SPOTLIGHT - Redding 3D Shoot Part 2
If you didn’t read Part 1 you can at this link > Spotlight - Redding 3D Shoot Part 1
The Redding 3D Shoot is the largest outdoor marked 3D shoot in the world. It’s a crazy cool event where one can test their skills and equipment, but most importantly have fun and learn a lot from some of the best archers in the world. It’s hosted by the Straight Arrow Bow Hunters Club and these fine folks had a huge undertaking to make this event happen this year. Last summer most of their course was consumed by a wildfire. Then to make matters worse they received 16 inches of snow over the winter and then had flooding in the spring, making clean up and re-setting the course a huge battle. You can read more about the event here > https://straightarrowbowhunters.com/WesternClassic That said it was awesome to see the event continue and Day 1 was off to a start with lots of excited archers.
Day 1 and everyone is eager to get on course and start the shoot
Day 1 started off quick, a constant back and forth between shooting the bow and shooting with my camera. We had a few goals for the next few days: shoot some great product photos of the new hats and t-shirts, shoot the professional Mathews shooters, capture the fun and size of the event, and also shoot and upload a captivating Instagram story. Add in shooting your bow and things get hectic quick. For me there were two big takeaways from this trip:
Use the lens that fits the situation best. This meant some areas would look best with a wide angle lens and others a long telephoto lens shot from a removed perspective. Getting a diversity of shots almost required consistent lens switches. Working hard to look ahead for shot opportunities helped be ready to roll when the shooting began.
Shooting with a 50mm prime at 1.8 allowed to keep the limbs in focus but give a unique, soft blur background.
50mm, f/1.8, 1/500s, ISO200
Using a longer focal range helped compress the subject to the background which was were the elk targets on this shot were at, giving perspective to the shot about to be taken.
120mm, f/5.6, 1/1250s, ISO500
A low-angle, shot here on an extreme wide-angle lens allowed a unique look at archer, target and the interesting overhead tree cover.
14mm, f/5, 1/800s, ISO200
2. Having “shot goals” or a “shot list” was key for each day. With set objectives for our shoot, having some shots on paper or on a note in a phone allowed Brett and I to check in with each other and see where we were at progress-wise and see what needed to still be shot. When you’re a participant and not just a photographer this is even more key. This was followed up by nightly meetings where we reviewed content, re-capped the day, and made a plan of attack for the following day. Communicating with your team means everyone gives their input and is on the same page when the rubber hits the road.
Reviewing shots as soon as we got to Redding. This is always important but more so when you’re doing an up to date Instagram story.
I’ll leave you guys with a few more shots I took that I really liked from the trip with a short snippet of info in the caption. I hope these two posts regarding this shoot gave you a bit of insight into the job and some takeaways that will help you on your next shoot. If you have questions or would like to see us cover something you feel we didn’t, please leave us a comment below!
Here Brett looks to get the flames to show up in just the right part of the frame. Communicating with Buck here was key, both in telling Buck how to look and also where and when to make the grill flame up.
Capturing the fun and unique moments of the shoot are great filler content that round out the vibe for an event like this. Anytime you shoot a 3D in the head it’s funny and when it’s almost in the eye it’s something that gets the whole group laughing.
Detailed shots are eye catching but also can tell a story. This one shows the personality of each archer via their vane choice and colors and also gives a sense of scale to the number of people shooting in the event.