Lemonade - Looking at 2020 in the Rearview Mirror

 And looking forward to 2021!

If there ever was a time to try to make lemonade out of lemons, 2020 was the poster child year to do so.

Travel restrictions and social distancing took a toll on my photography excursions.  

I missed out on what I'm trying to make as an annual trip to South Carolina in spring to thaw out from the Michigan winters - and take in an early air show.  I missed out on a trip to North Carolina, to another air show, but to be with family and the next generation's introduction to air shows.  And I missed out on the annual Reno Air Races trip.  I'd added something new for 2020, that was going to my own back yard to the Thunder over Michigan Air Show - Photographer's Package.  

There are no train, full size #1225 or HO scale at the Detroit Model Railroad Club, photos this year.

You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone.  (Big Yellow Taxi - I don't know the Cinderella version lyrics.)

I did get out to the Nature Refuge, when it was open.  The Park was closed more than normal early in the season.  More importantly, the outhouses were closed all year.  That's another issue.

I did get out to some equestrn.., - ah, horse related events.  The Barrel Racing riders got out after missing a few early season events and the Hunter/Jumpers soon followed suit.  I didn't mind going to those.  Outdoors and I could keep my distance as necessary.

I found two new interests - or a good way to spend an afternoon close by.  There is a BMX track less than 5 miles from the house.  And, within an hour away are some R/C Aircraft opportunities.  

I started to get into a full frame experience with a D780.  Problem was the camera was so different than the D500, both in design and menu.  So late in the year, swapped the D780 for a D850.  Much happier.  I also picked up a couple of trinity series f/2.8 lenses during the year.  So whenever I can get out and about more freely in 2021, lots of experimenting to do.

And in other experimenting news, I picked up a neutral density filter, 3 stops, primarily for prop driven aircraft.  There was some math involved to arrive at 3 stops, and appears I hit it right.  There was a low flight of T-6 class aircraft earlier this year and with the big lens at f/5.6 - the blur was excellent.  The only thing slower than a T-6 prop is a helicopter rotor blade.  Worry about that when it happens.

I don't have any 'best of' shots for this year.  Like every other season this year, there will be an asterisk by 2020.  But I do I have some favorites.  So, with the year in the rearview mirror:

(Flint Firebirds) Hockey:

I really enjoyed going to the Flint Firebirds games last season.  Arena is 15 minutes away and the ticket prices are just right.  The lights in the arena are OK for taking photos.  And the best part is you can bring in a camera.  No limits to the equipment from what I can tell.  I am looking forward to going again with the 70-200 f/2.8 lens.  The lens was built for this.  But the kit I had last year also did the job well.  I usually got to chat with nice people - the universal language of hockey.  And Flint hockey is pretty nice.  I was choosy on my seat reservations, picking different locations all the time.  Plus I could walk around.  These are two of my favorite shots from this year.

This first shot was a big surprise.  My seat was front row.  I'm not sure how this worked.  Right up against the glass.  Less than 4 feet away from me.  This happened so fast.  And it was in focus.  And it fills the screen.  And you can see the reflections of the Firebirds jerseys being worn by the people in the row across the isle from me.  Awesome screen saver.

For this next shot I was sitting right behind the net.  In this sequence I could see the play developing and coming right at me.  This is the middle of a three shot burst.  As with the first hockey shot, the glass is scratched and smeared with puck stuff and I wasn't sure it was a keeper past myself.  But showing it to others, the feedback was they didn't notice the distractions as much as I did.  They were focused on the subject.

I hear the OHL will fire up again this year.  Not sure if I'll be able to get to another game this year, but will certainly try to get out.  Looking forward to keeping the dream alive.

This next shot is of the Pittsburgh skyline, the weekend prior to the national lockdown.  The news was spreading that a lockdown was on its way.  Sad time, but a beautiful day to walk along Mt. Washington.  I had just received the D780 and had only one good lens for it, a 50 mm.  Still turned out great.  The barge was the icing for sure.

I use this shot for my work Zoom background.

When the D780 first arrived, I traveled to St. Joseph (MI) to photograph the navigation light.  This is a favorite spot for me.  Lots of water and subject.  The day was nice and sunny - the the light off the ice formations was really good.  I saw a few fisher people out on the walkway.  The ice cover walkway.  Anyway, I saw this pole against the railing.  Turned out well.

Freshwater ice.  Nothing like it.

I did get some shots of aircraft, very few compared to past years.  There were a few days where the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels were flying over cities to salute the first responders.  And for the Blue Angel's flight in Detroit, if I drove an hour south I would be at the northern most point for the published route.  As with any routes, it was a guess where the best sights would be.  Luck was with me, as they flew right over the parking lot where we were.  Being over a populated area, no AB sound.  But that's OK - I'll take what I can get.  Sound for lacking ears.

Seriously, that was overhead.  Directly overhead.  I almost fell backwards.

A few days later, a flight of T-6 Class aircraft were flying around mid-Michigan for the same purpose, to salute the first responders.  The T-6 class is my favorite photographic subject at the Reno Air Races.  Big, slow, colorful.  Photographer's dream.  But the class also has the slowest propeller rotation of the race classes as well.  Photographer's nightmare.  To help me along, I acquired a three stop ND filter - and this was my first outing with it.  If I calculated the stops right, we would see prop blur.

I think the ND filter worked.

