Saturday, July 20, 2013

Gear for Shooting Mountan Bike Races

Here's my typical kit for shooting mountain bike races - summer. Early season races are a little too cool for shorts.  The kit consists of shorts, belt, drawers, polo shirt, sneakers, socks, and cap.  The camera is my new Canon EOS 60D with Tamron 18-200mm lens.  With this camera set-up, I should be able to shoot all of the race with just one lens and camera.
Previously, I would shoot the start with the original Rebel (6mp) and change to the Rebel T1i for catching the individual racers as the ride the course. Depending on location, I might shoot with the standard (18-55mm) lens or 70-300 telephoto (with 1.6x crop factor). I hope to be able to shoot with just the 18-200mm lens.

Friday, July 12, 2013

New Camera & Lens

Seems like any time attend the Rockbrook Camera Tent Sale, I end up spending more money than I intended.  Today was no exception.

Was a busy morning.  Started with a doctor's appointment in Omaha.  It was also the fraternity alumni luncheon - so figured I might as well stay in town and do errands.  First stop was Barnes & Noble.

At the book store I was looking for photography and Linux magazines.  Also wanted to check out a Raspberry Pi book - Programming the Raspberry Pi - Getting Started with Python.
 Found everything I was looking for except for the current issues of Linux Format.
Had time to run over to the camera store.  The main reason stopping there was to look at the Tamron 18-200mm zoom lens (vs Tamron 18-270mm).  While waiting to talk with the Tamron rep, I started talking with the Fuji and Canon reps.  Figured I might get info about the new (yet to release - as it turns out) Canon EOS 70D.

Talked to the Canon rep about the couple shortcomings with my EOS Rebel T1i.  Chiefly the slow frame refresh rate.  When shooting mountain bike races, I encounter times when after about 4 shots, I have to wait until the camera writes to the SD card.

The Canon Rep recommended looking at the Canon EOS 60D.  Where the T1i buffer holds about 4 shots, the 60D will buffer 15 or more (as I recall).  Though will also need a fast SD card.  The 60D is designed with sports photography in mind. Rockbrook, during the tent sale, I got a good deal on the Canon EOS 60D body.  No need for a lens since I was planning to purchase the Tamron 18-200mm lens.

The Canon rep tried to get me to upgrade to a faster lens.  But the lens speed was not my concern - it was the camera frame rate.  Talked with the Tamron rep and decided to purchase the AF 18-200mm XR DiII lens.  Before check-out, I added  at UV filter and Class 10 Pro 32 GB SD card.

On the way home, I picked up a extra battery for the camera.  Spent time charging the batteries.  In the late afternoon I familiarized myself with the camera. Excited to get out an shoot some photos, likely tomorrow.

Also spent some time this evening reading the new Raspberry Pi book.  Looks it will be very helpful. 
The bookstore also had a copy of the Raspberry Pi Handbook published by LinuxPro Magazine.  As for the luncheon - it was mostly enjoyable until our right-wing dido-head  started o the President.  I expressed my displeasure with his comments and have decided to no attend the luncheons (at least for a while).  I don't need the aggravation.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Apostle Island Kayaking


Kayaking at Apostle Island National Lakeshore, Wisconsin.  Photo taken at Little Sand Bay.  June 3, 2013

Canon EOS Rebel T1i   f/9.0   1/250 sec  Aperture Priority  49.0 mm  ISO 100  Processed from camera RAW with Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop Elements 11

Cloverland Club


Cloverland Community Club and school - Cloverland, Wisconsin   June 3, 2013

Canon EOS Rebel T1i   f/9.0 at 1/200 sec  Aperture Priority  23.0 mm  ISO 100  Three bracketed exposures (+2.0, 0.0, -2.0 EV) processed from camera RAW by Photomatix Essentials 3.

Mt Rushmore at Night


Canon EOS Rebel T1i   f/8.0 at 1.6 sec  Aperture Priority  34.0 mm  ISO 800  Processed from camera RAW by Adobe Camera Raw further processing by and converted to grayscale by Photoshop Elements 11.   May 27, 2010

Friday, July 5, 2013

Summer on The Trace


Wabash Trace Nature Trail 3.5 miles North of Malvern, IA.  6/30/13

Canon PowerShot S95   f/5.6 at 1/160 sec.  Aperture Priority  6.0 mm  ISO 320  Three bracketed exposures (2.33, 0.0, -1.67 EV) processed by HDR Darkroon Pro 2.