WNYOA Rd. 10 - Thunder Ridge

OK ...

So some of you know that I come from the cycling world - as in road cycling.  ( bicycles )  Every couple of years we as mere mortals get to see Olympic athletes who are at the peak of their respective sports perform on the boob tube.  One of those summer sports is obviously cycling.  I'm sure many of you have seen cycling on the velodrome - most likely on TV - but some of you may have actually seen actual velodrome cycling in person too as there is a world class facility in Trexlertown, Pa.  I've ridden that velodrome myself - never competed or raced there - but I have ridden it.  Where, you might ask am I going with this?  Bear with me if you will...

Steiner and Scutt grabbed the 1st, and hopefully last, unknown start style holeshot  |  Click the photo to view it larger

One of the velodrome events that they have is called "The Unknown Distance Race".  Ummm - yep - it means exactly what it says.  The race might be 10 laps, or it could be 100.  The race officials, via sponsorship, throw in prize laps (primes as they are called) to spice up the race - ie: a bell rings and an announcement is made - "The winner of the next lap pockets $50.00 cash... !!!".  This keeps things interesting and makes for some strategy as obviously the winner of the overall event takes home the biggest prize.  But not knowing when the race ends ...  do you kill yourself for the $50.00 and hope they don't ring the bell (white flag) now that you're toast?  See - makes it interesting.  :)

Thunder Ridge decided to invent the "Unknown Start" today for the big bikes.  Yeah - that definitely added some spice to many a spectator up at the top of the hill, and from what I heard even several of the racers and sweepers.  We're all hanging out, just talking and shootin' the breeze when all of a sudden ( BRAAAAAP!!!! ) here comes the frickin' AA line ripping up the hill at, like, a kabillion mph!!  Holy crap!!  Everyone is bailin' and backing off and trying to get outta the way ...    yikes!!

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Umm -- promoters for events 11-15 - please don't do that again.  We, as spectators and shooters - we're boring - we'd just assume know exactly when the race is going to start, thank you very much.

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Maryott fought hard for this one and it was evident that he was stoked about it at the end as he was pumping his fists celebrating his win as he came through scoring taking the checkered flag  |  Click the photo to view it larger

So -- seen above,  Marcus Scutt and Jim Steiner Jr., these two grabbed a couple of good hands full of throttle and fed the rest of the AA line their roosts!  Scutt ran out of gas (literally) and didn't have quite the finish he was hoping for.  I'm not sure how Steiner made out.  There was a heck of a race happening between the two big dogs that were present today though with Bouwens and Maryott going at it.  Bouwens had the early lead, only to lose it to Maryott who established a pretty good gap for a while.  "The Bat" fought hard and closed the gap and was knocking right on his targets tailpipe through the closing lap.  Maryott demonstrated why he is running the #1 plate for the series at present as he successfully held of the hard charging Bouwens for the win.

Ben "Batman" Bouwens could only look on as he came home in 2nd  |  Click the photo to view it larger

The Big Quads - oh boy!!  They are - well - they're the Big Quads.  The start for them was (fortunately) very well telegraphed by the starters and race staff - no surprises in that department.  The racers themselves ... c'mon.  Those of you who attend these races already know - they create their own brand of excitement and this start was not to disappoint!  There was some wild and crazy goings on and a couple of "interesting" line choices made.  A couple of crashes but fortunately no serious injuries (that I'm aware of).

The Big Quads start - yep - it was a wild one at times!!  :)  Whoo hoo!!  |  Click the photo to view it larger

There will be many pics from the event getting posted up to the galleries and facebook over the next couple of days - standby!!

-=- jd -=-

A Couple of Grabs From The Thater Crit

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I had to go into the Binghamton for something anyway - drop off a dead phone that needs to go in for replacement, and pick up a couple of Monster drinks that I had accidently left in the fridge from earlier in the week.  That was, of course, the most important reason for going there ....  <grin>

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The Chris Thater bike races were also happening downtown.  I used to race bikes in a former incarnation of myself - a skinnier me.  I stopped doing that though quite a few years ago - it's very hard and I'm very lazy.  I was lazy back then too, but I had pain in the ass teammates who would drag me out and "make me" go riding / training.  I'm glad I did though - they were all a bunch of good guys.  So anyway - I knew the races were happening so I grabbed a camera and a couple of lenses and decided to take them with me.

