Author Archives: Rob

Getting a jump in the woods

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I recently read a very interesting book on flash photography specifically for Canon shooters. The book was by Syl Arena and he obviously has put a lot of time and effort into developing his technique and understanding the way the Canon flash system works. I don’t know whether a similar book exists for the Nikon shooters out there but, while a lot of the specifics in this book relate to the Canon technology, a lot of the techniques and concepts are equally applicable and might make the book worth a read.

Anyway, having read this book once through and picked at it a number of times for specific sections, I have become quite enthusiastic about experimenting with high speed sync and making the action pop out of the shot while de-emphasizing the background. Some of his examples had included skating and there is a skate park not too far from me that I am interested in trying out at some point soon.

However, the start of my experimentation has actually been some biking. A little way north of me in the city is a park called Clark Park that has some routes laid out by the local cyclists. The area is called The Gardens and is a partnership between the riders and the city. The routes include jumps and berms and I decided to try and check it out to see whether I could get any good shooting opportunities and to see how well I could implement some of the ideas in Syl’s book.

I contacted one of the guys who helps organize things and he was very welcoming about me coming down. I headed down one Sunday when a bunch of them were getting together. Unfortunately, the weather had not been good that week and the ground was wet under foot. Everyone was grabbing shovels and working on developing some of the runs. I grabbed a shovel and a wheelbarrow and got to work too. It has been a while since I did anything at could be considered real physical labor and the blisters and aching muscles that I had the next day were a testament to my easy lifestyle!

There was no riding that day and in the following weeks the weather was not helpful tending to dump a ton of rain every few days making it hard for anything to dry out properly. That combined with my own other activities meant I didn’t get a chance to go back for a while. However, finally the stars aligned again and I got to head back.

A bunch of guys were already there when I showed up and were starting to get some runs in. The jumps are very dramatic to look at and I suspect more dramatic when you riding toward them. There are a sequence of jumps along a run so the guys get up some momentum as they go. It all looks really cool.

I had a couple of flash units that I was triggering with an IR controller. This is something that is considered unreliable outside but, since we were under tree cover, it proved to be reliable provided I was pointing the right way. I did bring a long cable connection as a backup but didn’t need it on the day.

The guys were happy to try a few things for me as I experimented. I shot a lot of flash on the jumps and around a berm along with some ambient light shots. The tree cover meant those needed the ISO cranked way up but, even then, it was hard to get a good shot. However, some of them gave a good sense of the motion. I shot in manual with the exposure dialed down to make the background less apparent and then used high speed sync at about 1/400th of a second to illuminate the rider. This seemed to work quite well although I did end up taking the flash exposure compensation down to -1 stop.

I balanced the two flashes 2:1 with the foreground getting the greater proportion of the light in the rider’s face and the fill coming from behind. Next time I shall experiment a bit more with this. One of the tricky elements is finding a good spot to locate the flashes since the jumps are steep and slightly broken up at the edges. I had one flash on a Gorillapod and the other on a bean bag. The Gorillapod was the better solution and I will have to get another one at some point.

One other thing I experimented with while I was there was mounting a GoPro video camera on the hot shoe and shooting some video at the same time. This worked out okay but the sound of the shutter firing on the camera below tends to be a dominant sound. Some editing will be necessary with the music to blank that out.  When I have done that, I shall put something up here.

For additional shots, go to the gallery at this link.

What’s the best camera?

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I suspect you have heard the phrase, the best camera is the one you have with you.  Well, I am a bit of an idiot as I went out to a location the other evening for another reason but didn’t stick a camera in the car.  We headed to Moreton Arboretum out in Lisle.  We are members and go there pretty regularly to wander around.

This time they were running a cheese and wine type of event.  Tables were set up outside, there was a bar and a tapas menu.  A very pleasant way to spend an even out in the warm as the sun gradually headed down.  The photographers amongst you are thinking golden hour.  Why didn’t I think of that.

There is a lake near the visitors center which I will have shot a number of times from different directions, usually in the harshest light of the day.  This time I was there when the light was great and as soon as we took a stroll around the lake, I was kicking myself for not having brought my camera with me.

Plan B was my phone.  The camera is okay but not special.  However, it was the best camera I had with me so it would have to do.  It doesn’t handle too much contrast well so a little angling to try and get what I wanted was in order.  Not stunning results but it’s what I got so here you go.

This last shot was something we saw when wandering around.  I might explain more another time…

Lego Masterpieces

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An event was held recently that I had never thought of visiting before.  It was a Lego convention of some sort held up in Wheeling.  I had no idea what to expect at this – was it going to be a lot of vendors selling stuff or exhibitors of their creations.  It is safe to say, it was a lot more fo the latter.  I don’t know whether I was being unimaginative, but the quality of the work was astounding.

There was a lot of variety.  Quite a few Lego fans obviously like fantasy themes and so there was plenty of work like this.  I wasn’t as interested in that as I was in the creations of normal things that people had put together.  They obviously have a lot of imagination – and a lot of Lego.  One guy (who admittedly worked for Lego) had come from Australia.  I had seen a previous creation of his online.  It was a Qantas A-380 and was stunning.  This time, he had recreated the Love Boat and the captain from the series had coincidentally been in the day before and autographed it!

There was far too much stuff to fairly represent here but below are just a few shots of things that I was really impressed by.  (By the way, I know I said the fantasy stuff isn’t my thing but the Lord of the Rings display is included since it was quite incredible!)

Firework City – or not!

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Chicago has traditionally held a pretty impressive fireworks display to celebrate the 4th of July.  Since I have lived here, the fireworks have been let off a day early on the 3rd.  While I have never bothered to find out why, I have always assumed it was because they wanted a ton of people to come and see them and this they could do and still see their own local town displays on the 4th.  I guess it worked because up to 2 million people would show up to watch.

