Monthly Archives: October 2011

Empire State Marathon

For those of you following the theme, you will know that this is the entry for the final part of my sporting triple play in upstate New York.  Of course, when I am talking about sport, I mean someone else doing something sporting and I watch what is happening and take some pictures.

The final event was the Empire State Marathon.  This was centered on Syracuse and was the first time the event had taken place.  My brother-in-law, Tom, was running the full distance.  Tom has run many marathons including in Chicago a few times but this was his first chance to run “from home”.  A nice change from having to be on the road while preparing for a major exertion!

Since it was the first running of the race, we were kind of interested in how well the organization would work out and how people would react to it.  Since it was a smaller event than the big city marathons, the whole route would not be closed to traffic.  This could be a bad thing for the runners.

As it turned out, everything went very well.  We had undertaken a recce of the course the day before to get some idea where we would be able to see Tom.  We didn’t know exactly where the police would let us go but we had some good plans.  As it turned out, it was better than we thought.  We were able to get around very easily and could effectively follow him around the course (well, lead him around so we could be somewhere when he passed).

This made watching the race more fun than was the case for the race in Chicago.  The Chicago marathon is great to see and to run since there is a high level of support all around the route and there are plenty of people running with you.  However, as a spectator, you have to plan your viewing since you need to get from one spot to another in time to see whoever you are watching and then you have to be careful not to miss them as they pass.

In a smaller race, you have a lot more freedom to move around the course and missing someone is a lot less likely.  Many times we could drive past Tom as he ran and I’m sure his fellow runners got used to the sound of us honking the horn as we came alongside.  Whether they enjoyed it, I guess you will have to ask them.

There were people along the course providing support.  One driveway even had a band set up playing for the runners.  That was a nice touch for a smaller event.  We saw Tom multiple times and got quite familiar with those that were running around the same time as him.  We were back at the finish to see a bunch of people come in and then to see him get back significantly head of his previous personal best.  Great job Tom and a great job by everyone who was involved.  I hope next year it is even bigger!

Cross Country

My trip to upstate New York had a certain sporty theme to it.  We had a triple header of sports to watch.  Today you get part two!  My niece was taking part in a cross country meet for her high school.  She was glad to be running again after having been out with an injury for a while.

The course was a fun one for spectators but less so for the runners I imagine.  A section lower down the hill was apparently quite damp – one girl lost her shoe but continued without it – and the climb back up to the main viewing area looked like something I was glad someone else was doing.

I only saw Sara’s race in full.  There were plenty of other age groups at different times and the guys were racing as well but I wasn’t there to see them.  Family viewing is what counts.  Here are a couple from the day.  It’s hard to photograph cross country runners since they always seem to be in so much pain.  Most of the pictures involve expressions that I am sure they would not be too grateful about if I were to share them with the world.  I’m a nice guy I guess!

Are you ready for some football?

Devoted followers of this blog (that’s all of you, right?) will know I have had a couple of attempts at photographing football (the American version as opposed to the one that uses a foot to kick a ball). This involved preseason training camp for the Chicago Bears but not a real game. For my first attempt at a live, unplanned action, I did not have a professional game. It was time for High School.

My nephew plays for his high school JV team and they had a game when we were going to be visiting so I took my camera along – like I wouldn’t have done so anyway!  I checked that there wouldn’t be a problem photographing at a school event and was reassured that it would be fine.

First something about the surroundings.  There was a fence around the field that no-one was to enter.  This limited me from some of the things I wanted to do but wasn’t too big a deal.  Second, this game was taking place in October in Syracuse NY.  This is not a combination that you select for good weather.  While I wasn’t bothered about the rain, the lack of light would be an issue.

More of a problem initially was keeping track of what is going on.  When watching football on TV I have little trouble keeping track of how the plays are developing.  Doing it from the side of the field is a surprisingly different experience.  For a while, I could easily lose the ball completely.  A bit of practice and this improved considerably.

When the game started out, there was plenty of light and I could get the shutter speeds I was looking for.  As the game progressed, the light faded a lot.  I kept ramping up the ISO to compensate but it was still a struggle to get a high enough shutter speed.  Eventually the lights came on but they were only some compensation.  Even at the higher end of the ISO range I was happy to try, the shutter speeds were getting low.  Consequently, some of the later shots were as much luck as judgement!