The weather sucked.  This made me even more happy that I was no longer riding...  I used to hate racing in the rain.  I spent the better part of an afternoon at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital up in Oneonta, N.Y. one time as a result of racing in the rain.  I only stuck around for a little while as, again, the weather was not all that great, and I wanted to get back home to get my gear ready for my current favorite sport - the WNYOA Harescrambles races up near Norwich tomorrow at Thunder Ridge.

So -- here are a couple of grabs from the race action that I did stick around to see, and there is a small gallery of 40-some-odd keepers there too - the link to those is here.

This chick is supposed to be some kind of badass from what my friend Mike told me.  I guess she did the womens version of the Tour De France earlier this year and has won a boatload of big races.  The race always calls up all of the top contenders and introduces them to the crowd. | Click the photo to view it larger

The Pro Womens field about to start | Click to photo to view it larger

The Red Brick Church in Berkshire, NY

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I live next to a church that sits right on the corner of Route 38 and Glen Rd here in Berkshire, N.Y.  It's a pretty neat looking old building.  I have no idea how long it has been around for - I'm guessing a while anyway.  Admittedly, I don't spend much time in churches - most of my Sunday's are at races or football games. I did happen to pop into this particular church a year or two ago - they were having a bake sale, or maybe a blood drive?  I don't know - I forget now - but I had to physically go inside of the place.  Once in I happened to get a peak of the main room where the pews and stuff are.  I decided right then and there that I had to speak with the "Padre", as I call him, and see if I could get permission to shoot the interior of his church 'cause it looked pretty cool in there.  :)  ( I'm guessing maybe he's a "Minister"?  It's not a Catholic church -- I dunno what kind it is -- but I like Clint Eastwood's use of Padre from some of his old westerns ... <grin>  )

The Padre' here at this church - he's a pretty cool and interesting guy whom I have met on more than a few occasions locally and he was more than willing to hear me out.  We agreed that I should just keep in touch and let him know if /when we wanted to see if we could do this.  That was late last summer.  This past Thursday morning I happened to notice that the (now low and early rising sun) was basking the church once again as seen in the top photo.  It was time to speak with the Padre' ...

My thinking is that the church, being situated and facing more or less to the east, early morning sunlight would be best.  I'd hoped to catch the stained glass windows getting illuminated via mr. sun and the interior in general taking on a nice "glow".

Click to view the photo larger | Click here to view it really large (3600px)

I'll be adding more photo's to this post over the next few days ..  I wound up bracketing and doing some HDR as it was pretty dark in there.  We turned up a couple of the lights but that just killed the atmosphere that I wanted / was looking for so - tripod, cable release and slow'ish shutter speeds were the order of the day.

This was a learning experience ...  wouldn't mind trying a do-over.  | Click the photo to view it larger | Click here to view it really large (3600px)

Last ones ...

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WNYOA Round 5 / Greek Peak

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Round 5 is in the books.  Mother nature was NOT kind to us for the majority of the week leading up to the event itself.  Only on actual race day did she finally relinquish the wet and miserable grip that she had been stubbornly clinging to and let mr. sun come out.  This was, unfortunately too little, too late.  Conditions were wet.  Not terribly wet - trust me - WNYOA has seen, and raced in, far worse - BUT had we had just one or two straight days of dry weather ....  {sigh}  "Woulda, coulda, shoulda ... "  But as many in the race family say, "... it's a hare scramble, deal with it".

And so we did.  :)

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This is just a quickie post to get out some random "faces in the crowd" candid type stuff that I like to do from time to time.  The shot of Bobby J. with trash in his hand is one that he actually asked me to take.

<EHEM>  People - NOT COOL.  You want to keep having good venues to race at?  Quit leaving your shit trash all over the place!! </EHEM>

I deployed mr. remote for both the big bikes AND even the quads.  Yeah -- thats a major trust thing right there ...  lol!  I wound up shooting a LOT of images -- gonna take a while to go through all of them and weed out the bad ones, make first round picks, and then whittle that down to keepers that will wind up getting posted up to the galleries.

