Playing in the Mud

I'm trying to get into more action photography, with the ultimate goal of shooting an NFL game, but that's some ways off. Currently I'm shooting cars, and had the opportunity to shoot a monster truck mud jam. 

The event was great fun and I met a ton of wonderful friendly people, both on and off the track. Here is a quick sample of some of the trucks there. 

I didn't use my best lens, as I figured the mud would come flying in my direction and as you can see, it did, in great heaping piles of it.

 I loved every second of being out there and yes, I arrived home to my wonderful family covered in must and dust. I look forward to doing it again.
I shot in shutter priority, ensuring the shutter speed never dropped below 1/1000 of a second, to catch the action. I used a second hand 55-200mm Nikon kit lens (not a bad lens for daylight, way waaay too slow for anything else) and my Nikon D7000

Up Close and Personal

One of the wonderful advantages of the 80-200mm lens, is getting right into the action, and coupled with the track not being that wide, gives me the chance to fill the frame with the biker. 

The downside is you really have to be quick on the focus and tracking, not an easy accomplishment when you're being pelted with gravel spray. I tossed more than one shot like this where I missed the focus.

Falling Behind

I've gotten way behind in posting pictures, so the next few posts are not going to be in chronological order. Life has gotten in the way (as life seems to do from time to time) and while I've made time to take the shots, I've not made time to post them.

Here is another dirt track bike race. As always, they are great fun to shoot, part action, part noise, part getting pelted with gravel spray. Everyone there was friendly, even the Canon users (and to all my Canon fans, they only thing more insufferable than a Canon user, is a Nikon user) and we had a great time swapping stories. Given this was a race for real-world money, hotdogging like this rider here was a rarity. I think he recognized there were more than a handful of photographers on site and was simply showing off for us. And we thank you for it.

Taken with my rock-solid, never-say-die Nikon D2x and impossible-to-kill Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8.

One Last Action Shot

Again, in film, manual focus 135mm. The scissor dancers were under a tent so the lighting came from the side, with a little fill light from some overhead cans. They were in full swing, leaping, dancing, swirling around. Getting one in focus was quite the challenge. From the local folk fest, shot with my Nikon F3HP

Fun in the Sun

From the same set that brought you the horseshoe crab and rocket launch. A mother and son splashing about in the warm(ish) Atlantic Ocean on a sunny afternoon.
Taken with the 500mm reflex lens (manual focus, they only come in manual focus as far as I know) on my Nikon d2x.

Risk

 These guys (and girls, there were at least two) got close, really close, and yet there were no accidents. A testimony to their prowess on two wheels.

I switched up to my 50mm for a few shots but was unsatisfied with the results, so I stuck with the 80-200mm. Most shots were taken at either the 80mm range, or 200, rarely in between. My camera now needs a good cleaning with a dust remover.

Dust

Ten to fifteen bikes on the track, and kicking up rocks, dust and debris. Half the fun of shooting the event was ducking the flying rocks.

This was from the final turn, the guys in the back of the pack eating everyone else's dust.

Serious Action

So this weekend I get invited to shoot the AMA Motorcycle race at a nearby track. The weather, which has been rainy all week long, instantly turns nice for Saturday, fluffy white clouds, mid 80s, sunny, perfect day for shooting.

I get an all access media pass, allowing me on the track, off the track, behind the scenes, everywhere. I've got my Nikon d2x, 80-200mm f/2.8 and a big handful of memory cards. At wide open, f/2.8, I've got 1/5000th of a second shutter speed. Perfect for capturing action. I set up at the corners and wait for the roar of the two stroke bikes. Despite the week's worth of rain, the track was dry and dusty, as you can see here.

At 100+ mph (I overheard 125 on the straights) it's very difficult to get shots in focus. Of the 1000 shots I took, 25 percent I missed the focus on. But of the shots where I nailed it, they came out great.

Here are some shots for your approval.

Messy

And here is where things got to be really messy. Between the fading light and full on night, the venue had powerful klieg lights running but they did little other than fight with the dusk. Those pics I took I will not post here.