I shot a lot of images during the game.  You don’t get a chance to decide in advance whether a play will be any good.  Moreover, it is hard to see at a given time whether the key components of the shot are there.  I got plenty of shots with some dynamic movement from the players but no visible ball.  Without the ball, they really could be anything.  Off to the trash with them!

I wandered around the field to try different angles.  Starting at the side was fine and I could try some shots along the line of scrimmage.  I could also move up and down with the play as the teams advanced.  Later I tried shooting from both ends of the field.  That provided some quite satisfying angles but you also ran the risk of being at the wrong end when something happened or you saw the back of everything – again, no ball to be seen.

I was not alone on the sidelines.  Several parents of the players were also trying to get shots.  Between all of us, we probably managed to get a fair few that would be of use.  It was fun to talk to them as the game moved on to compare notes on what we were trying to get and what we had got so far.

When I ran through the pictures afterwards, I wondered whether any of them would be useful to the team.  You can see some interesting things about the way players lined up and engaged with the other team.  You also get to record all of the penalties that the officials missed!

I had a great time (and stayed a lot warmer than the rest of the family since I was always on the move).  I would certainly like to try it again although next time it would be nice to have a bit more light to play with.  It was the penultimate game of the season for my nephew’s team I guess I won’t see them play again until next year.  Oh yes, they won so well done Jamesville Dewitt!

Something Fishy

Let’s get the statements of the obvious out of the way first.  Yes, I am a bit of a “gear head”.  I am quite partial to stuff!  Does this mean that I sometimes get things that I don’t necessarily “need”?  Yes, of course.  Having got past that, let’s move on.

One thing I have been pondering for a while on the lens front was a fish-eye.  Not something that is needed on a regular basis but something that has its moments.  Canon had a couple of fishes that I was looking at.  They had the 8mm fish and the 15mm fish, both of which had things that interested me.  Which one was better for me?  My two main bodies are 1.3 crops but I do have a couple of APS-C sensor cameras which have the 1.6 crop.  All of this impacts the effect.  Besides, when buying lenses, who knows whether I will have a full frame camera at some point.

The result of all of these variables was that I never bought a fish-eye at all.  I just pondered what I should do at length and did nothing in the mean time.  Imagine, then, my delight when Canon announced the introduction of the 8-15mm fish-eye zoom.  Have they been bugging my thoughts to find out what I want?  I guess so.  That reminds me, I must start thinking more about other things I want them to develop!

Of course, the announcement of a new lens does not mean the availability of a new lens.  Recently, it seems the announcement can be far ahead of the delivery.  Obviously the issues in Japan resulting from the earthquake and tsunami have had a major impact but I suspect there is more to it than that.  Anyway, the thing is finally in the wild.  My friend Jim Koepnick was the first person I saw to have one.  They would appear in stores and be gone almost as fast.  No biggie since it wasn’t like I had been struggling without it.  Once they were regularly in store I placed my order.

I have to say, I love the thing.  It feels great in the hand and, despite what I have heard from some reviews, I have had no issues with the lens cap.  It is also a chance for me to start learning what can be done with such a lens.  There are the obvious effects you can get and the access to a lot of width in tight spaces.  However, it can also create interesting effects by changing the angle at which you hold it.

I went out in the city to give some time to experimentation.  I ended up in Millennium Park which is a slightly odd place to play with a fish since many of the features already have a slightly “fishy” look to them anyway.  Of course, that does sometimes allow the subject to be more tolerant of some distorting effects.  It was a fun place to shoot since it is always busy and getting close and using the fish provides some options as well as making surrounding people disappear into the background quite quickly.

I also played around with a couple of effects.  There is a metal frame across the lawn at the Pritzker Pavilion.  By tilting the camera down, I could really emphasise the curvature but by tilting it up, the frame became almost totally flat.  Something to remember.  I also played around with slightly rotating the camera.  This made the edge of the frame level and the receding horizon appears to turn up dramatically.  Not something to overdo but still a concept to remember for the future.

I am certainly happy that I have added the fish to the arsenal.  Now I have to make sure I make good use of it without slipping over the edge into using it when I shouldn’t.  Hopefully my friends will warn me if that is the case.  That, and I have to remember to keep myself out of my own shots!

