It's not all fun and games...

Getting ready to race

The entire class had a field trip to Grand Prix Amusements here in Winnipeg to do a mock photo shoot to help hone our skills in shutter speed techniques you'd think that riding around in go karts and playing mini-golf would have been a fun experience, but it wasn't as much fun as we were all expecting.  Sure we had fun playing around like kids for the afternoon, however we were there to work!

Stop Action Technique

Paolo / Panning Technique

In our Image Capture class, we have been learning about how to use our shutter priority modes on our cameras to give unique effects to our photos such as panning to show something moving at a high rate of speed where the subject is in focus but the background is blurred with streaks (not bokeh.)  We had been practicing these techniques for a few class periods before; we were allowed to take our time with our shots and had the ability to plan our shot out as well as set-up the shot we intended to take.  Another advantage of having the extra time was the fact that we were able to reshoot the subject(s) if they were not to our liking.  This was not the case for us on our field trip, particularly for the go kart portion of the assignment. 

Kaylene shooting

We were split into 2 groups so one group could shoot while the other group got to drive around in the go karts.  Some of us quickly realized that the go karts move at a pretty high rate of speed when we are trying to get the shot we needed.  They also didn't drive around the track as much as we had hoped, so we had very finite opportunities to be able to get the shot that "perfect shot."  The most difficult portion of the assignment was trying to get the requirement of "panning shot of two cars."  It is a difficult enough shot on its own, let alone trying to get two cars to line up in your frame long enough to get the shot.  It was quite amusing to see all of my fellow classmates running around the track like mad-men trying to get different angles, though.  It was very stressful and a very intense shooting experience.  For people that were wondering if they wanted to shoot sports photography, this was probably a good exercise for them to let them know it's not for the easily stressed.

Classmates demonstrating a "golf-clap"

After the go kart part of our assignment, we headed over to the mini-golf area to get some other shutter speed technique shots.  This portion was definitely a little more laid back and far easier to get the shots that we needed.  We were able to interact with our subject and let them know specifically which shots we were working on.  We were able to take our time, breathe through our shots and be able to have a more steady hand for our handheld shutter speeds to work more effectively.  Because we were able to get a little more personal with our subjects, we took advantage of this time to laugh and joke around and have a good time, which is something most of us don't get to do with our fellow students.  This, for me, was one of the highlights of the day since I only see most of these people in passing and I hadn't really gotten to meet or talk to any of them.  I hope we do more assignments in the future that involve our other classmates that we rarely get to see.

Cheering you on!

All in all it was a fun day and some very important lessons were learned, like, be prepared for anything to happen or could potentially happen and pack gear accordingly.  We weren't given any details prior to the outing except to dress for the weather and make sure you're comfortable, I had asked one of the instructors which lenses would be best for the event and it was suggested that a 50mm would be sufficient.  This was a blessing and a curse for me.  While it was sufficient, it is not a lens I am the most comfortable with.  I prefer to use two lenses, an 11-16mm f/2.8 landscape lens for most shots, and a 70-200mm f/2.8 for action shots and portraits.  I have shot for college level hockey games where the action is fast paced and the 70-200mm has yet to fail me on getting the shots I wanted.  So in hindsight, I wish I had packed that gear, but I didn't, so it gave me practice on a lens that I am not so comfortable with.

Cori gives an approving nod

Chester Beltowski
PV Diploma Student
2012-13