Category Archives: sport

A Little Golden Knights Video

In my previous post I talked about my trip up with the Golden Knights. It was a lot of fun and the primary goal was to get some images and information for the article. However, since I was there, I decided to grab some video too. I had a combination of the video capabilities of my SLRs as well as a GoPro I mounted on a wrist strap. I tried to make this point in roughly the right direction but it was a bit of a struggle when I was focused on shooting stills.

Anyway, excuses aside, I knocked together a short edit of some of the footage I got. Still not going to get the Emmy people excited but hopefully it gives a bit more of a feel for what it was like on the flight.

Some Minor League Fun

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A recent work trip took me to Indianapolis for a few days. A client was down there at a facility and I was meeting with them on a number of topics over a few days. Since we were all staying away from home, we had free time at the end of the day when we could go out and see what the local area had to offer. The first night I was there, the rest of the guys had already worked out what they wanted to do so I was happy to tag along.

Indianapolis has a minor league baseball team, the Indians. They are based at a nice ballpark close the the heart of downtown. For those that have been following this blog for a while, you will recall that Nancy and I had a weekend in Indianapolis last year when the baby elephant was first appearing in public at the zoo. The hotel we stayed in was very close to the ballpark and from one end of the building you got a great view of it from above.

This time I was going to get to see the inside of the park and enjoy an evening of baseball. It should be noted that I am not much of a baseball fan. I know some imports like me that are huge fans of the game but I have never really got into it. I used to think that it was something you had to grow up with but that is obviously not the case given the friends I have that have got into it. For me, it is another sport I am happy to watch but one that doesn’t get me passionate. As with many sports, though, seeing it in person is so much more fun than watching it on TV.

A trip to the ballpark is a social experience for me. You get to hang out in a (usually) good-natured crowd, watch some sport, eat some food that you wouldn’t normally bother with and drink some beer. On a warm evening, there really isn’t much to complain about with that. If you don’t know either of the teams, you tend to root for the home guys and, in this case, that worked out pretty well since they won convincingly.

I took my camera along because I knew that we were heading to the game before I left home. It was an evening game and the stand was blocking the sun from the west so light was always going to be an issue. As the game wore on, the ISO settings went higher and higher. Looking at the shots at full zoom, they really show the impact of the noise. However, since these are small versions of the shots, they shouldn’t look too bad. They were never intended for publication so it is far better to have clarity of the shot than to have a lot of blurry shots with low noise!

I was shooting with the 100-400 which is not a great low light lens at the best of times but it did reasonably well. I also took along the fisheye zoom since a sports stadium is an interesting shape for that type of lens. The park allowed you to walk all around the perimeter so I did take a stroll at one point to see what everything looked like from other parts of the ground. It was nice to see the different perspectives.

I did try shooting from directly behind the batter’s position as the pitcher faced me. The netting is a problem here, of course. A faster lens may have better allowed me to take the net out of focus but it was already pretty dark by then so I was fighting on a few fronts. It didn’t really matter of course. I was doing this for fun and if the shots are not quite Sports Illustrated standard, I am not going to lose too much sleep.

A fun night out and a win for “our” team. In the end, that was enough and getting to take a few pictures along the way only made it better. Thanks for the idea guys.

Skating Action

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Some time last year I wrote a blog post about photographing some guys jumping bikes in a park here in Chicago. If you want to check that out, this is the post. I had been inspired by a great book by Syl Arena on flash photography and what can be achieved to freeze fast action and to add drama to the shots. This has also got me interested in trying another sport, skating (the skateboard variety, not ice). They are a couple of skate parks along Lakeshore Drive in Chicago, one north of us and one south. I had never before managed to time it right to get to one of them but finally I have done it.

I got the park and a few people were skating around. I watched for a while to see who was a more comfortable skater before asking whether anyone would let me take their picture. One guy, Konrad, was kind of okay with the idea but seemed a bit skeptical. Most other people were not keen. Konrad had one location he had been making some good moves on so we set up there. We grabbed a few shots from different angles with me mainly using a single light triggered by cable rather than IR. This is tough stuff to do so you can’t just have them do it over again until you are happy. They get worn out.

We grabbed a few shots and then Konrad went off to skate some other parts of the park. When I got back, the shots were not too bad. The use of a single light was not ideal as, with the deck in front you get quite a shadow cast. Also, it reflected strongly which tended to limit the light on him. Two lights will definitely be better. Fortunately, a little work in Lightroom managed to enhance the balance on him a bit. A first time out and not too bad. Plenty to improve on next time though.

Snocross in Short Sleeves

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March in Wisconsin seems like a pretty good time to schedule a snowmobile race. Unfortunately, that would mean that you didn’t know this year was going to be particularly mild all winter and especially so in March. So it was that the final round of the AMSOil ISOC Snocross race was scheduled for the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva WI in mid-March.

Just because it was warm, didn’t mean there wouldn’t be racing though. Congratulations to the organizers who made good use of their snow cannons to put a base of snow down on a basic course. Apparently, it was a bit truncated compared to previous years but there was a course. Moreover, the course managed to hold together as the air temperature made its way up to the high 70s (if not creeping into the 80s!). I wondered whether this great job of combating the conditions extended to the clothing the racers wore. I doubt too much snowmobile racing clothing is designed for the high 70s. I suspect it is more about staying warm. They were probably pretty toasty!

I hadn’t applied for media credentials for this event so was only shooting from the public areas. With the course laid out the way it was, this really didn’t prove to be too limiting. There were a few shots I would like to have got but it really didn’t make too much of a difference. The action is close to the people most of the time and they come by pretty frequently so there is usually plenty to see.

