Outdoors /
f
Operation Game Thief: 1-800.992-3030
Operation Cal- Tip: 1.800-952.5400
Pahrump Valley Gazette, Thursday, June 19, 1997 27
i'
by Ed Tomchin
The BLM, Nevada and Nye County's largest
landowner, Wild Horse and
to improve
that roam BLM lands.
BLM Acting Director, Sylvia Baca, encourages
groups and individuals to submit nominations for
membership on this nine-person board. Theboard's
function will be to offerexpert i
soned counsel
Outdoor action photos
by Ed Tomchin
By its very nature, good action photos are difficult to get.
In sports such as water skiing, boating, desert racing, motor-
cycling, hang gliding, things are moving rapidly across your
plane of vision and unexpected things happen at the worst
possible time.
Even pros only have a ratio of one good picture for every
10 or more taken. During a basketball game, the average
sports photographer probably shoots 100 or more frames and
winds up with only 8-10 usable photos.
Don't worry about film. If you want to get good pictures,
you have to get rid of the mind set
about wasting film. Trying to save
film is false economy and will only
cause you to lose a lot of good shots.
Fire away, and when that roll is fin-
ished, pop in another. It is also a good
idea to use 36 rather than 12 or 24
exposure rolls because it saves having
to change film so often.
My personal preference is to shoot
transparency or slide film rather than
color print film. The total cost of film
and processing is about the same but
you need less storage space for the
finished product, and excellent enlarge-
ments can be made from the slides you
like best. You can also put on slide
shows and entertain your friends with
some exciting action photos, maybe
even of them.
The most basic rule of action pho-
tography, whether amateur or pro, is to
know the sport or activity you want to
shoot. That way you can anticipate and capture the action at
its peak. Knowing what the performer is likely to do next is
vital to getting good action shots. There's nothing worse than
missing a great shot because you didn't know what was going
to happen next. The one that got away is always the best.
Consider water skiing: Shoot when the skier is at the
outside edge of a turn spraying a huge rooster tail of water into
the air, or just as she is about to lose balance and fall. How
do you know when that will happen? You don't. But knowing
WHEN the skier is most likely to fall will drastically increase
your chances of getting that great shot. Get the idea?"
Same with wildlife: Know the animal you're stalking,
know its habits and habitat. Then be where the action is going
to take place, anticipate it and shoot, shoot, shoot.
STAYING IN FOCUS is a major problem in action
photography. Occasionally an out-of-focus picture will give
the impression of fast movement, which is a plus, but that
ral'ely happens. Most out-of-focus pictures are worthless.
If your camera has auto-predict focus your problems are
greatly reduced because the camera can see and react a lot
faster than you can.
If you own a point and shoot, you have to be the camera's
eyes and brains. However, there are some tricks you can use
to improve your chances of getting a good picture of the
action.
One sure method is practice focusing with an empty
camera. Keep the camera handy and pick it up once or twice
aday: aim, focus and fire, aim, focus and fire. Dry shoot your
kids, your wife or husband, passing cars, your dog. Do this
every day for about five minutes and in a few weeks focusing
will be second nature. It doesn't hurt the camera and you'll
lose far fewer action shots because of being out of focus.
The addition of a wide angle lens (24-35mm) to your basic
equipment will greatly enhance the success of your action
shots. You'll have to get closer to your subject, but the depth
of field is enormous and very forgiving of focusing errors,
even at the widest lens opening.
KNOW YOUR CAMERA! This is numero uno. If you
have to stop and look for the shutter button, or to make sure
your settings are correct, or your thumb isn't over the lens,
you're going to lose a lot of good photos.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Play with your camera
till you can pertbrm every function without looking or think-
ing about it. Handling your cam-
era should be natural, like you
were born with it in your hands.
Practice changing settings.
Practice loading and unloading
the camera in the dark. Practice,
practice, practice. It's the best
advice for getting the best action
pictures. If you have to stop and
think about what you're doing with
the camera, you'll usually miss
the shot. Learn the camera and
leave your own thought processes
free to concentrate on the compo-
sition and timing of the picture.
PLAY THE ANGLES. Ac-
tion is usually viewed from a per-
pendicular perspective. In other
words, the action is usually pass-
ing directly in front of you. Pho-
tos taken from this angle are fiat,
uninteresting and usually blurred
by the fast movement of the sub-
ject. Races of any kind (horse, dune buggy, motorcycle,
bicycle) are notorious for forcing this viewpoint on the
photographer.
If you can, place yourself closer to the subject's path and
aim the camera about 45 degrees to the subject as he or she
approaches you. This will spruce up the picture (1) because
the angle is different than what people are used to seeing, and
(2) it slows down the apparent movement of the subject. The
closer your angle to the path of travel, the slower the apparent
motion of your subject. This is a function of perspective and
works to give you greater focus control.
