Through Daniel’s Lens: A Day In The Life
Two of the teams I have covered the UCC Lancers (Left) and the WDSS Tartans (Right) Photo © Daniel Swan
This Column marks the last one where I will be talking about my experiences at St. George’s Field in London on May 14th 2014.
I have taken many sports oriented photos even before my column at CKSN became a reality and there have been many teams I have seen at both the Professional and High School levels. Yet, I have never explained how I manage to get these great shots.
Well this is where St. George’s field comes in, between the Beal and St. Elgin games I was showing one of the Lancers some of my shots taken so far that day and he asked me ‘How do you get such amazing shots’
Well the answer comes down to timing. A Photographer’s job is to tell a story much like a news reporter and sometimes you have to take many shots, I believe the highest amount of stills I have ever had on my camera at one time was 95.
Another side comes down to Patience, which you will need lots of if you want to tell your stories efficiently. You also need to move with the action so if the Tartans moved left I went with them from the sidelines or if the Lancers were making a Ruckpile I came as close as I could get.
For anyone hoping to try this I cannot stress enough how important editing is for your photos. My process of editing doesn’t involve any fancy software but rather going through all the photos taken during a shoot and deleting the bad ones (eg: Blurry/Faded) I also have a personal rule: If I don’t like one or I feel I have too many of one type I get rid of the ones I don’t like.
I owe a lot of these principles to my mother who is also an avid photographer. Mind you she doesn’t do it like I do but she gave me some of the tools and tips that I use all the time. Other people have also helped me along the way (you know who you are).
I am also dabbling in Video production which is where I will conclude this column with this footage of the UCC Lancers and South Elgin Rugby teams facing off in London:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMVTLJCvf3I
Daniel Swan is a freelance photographer from Chatham Ontario. You can find out more about Daniel’s photos by visiting: http://www.facebook.com/photosbydanielswan