Anyway ...  enjoy!

-=- jd -=-

WNYOA 2014 Round #3

Round 3 is now in the books and it turned out to be a great day for racing and the racing itself was great too! I've got a couple of neat little panorama style shots that I wanted to share with everyone from the start / staging area of both the Big Bikes and Big Quads races, and since I'm now into the Big Bikes and Quads photo's I figured that I would just throw a couple more images into this post and then call it a day.  All of the mornings races (Pee Wee's) are already loaded up at the galleries.  You can check them out here.  ( along with the other races as they go up )

This was the start line area for the Big Bikes about 30-45 minutes prior to the actual start of the race. There were still a number of racers who hadn't even come out to staging yet.  There was some good racing to be had and, as you can see, spectacular weather to enjoy it in!

Click to view larger | Click here to view it *really* large  :)

I moved in to see if I could get one from a closer perspective but because I'm not very tall I just wind up aiming the camera in the right general direction with it held aloft over my head.  Look at this one large - it has some problems as the pano didn't stitch together all that well.  I "corrected" some of the really bad ones (people missing heads or having hollow bodies...  lol ! ) but there are still at least two pretty bad ones in there that I left - see if you can spot them (and others... :)  )

Click to view larger | Click here to view it *really* large  :)

So it was race time and the premier event of the day was on the line.  the AA/Pro class field is especially stacked this year with really good riders and it has proven so far to be a good one to watch.  I deployed "mister remote" for the first time ( a remotely triggered camera ) and it was able to grab a few interesting shots from its vantage point for the start of the bikes.  "The Bat" Ben Bouwens on his #23 Yamaha came out of the first turn like a shot and grabbed the holeshot.  "Old man" Scottie Rich was hot on his tail pipe with the rest of the field in furious pursuit.  Interestingly enough the defending WNYOA #1 plate of Grant Maryott came through my shooting position in what appeared to be near last place.  Two hours and several laps later it was role reversal.  Maryott demonstrated why he is riding the red #1 plate as he worked his way up through the field and not only caught the flying Bat but overtook him, and at the end of the day left him some 30 or 40 seconds in errors.  Anyone who knows the WNYOA series and has watched it over the years knows that Bouwens is tough - simply keeping up with him is one thing - but to chase him down AND pass him?  Dude ...  !  If everyone on the front line can stay healthy and minimize mechanicals we as spectators could be in for a really good year of AA Big Bike racing!

Bouwens grabbed the early lead and held it for quite a while. This was as captured by "mister remote" | Click the photo to view it larger

Bouwens grabbed the early lead and held it for quite a while. The Bat would have to settle for a 2nd place finish on the day though as a hard charging Maryott caught and passed him.  This was as captured from my shooting position with the other camera | Click the photo to view it larger

Maryott didn't get the greatest of starts for the day but ...  (see next photo). This was as captured by "mister remote" | Click the photo to view it larger

Maryott rode hard and determined which paid dividends at the end of the day. The #1 plate was number #1 coming through the checkered flag.  This was as captured from my shooting position with the other camera | Click the photo to view it larger

This was the start line area for the Big Quads about 30-45 minutes prior to the actual start of the race. There were still a number of racers who hadn't even come out to staging yet.  Yep -- good turnout!

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WNYOA Round #2 / Victory Mountain

Just a quick upload of some of the sights from racing action today up in the hills overlooking Richford.  Mother nature tried to throw us a curve ball and while she was somewhat successful in getting things off the a slow and sloppy start, determination won the day as some really good racing went down.

Many more to come that will be going up to the galleries over the next few days ...  standby and enjoy!

-=- jd -=-

Click to view image larger | Click here to view full size export at 1800px

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Click to view image larger | Click here to view full size export at 1800px

Click to view image larger | Click here to view full size export at 1800px

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Click to view image larger | Click here to view full size export at 1800px

Click to view image larger | Click here to view full size export at 1800px

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FPS or Draggin' The Shutter?

