Photographing an event

 My stock photos @ Alamy.com

So, yesterday 10.05.2013, I decided to try and photograph a students running event for the first time.

 The weather looked like it was going to rain in the morning and I thought that I would have to pass this event because my gear can't take too much water. Luckily the weather cleared over the day and by the time of the start, it was really nice.

 I decided to take my Nikkor 50mm 1.8G and just in case my Tamron 18-200mm lens. I pretty much only used my 50mm because, it has the fastest auto focus of my lenses and it gives a great DOF. I think that I made a great choice in using this lens because, with this lens, I didn't have to mess with the focal length and focusing. I could concentrate on all the other settings. And photographing people with this lens is just superb.

 Half an hour before the event began, I headed out from my house. Since the place was near my home and I knew the area, I took a bike, so I could follow the runners through the course. It was pretty hard to keep up with the first place. I had only about 24 minutes to take pictures in different locations over the course and ride to the finish area to get the photos of the winner. The course was kinda sandy and muddy in some places and I also rode through the forest where there were no paths. I somehow managed to get to the finish just few seconds before the first place came in and I got some shots of him. It was really good workout for me and really good experience.

 I recommend anyone to try and photograph some local events if allowed. It can give you a lot of confidence in your work and you can also compare your photos to some of the professional photographers covering the event.(the photos are more than likely uploaded to some news site or some other sites)

Here are some images I took of the event:

 My stock photos @ Alamy.com

Motivation

 My Stock photos on alamy.com

 I'm not going to make a long post today, just saying how important motivation is.

 Motivation is one of the most important things in life. Same applies in photography, if you're not motivated, you can go long time without making any photos, or just not getting the images you want.
  Recently, I got really unmotivated and was just lying around not doing anything. I took few photos, but they weren't anything special. Then, just yesterday, I went to help out my coworker in her country house. I drove there. It was a great trip. Seeing the countryside, forests and getting further from the city. Today I took some photos in my garden and they came out so much better than before. I was motivated, and focused on what I was doing. I would say that motivation is one of the most important things.

If you are unmotivated, I suggest you travel away from your house or even city. Go camping or fishing, travel to another country, or even go sightseeing in your own country. Do something different from your everyday life. You'll see the change.

Some pictures I took today

 

Take a look at my stock photography site