Mother's Day Dash

This was my second time photographing a running event.  The first time was just last October and it was a bit of a disaster.  I studied and studied how to approach the subject, I rode my bike around the race course a few days ahead of time and I thought I was prepared, but I was not.

Getting a camera to focus on a runner is not easy.  My camera auto-focus was all over the place, focusing on flying arms and legs, focusing on things in the background, anything but focus on the runners face.    Three runners got past me before I managed to get one shot that was in focus.  Manual focus was not an option because I was using my zoom with a small focus wheel and the subjects were moving fast.

This time was different.  This time I set my camera on a single focus point that I felt should line up with a runners face with my camera in the portrait position.  I also used a battery grip to make it easy to do so much shooting in portrait mode.  My battery grip also has a button and a dial for moving the focus point around.

Every shot of every runner was in perfect focus today.

The front runners were spread out so I had time to change my position enough to give every runner a different background.  I also had the foresight to photograph every single runner as they passed me at the start of the race.  I did that so I could have an easier time matching runners clothing to their bib numbers later if need be.  Last but not least, I took a picture of every page on the roster.

In what I felt was my best photo of the day, one of the subjects was not wearing a bib.  I went through my pictures from the start of the race and then I found her wearing her bib.  Her bib was on a shirt that she had shed and tied around her waist at some point during the race.  If I had not been able to find her bib number in my earlier pictures and then match it to the pictures I took of the roster, I would not have gotten her name.  If I had not gotten her name, I could not have submitted her picture.

Getting Busy

From Left Melissa and Frank Dare watch the concert as golden light from the stained glass window above the pulpit shines down onto them at  “Awaken Thy Spirit” a spring concert event held at St Edward Catholic Church in Shelton on Sunday May 3^rd.

For reasons I can't disclose, May is going to be a really busy month for me and most of it will be spent in a dark theater  May will be busy enough that I decided it was the time to strike and buy that lens I've been dreaming of.   Maybe I'll need a tax write off after this month.

Yes I bought the 70-200 f/2.8 with VR.  I saved a bundle by getting the older VR rather than the VRII. When I need to focus on things that are 5 feet way I'll just use my other fast lens, my Sigma 17-18 mm f 2.8 with VR.

This week I photographed two concerts so my images are somewhat similar, but the lighting was very different.  The first concert was in a elementary school gym with horrible lighting.  The second was in a large church that was a bit dim, but still had all kinds of interesting lighting.

I was really happy with my church pictures but they were not given much room when they were printed. 

Cassie Reinbolt volunteers to play her harp for a photographer before the concert “Awaken Thy Spirit” a spring concert event held at St Edward Catholic Church in Shelton on Sunday May 3^rd.

Artistic director Elizabeth Berndt of the Harstine Island Community Choir conducts while mass is performed by Anna’s Bay Chorale, Harstine Island Community Choir and Kitsap Community Chorale “Awaken Thy Spirit” a spring concert event held at St Edward Catholic Church in Shelton on Sunday May 3^rd.

Music teacher  Bradley McNeill, plays the keyboard and conducts while children sing and parents watch at the Second Grade Spring Concert held at Bordeaux Elementary School in Shelton on Thursday April 30^th

Make-a-Wish

Last week I photographed a Make-A-Wish foundation party.  This was an intimate event held at a family home.  There were no real technical challenges for this assignment.  I was shooting outdoors in overcast weather.  I mostly used my 50mm 1.8 prime lens.  I was able to move around freely and get as close to or as far away from my subjects as I wanted to so the fixed focal length was not a liability.

A couple of weeks ago I was requested to stop cropping my images so "aggressively" and to give my pictures some room to breath.

Taxing season

        ƒ/7.1

 

80.0 mm

1/500

 

320              

Flash (off, did not fire)

I've been practicing on the soccer fields near home.  Yes, I still want that 70-200mm f/2.8 but for outdoor sports I really don't need it.  I've started stopping down so I can get a better focus.  Soccer players move fast and it's hard to focus on them, increasing the depth of field helps a bit.  So even if my lens was 2.8 all the way through, I probably would not have tried to get this shot at f/2.8

So this week I got a good soccer shot but then the problem was getting the cut line information. I Facebook friended some soccer players who told me they knew the names of everyone in the league and I could get all the info I needed from them after the game.  Great!  That meant I was free to just shoot and maybe get a good shot rather than miss the good shots due to having to run around and collect names.  