Pearl Harbor

We didn’t spend a lot of time on Oahu but there were a couple of things we wanted to do while we were there.  One of those was making a visit to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor.  Since Pearl Harbor is such a pivotal moment in US history, it just seemed impossible to go to Honolulu and not visit the site.  Obviously I am not alone in thinking this since the place is very busy and they advise that it can be quite a long wait to get there.

As it turned out, the timing was pretty good.  Entry to the memorial is free (there are other exhibits nearby that do have an entrance fee but we didn’t have time to fit them all in).  When you arrive, you get a timed entry card that has the time at which the visit will start.  Ours was only forty minutes away when we arrived.  While we were waiting, there were a number of exhibits to look at that discussed aspects of the attack and also memorials to other aspects of naval operations.

A visit to a war memorial of any sort is usually a harsh reminder of just how much loss occurs.  The separation of time and experience makes it easy to lose track of just how much a global conflict does to people.  There was a memorial to all of the submarines lost by the United States during WWII.  It was a lot of submarines.  On each stone was a brief history of the submarine and a list of the crew that were lost with the sub.  Reading through the list was a sobering experience.  That was going to be the theme for the whole day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When our time slot came, we headed over the theater on the site.  This was the beginning of the visit and included an introductory film that lasted approximately half an hour.  This was a very well produced film that provided context for the lead up to war in the Pacific.  It included the run up to the attack,the preparations that were in place at Pearl Harbor and the details of the attack itself.

The descriptions of the day and the footage that accompanied it (including film of the Arizona exploding) were so vivid, I doubt anyone in the room was not moved.  It was certainly very quiet when the lights went up and everyone started filing to the boat.

The group was sized to fit on one boat to cross to the memorial and to have enough people to be on the memorial without making it too crowded.  When we arrived, the previous tour boarded our boat to return.  Having seen the memorial on TV many times, it was quite strange to finally see it in person.   I guess I often experience this with famous landmarks.

The memorial is a very interesting place.  Only one gun turret mount is visible above the surface so this is the first thing most people focus on.  Then, as you move around, you start to make out more of the detail just below the surface.  there are sections of the deck that are just below the surface that you can make out.  (Polarized sunglasses are a benefit on this trip.)  There is also still oil floating to the surface from the wreck, even after all of these years.  The ship burned for three days after the attack so the fact that there is still anything coming out is amazing.

There was a park ranger on the memorial available to answer questions.  While he seemed to enjoy presenting things in a dramatic style, he was a great source of additional information.  The introductory presentations suggest that the reason that the crew were left in the boat was because it was a memorial.  When he discussed exactly what happened during the explosion, you realize that there really wasn’t anything left to try and find.  It was a horrifying end.

This brings me to something I was rather perplexed about.  I took a lot of pictures while there (as is apparent from those attached to this post).  I wanted to have something to remember the whole thing by.  Obviously, everyone was taking a lot of pictures.  However, what I couldn’t understand was people taking pictures of themselves on the memorial.  I don’t normally ask people to comment but in this case, if you do have any thoughts, I would be interested to hear them.

I am happy to take our picture in front of scenic landscapes and famous cityscapes.  However, when visiting a memorial to the death of over 1,100 people, it seems to me that having me grinning in front of it is an inappropriate thing to do.  It is like people have forgotten exactly where they are for a moment.  The mood on the memorial was generally what you would expect but this just seemed odd to me.  Maybe I am out of touch on this.

This was a very interesting visit to make.  I am very glad to have been there and would certainly recommend you go if you are in the area.  It won’t be something that you necessarily “enjoy” but you will probably find it a very moving and thought-provoking experience.

Diamond Head Hike

Just beyond Waikiki in Honolulu rises the remains of an extinct volcano.  Diamond Head is the most obvious geological feature in the vicinity of the city and is a famous landmark.  The crater (not such to be honest whether it counts as a crater or caldera but who is keeping score?) is home to a park.  You can drive in to the park through a tunnel and then park up to climb to the top.

We took the advice of the guide books and went early in the day.  Given how hot we got, I hate to think what those who went later in the day and had the midday sun to deal with felt like.  It is quite an exertion.  I don’t consider myself an athlete but I am not too out of shape either.  This was quite a climb.  There is a trail that is well maintained and the final stages include several flights of stairs – some quite steep.