Once full night fell the kliegs took over and gave me enough light to work with. Of course I had to go and run the improper settings, not using a fast enough shutter speed. I was using 1/200 figuring that would be enough and in the LCD screen of the camera it looked sharp enough, it was only when I got home and viewed them on the big screen of my PC did I realize I should have pushed it one or two more stops. Oh well, live and learn.

Background Noise

Even with the f/2.8 there was only so much I could do to isolate the busy background. I feel the shot could be better with more light to make the bucking bronco stand out more, but I worked with what I had.

Midair

Naturally, the light fell behind the venue, giving me enough to shoot by to capture action, but not enough to really make the images stand out.

Here is a prime example, cowboy in air, horse going wild. The histogram is as flat as a board even though there was enough light for 1/800sec shutter speed at 400ISO.

Back for more

So I managed to get an invite to shoot a rodeo for a large venue. I was anxious to try out my 80-200mm f/2.8 on something other than concerts, and this seemed to be the perfect place. As I was to discover later, this was the only lens I would use that night. So much for hauling around all my gear.

But that's okay, as you can see from this shot to the left, the bokeh was superbly rendered and the cowboy really stands out from the busy background.

Unfortunately the rodeo didn't start until 7pm so the fading twilight allowed me only a handful of really good shots before I had to crank up the ISO.

More Colour

 Another colour run came through our area this weekend. Much smaller than the one I run in, and this time I decided to shoot from outside the run. Deciding what lens to take wasn't easy, but in the end I took my main concert lens, the 80-200mm, figuring the variable focal length would give me flexibility. The constant f/2.8 aperture worked wonderfully, as you can see with the first picture, how nicely the runner is isolated from the background.

It was a partially sunny day and I could always have the sun behind me no matter where I went, giving me good solid skin tones and accurate colours. Most shots were at ISO400 allowing me to stop the action in mid-stride (like in the 2nd and last pic)

The full set can be seen here:

Colour Vibe 5k

Questions Linger As I Walk The Path

Sometimes, it's all about the waiting. The first time the drummer for the band Saint Diablo did this, I missed the shot, as I was concentrating on the singer, and not paying attention to the rest of the band, as I should have.

After the drummer did this, I started to pay attention,and when he poured water over his drum kit, I was ready. I love how the light reflects off the mist.

Plagued Be Thy Angel

My favourite shot from the entire show. Kysmet's bass playing caught in the act. The yellow light nicely highlighting his mass of long hair as he was coming down from a jump.

So, to Kysmet: Thanks for the poses, great songs, new friends and fantastic concert!

Let's All Go Out To The Races!

There was a huge bike race though my city that I only found out about at the last minute. Heck it ran right by my house, so how could I not so shoot it?
I have a three day weekend (hooray for State jobs) and it's chock full of awesome photography opportunities, with the race being the first.
Sadly, there were way too many escorts for the bikers to really get great shots, but I did get a few I liked.
There is supposed to be an even larger international event happening in the near future that bring riders in from all over the world, I'm really looking forward to that one.

Feels Like The First Time

So apparently there are a number of Roller Derby teams in my city. We can't keep a football or baseball team here longer than a few years, but roller derby is thriving. Ok, fair enough. I went to my first bout the other day, figuring to try my hand at action shots.

Well it was like I was shooting for the first time, as all the pics were terrible. Well, it's experience. Here is a shot that didn't suck completely. I am reminded why I prefer landscape work over action.

Fast Friends

I must have burned half a battery trying to catch the little fellow in full glory. long tail, bright red body and way to fast. Did not sit still at all, for anybody there, but it would tease once in a while. This is the best shot I could get of it.

So, Action Then

Here is where you can see Noise. In the black backstop behind the players. Beyond that, ISO Noise is pretty controllable in the D2x. 

I wish I could catch a day game, this was under the lights, but perhaps a weekend game will occur soon.

Even Monty Python Made It

If you get the title of this post, then you'll know it fits the picture.

And even though the weapons are not edged, they pull no punches (as near as I could tell) and that armour comes in handy.

Unlike my normal work, most of the action images are cropped, as I could only get but so close to the action without endangering myself.

Oh what I wouldn't give for an 85mm f/1.4 lens!