atomicphoto

Football season is finally here. Since I haven’t shot the sport since last season, I made sure to get to the game early. Not only is it nice to have a front-row parking spot, but it’s good to get used to the football field before the game actually starts. Kind of like muscle memory for photograpers, just walking up and down the sidelines brings back the recollections of where to stand and what to look for during the game.

There were a few big plays, but most of the game was run-up-the-middle and repeat. I didn’t get a great variety of action shots. As a result, I spent a bit more time watching the sunset and working with the light.

There was a nice moment before the game when Johnstown took the field. One of the linebackers lead the team through the bleachers carrying his cousin, who has a rare type of muscular dystrophy. Once the crowd parted, it turned out to be a good photo.

With three more months of Friday night football games, I’ll have plenty of time to work on the action. Nonetheless, I consider week one a success.

…at band camp, I took some pictures.

I drove down to Jackson, Ohio yesterday morning for two local schools (Scioto and Westerville North) conducting their band camps this week. I didn’t stick around long enough to bring back my own, “One time, at band camp…” story, but I did try to make a variety of photos in that short amount of time.

Since I’m not posting as frequently as I would like, I’m going to change up the format a little bit and start posting more photos on each entry. With as much space as our publications allot photos, I’m sometimes asked to bring back a large volume of images. So if I have the goods, I figure I might as well share them.

My role as a photographer with ThisWeek is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it’s awesome to be able to look at a printed photo page with a dozen of my photos. On the other hand, it’s really hard to get a dozen awesome photos from an event. I sometimes feel like I’m focusing on volume rather than quality. This has definitely forced me to change my shooting habits.

I’ve always tried working different angles and shooting numerous photos of my subjects. A lot of time was invested in each subject. When I’m asked to shoot an assignment for a photo page, I have to change my approach. If that’s the case, I’ll shoot a few frames and move on, rather than working the situation and waiting for a moment.

I used to think that I was an unlucky photographer. I’d invest a lot of time waiting for a moment with a subject that sometimes never materialized. In the end, I would be left with a mediocre photo that took a long time to produce. When shooting in volume, I’ve found myself stumbling across more of these moments. Yeah, I make a lot of photos that are just nice, but I’m also catching a lot more of the good moments as well.

My intention with this post wasn’t to get into all that, but it was nice to introspectively think about and type it.

On another note, please check out the “around the net” RSS feed in the right hand column. I spend a lot of time reading photo, political and tech-related blogs, and I’ve found that Google Reader has a sweet feature to let me share the posts I find most interesting. Click here to view a page with the full posts or click on the orange RSS button to subscribe to the feed. I share some of the items with friends on Facebook, but this feed has way more content.

If anyone has any WordPress experience and can help better format the list of links, please don’t hesitate to share. I’m working on making that module easier to read.

I had the opportunity to visit the Hartford Fair (The Biggest Little Fair in the World) in Croton, Ohio this afternoon. I’ve heard good things from other photographers about this fair, but this was the first time I got to experience it myself. It definitely didn’t disappoint.

The fair, which is about half an hour northeast of Columbus, was a blast from the past. It wasn’t overly commercial like other county fairs and the state fair have become. To get to the main concourse, you have to walk through a field of antique tractors. There is a bigger focus on animals and competitions than on neon lights and amusements.

I was free to roam wherever I wanted most of the day, but my only requirement was to shoot the frog jumping competition. Some kids brought their own frog, but most picked their jumper from a dozen or so that were on hand. The competition was held under one of the covered, open-air pavilions. This worked out in my favor since the sun was beating down from directly overhead. Kids went four at a time, and had a minute to do anything they could to get the frog to jump, except for touch it. Parents and fellow competitors watched from outside the black walled-off circle.

I got a lot of pictures of kids clapping, blowing, and pounding their fists, but not many of actual frogs jumping. This frame came together perfectly. The sunlight coming in from outside the pavilion gave the girl a nice rim light. The rest is just ambient exposure. A lucky jump and clean background completed the frame.

CAPTION: A strong breath was all it took to entice 5-year-old Dylan Cunningham’s frog to leap 29 inches during the frog jumping competition at the Hartford Fair on Aug. 4. Cunningham, from Thornville, was one of more than 60 competitors between the ages of 2 and 15 to enter the contest.