New webinar coming up: Best of Nikonians annual review, 28-MAR-2024 4PM EST (for all members on Silver level and higher) >>> More info

X


Sign up Login
Home Forums Articles Galleries Members Galleries Master Your Vision Galleries 5Contest Categories 5Winners Galleries 5ANPAT Galleries 5 The Winners Editor's Choice Portfolios Recent Photos Search Contest Info Help News Newsletter Join us Renew Membership About us Retrieve password Contact us Contests Vouchers Wiki Apps THE NIKONIAN™ For the press Fundraising Search Help!
More5

I am Nikonians

Linwood Ferguson (Ferguson) Interview

Marsha Edmunds (meadowlark2)


Keywords: sports, ferguson

\16

Linwood Ferguson is a very active contributor of images and input at the Nikonians community.  He has posted many fascinating images and has supported many members with advice. 

Professionally Linwood comes from an Information Technology background. He reports living in the year round heaven for bird oriented wildlife in Cape Coral, Florida contributed to his life as a photographer.  He stated, “… when I arrived it was both engaging and challenging to learn the birds, and find the swamps and beaches with the best opportunities.”

Linwood reports that he also tried his hand “.. at some street photography, concerts, and even at a Zombiecon or two.”  Of interest is that nature photography did not maintain a tight hold on Linwood and he branched out starting to shoot sports, “Never a sports fan myself, I quickly discovered that sports photography was a field to me both more challenging than wildlife, and with more variation.”

01

Beach Volleyball. FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University) vs Mercer
Nikon D5, 70-200mm f/2.8, @ 105mm, f/2.8, 1/6400s, ISO 220
Click for an enlargement

 

Between professional and college sports he found there was always something to shoot.  “Competition against different teams, in different venues, with yearly changes in players provided variety.”  He also encountered the constant challenge from conditions whether limited light in arenas, Florida weather, night games or shooting from a limited number of available shooting positions. With such experiences under his belt, he remarks, “It’s simply not possible to be done learning to shoot sports.”

02

Lee County Posse Cracker Day Rodeo
Nikon D4, 200-400mm f/4 @ 200mm, f/4.0, 1/2000s, ISO 900
Click for an enlargement

 

In discussing how he found Nikonians he reflected on his background and how he, “stumbled across Nikonians as a technical information source”.  “Being brand specific, it eliminated a lot of the cross-brand noise that many forums had, and I found over time that forum moderation kept the trolls and other nasty internet denizens to a minimum.  The environment attracted serious photographers who had seriously good information to share.”

03

Diving. FGCU vs UNF (University of Florida)
Nikon D4, 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 90mm, f/4.5, 1/2500s ISO 320
Click for an enlargement

 

In addressing the contribution of Nikonians Linwood identifies two areas in which “Nikonians excels”.  The first one he identified was when new hardware or software is launched.  He appreciates that, “Nikonians love to share their initial experiences, good and bad, and allow fellows to avoid mistakes (and cost).”

04

Soccer. FGCU vs NYCFC (New York City Football Club
Nikon D4, 400mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/1000s, ISO 3200
Click for an enlargement

 

The second area that Linwood finds a benefit from Nikonians is “genre specific advice”.  “ …as a sports photographer, I value having a separate forum to find out how other Nikon - shooting sports photographers do things, whether Nikon specific or just specific to sport.”  He states that specialty knowledge is hard to find locally – a condition that other photographers would understand.

05

Tennis. FGCU vs Albany
Nikon D4, 400mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/2000s, ISO 200
Click for an enlargement

 

Linwood shared some very useful information he received from other sports photographers on Nikonians, ranging from various ways to generally help, “be in the right place at the right time, with the right equipment, and being prepared to look for the right direction.” to the philosophical but important advice, “You are there to document the game, not watch it – don’t become a fan.” to the quite specific help, such as for Volleyball to, “Move the focus point down, and focus on the legs under the net instead of trying to focus through it.”

06

Baseball. Twins vs Blue Jays
Nikon D5, 400mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/3200s, ISO 200
Click for an enlargement

 

He also related that sometimes you will be given advice that is hard to accept.  “You can’t shoot night soccer without horribly expensive glass.” or “You will spend a lot of money on a tripod, or you will end up replacing it in a few years.”  By listening and following these two difficult but correct pieces of advice Linwood reports having saved a lot of money, “by avoiding dead-end paths”.

07

Basketball. FGCU vs UNF
Nikon D4, 85mm f/1.4 @ f/2, 1/1000s, ISO 1250
Click for an enlargement

 

Linwood values the critiques he receives from fellow Nikonian photographers commenting that a newspaper or other consumer of images will just simply not use photos, rarely giving any feedback.  

08

Basketball. FGCU over Stetson ASun Final
Nikon D4, 24-70mm f2.8 @ f/5.6, 1/320s, ISO 2500
Click for an enlargement

Sharing his passion for memorable experiences Linwood shares, “Shooting from the sidelines in sports means, no matter how much you try to be objective and not get engaged, you get caught up in the excitement of tournament wins, or the depression of a season ending loss.  For example, when the FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University) Men’s team recently won their conference championship and set out for the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) March Madness, within seconds the floor was filled with celebrating fans, with reactions from cheer to tears. Being in the middle of that is one of the most challenging shooting environments – catching the emotion of the moment, keeping your eyes on all sides looking for that game-winning star in a special moment with friends or family.  A couple hundred shots over the first two minutes – hoping a few are in focus and framed.  Camera held way over the head trying to get the middle of huddles. In one case I recall catching the normally reserved University President doing a happy dance with a star player, surrounded by cheering fans – invisible to the sidelines, you had to be in the mix to see it.   You certainly don’t get that kind of excitement and enthusiasm shooting birds!”