Then it turned out that no one who I talked to knew the name of the team they played for.  I mean folks did not know the name of their own teams!  And I was unable to get the name of the player in red.  This was frustrating, I was able to get just barely enough cut line info for the shot to print.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my photo on the front page. I thought that any soccer picture I took would get buried back in the sports section.

Hopefully all this hard work will get me some new friends in the local Hispanic community.  Maybe next time getting cut line information will be easier. 

Last week one of my pictures from a school board meeting made it into the paper.  I did not think the photo was worth submitting because it was not visually exciting, but it was the news so my spouse convinced me to submit the picture.  My spouse did right.

Next week I shoot my first wedding.  A wedding is a big  important event and I'm nervous, but the event should happen in a predictable and set order.  I think the bride will be easier to follow than a soccer ball.

I finally got my taxes done, the AARP does taxes for free, even for the self employed.  I have so many equipment needs that it might be a few years before my income exceeds my expenses.

Mad Easter Dash

Wow, what a day this was!

ShyAnn Stone, almost 2, gingerly collects eggs to put into her striped bee basket Saturday at the 31st Union Easter Egg hunt.  The  event sponsored by  by local area businesses took place at Union Community Park on Saturday.

The editor asked me to send an uncropped version of this photo, I hoped that meant it was
going to be featured on the front page.  For this photo I used my fill flash to help cancel out
any harsh noon time shadows.  It took about six pictures for me to get this one with  her isolated from the background, facing me, basket in view and egg in hand.  I later wished I had shot it at f/2.8.
  

ƒ/9.0

 

17.0 mm

1/200

 

200

Flash (on, fired)

I had two assignments on Easter Saturday and I had to do my taxes.  Once my taxes were done I headed to my first assignment in the pouring rain.  I carried an enormous heavy golf umbrella in one hand to protect my camera.  In my other hand I carried my camera with external flash attached.  I needed a third hand to wipe the water from my lens.  The rain was dripping down off of my umbrella and hitting my camera in spite of my umbrella being enormous.

My second assignment was miles away and started just minutes after I left my first assignment.  I was really afraid that I was going to miss the second one.  I was racing down twisty dirt roads, driving way faster than I wanted to.  I could not arrive late!

 I made it with three minutes to spare.  I found a parking spot right in the front that was only blocking the street a little bit and I jumped out of my car with mere seconds to spare.  Then I had to rush back to my car to get my notepad. 

Luckily for me the event started about five minutes late so I had enough time to briefly orient myself before the mad dash for Easter eggs began.  I decided to focus on younger kids for the second event since my focus had been on older kids during the fist event.

I homed right in on a little girl with a bright pink coat and striped bee basket and I waited for the hunt to start.  After the egg hunts were over there was an egg toss.  I was really glad for the egg toss event as all my pictures so far had been of kids hunting for eggs and I wanted some variety to turn into the paper.

At some point my lens image stabilization (VR) switched off but my hand was steady enough that my pictures turned out fine anyway.  I have now put a piece of tape over the VR switch so I will never accidentally move it again..  It is a problem that that  M/A switch and the VR switch are identical and right next to each other on my Sigma lens.  I tend to accidentally turn off the VR when trying to turn off the auto focus.  I wish this lens would allow me to switch to manual focus without flipping a switch.

I used my external flash all day long, first to combat the gloom and later as a fill flash.  I did not use FP but kind of wish I had used FP at the egg toss.  My in camera flash does not support FP but my external flash supports it and my camera will support FP with an external flash.

I mostly shoot in programmed auto.  There is no time to mess around with manual settings when things are happening all around me and I need to catch them as they happen.  For some of the egg toss photos I put my camera in "sports" mode so I could take the shots and not have to worry about the camera settings, the cost was no use of my flash.  Next time at an event like that I will shoot in shutter priority mode so I can get the shutter speed I want and have FP flash.

I used back button focus for the egg toss pictures and regular auto-focus for all the egg hunting pictures.  I brought two D90 camera bodies with me but I ended up using only one of them.  The one I used was equipped with my Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8, the other one was equipped with my Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6.

