Started as kind of a crappy Saturday for me. Lots of odd hours for the paying job last week, so I slept in a bit. I wasn't enthused to go to the Refuge, I missed the early morning feeding activities. I thought of a road trip, just to get out of the house. Too nice to stay at home all day, I left for the Refuge around 2:00. I hadn't seen early afternoon activity there, maybe something would click. I bundled the D500 and monster lens and headed out the door. See the mistake yet?
When I head out of the house, I usually (99%of the time) take the back up camera with me. It would be the D780 with something on the picture taking end.
But I didn't. Shows the mood I was in.
As I was leaving the home area, I passed Richfield Park, home of my oft photoed local Eagle. I've known about the BMX park there, but never seen it used. Today was different. The BMX park was packed and in use. And colorful. This could be fun.
I thought my camera selection for this type of event was bad. It was, but it was livable for a while. I really needed something shorter. The 350 mm on the short end took out about half of the action. After a few shots, back home quickly to do it right.
I returned for the last hour or so, the finals for the day, with a much better combo.
The day was a lot of fun. No research on what to do or what to set. All the mistakes of the past, home to roost.
I took 388 shots between the two cameras. Only 21 were unusable due to missed focus point or subject miss. I'll take that every time out.
I settled on 1600th of a second and f/6.3 for the afternoon. Nice and sunny. ISOs went from 110 to 900 with the majority of the shots in the 200 to 400 range. I also settled on EV +1 after a few of the first shots. I had some slight blowouts but nothing that was terminal. The rest of the colors played much nicer. No big clouds moved though, so the light was very even. There was a slight breeze on occasion, but there are no camera settings for that.
Trying to select only 4 shots for today's blog was rough. Like the first time I get a new subject, I shoot a lot. I am getting better in that I don't have that many duplicates. I was set up for 7 FPS and managed only 2-3 shots per effort. Good control for me. No happy shutter.
There were two shots that instantly stood out for me on reviewing the day's effort. The first shot was a total mistake for me in that it all worked. Got the whole subject, very little cropping needed. And in focus. Very rare for me. In the air, just right.
BMX - In the Air Just Right
NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
300 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, ISO 500 (AUTO)
EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX
At this point, not knowing any better I wasn't sure if the speed is too fast. Wheels are frozen. (Prop flashback) If there was just a slight blur for motion reasons I think I'd be happier. This is the only shot where the wheels are this visible. Most other shots are more head on. But for me, if I'm worried a bout a little tire blur the rest must be OK.
My second favorite shot is a bit different. For the most part I was located at the top of a 180 degree turn. Riders would typically come in low and drift up through the turn. Sound like an easy shot, but I missed many. In the space of a few seconds, you're going from max to min zoom. Sounds easy. But it is not. I finally settled on just setting up for the turn shots. And that worked.
To me, this is the best overall turn shot. There is the elusive 'story' in those faces.
Two into the Turn
NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
170 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, ISO 220 (AUTO)
EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size 16:9
First, the miss. The rider behind is the focus point, not the near rider. That is not creative license. If the front rider's helmet was all dark, I wouldn't notice it much. On the good side, this has more 'subject' than most of my shots. The faces are GREAT. The blue sunglasses, awesome.
When the starting gate goes down and releases the riders to the coarse, between 2 and 6 riders head for the first 180 degree turn. To get there the riders must go over three mounds. This will separate a few of them, but sometimes you get two or three to crest the last mound at the same time, or close. Some of the older, more advanced riders will get 'air' over this mound. And then some just plain show off.
Air Something
NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
135 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, ISO 320 (AUTO)
EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size 16:9
The last shot for the day is with the monster lens, and riders coming right at you from the start line. This was interesting to me, a sense of distance. And I needed to get something from the D500 in here.
Three at the Start
NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6
465 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, ISO 220 (AUTO)
EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX
Great day, lots of fun. Chance to chat with people. Lots of new types of shots.
There is an event next weekend. I'll be working the paying job, but may be able to sneak out for a few hours. Have ideas for different shots. Looks like people can go almost anywhere to take shots. Already thinking of what to do next.
I'll have more posts this week.
Fun is right!
ReplyDeleteExcellent work as usual Kurt. Thanks for sharing.
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