To the Birds:

Early in the spring, we had blue birds at the house for the first time that I can remember.  This is shot right out of the office window.  The blue birds made a three day appearance, so I was ready on day three.  I had one shot, great shot, of a blue bird in a tree.  Except there was a wayward branch fight across the bird.  I'm pretty good at removing 'distractions', but it never worked right in this case.  But the sequence is worth mentioning in 2020, just to show there is other life.  Plus the wood grain on the house is interesting.

Meanwhile out at the Refuge:  The Refuge was closed for the lockdown for a few extra weeks.  But that too passed and the drive was opened up.  And the usual cast of characters were there.  No avian lockdown.  One of the first shots I could take was a heron with the 200-500 lens, and it wasn't that far off.  Crystal clear - sharp as can be.  And kudos to the bird, it stayed rock sold still.

Also at the refuge are a number of pelicans in residence.  They usually don't stray close to the road.  This year with the bigger lens, I could get to them and not have to crop too much.  This is a 'sleeper' photo for me.  When working with it, I was so-so on using it.  But when I see it full screen on the monitor, I'm very happy with it.  Lots of great colors with a cloudless sky.  And that sky reflecting on the water.

That's just fun.

And for this year's Eagles:  On the west side of the Refuge Drive, I saw an Eagle looking for a meal in the Shiawassee River.  The Eagle was perched in a dead tree over the river.  The Eagle didn't notice the car in front of me, and those car occupants returned the favor.  Lucky me.  The Eagle was close to eye level, or closer than I have been in the past.  I was there for about ten minutes.  Lucky for me, no trailing cars.

And after it was tired of sitting there, time to cruise for dinner.

I may never be in position again for shots like this.  Just amazed I didn't miss the series.

My best Eagle photo for the year, IMO, was taken at Richfield Park, just a few minutes away from where I live.  There is an active nest there, and it is a nice place to retreat to when I have only a few minutes to get away.  I didn't miss this shot.  I was afraid I did.  After taking the shot, I reviewed it in the camera monitor the is very small, but sharp.  I could zoom in on the bill and see it was in focus.  Very, very happy.  I showed this to a confirmed bird watcher in the club and his comment was you often don't see a photo of the Eagle in this position.  Keeper.

One of the events I looked forward to getting out to was the horse events.  They were the first to open up after the mandated lockdown.  They were outdoors, they were out in the open so I could manage my distance.  And they were in the sun.  I made it to a few barrel racing events and a few hunter/jumper events.  I have a lot of work to do on my future shots - right now I get too much uninteresting scenery.  I need to understand what a good frame is.  This first shot is barrel racing, and this is close to filling the frame.  Lot's of detail.  

From the Hunter/Jumper events, this was by far my favorite.  But needed a bigger lens.  Too much extraneous crap in the shot.  I saw the offset horse's head and how the rider was looking around.  Never the less, still a favorite on the screen saver loop.  And the ever popular all hoofs off the ground criteria is met.

And for the new subjects:  R/C Aircraft and BMX Racing.

So looking for things to do, these popped up on my radar.  For the R/C Aircraft, I was web surfing around and wound up seeing a near-by event.  And the BMX racing is just up the road, where I had seen the track before but never when it was in use.  Again, outdoor activities.

For the BMX racers, it is great to see an event that is open to people of all ages.  And to see the kids competing is just great.  And kudos to the pit crews.  

This first shot is just a couple of kids dueling it out on a practice lap.

On my first outing at the track, there were a few kids taking the 'big air' jump.  From where I was sitting I didn't have the right set-up to get a close up.  I would not make that mistake again.  And I would not see this rider combo again.  But I do like this shot - and on the screen save loop it is OK.

That high - on bicycles.  Wow.

There aren't too many restrictions on where I could go at the track and for this shot I could get pretty close to the jump - and somewhat lower so the jump was over me.  This just plain worked for me.

For the R/C Aircraft, I found my way to an event at a park close by, with a large lake, where I could expect to see a number of aircraft.  This was a four day event - where I could get to the Thursday and Friday flights.  The paying job ruled out Saturday and Sunday attendance.  Lots of fun watching flying craft and water, what could go wrong?

I learned a lot with some of these photos.  Usually most of my shots have one subject.  And that is all.  But with some of these shots, I have a somewhat secondary subject that fills in the story.  

There is a lot going on here and if there was a 'Best of' award this year, this would be in contention.  Less is more.

And with the same aircraft, one of the most interesting was the aircraft achieving flight and seeing the water returning to the lake, draining off the pontoons.  For some reason, this was very, very cool to me.

One of the R/Cs was just a very nice aircraft, personally to me.  The colors are right.  The same aircraft I saw when I was in Alaska years ago on Hood Lake, by the multiples.  But also as I learned, many of the aircraft are electric.  No noise, no smell on the electric ones.  When a gas powered aircraft was in flight, lots of fun to be around.  But electric or gas, the people piloting here were good.   Any way, the de Havilland Beaver in for a water landing.  Shot with big lens.

Lots of good action there.  The prop is not frozen, with electrics when the power is cut - no rotation.  I like the water action.

So what was my favorite shot of the year?  This is a sleeper, longshot.  And the shot wasn't a favorite until I saw it on the big screen.  This was shot with the D850 and the 70-200 f/2.8 combo.  Is that the reason I like this on the monitors?  Maybe.  The quality is just outstanding.  Aside from that, the frame of the shot works for me.  Lots of lines.  Lots of colors.  Good separation of the subject from the background with respect to focus.  This was just a surprise to me.

Didn't see a BMX taking shot of the year honors.  If there was such an award.

So 2020 wasn't all that bad.  Still, looking to a better 2021.  See yinz there.