Find an unusual perspective. Shoot a bicycle racer from on
the ground looking up as he speeds by. Get right down at the
waterline to photograph oncoming speedboats or sailboats.
(Don't drop your camera in the water.) Climb below the hill
and shoot the hang glider launching over your head.
LOOKING FOR IDEAS. Even pros run out of fresh ideas
from time to time. Looking at other people's work can refresh
that creative perspective and give you ideas you might have
missed. Check out magazines covering the sport or activity
you want to photograph. Browse the books in the photo-
graphic section of your bookstore or library.
If you've the patience and temper for it, try becoming a
critic. Start looking at photos in the paper, at camera perspec-
fives on TV and in the movies. You can even criticize what
you see with your eyes. Ask yourself how that view could be
made more interesting. Look for an angle that would have
added to the impact of the action.
You've seen directors frame a scene in the movies with their
fingers. It's not some affected behavior, it really works to
develop your photographic vision and skill. Try it. Others will
think you strange only until they see the results you produce.
Fishing Report
by Geoff Schneider
Nevada Division of Wildlife
Lake Mead - Anglers are finding bass thtoug.hout the Boulder Basin as htmgry
ripers follow schools of threadfm shad to the surface. Known for their voracions
appetite, stripers can be found this time of year by watching for feeding activity -
or boils - at the surface. Boils can take place any lime of the day, explained John
Hatchings, Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW) fisheries biologist. They ate
created when shad break the water's surface in an attempt to escape foraging
stripers.
Anglers may want totx7 Jumpin' Minnows, Zara Spooks m,A oth surfacelures
when stripe are fishing on the surfw, e,
Boils have been reported in open watex betweou Sand and Black Island as well
as from Pyramid Island to the Hemeway Wall. Surfiw.e feeding has also beea seen
near Boxcar Cove and in the coves leading east Boxcar toward CallVille Bay.
Anglers wiUing to fish the evening hcors are findhlg stripers near theintake tower.
The Overtoo Arm has be slow for stripers but one lucky angler repolledly
broke that trend when ha caught a 36-ponnd striped bass this past weekend. Tha fish
was taken while trolling a Kastmaster. Angles are finding good action for bluegill
from Oveaon to Temple bar.
Lake Mohave - A trip to Willow Beach was well woah it for one area anglex
who came back with a 24-pound striped bass. The fish, which wastaken from sho
proves ttuu a 10oat is nc essential to catching big fish.
Overall has been goad andis showing signs of improving, w.cordmg to
the Nevada Division of Wildlife, but anglers may need to be selective in their choice
of fishing SlX3ts. Bmtets have been taking stripers to four pounds by trolling with
whole anchovies in deep water near Six-mile Cove. Owl Point and Arizona Bay, on
the Nevada side, have also been pxlucing fish.
"Anglers should fish outside of the coves in deep water, about 70 feet down,"
explained Lon Grittman of NDOW.
Lg hass have moved ont of tha shallows and alow being fund near
points and drop offs. However, some fish are stillbeing takm mushy areas. Spianer
heirs seem to be most effective at enticing strikes from htmgxy mouths. Action for
catfish has been slow.
Eagte Valk, y Reserveir - Despite recent thunderstorms, the Lincoln County
resexvoit has provided anglers with gcod to exedl fishing foe brown and stocked
rainbow trout Fshermea -e findin success with pfepexed baits, spinners and flies.
NDOW has finished its sp¢ing fish plaating schedule and will not stock the reseawoir
agLin umil f
:ho Camym Rrv. ,s re trading l,t to very good f-ang ,, this
reservoir located about 20 minutes east of Pioche. Ftshetmen are reeling in
latg bass, crappie end rainbiw troet.
Sehroeder Reservar-Fmhing has been pont et a,as remote reservoir, although
some angIe hav fotmd success in the eady late evaning hours.
Klr WfldMe Area - t,ocaxed 3 t/2 hem not of Les Vels
oG Highway 318, the management area alea's with oppamides forla.out,
largemonth hass and carrie. Heavy rains have made all, bul tha main, gravel roads
impessable so fishing has beta somvhat slow, anglers are, howev,
reporting success fodargemooth basson Adams- Reser,r while novices are
voicing fmstratim. Haymeadow Reservoir recently produced an 18-inch rainbow
for a fly, sheraton casting a damselfly nymph from his float tube.
"F'h/ng's always gre.at," said Ron Mills, area rnaner, "but €clng can
sometimes be a liv.le slow."