I was pretty happy with the outcome to be honest. It was a fun day out and I spent it with a good bunch of guys as well. We would split up at times but end up back at similar locations before too long so it worked well. One of those disappointing things about shooting an action sport like this is that you find yourself focusing on a particular rider and hear a groan from the crowd. This is a sign that someone has wiped out quite dramatically but all you see is them getting up and retrieving their machine unless you get lucky – certainly luckier than the racer!

Now I just have to work out what the real name is for the machine. I always thought they were snowmobiles but then I watched some stuff from Alaska that said the people in the know call them snowmachines. The announcers at this event didn’t seem to be aware of that so I am just as in the dark as I was beforehand. Anyone know the right term?

Art of Flight

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This one will not necessarily be what you were expecting. Despite the title, this is not about flying – at least in the normal context of this blog. This is about snowboarding. Some time last year, I came across a trailer for a movie called Art of Flight. It is a movie in which some of the world’s best snowboarders go to some of the most remote parts of the planet to ride slopes that have not been ridden before.

Red Bull, ever one to support extreme sports activities, obviously provided a lot of support to this process with a number of Red Bull helicopters showing up throughout the film. Helicopters are the best way to get to some of these locations but even then the trip can be a bit hairy. Some of the helicopter flying is pretty extreme as well!

The featured snowboarder is Travis Rice. This guy certainly knows what he is about and is willing to try some amazing stuff. He is joined by a variety of guys in the different locations but they all like to try some cool descents across terrain with little in the way of forgiveness and weather that doesn’t always want to cooperate. They also go to some more normal locations but try some amazing tricks even then.

All of this sport would be impressive on its own but that is not what makes this film special. The magic comes from the way it is filmed by Curt Morgan. He makes use of innovative filming technology and improvisation and a lot of cameras to film the boarding from multiple angles to provide a phenomenal perspective. The quality of the camerawork and the editing turn this from good to great.

I got the BluRay/DVD box so I can watch it now on DVD and on BluRay in HiDef when I get around to having a BluRay player! You can get it at Amazon and I certainly recommend it. In the mean time, check out the trailer below to get a sense of what is included.

America’s Cup Yacht Racing

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Racing of sailing boats is a sport that doesn’t get much in the way of mass media coverage. I grew up in a sailing town so, while I wasn’t a sailor, a lot of my friends were and so I saw a lot more of it than would be the norm. During my teenage years we also witnessed the first defeat of the US team in the America’s Cup, a story that did get international press coverage.

America’s Cup racing has always been the preserve of the richer members of society. It is a far cry from the sailing that is available to the average sailor with high tech boats and hand picked crews. (As an aside, one of the friends from school, Julian Salter, is a professional sailor and has been in crews competing for the America’s Cup.)

For a few years, I had been pretty oblivious to America’s Cup racing. The thing that changed it for me was the acquisition of TiVo. One of the channels covered the Louis Vuitton challenger series followed by the cup itself from Valencia a few years ago and we could record the races in full and then watch them at a more convenient time – adding our own editing courtesy of the fast forward button.

Nancy got into the racing as much as I did and we watched most of the series. It came as a big disappointment when the next round of the competition became hijacked by the stupid games of rich guys and ended up as a simple head to head competition that got virtually no coverage. We saw nothing of it.

Fortunately, some semblance of reason has returned and this time around, not only is the full format of the competition going to be back, they are having a series of events in the year running up to the event that are taking place around the world. This not only provides more opportunities for people to see the racing but it also allows the crews to get proficient with the new boats. This time the competition is not with monohulls. The boats are catamarans with wing sails.

The main competition is going to be held in 2012 in San Francisco. Whether I will be able to go and see any of it, I have no idea. However, one of the preliminary events was held in San Diego. I was already in the area for the El Centro photo shoot so I added a day to my travels to try and see the sailing. The plan didn’t quite work as hoped unfortunately.

I drove from El Centro to San Diego in the morning. Racing was scheduled for 1pm-4pm that afternoon. I did a quick reconnaissance to see where I wanted to be and got myself set up. Since it was early in the week, there were supposed to be about five head to head races. No massed racing but that would take place over the weekend when more people would be there to see it. Sadly, I couldn’t wait around for that.

More disappointingly, the great weather that San Diego had been experiencing vanished when I arrived. They was cloud rolling in as the racing started and soon it was more like a misty day. It was cold too! The best location to shoot from was the Navy Base at North Island. Since that wasn’t going to be an option, I made the best of what was possible without shooting right into the sun. Of course, there was not much sun but the mist did a great job of making what light there was turn into glare!

The boats that weren’t racing were also practicing so there were a number of boats out at various times. The races did come up towards us since one of the marks was very near where I was. Unfortunately, when a race came close, a boat towing advertising boards would also come into shot just as the boats did. This was great for TV coverage but not so good for those of us on the same level as the boats. I’m sure the helicopter shots looked great – when the helicopters managed to fly given the crappy conditions!

I got some shots but none are great. The ones here are to show you what was there. There is nothing there that I am too proud of. Some heavy editing was necessary to even get most of these. Was it worth it? Probably not. I could have stayed longer at El Centro or gone helicopter hunting in the passes on the drive back since electricity pylons were being assembled. I did end up chatting to some nice people so it wasn’t a total loss. Them’s the breaks!

Empire State Marathon

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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

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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?

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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!

Ziplining

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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.