So I can’t stand idly by with the camera sitting in the bag.  I ventured out today to the Oak Openings Metropark with a self-challenge: bright mid-day sun, few colors (the leaves have long since fallen), and only my 50mm fixed-length lens.

I’m reasonably pleased with the results.  But it was far more awesome to just be outside on a day like this.  More on my Flickr page.

Dillon takes the ball to the basket

Last minute advice from Coach Arthur

There are some more fisheye shots, as well as some with my 50mm lens on Top Row Photography galleries (check in the JV and Varsity 2008-2009 galleries).

Jonathan borrowed the lens for the weekend (it was his idea, after all!).  Jonathan was a student in my Action Photography course, and he has really developed into a fine photographer.  His enthusiasm has helped me to get my camera out more often and get some of those shots I keep wanting to get.  And new lenses.   Here are a couple of Jonathan’s photos, check out more on his website.

Staircase

Lights

Jonathan’s house has some really great lines & hallways and his work captures the mood and warmth of the brick nicely.  It snowed 12 inches on Friday and Saturday, so Jonathan got out and took some outdoor views.  Again, his work is excellent.

Jonathan gets some air

Dixon's Turn

Did I say it snowed 12 inches?  Conveniently, there is a large hill right outside Jonathan’s house, so a bunch of us got out to sled and snowboard and, oh yeah, play with the fisheye lens some more!  Any excuse to get outside and take photos is a good one.

This afternoon the bitter cold gave way to a nicer 25 degree partly sunny day.  A good day to walk along the Maumee River with the new lens.  The curve of the Maumee-Perrysburg Bridge and the shadows create a nice visual scene.  I am really happy with this impulse buy.  You’ll be seing some more photos from this fisheye lens, that’s for sure!

Preparing for the free throw

I must admit that I am not really a basketball fan.  I simply have zero interest in watching NBA games; I can tolerate college games, but do have some interest in high school games, when my students are playing.  True, it’s really more of an interest in supporting the students than it is the basketball.  It’s a tough season for this photographer, because the typical high school gym is very poorly lit.  I don’t have the time or funds to invest in remote strobes and also don’t want to use a flash court-side.  Which means that I am stuck using a very high ISO (sensitivity) and wide-open aperture, often resulting in noisy and out of focus photos.  When I get a good one, though, the effort pays off.

This weekend, our freshman team had their first scrimmage–they got off to a slow start but once warmed up played pretty well.  I must admit, I’m very biased as many of them are my advisees (and my favorite athletes).  With our Winterim adventures the past month, they’ve not had too many practices where all have been present.

These are my favorite captures of the morning.  I didn’t get very many keepers, though.  I was feeling a bit lazy, to be honest, and didn’t work too hard at getting in the right spots. Just like the guys, I was gearing up for the “real” season, I guess.

In the first shot, the defender blocks some of the free throw shooter (Jonathan), but I think he adds some context to the scene.  The look of concentration on the Jonathan’s face as he lines up the shot caught my eye.  With the poor lighting in this gym, the non-motion shots such as this came out a lot better than anything else.

Out of my way!

Basketball is supposed to be a non-contact sport.  In shot number two, Jonathan (again) is climbing all over the defender as he’s driving to the basket.  I have a few more in this sequence, but I’m missing the ball in all of them.  I managed to capture the action with some sharpness, complete with lots of contact.

Many more photos to come.  It’s a long season and I am looking forward to working on my techniques and sharing my photos with the athletes, their parents, and all of my friends.

More photos from the scrimmage are available in this gallery on my photography website.

The Action Photo Team in New York City

But I’ve gained so much more than photography skills in these 3 plus weeks.  Robin and I have solidified an excellent friendship that I hope will remain for many, many long years to come.  His adventurous nature complements my quiet cautiousness.  His outgoing personality helps prod me out of my shy shell.  Thanks, Robin.  For being my co-teacher, my colleague, and my friend.  I cannot express how happy I am that we did this.  And, you know what?, we pulled this thing off pretty damn well.

What great fun it has been, sharing this adventure with these students.  We’ve listened and we’ve learned, we’ve played (sometimes too rough, perhaps), but we’ve laughed so hard.   I hope my students understand just a little bit about how much I care about them.  Of how I want them to be so successful.  To be happy, to live.  And if I’ve given them a little bit of help & support along that path, I guess that I am doing what I want so much to do.  It’s not about the photos, is it?  Not for me.

Yours truly, with Jonathan and Margaux.

