The Racing Season Returns

Just past dawn on Sunday, I found myself out at Camp Hilbert in Goochland County, VA. It was the first day of the 2008 Camp Hilbert Race Series. The series, organized by Mark Junkermann through his RunRideRace venture consists of 3 separate dates of trail runs and mountain bike races. The dates are spread across 4 months from early Spring to early Summer.

I made the mistake of staying out past midnight on Saturday - a mistake made all the more painful due to the Daylight Savings Time change at 2 AM. I discovered that 3 and a half hours of sleep is not enough. 4 and a half is usually ok, though, as I've pulled that off several times.

Mark's races are so far the only "race photography" events I've done. I generally shy away from the "shoot-and-sell-prints" jobs. While there is a good living to be made in that arena, a photographer is limited to (usually) boring angles and telephoto stills of action. This is because you are dealing in volume. The more people you can shoot, the more likely you are to sell photos. However, from my experience as a runner/cyclist, I find that I almost never buy these photos. So what I bring to the table is a photograph that I would buy of myself. The only drawback to this approach is that sometimes you are unable (as a photographer) to get everyone. A long exposure of a cyclist can be worthless if you don't time the speed of the rider to match the shutter speed. While I might only get 60%-70% of the shots to look like I wanted, the folks who buy the photos have something worth framing.

The Camp Hilbert Races are great for this kind of shooting because of the multi-lap format of the races. I can wander the course finding more interesting spots while being confident that if I miss a few riders/runners at one spot, I will more than likely catch them somewhere else. And I also like to pick a different spot or two every time I go out there to keep people interested in looking at the photos. You aren't going to sell anything if you always set up in the same spot. I can get a lot of repeat customers by changing the setting of their photos.

Buffalo Sabres...

My home team. One of the highlights of my last post (Nostalgia Trip) was the bonus of being able to attend 2 Buffalo Sabres home games. I hadn't seen a Sabres home game in 26 years. In fact, if it hadn't been for Jenny H. mentioning it at the VSCPA Christmas party, I wouldn't have even seen a Sabres away game (vs. Washington Capitals). I bummed a ride with Jenny & Laurie in mid-December. Prior to that, the last NHL game I had seen in person was when Gretzky played for the Kings (vs. Washington Capitals at the Cap Center in Landover). December's D.C. trip has re-ignited a passion for the NHL...

So Friday, I attended the Bruins vs. Sabres game by myself. I sat down close to the glass and only brought my 16-35mm lens. I couldn't have gotten any good telephoto shots up that close. It was so much fun, I didn't really take that many pics. I talked to some locals about how long it had been since I had been there and they told me about how the Bills might be sold away from Buffalo.

Sunday night, before returning to Richmond on Monday, I took my dad to see the Panthers vs. Sabres. We were in the Club section; seats I was told by my neighbors on Friday were far better than down behind the glass. I agree with that now. We had our own bar/restaraunt, local bathroom, and waitstaff taking orders for food and drink during the game. Well worth the extra $15 a seat.

With these seats, I hauled both cameras in (I didn't feel like swapping lenses and missing the action). There was a short delay at the ticket taker. The 70-200mm looks like a 3rd arm. But soon I was inside - once they determined it didn't shoot video...

I went wild with the shutter. Having gotten the initial excitement of being there quelled by Friday's game, I didn't mind looking at the game through a viewfinder. But I only did it when the whistle blew or it looked like a scoring opportunity was afoot. What really helps a sports photographer is having actually played the sport you are shooting. You don't waste many shots with non-action.

Of course, if you are a sports fan, and have watched ESPN in the last 3 days, you know what happened on Sunday's game against the Panthers. Richard Zednik, #20 of Florida, got hit in the neck by Olli Jokinen's skate - narrowly avoiding a fatal injury. I was following the action through the lens to see if anyone would get a shot off when I saw sudden gush of blood. Stunned, I lowered the camera saying "Oh my god" over and over. I took several photos after I realized what happened, but initially I was frozen in horror. A wave of chills swept over me as Zednik skated to the bench. It was sickening knowing (having bashed my own head open) what that kind of blood loss meant. Everyone in the HSBC Arena was relieved to hear he had been stablized and was on the way to the hospital, but the continuation of the game was kind of numbing. I imagined what it must be like - do you just skate around and let the clock run out? I guess that's why they are professionals; they can still keep it together to do their job. But no one would have blamed them for calling it a night.

Nostalgia Trip

My dad and I took 4 days last weekend and went back to Niagara Falls, NY. When I was 8 years old, we lived in a little town called Lewiston on the Niagara River. This was the first time I had been back since we left in the Spring of 1981.

We couldn't get anyone to go with us, and in fact we had talked about going last February. Our family thought we were crazy to go at this time of year, but this is the time that makes that part of the country what it is. Besides, in the summer, the Falls look nice, but it's crowded as can be. And the river smells funny when it's hot. I took a bunch of photos, but was limited when it came to the Falls due to inclement weather. It was 17 degrees the first day with snow showers, and 5 degrees the next day with 40mph wind gusts. I could only get 2 or 3 shots in those conditions before the lenses were coated with precipitation.

In addition to visiting the Falls, we went back to our apartment on Seneca Drive in Lewiston, Lake Ontario at Fort Niagara, and the home of the Wheatfield Blades - where I played little-league hockey. The shots in the hockey rink are of kids roughly the same age I was when I played there...

On the return trip, I stopped off in Monroeville, PA, to visit the Monroeville Mall - where George Romero filmed "Dawn of the Dead" in 1977-78. The escalators and elevator were memorable sets from the movie, although the elevator probably isn't really the same one from back in the 70s. Check out the slideshow.