 Earlene Shaw holds a plastic bag over her head for protection from heavy  rain while children finish hunting for eggs at Oakland Bay Jr High

ƒ/9.0

 

17.0 mm

1/200

 

200

Flash (on, fired)

Soggy participants open up eggs for the candy inside and then put
them into a recycle bin for next year at Oakland Bay Jr High
The blue umbrella in this picture is the exactly the same as the umbrella I was using

ƒ/6.3

 

17.0 mm

1/160

 

200

Flash (on, fired)

Justino Hernandez (in yellow) 8, falls to the ground and trips up Joel Hernandez (in blue) 9 while both boys rush to collect eggs on the slippery wet field at Oakland Bay Jr High on Sat.

ƒ/10.0

 

17.0 mm

1/200

 

200

Flash (on, fired)

Children age 17 and under line up and take one practice toss at the start of an egg tossing competition at Union Community Park on Sat.

ƒ/4.5

 

50.0 mm

1/1000

 

400

Flash (auto, did not fire)

Lacy McIntosh of Shelton reacts as her egg splatters during the egg tossing competition at Union community park

ƒ/13.0

 

17.0 mm

1/200

 

200

Flash (on, fired)

Race cars and princesses revisited

This may have been my most fun assignment yet.  Our local race track hosted a regional training session for race track workers and volunteers.  I got to play with the jaws of life and I got to go for a ride in a race car.
Everyone was in a good mood and enjoyed having their pictures taken.

My photos from Frozen were printed this week too, but my favorite photo was not selected for the paper.

I had a technical issue that could have ruined my race track photos.  I always shoot in RAW / .NEF, so I thought that when I set my camera to "Active D lighting" at the highest level it would have no effect on my RAW files.  I set it on high so I could see what effect it had on my .jpg files.  No other settings have effects on RAW files as the RAW file is just what the camera sees with no editing.

Well I learned the hard way that active D lighting does effect RAW files.  It changes the exposure level before the shutter opens.  My files all came out slightly under exposed.  I was able to bring the exposure up to the proper level in Adobe camera raw but at the cost of adding a small amount unwanted  noise to my photos.  The photos were still better than newspaper sharp, due to my ISO being set at only 200, but they were not quite up to my standard.  I have now turned off active D lighting and I will leave it off.    Lesson learned the hard way.

Soccer Practice

It's soccer season again.

This week and last week

I went to Shelton Memorial Park to take pictures of boy scouts and the VFW cleaning military graves in the rain.

Two weeks ago I photographed a sing-a-long movie with little girls dressed as princesses.  The paper sent me to photograph it, but my pictures did not go in the paper, I did not ask why.  I suspect that they ran out of room.

From Left Carly Vind 8 (dressed as Elsa) and Markie Vind (dressed as Anna) eat cupcakes and popcorn before the start of the movie. They decorated the cupcakes themselves.  At the Anna's Bay Chorale Frozen fundraiser event held at the Shelton Civic Center on Sunday March 15th

Log Truck Roll Over

Log truck roll overs are not uncommon in this depressed little logging town.  This is the first one I have gone to photograph.  I know some of these would have sold if the local paper had not sent their own reporter to cover it.

I contacted a regional paper about buying these and they told me that they do not buy pictures from other photojournalists.  King 5 news liked the pictures and encouraged me to send them more pictures in the future but said they would not be buying my pictures today.

I was happy enough with my slow 200mm lens for this job.  I was actually pleasantly surprised with the zoom range it's been so long since I used my long lens.  I had really gotten used to only being able to zoom in to 50mm.  The 70-200mm f/2.8 is still just a distant dream.  I would be nice to have for photographing my kids soccer games though.

In the mean time I have booked a wedding gig. 

More Pool Protestors

I'm still documenting the Shelton High School pool protests and school board meetings.

My lens was not set to vibration reduction and I could notice the difference in some of my indoor shots.  I had turned off the VR when I was using my camera on a tripod the day before.  There are so many things that need to be checked and reset at the start of each photo session.