When I first got back into photography five or so years ago, I quickly re-discovered that I have a passion for shooting uncontrolled, unscripted, unposed subject.  Basically I shoot sports.  I was a photographer in the Navy back in the early to mid 1980's and basically hung up my camera's for about 20 years before I decided to get back into it.  I purchased my first digital body, a Nikon D80, around 2009 and was smacked in the face with the reality of the fact that I hadn't shot or kept up with the pace of technological change for such a long period of time.  I kind of had to "re-learn" how to shoot again!  Fortunately my background did come in handy as I did have a basic understanding of how light, shutter speeds, iso, etc ...  all play into being able to produce a nice result.  Anyway -- this whole digital thing was a wild discovery and .... wow!  Instant results on the back of the body via the onboard lcd screen and cheap!!!  ( no film, no processing fees, no waiting..  this is great!! :)  )

Nikon D300, 1/80th @f/14, iso 200, 24mm with a 24-85mm nikkor lens, hotshoe mounted sb-600 flash - rear curtain sync | click the photo to view it larger | click here to see the full 1800px export

So getting back to the second sentence - I discovered I have a "thing" for shooting sports.  Initially I was really pretty hung up on frame rate.  ( how may frames per second can a camera body shoot - ie; is it a machine gun? )  I had to have faster and faster frame rates ...  I did also discover more robust "pro level" bodies too.  Not only did they satiate my growing addiction for faster frame rates, but they also tend to be much more robustly built - made out of metal instead of plastic.  And weather sealed.  "Ahhh .. this is good - now I can stay out in the pouring rain at football games, or get roosted with mud and rocks at the motorcycle races ...  Me like.  :) "

Nikon D300, 1/80th @f/14, iso 200, 24mm with a 24-85mm nikkor lens, hotshoe mounted sb-600 flash - rear curtain sync | click the photo to view it larger | click here to see the full 1800px export

Time passes and like all things as we grow and learn, we mature.  I find that while I do still appreciate my 8 FPS bodies that I have - which by today's standard in pro class bodies is considered slow - I also have discovered in recent years that I rarely actually use that 8 FPS capability.  I rarely shoot in bursts of more than 3 or 4 frames in succession, and am more often than not just single tapping the shutter release.  ( shooting single frames as opposed to just mashing down on the trigger and letting 'er rip )  As I come to get a better handle on both light, the gear that I own - and a knowledge of the sports I like to shoot - I find that not only am I slowing down in the machine gunning department of pure frames per second bursts, but I'm also actually slowing down the actual speed at which the captures are made.

Nikon D700, 1/25th @f/25, iso 200, 36mm with a 24-85mm nikkor lens, hotshoe mounted sb-600 flash, rear curtain sync | click the photo to view it larger | click here to see the full 1800px export

"Dragging the shutter" as it is commonly referred to in photo circles.  Basically it refers to using slow shutter speeds to achieve a particular look.  Slow shutter speeds are not uncommonly used mind you - but they are more typically used on stationary subjects.  Sports almost always dictates two basic principles - high FPS and even higher shutter speeds to freeze action.  Both of my bodies can shoot at speeds up to 1/8000th of a second shutter speed.  Thats very fast and it can make for some really spectacular imagery.  But it can also be very "static" too.  I've come to dig creating images that are not only reasonably well focused and exposed, but ones that also evoke a sense of movement or action.  It's actually kind of a challenge getting it (the camera) dialed in "just so" when trying to setup a scene - but then once you do get it dialed in and can make it repeatable ...  one can occasionally come up with some killer grabs!  :)

Nikon D700, 1/25th @f/25, iso 200, 29mm with a 24-85mm nikkor lens, hotshoe mounted sb-600 flash, rear curtain sync | click the photo to view it larger | click here to see the full 1800px export

So anyway -- I was up at Broome Tioga again today shooting a little of both hare scrambles (last race of the 2014 winter series up there) and some MX that they were doing on the MX track.  I was doing a little shutter dragging as presented in the photo's here.  These and the rest from today's batch will get posted up to the galleries over the next few days - keep checking back to see if I shot you.  :)

