Tag Archives: Atlanta Roller Girls

Happy Accidents

By Ed Selby | Published June 20, 2011

Hollicidal - Atlanta Roller Girls Sake Tuya

On Saturday June 18, I was (as usual) photographing the Atlanta Roller Girls. This season I have been using just my Nikon D300 with an on-board SB900 – changing shutter speeds and aperture to make the picture work best, and though the pictures this season have been “good”, they certainly haven’t been my best.

For this month’s bout I decided to go back to the way I shot things last season and use my Alien Bee monolights set up around the track. (Click here to see a prior “how I lit it” post) I had one light at one end/side of the track, and a second at the opposite end/side of the track – both triggered with my $25 Ebay triggers. This lighting style gives me an acceptable quality of light mostly even over the whole track – when everything works. On Saturday, for some reason, one of the triggers didn’t work all of the time. I’m thinking it is a battery issue, but…

So here is Holliegh Thomason, a.k.a Hollicidal, of the Atlanta Roller Girls team the Sake Tuyas. Holleigh is a beautiful girl, and she’s also an awesome athlete. She was standing on the track waiting for the whistle to blow. I framed the shot and snapped it. Boom… and only one of my two Alien Bee strobes fired. The one camera left didn’t fire. The triggers didn’t work. But this is the result of that “mess up”. Lit from one light pointed at a vaulted white ceiling more than 40 feet away from the subject.

Had the second light fired, the crowd behind her would have been lit, and the picture wouldn’t have been nearly as good. There are other shots from the day’s shooting that show how my roller derby two light set up really help capture the action, but from time to time equipment failures can provide you with the proverbial blind squirrel picture.

Posted in News & Updates, Roller Derby | Leave a comment

How To Photograph Roller Derby

By Ed Selby | Published April 11, 2011

Have you been to a bout, taken photos, and wished they came out better than just a blur of skaters? Well, have we got the workshop for you. Come early to the April 16th bout and get some pointers and tricks of the trade from ARG Official Photographer, ME!. Here are the deets:

Workshop starts at 3 pm in the Yaarab Shrine Center courtyard
Cost is $10 (and does NOT include the price of a bout ticket)
Attendees MUST have purchased a ticket to the first (ie, 5 pm) bout or a double-header ticket
Attendance is limited to 10 people (first come basis)
I will spend an hour teaching about shooting derby – from cameras and flash to watching the action to derby photography etiquette.

See you Saturday!

Atlanta Roller Girls 2011 Season

By Ed Selby | Published December 30, 2010

One of the coolest things my photography has lead me to is my involvement with the Atlanta Roller Girls.

A few years ago, I saw a cover article in Prick magazine about one of the Atlanta Roller Girls – a tattooed beauty named Andrea Smith (a.k.a. Demi Gore) – and I was immediately enthralled. I attended the very next bout, and was hooked. I was taken in by the camp, the fun, the athleticism, and yes I admit it, the sight of good looking tattooed (and un-marked!) women in mini-skirts and fishnets beating the crap out of each other on skates.

I started taking pictures as a fan, and as my “fame” with the Atlanta Roller Girls grew, I was asked to be the official photographer for them. The relationship, while not profitable, has been mutually beneficial. I have been a part of the resurgence of roller derby, made some good friends, had a lot of fun, and gotten some really cool portraits out of it.

The 2011 Atlanta Roller Girls season schedule is out, and one of my shots is the feature photograph for the season’s flyer.

Every season the girls get better and better, and this season will be no different! Come out a few time and watch what happens!

Here’s a HUGE collection of pictures of Atlanta roller derby!

Posted in Atlanta Roller Girls, News & Updates, Roller Derby | Also tagged 2011 Season, Demi Gore, Roller Derby Photos Leave a comment

Mid-March Update

By Ed Selby | Published March 18, 2010

Regretta Garbo and Hurtie Gurtie

The first home bout of the 2010 Atlanta Roller Girls roller derby season got underway on Saturday March 13. As the official photographer for the Atlanta Roller Girls it is my duty to photograph and document the bouts. It is harder than one would think. The lighting is difficult. The action is fast, and being a “bit” over weight and out of shape doesn’t make it much easier for me, but it truly is fun. Plus, the girls are just great people to be around.

I have been asked a number of times by a number of people about the way I light such a difficult venue as the Yaarab Shrine Center Auditorium. This is a lighting diagram, but next month I’m going to do a video to show how I do it.

tracklight

Head over to Flickr to see all of my photos from the March 2010 Atlanta Roller Girls home opener bout.

On another note, I added a new camera to my growing collection of light catching boxes.

I have long wanted a point and shoot camera that could process and deliver photos of comparable quality with my Nikon D300. DSLRs have their place, but there are times when a compact camera is easier and less of a hassle, so now I have Canon G11 I can carry around without people freaking out that I’m bringing a “professional” camera out to take pictures.

So far I really like the G11. For one, it feels like a camera. Unlike most compact cameras, it has a bit of weight and a solid feel. I am also fond of being able to either look through a viewfinder or a preview screen – and man, that preview screen is great! It pivots and swivels giving me ability to point and shoot without looking like I’m pointing and shooting, and the screen is big and bright.

From a control point of view, yes it is a point and shoot in full automatic mode, but I can also switch over to shutter priority, aperture priority, or full manual. This little compact camera gives me the same controls as my full size DSLR. As for image quality, the Canon G11 rivals, and is probably better than, most mid-range DSLRs. The 10 megapixel sensor may sound small to most, but the way those pixels are processed certainly makes this camera a worthy addition to the camera bag.

I only have experimental shots with it so far, but I will be using it this weekend when I do a shoot with Ashley Blalock.

Posted in News & Updates, Roller Derby | Also tagged Alien Bee 800, Canon G11 1 Comment

2010 Starts With A Bang!

By Ed Selby | Published January 4, 2010

I was happy with the 2009 ended up, and was/am looking forward to 2010. How much more lucky could I have been then to start 2010 with a second shoot with one of the most fun (and beautiful) models I’ve had the opportunity to work with in a long time.

Amy Frena and I worked together for the first time in October of 2009. She is one of those models who I thought was ignoring my requests to shoot, but I found out that she was just overwhelmed with requests to shoot. Look at her portfolio of images and you’ll see why.

We worked well together, and I was looking forward to multiple shoots with her in 2010. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that she is picking up roots and heading to sunny California to try her luck out there. Then imagine my elation when she said she really wanted to get in another shoot with me before she left!

Amy understands the importance of a good make-up artist for best results in a shoot, and she was able to use her talented (and equally beautiful) sister, Anna Rose, as her make-up artist for this shoot. Anna Rose knows her stuff. She knows how to apply make-up for a photo shoot, and she knows how to do it quickly!

The three of us spent half a day together just having fun in the studio, and the photos show it.

I have another pretty girl shoot coming up in two weeks, and have already booked my first paid job as well. I also have the first team shoot with the Atlanta Roller Girls, and a few other irons in the fire, too.

2010 is looking good so far!

Posted in model photography, Photography Business, Roller Derby | Also tagged Amy Frena, make up artist, Models Leave a comment