Delusions: October 2004

Picture It! Music.

Playing Metallica - the only thing to play, says this young man. He was a favorite at this wedding reception in a sugar house located in rural Vermont.

A Japanese Gagaku musician plays an instrument known as a "sho."

I love this shot!

This photo was taken on the grounds of a factory not far from where I live. This guy appears to be surprised that his feet are getting wet!

Another Short Track Photo Shoot

After work, I made another foray to the Griff's Ice Arena to practice taking speedskating photos at the West Michigan Speedskating Club.

I had a bit more luck with the exposure this week. I used the camera's preset sports mode. The lighting and the color are pretty good, but the focus is, at best, questionable. The preset chose a shutter speed of 1/25! For action, this is too sloooowww.

Next week, I think I'll switch back to manual, take the shutter speed up a bit, and increase the ISO from 200 (as selected by the camera this week) to 400.

Warming up.

If he weren't so tall, I'd think it was Apolo with that yawn!

This little gal is fairly new to skating and couldn't participate in some of the exercises the others did. The coach set aside time to work with her and one other young skater to help them build their skills. He was extremely patient, and if these skaters continue to work as hard as they did tonight, they'll catch up with the other skaters their age.

A little speed practice for the advanced group.

Wipe out! This happens a lot in short track.

Clean up time.

Since the West Michigan Speedskating Club practices on a rink also used by hockey teams and figure skating clubs, they have to take down the protective padding at the end of each practice.

Down on the Farm

My cousin's farm in Vermont.

Just hanging around.

Waiting for business.

Clean and ready to go.

Here they come!

Dinner (and milking!) time.

Photo Time Tuesday - Fantasy

One of our local stores has a multi-holiday display that I think would make a terrific photograph for a fantasy theme. Large inflatable Santas, Frosty the Snowmen and Christmas trees share a world with Tom Turkey, Dracula, Jack O Lanterns, and Frankenstein. For good measure, Homer Simpson can be seen hanging out as well. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how happy the store would be if a customer brought in a camera and started snapping pictures of the inside of the store.

So...., instead, I have pictures of another place where fantasy is real (at least we'd like to think it is) and photos are allowed. Bronner's in Frankenmuth, MI is the world's largest Christmas store, and it's open 360 days a year, allowing visitors to savor the fantasy of Christmas all year long.

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Short Track Photo Shoot

I'll be attending an international World Cup competition for short track speedskating in November. For safety reasons, flash photogrpahy is not allowed during the races. If I want race photos I'm going to have to use the manual settings on my camera, and that will require practice. I took these photos at a practice session of The West Michigan Speedskating Club to get a bit of practice.

I was surprised that I was able to time my shots so as to catch some of the skating. I took about 45 pictures and only had one picture where the skaters sailed out of the photo before I could snap it, leaving me with a shot of blank ice. Of course, none of these skaters moves as fast as Apolo Ohno.

These photos were taken with a shutter speed of 250, aperture of 2.8, and ISO 400. EV was +1.3. All photos came out dark and were lightened with Photoshop.

My battery died just as practice was ending. I had a spare, but, without it, I managed to get this shot of the coach demonstrating an at home exercise the skaters can do to improve their balance and strengthen their leg muscles.

This club practices every Tuesday evening. It's a challenge for me to get there after work, but, as you can see, I need to practice a bit more, uh a lot more before the World Cup in November.

More Ordinary Fishermen

Let's try this again, two pictures in the same post.

More ordinary fishermen, in a different river. I'm not sure why anyone fishes in this river. You certainly can't EAT anything you catch in it. Of course, if you're looking for an easy catch, this might be the place. The fish are probably sick and slow from all the pollutants they ingest.

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I have so many photos of ordinary subjects, it's difficult to choose which one to send, but this, "an ordinary fisherman" seemed appropriate.

A faint double rainbow. It's too bad I hadn't noticed the people in the lower right corner before I took the picture. I could have framed the shot differently and made them a more interesting part of the picture.