When we reached the top, we were both pretty relieved to be there.  It was worth it since the view across the city was very good.  We enjoyed it a lot and anyone who suggests that our extended viewing was an excuse to take a rest can’t prove anything.  The trip down was a lot better than the climb up!

A New Body

Not for me of course.  A new camera body.  A new one for me might be good but I have to stick with the one I have I guess!  There has been a lot of information floating around the web for a while about what the next body might be from Canon.  I have been paying particular attention to this as I have been considering getting another body for a while.

The reason for my interest is that I would like to replace one of my existing bodies.  I have two broadly similar cameras but there are of different vintages.  The more I have shot with them both, the more apparent the problems have become with switching from one to the other.  There are little issues that become noticeable over time and there are capability differences that also have a bearing.

The little differences are surprisingly important.  Canon changed the control arrangements between the release dates of these two designs and switching quickly between them can result in me using the wrong button combinations.  I have back button focus set up on my cameras and they use different buttons for this.  A small issue but one that is a nuisance when you are in a hurry.  (They also have different batteries which is inconvenient although not the end of the world.)

The newer body has greater capability in low light, better frame rates and something that I never thought I would care about – video.  It turns out I shoot more video clips than I ever expected.  When you have two bodies set up with different lenses, it can be a pain to realize that you want to shoot a quick video but the appropriate lens is on the non-video body.  Therefore, two identical bodies would be better.

Consequently, I nearly bought a second body earlier this year.  Then the earthquake hit and they became a rare commodity.  For ages they were unavailable.  Then they would occasionally show up but by then, talk was of the next body coming out.  I was in a quandary.    Do I wait for the next evolution and risk having another pair of mismatched cameras or do I forgo whatever enhanced capability there may be and have identical bodies?

Today I got some clarity in that Canon announced the new body.  As expected, it merged the two lines to create a full frame camera with high frame rate capability.  This is very appealing as a full frame sensor was something I did want to get.  Canon seem to have been clever and not gone crazy with the pixel count.  At 18Mp, it is only slightly more than the current body (so no panic over replacing cards, computers and hard drives to cope with huge files) but this is with a full frame sensor so actual pixel density is slightly reduced.  This is not something I am too concerned about.

However, I do have different sensor sizes between bodies.  I would have video for both which is a plus.  The button configuration has been tweaked again.  However, it does seem to be that the key interfaces are still the same and some of the changes are things I have thought about myself.  The battery is changed which would have annoyed me but it appears to be the case that the batteries are backwards and forwards compatible so that should be fine.

There is a stumbling block of course – price!  Canon has been edging up the price of the APS-H cameras for a while getting them closer to the full frame version pricing.  With the merger of the line, it appears that they have got to a price point closer to the full frame version.  Have we been trained to accept this?  Maybe.  What will the street price be?  We shall have to wait and see.  Am I going to buy one or get a duplicate of the current model while it is still available?  I don’t know.  I have nearly six months before they become available so I guess I have plenty of time to think about it and get saving!

Aerial Waterfall Adventure

One thing you won’t be short of if taking a tour of Kauai is waterfalls.  You have an island that has a lot of high terrain and a regularity of rainfall (including the wettest place on the planet) so that means there is lots of water making its way from the high ground to the sea.  Sometimes that means taking the quickest route – off the edge.

Some of these falls can be seen from ground level and that is certainly worth doing.  However, taking to the air gives you two advantages.  First, you are above the terrain and can get a better view of the falls themselves.  Second, since you are no longer constrained by the location of roads or trails, you have access to the more remote locations which also tend to be the sites of the more interesting falls.

We saw a lot of falls while we were up in the helicopter.  Some of them we had seen on the ground but plenty of others we hadn’t.  In truth, we saw so many we lost track of them.  In some locations the water was running down in multiple locations so you couldn’t even say which bit was “The” fall.  Others were a bit more obvious.

In the end, who cares.  They all looked amazing.  The scale of the scenery is such that a photograph can never truly convey what it was like to be there but hopefully they provide a taste.

Ziplining

Recently, I bought myself a GoPro camera.  They seem to be ubiquitous these days showing up on TV shows on a regular basis to provide the footage from unusual angles or mounted on fast moving items.  They make good cockpit cameras as well and are really very affordable.