Michelle Schreiber and her mother Beverly Goodwin hold signs in support of the pool staying
open on 6th ave. March 10th 2015 in Shelton Washington

Two boys hold a banner in front of Choice Highschool before the start of the 
school board meeting on March 10th in Shelton Washington

A group of pool supporters hold signs on 6th avenue before the Shelton School
Board meeting March 10th in Shelton Washington

From left: Alec (Sharkniss) Dodge and Levi Vance, Levi is writing on a sign.  Both are on the SHS swim or dive team March 10th in Shelton Washington

Alec (Sharkniss) Dodge holds up a sign while  Levi Vance uses his
back as a solid surface to write on a sign.   Near  6th Ave on  March 10th in Shelton Washington

Citizens attending the school board meeting react the the school boards continued insistence
on removing the Shelton High School and Community Pool, in the Choice High SchoolAuditorium and Auditorium on March 10th in Shelton Washington

While the school board meets in the Auditorium Lawyer Eric Valley stands outside
the Auditorium doors and discusses legal strategies with pool supporters.  At Choice High School
Auditorium March 10th in Shelton Washington

Pool protest continued, access denied and bikini baristas

From left: Joy DeRoche Ordonez, Emma Gordham, and Rishel Weatherly wave signs in support of the pool staying open while Chuck Dusharme drives past in his car with the words "save pool" painted on its side at the Timberland Library in Shelton, Washington on Tuesday March 3, 2015

There was a high bank behind the protesters that I stood on to get overview shots.  I was lucky that this car drove past while I was on the bank.  I was taking pictures of the protesters waving to passing cars and I did not see this special car until after I had taken two pictures of it.

Yes, I decided to photograph another pool protest. This protest was smaller and the light was really sweet. I had time to catch the overall mood of the protesters and to capture them from different camera angles. I did not use my flash at all, the lighting was just perfect. One thing that I like about photographing this group of people is that I can get their names later by asking for them on Facebook.

 It's nice to be able to just take pictures and concentrate on the story and the artistry instead of frantically running around with a pen and a note book begging for people's names and hoping that I've spelled them correctly. 

Sometimes the business of getting every ones name interferes with my photography.   There have been times that I've taken a good shot but could not get the names of the people in it because they left or I could not find them and that made the shot unprintable.  There are other shots that I never bothered to take because I knew I could not get the names to go with them and there are other times that I make sure to get more than three people in the shot so I don't have to ask for names.    With this group I can just concentrate on the photography and nothing else because I know I can get all of their names later on Facebook.

Kristi Holzgrove and Jax Holzgrove,5, stand together as the sun sets and display a handmade banner in support of the pool staying open in front of the Timberland Library in Shelton, Washington on Tuesday March 3rd  2015.  Two weeks earlier the Shelton School Board voted to close the High School and Community Pool.

The sweet light was leaving but I took advantage of the last of it by shooting some silhouettes.  I'm not often out covering stories in the sweet light, so I tend not to shoot very many silhouettes.  I think this silhouette captured the mood of the somewhat deflated protesters who were disappointed with the small turn out.

For the next shot down I decided to  be a bit sneaky and shoot from the hip .  Normally I reserve shooting from the hip for street photography.  The newspaper wants all shots to be candid and they really like pictures of children.  A lot of children are right at my hip level, so I have to bend down to take eye level pictures of them .  Children are often very aware of me with my camera, especially when I crouch way down to take their picture, so it can be hard to get candid shots of children.  Children don't notice me quite as much when I shoot from the hip.  I predict that I will be doing a lot of hip shooting on future assignments.

I really like the intense look in this little boys eyes, the way he is holding the sign with his right hand clasped over his heart and the shadows in the background.

Judah Holzgrove, 8,  holds up a sign for drivers of passing cars in front of the Timberland Library
 in Shelton, Washington on Tuesday March 3, 2015

In other local news a Bikini barista stand has arrived in Shelton and the city commissioners are not pleased.   I stopped by the stand and took a photo of one of the baristas.  I also covered a city commissioners meeting were citizens were complaining about the bikini barista.

I'm still happy with my Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens.  I still want a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens but I can't justify the expense unless I get some wedding gigs.

Name unknown bikini clad barista at Fifth and Railroad in Shelton Washington on Tuesday March 3rd 2015