The Way
I expected to find fog. I didn’t get what I wanted, but when it comes to fog, I rarely do. Fog is elusive and never plays fair, though when you do get it, it makes the most amazing photographs.
REGARDLESS, I still got some pretty nice practice with longer exposure night photography. This was actually the first photo I took that night. It turned out to be the best. I may show you more of this shoot later.
This was a 3 second exposure at City Park in Appleton. There was a full moon, but it was obscured by an overcast sky, which created an orange/red sky. The long exposure seemed to enhance that effect which lead to this photo.
Hit the Deck
This summer was an active severe weather season for Appleton. I spent a good portion of these events on top of parking ramps praying I didn’t die from a lightning strike. These sessions produced some striking images, some of which ended up on TV.
To say I wasn’t nervous on top of those parking ramps is absurd. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. Getting these photos on TV after there fact is probably what drove me to the top of that ramp the next time. I think there was about 6 images that made it on FOX 11 by the end of the summer. It’s probably my most impressive accomplishment as far as my photography goes. Looking back, it wasn’t worth it. Looking forward, I’d do it again.
Packers 45 Cowboys 7
The game was fantastic and the lens performed much better than expected. I had to shoot pretty much everything with shutter priority and auto ISO. I was expecting some ultra grainy photos as the ISO was jumping up to over 1000 to compensate for the low light. Surprisingly, the was not the case. There was some slight blur in action shots as 1/125 was as fast as I dared to crank up the shutter speed, but it wasn’t bad at all. The new 18-105mm also gave me some pretty neat wide shots of Lambeau Field.
Nothing that I took would be considered artistic. It was more like documenting the event than anything else. When you’re 5 rows from the top in the end zone, it’s hard to take anything other that “wide shot of the stadium” or “zoom in shot of Clay Matthews being awesome” I did find it was easier to get multiple shots of the same play as there isn’t the delay like there was with my Lumix. Several times I was able to capture the pass and then the catch. I never would have been able to do that before.
It was a pretty great experience. On to the photos! More photos can be found at http://www.opus-photography.net/PackersCowboys/
Lambeau at Night
I’m a little concerned about this Sunday. I’m going to the Cowboys/Packers game at Lambeau Field. I’m not concerned about that, because that is awesome. I’m concerned about being able to take decent pictures at the game. I will have all the focal length I need. Once my 18-105mm lens arrives (hopefully today), I’ll be able to go 18mm all the way to 300mm with only two lenses. There shouldn’t be a problem storing them either, as I have a small case that fits the 70-300mm perfectly.
It’s the light. Packers/Cowboys is on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is around 7:20pm. Daylight Savings ends the night before. It’s going to be dark. Oh sure, the field will be all lit up. I’ll be able to see the game just fine (from the end zone nosebleed seats). It’s just that neither of these lenses are known for their performance in low light situations. I tried out the 70-300mm out at a Timber Rattlers game this summer and sure enough, when the sun went down, the lens had trouble getting the shots, and I had to switch to the 35mm f/1.8 to get more light (and no zoom).
It could be that it’ll be just fine. I’ll probably just play with shutter speed and ISO to get cleaner shots, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of pre-game time to figure out where the camera needs to be set. It just makes me nervous because I don’t get opportunities like this very often, and this is the first Packer game I’ve been to with this camera. I want awesome pictures, damnit.
At least the conditions shouldn’t change throughout the game. Dark, with a chance of dark.
This is from last year on my old Panasonic Lumix FZ-7 Day games rule. Charles Woodson Rules. That camera kinda ruled too.
Charles Woodson Rules.
Can’t Look Away
This post is a bit overdue. The last weekend in September was Octoberfest in Appleton. It was clearly an opportunity to practice my people pictures, which I don’t attempt very often. I tend to find that when I am photographing people, I get WAY better results when then don’t know I’m shooting them. This may be why I don’t actually take many candid portraits as I feel a bit stalker-like and sneaky when I do it.
Well, 50 thousand people wandering the streets is more than an opportunity to practice, so off I went.
I actually spent more time shooting the bands as they are performing and I would expect they would want to be captured on film and promoted. Occasionally, I would scan the crowd with my 70-300mm lens and just randomly focus of people. This shot was my most favorite of that practice. After I took it, and realized what I had, I went looking for her to get her contact info so she could have a copy, but by then, she had disappeared. Ah well. I have a copy waiting for her.
Can't Look Away
I knew it.
I knew I’d let this blog fall by the wayside.
Here’s a picture of a bird to hold me over until I redo this thing.
Buried in Work
I’m on TV!
Name misspelled ont the second photo, but not the first? Eh, so what.
Snow in April?
Yes, but this is Wisconsin, so I’m not really surprised. It also rained in my kitchen today, but that’s another story.
This was going to be a wide shot, but I decided to square it off after seeing it in a thumbnail.