As part of the Kauai trip, we spent a few hours riding zip lines at Princeville Ranch Adventures.  I took the GoPro along with us in case a good opportunity came up to use it.  I was not alone as another person in our group had one.  Originally, I had intended to get a head strap for the camera for use on the lines.  Unfortunately, I didn’t order one in time before we left and couldn’t get one locally.  GoPro stuff seems to sell out very quickly so I guess I am not alone in liking the gear.

As it was, I think this proved to be a lucky break.  Since I didn’t have a mount, my only option was to handhold the camera.  Since it has a very wide field of view, this can be done without needing too much accuracy in pointing.  I could also then point the camera in any direction I wanted.  Having a fixed wide view is not always ideal but it seemed to work pretty well.

From the footage I shot that day, I have put together a short video of the ziplining adventure.  I don’t think it is going to win any awards and those people I know who are real editors will, no doubt, cringe at the quality of my cutting but it is a vacation memento at the end of the day so I am not going to get too bothered about it.  Besides, as Vincent Laforet said in a recent interview, when you need editing done properly, get a proper editor to do it.  You can’t do everything!

Here is the video.  Hope it gives you a bit of a feel for a great day out.

 

Meeting a Hero?

I am an idiot! This is a strange piece to write but it is a bit of a mea culpa when it comes to being unrealistic. Even why I am writing it is a bit of a mystery but I guess this blog has become a surrogate diary – odd given that I have never kept a diary bar one futile effort when I was about 10 years old. Anyway, here is the tale.

Last week I popped along to a club called Martyrs. The reason for my being there was that Thomas Dolby was playing. He was undertaking a short tour across the US playing a number of small venues. This wasn’t a full show. Instead he was talking about his new album, how it had been written and how it tied in with an online game he had created. A lot of the people present had been participants in the game. He played some of the new songs and also threw in a few faves from older albums to please the old guard.

It was a good event, interesting and enjoyable and I continue to enjoy what he creates, even if I was not interested enough to get involved in the game. He also said he would be back for a full show with a band in the spring.

The source of my downfall was what followed. If you bought a certain amount of merchandise, you were given a wristband that let you in to a meet and greet afterwards. I was buying the CD anyway, so a t-shirt was enough to put me over the threshold. I went along.

At this point, I want to make something very clear. I am not in the least bit angry at Thomas for anything. I am just disappointed in myself. This was my first experience of a celebrity signing event. I have never been to a book signing at Borders (RIP) and I have never been to any of the big events like Comicon or a Star Trek convention so I haven’t seen how these things go. As it was, people lined up to get their stuff signed, get a photo taken and have their moment with Thomas.

I waited until near the end. First, I wasn’t in any great hurry. Second, propping up the bar was more comfy than standing in line. Third, I wanted to see how the whole thing worked. This is where I learned my lesson. It is obvious really. This is part of the job for the person involved. They aren’t your buddy, they don’t want to chat, they want to do what is required and then get out again. So would I looking around that room!

Thomas seemed to be polite to everyone and did what was expected. However, he never looked like he was having fun. I watched many people have their picture taken with him and, while he looked at the camera dutifully in each, I bet not one of those shots had a smile. When my turn came, he signed what I had with exactly what I asked him to write, exchanged a few pleasantries and we were done. Someone was nearby at that point trying to get things wrapped up so we weren’t in doubt that we would be gone quickly but that is fair enough.

So what is so odd about this that I have written all of this? I have blown an image up. I have been a fan of his work for many years. I have heard interviews and read some of his writing and I have always found him an interesting type of person. Of course, you never know whether that is actually the real person or not but you never can know. However, in your mind you come to think that this person could actually be someone you got on with. When you finally get to meet them, you imagine that there will be some sort of friendly spark. Of course, they have never heard of you or any of the other few dozen people lined up to meet them and you get your minute and then you are done.

Any common sense analysis of this suggests it would work exactly the way it did. Why was I disappointed? Because your mind sometimes likes to ditch reality and replace it with something more interesting. After leaving the venue, I was quite dispirited. Maybe if I went to lots of these things, I would get used to it but this isn’t really my thing so I doubt that will happen. Instead, I just learned a brief lesson in not being a fanciful idiot. If I had left after the show, I would have been a happy camper. Oh well, maybe at my advancing age it is time to grow up a bit.