It is not surprising that Linwood reports that he will continue shooting stills for sports for the foreseeable future.

09

Baseball. Miracle vs Bradenton
Nikon D4, 400mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/1000s, ISO 3200
Click for an enlargement

 

As a parting comment Linwood makes an interesting observation, “As people become more experienced in a particular area of photography, it becomes harder and harder to find local colleagues to share the experience, and the internet provides a worldwide pool of those with similar specialized interests.  Nikonians is a water cooler where you can talk shop, share knowledge, and keep the learning going.”

We are grateful to Linwood for his contribution to Nikonians and for the willingness to be involved with this interview and selection of his photographs.

 

 

Originally written on June 6, 2016

Last updated on November 29, 2017

Marsha Edmunds Marsha Edmunds (meadowlark2)

Donor Ribbon awarded for her support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Fellow Ribbon awarded for her continuous encouragement and meaningful comments in the spirit of Nikonians. Donor Ribbon awarded for her generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Ribbon awarded for her generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2017 Awarded for her in-depth knowledge and high level of skill in several areas.  Awarded for winning in The Best of Nikonians 2019 Photo Contest

Lethbridge, Canada
Team, 13831 posts

16 comments

Robert S Baldassano (robsb) on August 27, 2016

Fellow Ribbon awarded for his expertise in CNX2 and his always amicable and continuous efforts to help members Laureate Ribbon awarded for winning in the Best of Nikonians 2013 images Photo Contest Donor Ribbon awarded for his enthusiastic and repeated support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Donor Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2017

I just saw this post for the first time. What a wonderful way to recognize the great contributors we have here on Nikonians. Great job Marsha and Linwood

Peter Wallin (pipsqueak) on August 7, 2016

Nice article with some really great and inspirational shots.

James Gould (jgould2) on June 18, 2016

Fellow Ribbon awarded for his excellent and frequent contributions and sharing his in-depth knowledge and experience with the community in the Nikonians spirit.

It's always a pleasure to read Linwood's posts. I have learned a great deal from him. JIM

Linwood Ferguson (Ferguson) on June 14, 2016

Fellow Ribbon awarded for the generous sharing of his high level expertise in the spirit of Nikonians

Wow, just stumbled on this, I knew it was going up but not when. Thanks for all the kind words, everyone.

User on June 14, 2016

Thanks Marsha for bringing Linwood to spotlight in this excellent interview, his captures are truly amazing . kip

Richard Luse (DaddySS) on June 12, 2016

Donor Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2017 Ribbon awarded for his generous contribution to the 2019 Fundraising campaign

Nice article, very interesting, and glad to have Linwood as part of the community.

Marsha Edmunds (meadowlark2) on June 11, 2016

Donor Ribbon awarded for her support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Fellow Ribbon awarded for her continuous encouragement and meaningful comments in the spirit of Nikonians. Donor Ribbon awarded for her generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Ribbon awarded for her generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2017 Awarded for her in-depth knowledge and high level of skill in several areas.  Awarded for winning in The Best of Nikonians 2019 Photo Contest

Thank you to everyone for their comments. Linwood provided such excellent information and photographs. He deserves all the credit. I just helped to organize this project. It was a great opportunity to get to know Linwood better and to come to enjoy his work even more.

Don Roarabaugh (NatureDon) on June 11, 2016

Thank you Marsha and Lindwood for presenting and sharing this story. Well done!

User on June 10, 2016

Thank you Linwood, an excellent interview and great images. Thanks for sharing. Richard

Chuck Vincent (Chuckv) on June 10, 2016

Donor Ribbon awarded for his support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014

When I first joined Nikonians and started getting into the posts, I found Linwood sitting in a North American T-6. Being big into aviation, I was liking him from the start, but then I started reading what he had to say, and a whole new level of appreciation came out. I'm most appreciative of his input, and Marsha, you did a wonderful job presentatiing Linwood's gifts inside of Nikonians. Chuck

Christopher Brown (shipsupt) on June 9, 2016

Donor Ribbon awarded for his support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Donor Ribbon awarded for his most generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015

Linwood rocks!

John Hernlund (Tokyo_John) on June 8, 2016

I always enjoy hearing from Linwood...a great Nikonian!

User on June 8, 2016

nice review on Lindwood.... the guy do great shots, also have a pretty good knowledge on what he's talking about. Nice guy to have around this forum.

Bo Stahlbrandt (bgs) on June 7, 2016

bgs is one of the two co-founders of Nikonians, with in-depth knowledge in several areas Awarded for his valuable Nikon product reviews at the Resources

Great shots! Really enjoyed the interview - thanks.

Steve McTeer (NRVVA) on June 7, 2016

I have learned a lot from Linwood's posts, including techniques for shooting sports as well as his very astute assistance regarding computer and processing software questions I have posed. He is, along with everyone else on this forum I have encountered, always very helpful and above all most courteous. Steve

Carman Pagano (the diewrecktor) on June 6, 2016

Donor Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Donor Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015

Nice work Marsha and Linwood. I have always appreciated Linwood's contributions even though I don't shoot sports. His tips on how to capture the action work in numerous applications. It was nice to read this.

G