Head of the Charles Regatta 2010

Cambridge, MA 102310 Competitors take part in The Head of the Charles Regatta on October 23, 2010 in the Charles River. More than 20 nations took part in this year's competition. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff)/ MET BEHIND THE SCENE: It started as a beautiful crisp clear autumn day that kept getting colder and windier as the day progressed. So I just shot for about three hours. I had three cameras on me: one with my 24-70mm, another one with the 70- 200mm and the last camera had on a 300 2.8mm with a 1.4 extender. TECH STUFF: The light was so bright I shot everything at ISO 200, lens varied,and exposures were mostly on the fast side to capture peak action. MORE TECH STUFF: on the shots of the rowers with the bridge behind them I had to take control of the camera by putting it in manual mode and not my regular aperture priority mode. Had I stayed with the aperture mode the camera would have kept slowing down the shutter to compensate for all the dark areas in the background. However I knew I could add drama to the image by using a faster shutter speed and by exposing for the highlights. Remember cameras are so smart they are dumb.

New Boston Ballet ballerina

Boston, MA 101210 Keenan Kampa of Oak Hill, Virginia recently joined the Boston Ballet as a recent graduate of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia – an unprecedented honor for an American student. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff)/ G
BEHIND THE SCENES: I recently photographed a group of new Boston Ballet dancers and remember being awestruck of how much Keenan look like the quintessential ballerina. She reminded me of one of those tiny ballerina dolls on top of a music box. So I was ecstatic when I got the assignment to photograph her for an upcoming profile the paper is doing on her. I had already photographed her once while practicing so this time I wanted something different. I was a little disheartened when offered yet another dance studio for the portrait photo shoot. But my intrepid Boston Ballet PR showed me these boxes and suggested I take look at this setup to see if it might work. I'm always saying that two heads are better than one so I was happy she was present to suggest it. TECH STUFF: I'm currently at an interesting point when it comes to lighting. My Elite 1200 pack just blew up a week prior and what this means is that I have been forced to become a minimalist and to embrace the one-light effect of my back up lighting kit. So these images were made with one square soft box, 36" x 48", coming from above and slightly to the side;thus, I kept her looking up most of the time to avoid harsh shadows from the overhead light. ISO: 100, Speed: 250th sec, Aperture: 9.0, WB Flash.

Giant Pumpkin Contest Topsfield Fair Oct. 2010

Topsfield, MA 100110 Fifty-six hopefuls entered this year’s giant pumpkin competition at the Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, MA on October 1, 2010. Many crossed their fingers as the long months of work boiled down to the weigh-in. At the end Steve Connolly and his wife Nancy Connolly (Cq) of Sharon were crowned the winners with their 1,674.5lbs entry. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe staff)/ MET

Iphone Tip

I have been asked by a few people if there are any tools to help decide certain settings in the camera based upon the photo conditions. There are lots out there. I recently came across an iPhone app called PhotoHelper. It seems pretty cool and useful. Check it out at photohelperapp.com. I contacted the developer and they told me if I knew people interested they would get me a couple of promo codes. I can send them to you for download in the iTunes Store if you write to me at esssuarez@aol.com