Category Archives: Red Bull

The Wall of Pyro

04.19.23

On a recent assignment photographing the 2023 Red Bull Aerial Camp, I was tasked with covering a wide array of sky divers, wingsuit skydivers, paragliders and more. On one evening, the crew got the idea to set up some pyrotechnics for the team to swoop through when coming in for a landing. This is not...

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2022: Year in Review

12.22.22

2022 has been the busiest year yet since the pandemic began in 2020. With that said there were still some blank spaces on the assignment calendar but this past fall was very close to normal in terms of travel and assignments. Regardless of some holes on the calendar this past year, I was still able...

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Spring 2022 Newsletter

05.25.22

The Spring 2022 issue of the Michael Clark Photography Newsletter is now available for download. If you’d like to sign up for the Newsletter just drop me an email and I’ll add you to the mailing list. This issue of the Newsletter includes an editorial entitled Three Years In, a review of the Aquatech EDGE...

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2021: Year in Review

12.22.21

2021 has been a bit of a mixed bag. Parts of the year were nearly as busy as before the Covid pandemic began and other parts felt more like 2020 with long stints here in the office. Regardless, I was still able to create some wild images. A huge thank you to my clients who...

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Backflips in a Helicopter

09.27.21

This blog post is an excerpt from a longer feature article that appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of the Newsletter. You read the full article click here to download the PDF magazine. Having worked with the Red Bull Air Force on more than a dozen assignments over the last decade, it is always nice...

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Summer 2021 Newsletter

08.04.21

The Summer 2021 issue of the Michael Clark Photography Newsletter is now available for download. If you’d like to sign up for the Newsletter just drop me an email and I’ll add you to the mailing list. This issue of the Newsletter includes an editorial entitled Upside Down, a review of the FUJIFILM GF80mm f/1.7 lens, an...

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Setting up the FUJIFILM GFX 100 for Action Photogrpahy

02.17.20

I have heard many camera testers say the FUJIFILM GFX 100 can’t track action very well. In my experience, it certainly isn’t a Nikon D6 or Canon 1DX III, but if set up right, the GFX 100 can deal with action much better than most might imagine. The GFX 100 is a complex camera which...

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DJNovember 11, 2020 - 2:10 am
Thank You very helpful!!
jeffFebruary 11, 2021 - 11:18 am
Thank you very much for this article. You saved me a ton of time.
Hamad DarwishFebruary 16, 2021 - 3:38 pm
You have no idea how helpfuL this was for me. I shoot a fair bit of dirt bike action and I was struggling with autofocus. This article is just the right thing I wanted. Thank you for sharing this information with us.
Christian FürstMarch 31, 2021 - 6:48 am
It looks rather complicated with the GFX 100 which really is very uch “old (Fuji) school”. With the new Fujifilm 100s you just save all parameters as an C1, and then turn to it whenever needed.
Michael ClarkMarch 31, 2021 - 7:17 am
Christian – Yes, indeed. That is one of my new favorite features on the GFX 100S!
Jeroen BoumanJuly 21, 2022 - 3:38 am
Thanks for this post, I’VE BEEN STRUGLING WITH AF-c just tracking walking people towards me! so I’m going to try this out with both GFX100s and XT4. May I ask what setting you use for ‘Face/Eye detection’? And do you leave ‘Zone Area Switching’ to ‘Auto’ in AF-C Custom Settings?
Michael ClarkJuly 21, 2022 - 10:32 am
Jeroen – Hello. Thanks for the nice comment. As I said in the article be aware of what lens you are using as some are slower than others–all of the GFX zooms are very fast. Some of the GFX primes are a bit slower and hence for faster moving subjects I choose the appropriate lens (for focus speed) as well as focal length. As for my settings, I just leave the “Face/Eye Detection” in “EYE AUTO” mode 99% of the time. I don’t really use “Face/Eye Detection” for tracking anything that is moving–only for portraits where the subject isn’t moving. If the subject is moving I use a larger square with the “ZONE” or “WIDE/TRACKING” modes and adjust the “AF-C CUSTOM SETTINGS” to match the scenario. Also, the “Zone Area Switching” varies depending on which option you choose in the “AF-C CUSTOM SETTINGS”. I also use a smaller depth of field to give the AF some cushion as well when shooting fast action. I think the key thing to remember is that the GFX cameras have a much shallower depth of field at any given aperture compared to smaller sensors so f/5.6 can still be pretty shallow depth of field with action. I would suggest testing it out on a variety of subjects and seeing what works best for your use case scenarios. Hope his helps.
Jeroen BoumanAugust 4, 2022 - 8:42 am
That’s great additional information, Michael. Thank you so much!