Last year, with the city feeling a bit hard up for cash, they did away with the big display and had three smaller displays spread out along the lakefront.  This year, no display at all.  I guess it isn’t the cost of the display that is the issue.  The cost of dealing with 2 million people is a little bit more of an issue!

All is not lost, though.  Navy Pier holds firework displays every Wednesday and Saturday throughout the summer so one more is not a big deal for them.  Consequently, we took a stroll out to the lake to watch the display.  It was a nice show.  Not a stunning display like some I have seen but I’m not complaining.  It still had a lot of people showing up to watch but nothing like the normal event.  It was on the 4th as well.

I like taking pictures of fireworks but I have found I like the shots a lot more if there is some context to them.  I am not a big fan of shots that just have the explosion filling the frame.  With a display out over the lake, my options were relatively limited.  The big Chicago displays are over the harbor and, if you watch from the planetarium, you have the skyline as part of the shot.  That certainly is worthwhile.

I don’t put a lot of effort in to the shots.  I set up the camera as I want the frame to be making some guesses about how big the larger blooms will be.  Then I hold the cable release and have fun watching the display.  I can trigger the shots (bulb mode) as I think looks good without distracting myself from having fun enjoying the show.  Sometimes they are better than others but anything is just a nice side benefit from a good display.

As an aside, if you notice something in the skies, an airship was up watching the display too.  That is what you may see blurred out in some of the shots.

Agility for Dogs

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If herding the sheep weren’t enough, there were other dogs being put through their paces.  An agility course had been laid out and a bunch of owners were running their dogs through the course.  From what I could see, there wasn’t a particular route that was supposed to be followed.  Instead, they seemed to go wherever they felt like it.

Of course, when I say where they felt like it, I don’t always mean the owners.  One dog in particular was very excited but not at all interested in the course.  it ran in circles and barked at its owner until she finally gave up.  They had another go a little later but that ended the same way.

Some of the dogs, though, were very skillful and could zip across the jumps and through the poles without pausing.  A fun thing to watch for a while, particularly when it was too hot to move for a bit!

Perfect Weather for Rugby

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Nothing like playing a winter sport like rugby on an 85 degree day.  Why not make it sevens just in case you weren’t warm enough.  I strolled across to see some of the rugby later in the afternoon.  Having been a rugby fan for many years, I thought I would see how the play was going.

Sevens is a trickier version of the game since it is a lot faster and it requires handling to be very slick.  I don’t know the pedigree of the players I was watching but I wouldn’t be surprised if the heat was affecting their game.

A Scottish winter and an Illinois summer are very different climates in which to be playing.  The ground was certainly wet underfoot after the recent rain but the temperature was high and the humidity higher so I think something as energetic as sevens was a stretch.  However, they still played hard and followed the rugby tradition of trying to harm your opponent at every opportunity.

Pipes and Drums – Not Enough to Scare this Englishman

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As you might expect from a Scottish festival, there were pipes and drums aplenty!  I am sure they are designed to intimidate the enemy and, as I’m sure you know, the enemy of every Scotsman is an Englishman.  Therefore, I was walking into the lion’s den on this day even if some of the claims of Scottishness were a little tenuous!

The various bands that were competing were all taking the thing very seriously.  They were well practiced in their routines and the musical ability was high – no strangled cats on this occasion.  Moreover, they really showed their commitment to the cause by dressing up in the full outfits, despite the fact that they are designed for a Scottish climate, not a hot, humid, summer day in the Chicago suburbs!

There were bands all over the place warming up, tuning the pipes, getting some last minute practice in before their time slot came due.  There were a series of judges around the arena scoring them on different aspects of their performance.  As their time was up they streamed out of the arena and another band was already waiting to come in.  No pauses for the spectators here!

Sheep Dog Trials – Insert Verdict Joke Here…

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As part of the Scottish celebrations, there was a demonstration of sheep dogs at work.  This was something I always thought of a either a northern England or Welsh activity but I guess it is a big deal in Scotland too.  Anyway, a bunch of dogs were taking it in turns to demonstrate their skills with a small flock of sheep brought in especially for the occasion.

The dogs and the shepherds were certainly very effective.  They could move the flock wherever they felt like it (although the attempt to split the flock in two was a little less successful).  The dogs were really fun to watch as they zipped around the flock and then froze on the ground until needed again.

The sheep were amazing as well.  These creatures are obviously very fixated on one thing.  Eating!  The dogs could get them quite jumpy but a second alter they would forget everything and start munching on the grass.  I suspect if left alone, they wouldn’t move far at all as long as the grass lasted!

Highland Games

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The suburbs of Chicago had an interesting offering recently.  A festival was held to celebrate Scottish culture (no Rob, don’t go there) and to hold Highland Games.  I haven’t been to this event before and this year it had been moved to a new location which was supposed to be able to handle the amount on show better so we headed along.

It was hot and humid (not very Scottish) so not a day to hurry yourself.  However, to add some authenticity, the recent heavy rains had left the field very boggy in parts.  The vent was huge and I shall tell more about it in the coming days.  One of the first things we went to see was the tossing of the caber!  The games had already had a couple of events and more were due later in the afternoon.  However, we got one fo the more famous events while we were there.

Competitors had come from all over the country.  The men and the women were competing together (obviously with different cabers) and it was quite something to watch.  All of these people looked like they could handle themselves in a fight!  They were big people.  A couple were school teachers so I suspect their pupils know how to behave.

The announcer suggested that the women had chosen too long a caber and no-one managed to get it over while we were watching.  However, the men were having more luck and there were quite a few successes including some that were given perfect scores – do you know how to score this event??  A good start to the afternoon.