Crazy Week Ensues...

This is Stress Week! I just wrapped a product shoot of seafood at Shores & Ruark. With 5-year old Willem in tow, I had to give him a spare camera to keep him occupied. 4 hours is rough when you are on a pier with your son in the winter. Thanks to Rick for keeping an eye on the boy, and Karen (of Shores & Ruark) the food designer, who put up with Willem's photo shoot of product preparation.

But that was the easy part! This weekend is the 2nd Annual Trail Travail. An underground Trail run with a field of 30 runners, several volunteers, and anyone else who catches wind and shows up. I designed T-Shirts for this year's event, and that has made a serious dent in the Backlight bank account. But they look great - thanks in no small part to 360 Graphics right here in Richmond.

In addition to fatherly duties, I am purchasing supplies, arranging volunteers, and marking the course for Saturday's run. It's a 25K* - not quite 15 miles, but it's off-road so we can't be sure...

Mission Accomplished...Almost

I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

I managed to slog my way through the Swinging Bridge 35K yesterday morning. That's right - 35K. I know I signed up for the 50K, but I didn't make the cut-off to continue on. I blame the volunteers for not letting me go on. Just kidding. I shuffled in to the start/finish at a whopping 5:43. Last year I managed a 4:03.

I had a hunch I wouldn't be able to go on physically before the race started. With a month and a half of ankle injury, I haven't been able to train more than once or twice a week. This was my longest continuous run (I managed 35K roughly during Mark Junkermann's 24 Hours of Momentum, but that was broken up with dinner and sleeping) since last year's Bel Monte 50K - with or without my gear. Anyway, the ankle was sore from the first step onto the trail and stayed that way through 21 miles of mud, 30 degree creek crossings and leaf-covered roots. Not to mention numerous fallen log crossings as difficult as an Army Basic Training Obstacle Course. But that's why it's a fun race.

It was definitely a good race to photograph. Although there aren't any stunning landscape photo ops, the out-and-back format allows for plenty of participant photos. Of course you could set up at the creek crossings and more visually interesting places and wait, but then you wouldn't be me. In fact, even if you didn't want to join the race and still wanted to get to these good sites, you would probably have to put in 2 or 3 miles. I did luck out however, and got two of the faster guys coming across together. I wish I had camera in hand when the group of 4 took off their shoes to cross the deepest creek. In fact, they did this both out and back. They looked like they were stopping for a relaxing picnic. Testament to my sluggish running speed, the first four runners were on me before I could unpack the camera. I figured I had another mile before I saw anyone. Sorry guys; slow down next time! Check out the photo slideshow.

My only disappointment was that it was supposed to snow and I saw nary a flake. One of these days...

Rights Violation Issues

Terry called and asked me to check out a photo in last week's WEEKEND section put out by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. I usually skim through the whole paper to look at the pictures and see if any headlines seem worth reading, but I hadn't gotten to that section yet.

I was surprised to see a photo of Sloth Loves Chunk with a short blurb about the band and their upcoming performance. What surprised me was that the photo was one I had taken of the band and its obvious lack of a photo credit. So I just chalked it up to the band having given out the photo and not concerning themselves with all the pro-bono work I have done for them in the past by ignoring this little detail. On further investigation, however, I discovered that no one in the band had any idea of the photo or article being published until told about it by friends.

I immediately emailed the RTD news department - since they have no email to the WEEKEND editor. The gist of the email was that I would like to know how they came to use the photo without my or the band's permission.

The next morning I received an apologetic call from the WEEKEND editor explaining how the freelance writer of the blurb had not gone through the necessary protocol in this case, and that they had indeed used the photo without permission.

I took the high road (again) and explained my concern about not getting recognition and offered my services to the paper in a freelance capacity. Obviously they feel my work is worthy of printing; this was at least the 3rd photo they have printed (the others being with permission). I was told that they would keep my name in mind for future work. This was probably more a 'CYA' response than a promise for employment, so I don't expect anything to come of it.

So, be forewarned and make it a point to check out local papers and magazines frequently! You never know who is getting famous from your hard work...

Finally!

All my photos are now loaded, backed up, and imported into Lightroom. The grand total as of today is 50,532. That includes personal photos dating back to '03 and work photos since '05. The breakdown is something like 13,000ish and 37,000ish, respectively. Now I can kick back and add metadata when I get bored. But most of all, future photography will be a breeze to keep track of. I highly recommend Scott Kelby's digital photographer series of books (Lightrooom & Photoshop CS2 particularly). Of all the how-to books I've read in my lifetime - there have been quite a few - Kelby is hands-down the best author. I learned in 20 minutes how to remove all the power lines from behind the 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign (I bet you never knew they were there if you've never seen it). And best of all - even I can't tell they were there. The only 'Photoshopping' I do is to personal photos, but it's a great knowledge to have.

I'd like to mention an accolade; Metro Sports online magazine (Washington D.C. based) picked a photo of mine for the 'Year in Sports' photo submissions. The photo was one of 10 (not #1, apparently) picked to represent the Virginia-D.C. area's best sports captures of the year. The photo was one I took for the Richmond Sportsbackers. It was of Catriana Morrison (1st Place Female, from Great Britain) at the finish line of the 2007 Long-Course Duathlon World Championships, held for the first time ever in the United States. It was quite an event, and I'd like to thank the Sportsbackers for giving me the opportunity to photograph such a once-in-a-lifetime event. I'd also like to thank Rick Barlow for assisting me by covering the running photography. I also did the course map graphics and video on the Du World's site.