We look at a lot of photographs, and every so often we see some work that is just simply amazing. Roy Lockwood’s photographs of competition Paintball for the New England Paintball League have earned him the first feature for our new Photographer Profile series.
These shots are what sports photography is all about: seeing the shot, knowing where to be and what to expect. You want to give the viewer the experience of not only seeing the action, but the feeling that they’re in the action, and in the case of paintball, that means you’re going to have to take some hits yourself.
Lockwood uses primarily Olympus gear, but with a notable addition: an Olympus E-620 with Zuiko 14-54 and 70-300, and the Olympus E-3 with Zuiko 12-60 SWD and 50-200 SWD. He also totes a Casio EX-F1. “The Casio EX-F1 is very specialized and can take stills up to 60 FPS and shoot video up to 1200FPS. I shoot some break-outs (start of the games) with this and I have been able to capture images that I would normally have missed, such as hit-shots and other action that could be lost if shooting less than 30-60 FPS. That, and the players have been extremely enthusiastic about the results as they were able to see some of their moves in slow-motion when viewing the shots sequentially.”
His choice of Olympus is mainly about the 4/3 format and Autofocus speeds, but also about the weather (in this case, paint) resistance: “I favor Olympus equipment because I like the advantages of the Four-Thirds lens system, also because the SWD lenses coupled with the Olympus E-3 have an extremely fast auto-focus. The E-620 is packed with features and is very economical in terms of value for the dollar. The E-3 is a weather-resistant system (as are the Zuiko SWD lenses) and can take being hit by paintballs, and is easily cleaned since it’s sealed against water.”
Take a look at these shots and read our interview with Roy to learn a bit more about how he shoots.
H2H- Tell me about your background a little more- how long have you been shooting, ever shot professionally, etc etc.
Roy- I’m an old-school photographer and started in the late 70’s – mostly street and industrial photography, and some other journalistic work. I did shoot weddings from 80’-85’, but that was not my interest. I majored in Photojournalism at Columbia College in Chicago, but like many others before me, I didn’t end up doing what I had gone to college for. Currently, I am Project Manager for a large software company.
H2H- The obvious, how did you get started shooting Paintball? You're seemingly into sort-of eccentric sports, what's the draw there? Would you consider yourself a "Fringe Sport" photographer, is that kind of a niche you see?
Roy- I’ve been shooting paintball for a few years now, and have covered the regional and local events. I have been playing the game since the mid-80s, and when my son turned 10 in 2002, I taught him how to play the game.
When my son played the game I wanted to start taking pictures of him playing. Before I started shooting paintball, I hadn’t shot much for a number of years, and the switch to all-digital equipment was a huge learning curve all over again. Having spent quite a significant amount of time doing research, I settled on Olympus.
That exploded into being an all-around photographer for the NEPL (New England Paintball League). I was also inspired by the work by Matt Thomas and Ryan Hayes of PaintballPhotography.com. Coincidentally, I am working with Gary Baum, who runs Paintballphotography.com to cover the local, and some of the East Coast Pro events for him. I have also been named the Official Staff Photographer for the 2010 NEPL season.
I would say that I am absolutely a fringe-type of photographer. I have observed that the individuals that play paintball are some of the most intense and dedicated individuals that play any sport. Some of them go well beyond being fanatics, and to many of them, there is nothing else better than to feel the adrenaline of the game. You can see this in many of their facial expressions and actions on and off the field. They say that for them, life travels at 300 feet per second – the legal limit for muzzle velocity of a paintball, right around 200 mph.
In paintball, much of the team organization is done by the handful of players you see on the field. Few of the teams have actual managers or coaches. The players do it all, from the strategy and tactics used in each game, to the on-the-field/off-the-field organization, right down to the design of their jerseys. Sometime it’s a group of teens, with little-to-no experience in that kind of organization – but they do it every week. It’s not just a hobby for many – these individuals spend literally thousands on their equipment and are as serious about the sport as you can get.
H2H- And, of course, how do you protect your gear shooting this type of thing?
Roy- I’ve been shot countless times, as has been my gear. I carry two cameras with me at all times, and generally have a heavy towel covering the one I am not using. To get the best shots from the sideline, you have to be where you think the action will be for that particular game, which in reality may only last a couple of minutes. For the shots that you can see a player coming right at me, that means that a line of paintballs being shot at him is following him all the way to where I am standing. The average paintball play can shoot 15-20 balls-per-second in semi-auto mode, and I have been the recipient of many of these lines!
There are times when I have to turn away when I feel that I am about to take one, or many, in the lens, and that no shots could be had at the moment. I also use, at times, rain covers for the cameras to help protect them. Many paintball photographers use these, but they can fog on the inside and be smeared with paintballs on the outside, making them difficult to negotiate controls through. As a result, many cameras are exposed. Shooting paintball means that you and your gear will be struck many times – no question about it. For me, it’s worth it to capture that kind of action.
I wear the same protective gear you see on the players, which can make looking through the viewfinder extremely difficult, especially after being shot multiple times in the face, effectively blinding you.
