Older readers may recognise the initials, TWTWTW.
They stood for, "That was the week that was."
It was a television show than ran for a couple of years in the early sixties. Introduced by David Frost, a satirical show that was ground breaking for its time.
In my case, TWTWTW stands for: "That was THE weekend that was."
HECTIC!
Saturday 18th June: 3 Lakes Classic
I'd been asked to cover a race that I'd never attended before; The 3 Lakes Classic at Rother Valley Country Park. It's a long time since I've taken on a new race with no previous knowledge of the area and its surroundings.
We'd just come back from a holiday in Greece and there wasn't any time to do one of my recces; to get a feel for the place and decide on snapping points. A late start, 11:00am, gave me the opportunity to get there early and have a look round. Using google maps to navigate my way there, helped me to relax a little bit and concentrate on the job in hand. Around 14 miles of trails for the runners to navigate would allow me to capture them at two different points.
Parked up near to the start/finish area, then topped up my travel mug with fresh coffee at the refreshment tent. Thanks ladies, it was much appreciated. Tempted by the buns that were for after the finish. No Mozzie, wait until the finish
With ninety minutes to go to the off, I took out a map of the course and went walkabouts.
Looked for somewhere that wasn't too near the start, time for the runners to spread out, as well as being a possible out and back position.
I was struggling. A few good compositions with curves, but the background would include a thin band of sky at the top of the frame, something I just can't stand. Came upon a bridge and that was that. The sides of the bridge would act as leading lines, taking your eyes towards the runner.
Problem; the middle section of the bridge was covered in chicken wire, while the edges weren't. The runners would choose the edge rather than the middle. I'd need to try and encourage them not to.
Such fun.
Time quickly went by and all too soon the runners appeared on the opposite bank to where I was standing.
Thankfully, the leaders took the centre section. I needed to stand in the middle, capture them, then move out of the way. The last thing I wanted was for them to try and swerve round me. Using an 85mm prime lens on a crop sensor, meant that it was around a 130mm. If I'd used a wide angle, they'd be on top of me before I got a shot in.
Power lines and a larger tree to the right of the bridge were a pain, but you have to work with what you are given. It was the best place to be as far as I could see.
The image below is about the best of the bridge set. It's a good action shot. Well pleased with it. Runner looking directly at the camera. Just those blasted power lines in the way.
Runners all through and a decision to be made.
"Should I stay or should I go?"
Sara had asked me to cover the race but left it up to me to decide what to snap.
Finish or stay here?
It's a good spot.
Would people be bored or wouldn't they care if it was a double take?
Decided to go to the finish.
Something I regretted in one way but not in another.
Thought I'd include one of the photographs I took on holiday. It's Chora on the island of Amorgos. An amazing evening capturing the sunset above the village.
Okay, back to the finish area and another coffee top up. Not sure I'd last too long without having to disappear into the bushes, it's an age thing. The finish line was just off the main path. Cars taking the same route wouldn't make it easy to snap the runners as they came in. Bright orange mesh guiding them towards the finish line wasn't something that I wanted to include in any composition either. Short walk to a gated part of the park, the only problem I could see would be walkers and cyclists.
Around 20 minutes before the first runner arrived and a chance to take a breather. Attempted to stay out of the way of cyclists who seemed hell bent on knocking me over. Not sure if they were taking part in a time trial but they need to slow down a little bit.
I was determined to stand my ground when the finishers came along. There were 175 of them with a time gap of around 1hr 30 mins. Standing, waiting and snapping did take its toll on me towards the end. I must be mad.
Finished and time to head towards the tent for cake and collect any monies that the competitors had thrown in the collection bin. Cake had been snaffled, ah well. The collection was around the £60 mark, nice one.
Another top up of coffee and time to make my way home. It took 30 minutes to exit the park with the barrier and contactless payment being oh so slow. £6 for the privilege of parking there.
Shots from near the finish line.
Sunday 19th June: Penistone 10k
An early start time for this one and I could almost roll out of bed to the snapping points.
It had taken me an age to decide where to go, stay in one place and leave it at that ... or go for the usual two positions approach?
Another holiday snap: Amazing flower show on the island of Kythnos
With the sun shining it was a no brainer. Cross Lane and Joan Royd Lane were out of the question, direct sunlight into the camera lens. So, the best option would be Castle Dam, just 1k after the start and then onto the TPT. I'd need to find somewhere that was open, no sun/shadow stripes across the path.
I usually have an 85mm on my camera but felt that the 35mm (52mm on my crop sensor) would be the best option. It would allow me to take in the curve of the lane as well as a decent band of sky. Composition would look good on a monitor but maybe not on a mobile. You can't have it both ways.
Cropping the image in this way makes it MORE of a landscape image. Curved road allows you to see runners in the distance. As more runners enter the frame, they may block those further back.
Even though they'd only completed just over one kilometre, there was quite a gap between the leaders and the sweeper. Time to head off to the TPT.
