100x100

Shot some swimming last weekend. Actually did a bit of swimming too! Was good to get back in the pool

making progress

Spent some of yesterday morning shooting at the Capital of Texas Triathlon, in downtown Austin. I've been shooting this race off and on now for 8 years. For the last 5 years, I've used exactly the same equipment. It was interesting to see that I was starting to make some decent pictures, this time around. The first few years I was just happy to get a sharp picture. Then the next year, I was starting to get cleaner compositions, less stuff in the frame that I didn't want there, more sharp frames. This time around I seem to have learned enough to start paying more attention to the light and getting shots that actually start looking like what I wanted to achieve. Part of that is getting much more comfortable with the camera controls. Being able to react and change settings quickly and correctly, with only a few seconds to spare, really helped make the pictures I saw the potential for. I was also doing a better job of getting more interesting angles, shooting down from above, getting low, trying to do something more than just shots from eye level.

Perhaps most effective was looking for interesting light and then exploiting it - finding places where the light was coming between buildings or bouncing around from glass and making shots that worked in those locations. All of this with the same gear I've been lugging around for half a decade. I imagine if I'd been switching cameras more often, or changing lenses, I'd have less familiarity with how they all work, I'd have to look at the controls and think more - be able to react less automatically. When things are changing quickly, that muscle memory really helps get the picture.

morning swim

January. 5am. 32F. Nice time for a swim.

a more authentic experience

Another night infront of the Olympics tonight. More swimming, more drama. I'm going to drag myself away from the TV this weekend and go to the Outer Banks (even if the forecast mentions scattered thunderstorms again).

Cooked a chicken stir-fry this evening and still trying to get used to cooking on an electric hob. Much smoke and spluttering. Dinner tasted good and while the smoke hasn't yet cleared, it is a much more authentic viewing experience. The air quality in here looks to be pretty close to the same as in Beijing!

amazing race

Photo by Rod Mar

What a fantastic 4x100m freestyle last night in the Olympics. Really riviting racing! Phelps sure looks happy about that gold and that his chances for 8 are still alive - probably more excited because it looked so unlikely at the end of 350m. If you are interested in sports photography, Rod Mar's Olympic blog makes interesting reading. Vincent Laforet is also worth a look.