Klay Thompson, Sunsets, and Digital Distractions

Scott Abbott — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 23:00:00 +0000

Klay Thompson, Sunsets, and Digital Distractions Scott Abbott Mon, 11/04/2019 - 18:00

Driving to work the other day I listened on the radio to Warrior’s commentator Jim Barnett recall some of his favorite memories from the now defunct Oracle Arena. I was particularly struck by his experience watching Klay Thompson’s mind-blowing, record performance of scoring 37-points in a single quarter. At some point during Klay’s barrage, Barnett said, he took off his headphones, stopped broadcasting, and simply immersed himself in the roar of the crowd.

Realizing he was watching history unfold before him, Barnett chose to be fully present in the moment and wasn’t going to let anything – even his job – distract him.

To me, Barnett’s point is well taken. As Marker Seven’s creative director, much of my time is spent designing digital products that, while highly focused and task-driven, still have the potential to distract from other important things worthy of our attention. ‘Digital distraction’ is an interesting quandary in our business since it’s a recognized problem that no snippet of code or combination of pixels is going to solve.

Recently, digital distraction became top-of-mind as I was photographing a spectacular sunset at Ocean Beach last month. As the sun dropped blow the horizon and reflected across the remnant clouds of a storm, I felt a deep sense of awe and connection to the moment, the environment – and everyone else lucky enough to be there. Well, almost everyone.

As I stood behind my tripod overlooking the beach, I briefly glanced back and noticed a man parked in his car, totally immersed in a mobile, digital experience. Texting. Swiping. Flicking. Whatever. Doing something on his phone. Maybe it was even important. But the reality was that he was missing nature’s version of a 37-point quarter. A once-in-a-lifetime performance, never to be repeated. I wondered, for a guilty nanosecond, if he might be distracted by something we’d designed at Marker Seven.

Stanford psychology expert, Nir Eyal, identified the most important job skill for the future as being ‘indistractible’ – the ability to not be distracted. To no surprise, most of the distracting culprits are digital products: Email, Group Chat, and Phone. But literally any digital product has the potential to be a distraction, and we all have our individual vices. Full disclosure: mine are TeamSnap and Slack.

Maybe the key to being indistractible is to simply follow Jim Barnett’s example and be cognizant of our surroundings, appreciate the moment, and just be present. If you’re using a digital product, especially if it’s one of Marker Seven’s, I encourage you to take frequent breaks and be attentive to what’s happening right in front of you. Especially when you’re at a Warriors game or at the beach. You never know what amazing sights might flash right in front of you.

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Culture

Shooting Giants: My Big Day Off at Mavericks

Scott Abbott — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 00:45:00 +0000

Shooting Giants: My Big Day Off at Mavericks Scott Abbott Mon, 02/06/2017 - 19:45

Last week, Mavericks, the massive surf-break south of San Francisco, erupted with a giant swell worthy of the world's best big-wave surfers. As an avid outdoor and action photographer, I've made the the quick drive down to Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, for the last four contests to watch (and shoot) in awe. Witnessing nature's power, cheering the brave surfers, and, yes, wincing at the carnage, is something I seriously look forward to every winter.

But Mavericks is very fickle for surfers – and even more-so for photographers. In a good year, the waves and weather cooperate only a handful of times to create perfect conditions for the competition. In a bad year, they don't cooperate at all and the contest simply isn't held. Furthermore, the break is a 1/2 mile off shore and tough to see, let alone shoot, from land. The only way to see Mavs 'ringside' is to actually be out there, on the water.

“The only way to see Mavs 'ringside' is to actually be out there, on the water.”

As I was sitting at my desk at M7 on Wednesday afternoon, I received an email from the boat I chartered for last year's contest. The official contest wasn't 'on' but they were expecting huge wells. A few dozen big wave surfers were already en route. The boat was going out. Without much hesitation, I broke the news to the M7 team that I'd be out for a good chunk of Thursday. I then procured my spot on the boat, made sure my lenses were clean, and my camera battery was fully charged (and that my memory card had enough space!).

It turned out that Thursday was an epic day at Mavs, with Surfline.com proclaiming the waves were 'as good as it gets.' They're the experts, so I'll take their word for it.

After sharing the photos you see here with a lot of people, many asked how I was able to get them. First, you absolutely have to have the right gear if you want to maximize your chances of getting an great shot you'll want to share on your favorite social media platform – or hang on the wall. My recommendations are:

Lens – You'll need a zoom that goes out to 300-400mm. Being on a boat, you're moving around a lot and it's nice to have the flexibility of a zoom to get in tight, as well as back-off when needed.
Camera – A body that does continuous shooting at least 6 frames per second, hopefully more, to catch that perfect moment.
Files – Aways shoot RAW. There are a lot of different lighting conditions throughout the day, as well as a lot of glare. It's nice to have RAW files to recover any highlights in the waves that get blown out.
Camera Mode – I like to shoot in manual mode. I set my aperture at f/8 , shutter speed at 1000 (or faster), and set ISO to 'auto'. That'll maximize the sharpness of your photos.
Focus – Use AI servo which allows you to lock onto a subject (surfer) and maintain a focus-lock on them as they travel through the scene.

Or, like a lot of my fellow shipmates, forget photography altogether. Just bring your iPhone, take some selfies, and watch as some of the best athletes in the world take on some of the biggest waves on earth. There isn't a better way to spend a day on the West Coast.

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Culture