It is that time of year when large men start practicing to inflict pain on each other – and if you are a Bears fan – on us too!  With the negotiations over, it is time for training camp.  The Chicago Bears hold their camp at a university down in Bourbonnais Illinois.  With some spare time now on my hands, I decided to make a trek down for one of the public sessions.

With the temperature in the 90s, this might not have seemed like the best idea but it was windy and that really made things feel a lot better – although I think some of the receivers might have been using it as an excuse!  I went to the camp for the first time last year.  I had checked on what camera gear they allowed and the person I had spoken too said nothing too big.  That time I took a 70-200 as my biggest lens and got there to see a fair few honking pieces of glass.

This time I took what I wanted and I’m glad I did.  Not only does it make shooting easier but people are amazingly accommodating when they see big lenses.  While they were all fighting each other for a spot when they were shooting with their phones, as soon as I wandered up, people would drag their relatives out of my way without me ever having to say a thing.  Great stuff.  Don’t see that at an air show very often!

I didn’t stay for the whole session.  it was a bit toasty and lugging the gear around to different spots to try different things doesn’t help to keep you cool.  However, I was happy with what I saw and slightly happier in the car with the aircon cranked up!  It is a great thing if you like football.  The price of a ticket for Soldier Field is astronomical but this is free and you get to see a bunch of stuff.  The staff were all universally welcoming and you felt good about being there.  Plus, some of the shots came out quite well!