Just under my not-so-thick skin lives a lifelong summer camp counselor, and that’s the role I try to take when I am blessed with the extraordinary opportunity to be with “my” kids.  I thrive on being a part of their lives, however big or small that part can or needs to be.  To be included in the inside jokes, sometimes even starting them, and of being a part of the team.  To be close.  To be able to talk & share.  Not as the teacher, not as the adult, but as a member of the group.  Perhaps some of my peers would snicker at my desired role, “you’re not supposed to be their friend, you’re supposed to be their teacher.”  Sure, they can do that.  And some of my colleagues do that very well.  But that role is not for me.  My role is to be inside, in a leadership role.  At least, that is the role I hope I can play and teach.

So, gang, thank you.  Thank you for accepting me as a part of the team, for leaning on my shoulder and for letting me lean on yours.  You don’t know how much that means to me, even if you weren’t aware that I was doing it.  And though our class may be coming to an end, I hope and pray that our friendships, our laughter, our enjoyment of being with and around each other will continue.  You know how to reach me.  Winter, spring, summer or fall.  You’ve got a friend.  And I’ll come running.

Free inside joke at 8pm on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, when we are done and I am on my way home, it will be too quiet.

Photos by Robin Norlén.

While walking towards the Museum Campus, I passed Grant Park.  Found my own piece of history to record:

Grant Park

Close Up - "Witnessing Change"

Millennium Park was my favorite destination of the day. In the amphitheater, they were playing an artistic interpretation of sounds from a train station. It was one of those things that show I’m not sure about some kinds of art. I just didn’t get it. That said, I did do something that everyone who visits Chicago does, and that’s taking photos of the “bean” sculpture (officially, the “Cloud Gate“):

Cloud Gate

At Night

I hiked up Michigan Avenue, found the Apple Store and decided that I really do want a new MacBook. All I can do is want, for now, though. At 8:00 PM, I ventured back to Union Station and boarded the Lake Shore Limited and enjoyed an excellent conversation at the sleeping-car reception before we left town.  Make it back to Toledo a bit early, at about 3:15 AM.   A few other photos from around Chicago:

More photos are on my Flickr page.

I am spending some time looking through my own action photos from this past sports season.  I have to admit that while I have some good shots, I’m not super excited about too many of them.  I think that I have done better work — perhaps I am trying to raise my own bar a little higher.  Basketball season presents a ton of challenges, as much of it happens in very poorly lit high school gyms.

Looking at some of the photos, I was happy to get some “head-on-ball” headers–capturing the point of impact where you can see the compression of the ball.  Unfortunately, most of them are not quite as sharp as I would like, or I have the back the players head.  Darn.

I like to look at some of the sequences.  Here is one of my favorites.  Who do you think got their foot on the ball?

The player in blue has some really funny facial expressions in some of my other shots.  I’ve found that a lot of athletes make some absolutely incredible faces while they play.

Figure out yet who got the ball?

Be honest, now, did you get it right?  It was a tough season, for photos.  Lots of direct sunlight — great for fans, but not great for the photography. Here’s an example–really tough shadows in the harsh light:

We did get one rainy game, and this is perhaps one of my favorites from the season.  A quiet moment of the game, setting up for the restart, in the downpour.  It looks better when you view it full size than in this smaller version (click on it).

A ton of new photos coming to toprowphotography.com, mvactionphoto.com and our Flickr group during the next few weeks.  Check ‘em out!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.  With Robin Norlén, I am teaching a Winterim on photography.  In addition to helping spread our love for photography to a few other minds, I hope to use this opportunity to better my own photography, and, more importantly, to help me get more active in my own photography.

On Monday, I have to give a brief presentation on my summer travel experience.  Let’s look at a few of my favorite photos from this June trip.

Mountain Sunrise

There is very little that a professional photographer will like about “Mountain Sunrise.”  It was taken from inside a dirty and heavily tinted window on a moving train, nothing is sharp, and the foreground isn’t very well exposed.  But, for me, I guess, it’s the memory that keeps this photo in a special place on my list.  It’s a foggy, quiet sunrise, and it represents the beginning of my adventure.

Picnic in the Weeds

I like “Picnic in the Weeds” because of the thought I had when I came upon this scene.  This is from a path in Seattle’s Discovery Park.  Beautiful little clearing, what a great spot for a picnic.  Too bad no one has bothered to bring a mower by in a long time.  Kinda’ hard to climb through the waist high weeds to get to the table.

Many Glacier Reflection

“Many Glacier Reflection” captures the Many Glacier Lodge, at dawn, with a beautiful reflection provided by Swiftcurrent Lake.  When I go back, I will have my tripod and a better lens, to do better justice to the exposure of the mountains and morning sky.  But for stepping out of the car, figuring a decent exposure setting, and snapping a handheld photo, this isn’t too bad.

More to come.  And, from November 3-25, please check our MV Action Photography website as we share our photos and our memories from this Winterim adventure.