I wrote a new post about why I create behind the scenes videos of my shoots, check it out at upaa.org/blog
Author Archives: Jaren Wilkey
Behind the Scenes – BYU Football Poster
After the great response to our poster out on the Salt Flats, Here is the BTS video from our 2010 football poster. Check it out on our YouTube Channel.
More from the Water Balloon Fight
What a fun event, my 5d MKii took several direct hits and even with some protection it still succumbed to the elements and died right at the end of the fight. Thankfully it wasn’t anything that a long weekend drying out in a toasty server room couldn’t fix. Check out our gallery HERE.
Shooting in the Dark with the Mark IV
I was so excited to get my 1D Mark IV on Friday afternoon that I bagged all of the DVD archiving that I should have done and went out to shoot an indoor track meet. I thought that shooting is the cave that is the Smith Fieldhouse Track would be a good test of the improved autofocus and high ISO files that come with the Mark IV. My first impressions were very good, starting with the autofocus. When it comes to focus, I just want the camera to track a moving object and stay in focus. I know, it is a lot to ask, but last year I exceeded my Tums budget by a fair amount, thanks to the Mark III.
I shot 12 frames of this high jumper on her approach and every frame was sharp. Overall I was very impressed with the AF in my short time shooting in cave-like conditions. I’ve got to play with the Custom Function settings to get the ideal mix, but the Mark III is getting demoted to remote duty.
In my 11 years at BYU, I’ve only shot one other indoor meet in that track, and I had to use a flash to get anything that was remotely usable. I just wasn’t worth shooting the meet because the files looked so bad. Well, now I have to work a bit harder in January. The files are gorgeous. The Raw file the camera kicks out is 10.88 x 16.32 inches at 300 DPI and in the 20 to 25 megabyte range. I shot primarily at ISO 6400 and the shots looked great.
To really push the camera, I went to the long jump pit. It is against the north wall of the track and I wanted to see what 12,800 looked like.
The noise is definitely there, but the quality of the file is a huge difference over those from previous cameras. For me the sweet spot in low light was ISO 6400, but if I ever ran into a situation that warranted it, It is nice to know that it can jump up to 12,800. I’ll keep putting the camera through its paces during this week and let you know what I find.
BYU vs Utah
Gameday in Provo
I don’t know about you guys, but how about the perfect weather for shooting football today? It is days like these that make me glad that I’m not an accountant. Here is our take from the game.
Back from Texas
It’s been just over 24 hours since I returned from Texas and I already miss it. I ate BBQ three times in two days and had a blast with Chris, Scott and Mark shooting in the coolest stadium in the world. It really is an amazing place for a football game, pretty good light, great big video screen and loud as can be. If I was Jerry Jones, I’d just bring my dvd’s and popcorn and use the Jumbo. Check out our slide show from the game.