It's a busy area between the skate park and the train station. Not the best of positions to take up, but beggars can't be choosers. Plenty of light in the section I'd picked, just had to be patient and wait for the first one to arrive. Dogs off the lead, cyclists who think everyone else should get out of their way, refusing to slow down or give some sort of signal that they are heading your way.
The lady at No. 13 that backs onto the TPT offered me a cuppa, being old and in need of regular visits to the loo ... I politely refused.
As they made their way towards me, I repeated the same phrase over and over again.
"Stay in the middle, stay in the middle, I WILL get out of your way."
It just makes for a more symmetrical composition. The image above is spot on and the figure in the background gives a sense of scale.
Why black and white?
The foliage at the moment is SO green and I find it distracting. I'm able to control the contrast more easily and I love my b&w . There's always someone who asks if I happen to have their photo in colour. (Richard?)
I certainly didn't have to wait as long as the previous day for the last one home. Back to editing the 3 Lakes shots and then out for lunch. While devouring a Sunday banquet, the raw files from the Penistone 10k were loaded up and ready for later on and Monday morning.
Monday 20th June: Trunce 5
Another holiday snap: Langada on the island of Amorgos.
I'd been out for a run a couple of days before and came across an amazing field with thousands of poppies in it. It wasn't far from the start of the Trunce but unfortunately inaccessible to a photographer. I had to make do with a less than inspiring shot.
Plenty of time to reach the stream and to assess the conditions. June at the river in bright sunlight might seem ideal. It all depends on the shade from the trees around the water. One tree in particular is growing further and further from the bank. Cut it back?
Having missed the last two races, I couldn't see any reason why I shouldn't come away with some decent shots. Had the 35mm lens on the D7500 which would allow me to get up close and personal with the runners.
A quick shot of the river's reflections?
Why not?
Bad decision.
I changed the settings from 1/640sec and f4 to 1/80th sec and f9
Oh dear.
Forgot to change them back.
Juniors were nearly all out of the way as the leaders came through.
Expectation was ... a few at a time.
No.
Just a mad dash by a "crowd" of flying figures.
I couldn't cope, too near the stones, move back, too late... they've gone.
Sh*t!
I'm never that disorganised. And so it went on, it was as though I'd never stood here before and turned out some memorable shots. Or even reasonable ones.
Still they came and suddenly the penny dropped. I'd forgotten to change the settings. Moved the shutter speed up to 1/800th sec BUT forgot to widen the aperture. It was still on f9 instead of f4. That meant that the grain on the images would be high. ISO 6400.
Eventually, I remembered the narrow aperture and changed it back
I felt a complete and utter failure.
Complete and utter failure on this one. Too close and bodies cropped off the frame.
Ah well, maybe the return shots will compensate for a poor start to the evening.
I stood on the opposite side, expecting the leaders to appear at any moment.
The aforementioned tree blocked most of the area that I wanted to stand in, it really does need to be trimmed a bit.
Here they come and ... I'd forgotten to move my Mozziephotography sign and rucksack out of the way. They'd be in most of the shots; is there anything else that can go wrong?
There was a chance to capture a few partial reflections when the water was still but not the whole body. I did try some portrait shots for a change and met with partial success.
Although the large stepping stones do provide me with leaping compositions, I don't understand why people choose to use them on the way back. Their shoes must be wet through from the previous crossing and their was hardly any water to contend with on Monday.
Collected the bucket with £46 worth of donations and went home to upload/download the files onto the computer. I've spent a bit of money on upgrading my system and it is certainly paying dividends. A USB3 external hard drive plus a USB3 card reader have made the process much quicker.
Massive thanks to Hugh Mackie for snapping the junior race. There's talent in there and I hope he'll take more junior shots for me.
Why Flickr before FB?
There are four of us snapping at the Trunce; Lionel, Carol, Chris and myself.
Carol's always first out of the trap with posting images and then Chris. I tend to leave a gap before putting mine on line, mainly because I'm slower. It also allows time for people to look through each of the albums without being over-faced with thousands of images at the same time. I just feel that it's quicker to skim through a Flickr album. I'll wait for a few hours or until the next day before putting them out on FB for tags and comments.
I cause much amusement by hating the use of LIKE or LOVE. With Flickr, you have feedback that relates to the number of times your album has been viewed. There's no such feedback with FB.
Having 17 LIKES/LOVES for an album on FB is hardly a reward for the people who've been out there, snapping runners and then editing when they get home. It's a lengthy process and deserves a bit more effort.
How long does it takes to type in ...
"Cheers Carol, thank Lionel for me."
"Thanks for the photos Chris, nice one."
"Love the one of me falling down Mozzie, made me smile."
It means a lot to the people who turn up to races and provide runners with memories.
Rant over.
Please DON'T LIKE OR LOVE THIS BLOG!
One last holiday snap.
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