Sky Shot! ( and/or replacement )

Motoheads:  Hey man ...  if/when Broome or other facilities have open practice sessions and/or you just want to create some killer shots - let me know.  This guy was getting some pretty consistently good air off of the big jump at the top of the hill @Broome this past Sunday and for a not planned shoot - pretty cool!  ( if I do say so myself )

Yes I swapped out the sky.  While we had nice conditions on Sunday - again - this was not planned and with the equipment I had on hand, and portability always a top concern for shooting the races ...  I (as a shooter) often have to compromise.  I could expose for the sky (rider will be dark) or expose for the rider - sky will probably blow out or (best case scenario) be somewhat over exposed and not really all that great.  The original photo was the latter.

Now if this or a similar shot had been a planned thing ...  I could bring in lots of lights, expose for the sky (and then slightly underexpose - just a tad -  it to make it a little darker and richer) and then with multiple strobes nuke the rider as he/she (you) come into frame.

So long as you don't crash and or kill me -we could have some fun and make some wickedly cool photo's.  :)

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Spring / Summer Racing Season Begins!

Fresh and hot off the presses - the latest "edition" ( of my purely fictional... lol! ) magazine - STORR - Southern Tier Off Road Racer.  I haven't done one of these in a while and we're overdue for one.  So seeing as today was the opening round of the MX season at Broome Tioga, and yours truly spent some time up there ... I found a couple of pretty good candidate shots and decided to use this one.   (I'll probably come across one after the fact that is absolutely killer that would have lit up SI's radar and then I'd get a kazillion dollar contract offer from them, become a globe trotting, world dominating shooter with all of the greatest equipment, etc ....  )  But -- I didn't.  <grin>

Anyway -- photo's from this opening round can be found at the galleries here (I still have many more to upload at the time that I write this post - they'll all likely be up in a fews days time... )

Click the photo to view it larger | Click it here to view the full sized export (1800px)

Broome Tioga Round #7 2013-14 Winter Series

There was kind of a light turnout for the races today that, actually, wasn't unexpected.  GNCC's series kicks off this weekend in Florida and NEOC's series is also underway in Jersey.  Facebook chatter from the past week had indications that a number of locals were headed to one or the other and that's pretty much how it played out.  There was still some good racing to be had by those who did show up to play though!  :)

Click to view the photo large | Click here to view the full sized export

For me, today became sort of an experimental day.  First time using my new 24-85mm lens that I picked up in place of the 24-70 that I had killed.  I picked it up as a factory refurb - $400.  ( that's chump change for camera stuff ).  I loved that 24-70 - that thing was absolutely killer and a beautifully crafted piece of equipment but ....  I had to kick the can around some and really evaluate it - what do I use it for (mostly)? Shooting around f4 - f7'ish at the races grabbing wide angle shots . . .  I really didn't use it wide open at 2.8 a whole lot for that really nice blown out of focus background.  I do that quite a bit with my other lens - the 70-200 2.8 - not so much with the wide angle though.  $1800 vs $400.  $400 wins for what I'm using it for.  {shrug shoulders}

So the new lens got mud splattered and dirty -- it's "broken in" now and I think I managed to get a couple of keepers with it.  ( none going into this post - haven't really looked at those ones yet )

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I also toyed around with an idea that I have seen before from an online class that I took where you throttle the white balance in camera down to give everything a "blue'ish" tone (make it cool), and then offset the cool blue tones by using orange (warming) gels on the flashes against your targets as they come into shooting range.  Initially I took the white balance down a bit to far - around 3200k or so - and indeed everything wound up being VERY blue!  I wound up running around 4800k or so which didn't seem to bad.  The shots in this post were done using this setup.

I was also trying to play with  / work on my composition - ie; get shots with more than just a singular rider in them.  Those can be, and are nice but, it becomes a photo of a racer (as in singular) on a bike or quad.  Is there a race happening or is it just some person on a machine?  I want to learn how to better have my photo's tell a story... does that make sense?

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Anyway -- I have a number of images to go through so that I can get the keepers post up to the galleries.

More later....

-=- jd -=-