got what you got, it is not going to help nor hurt you if it is not there) Ten minutes is considered a long time to be photographing someone.

It takes more time prepping for the shoot than anything(research, making sure all the gear is together, arriving early to set up is crucial ( for instance he arrives usually 2-3 hours before a game/show he is photographing(look to see who is sitting where) to get oriented and to figure out where he wants to photograph).

It was interesting hearing how Bert stood out in the beginning of his career from other photographers because he was so good at manually focusing lenses. He explained how he has practiced by sitting in a chair next to a busy street and practiced focusing tracking cars and bicycles going down the street.

In Bert's opinion shooting tighter in sports adds more impact to the photo and isolates the action.

I enjoyed hearing that Burt and I have the same interested in cameras. Sony A1(I really enjoy this camera for video) and NikonZ9(I enjoy this camera for sports).

Key takeaways:

-The key take away from this meeting is that being prepared and paying attention to details is a must.

-The skills you develop to be a good sports photographer helps you throughout all our work:

• anticipating actions

• being prepared

• being able to use short and long lenses

• coming up with ideas/ doing something different than others

-If you work for a news paper be prepared to do a little bit of everything. You will shoot sports, portraits, food, news, press conferences, etc.

-Check the local news and wire services daily.

-You can always localize national stories.

-It is a good idea to have an assistant with you when shooting portraits(extra set of hands/eyes, stand in) to set up/breakdown but if you do not have anyone to test it on there are a lot of things that can go wrong.

-When taking portraits some people are more outgoing and patient to work with than others and Bert suggests to talk to them. Ask them questions. Having more knowledge on your subject and why you are photographing them the better. Bert recommends to look over all the information you have about the shoot beforehand.

-Three things Bert has to say about portrait photography:(two of them you can control the third you cannot)

• Lighting

• background (brings at least 3)

• Subject you cannot if they are going to be difficult then they are going to be

-The interaction between you and the subject is important

-Bert suggests to PRACTICE (For instance, if you are not hired for a job, you can still photograph a game(ask a local school/ college for access))

-Situational awareness***

-As Burt said " If you want to get better you have to think about it, have a plan, and you actually got to go out and do it"