Friday night at Hawkeye Downs

I spent last Friday out at Hawkeye Downs covering the Miller 100 race. Photographers are at a bit of a disadvantage when covering a single long race out there.. once the race starts, you’re stuck in whatever position you’ve chosen. The view may be better from inside the track, but there’s no tunnel under the track, so you’re stuck there once the race starts. (Above: post-race rehydration by the winner, Steve Carlson)

I opted for covering the race from outside the track, so I could have some diversity to the images in the slideshow I put together.

From before the race, a fan shows her collection of autographs..

-liz

Fourth of July Fireworks

Here are the photos of fireworks submitted by reFocus readers from this year’s fourth of July celebration. There are also a few I took in downtown Iowa City. Enjoy!

-Brian

Bryce Moore shot these photos Saturday night (7/4/09) at Lake Macbride, from the beach/boating area.

Bryce Moore shot these photos Saturday night (7/4/09) at Lake Macbride, from the beach/boating area.

Joyce Meyer shot these Fireworks at The Riverside Park in Spillville. She said she was outside the park, because if she is too close it gets to smoky for photos. Joyce says she is constantly trying different types of shots from close up to far away with a background and liked that I got a reflection off of some cars when I backed off with her zoom. She uses a Canon Rebel xsi.

Joyce Meyer shot these Fireworks at The Riverside Park in Spillville. She said she was outside the park, because if she is too close it gets to smoky for photos. Joyce says she is constantly trying different types of shots from close up to far away with a background and liked that I got a reflection off of some cars when I backed off with her zoom. She uses a Canon Rebel xsi.

Joyce Meyer shot these Fireworks at The Riverside Park in Spillville. She said she was outside the park, because if she is too close it gets to smoky for photos. Joyce says she is constantly trying different types of shots from close up to far away with a background and liked that I got a reflection off of some cars when I backed off with her zoom. She uses a Canon Rebel xsi.

Fireworks explode over the Old Capitol building in downtown Iowa City Saturday July 4th, 2009. A large crowd attended a similar display at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, where it was moved because of safety concerns in downtown CR, the normal site of the show. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

Fireworks explode over the Old Capitol building in downtown Iowa City Saturday July 4th, 2009. A large crowd attended a similar display at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, where it was moved because of safety concerns in downtown CR, the normal site of the show. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

Fireworks explode over the Old Capitol building in downtown Iowa City Saturday July 4th, 2009. A large crowd attended a similar display at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, where it was moved because of safety concerns in downtown CR, the normal site of the show. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

Photographing Fireworks

Spectators watch the "Celebration of Freedom" fireworks grand finale from the parking garage between 2nd and 3rd Ave. in downtown Cedar Rapids Sun. July 4, 2004.

With the Fourth of July Holiday rapidly approaching we thought it would be good to provide  a quick tutorial on how to photograph your local fireworks display.

The "Celebration of Freedom" fireworks light up the night sky behind the 3rd. Ave bridge in Cedar Rapids Sunday July 4, 2004.

The most important piece of equipment you will need to bring with you besides your camera is a tripod. The tripod is necessary because long slow shutter speeds must be used to effectively photograph the movement of the fireworks through the sky. With out a tripod not only will the movement of the fireworks be recorded but also any movement of the camera itself causing your photographs to be blurry.

When you arrive at the site of the show scout out a good location with a clear view of the sky. Also look for interesting things on the ground that you might want to include in the framing of your shot. Things like notable buildings, lighted statues, flags, and carnival rides can all make interesting additions to your photographs.  A good example of this technique can be found to the right.

Fireworks light up the night sky during the Alliant Energy Concert Night at the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival Friday June 28, 2003 at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

Once you have selected your spot, set up, and leveled your tripod it is time to select a focal length or zoom for your shots. For the most part you are going to want to select a wider focal length so your photographs will cover a larger part of the sky. You can zoom in to try to get more creative shots of the fireworks exploding but you will most likely have more success with a wide angle lens.

Spectators watch the show during the annual Freedom Fest fireworks display at Kirkwood Community College on Friday, July 4, 2008, in southwest Cedar Rapids. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

When it comes time to actually start taking photos the first thing you need to do is make sure that your flash is turned off. Set your camera to manual mode and to a low ISO such as 100 or 200. Choose a small aperture such as F8 or F16 and set your shutter speed to the bulb setting. If your camera does not have a bulb setting set it to 1 or 2 seconds. For those of you that are able manually focus your lens set it to infinity. If you are not able to manually focus your lens or the infinity setting is out of focus use the first few bursts of the show to establish a focus point.  These settings are just a place to start. You will have to do some experimentation to see what produces the best results for your unique situation. If you are using a digital camera make sure to periodically check your results and make adjustments as needed.

For those of you using a digital point and shoot camera check and see if it has a fireworks mode. This will likely produce the best results because cameras of this type usually lack the types of exposure controls discussed above.

Just remember to be creative, have fun, and enjoy the show!

If you have success photographing your local fireworks display and want to share your work email your photos to:

brian.ray@gazcomm.com

by July 8th and I will post the best submissions to the reFocus blog. Please include your name, phone number, date, and location of the display in the email. (Your phone number will not be published and will only be used if I have any questions about your submission)

Links to other info on photographing fireworks:

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-fireworks

http://www.nyip.com/ezine/holidays/firewks.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Photograph-Fireworks

http://www.photographyreview.com/fireworksphotoguidecrx.aspx

Trekfest

Here’s a couple images from Trekfest in Riverside, which is always a really fun event to cover. Additional photos at gazetteonline.com.-Cliff

Actors from the original Star Trek series George Takei, Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig laugh as a costume contest participant collapses on the ground, portraying one of the innumerable, anonymous red-shirted crew members who often didn’t survive the original crew’s adventures. 

Gary Barclay of Anderson, IN, dressed as Spock, performs for the judges during the Federation category in the costume contest at Trekfest in Riverside, IA. 

Casey Slack of Waterloo, who is dressed as a Horta, a sentient rock-like creature from the episode “The Devil in the Dark” of the original series, entertains the crowd after winning first place in the supporting cast category in costume contest at Trekfest in Riverside.

MyStyle

Sean McCoy was this week’s subject for Mystyle. More images and video for the shoot along with Sean’s interview are at hooplanow.com. -Cliff

HUD visit / how to not cover a press conference

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan visited Cedar Rapids last week, and I followed him and his entourage of local/state dignitaries through the day as they toured Time Check, downtown Cedar Rapids and Veterans Memorial Building, and ended the day with a press conference.  Going into the day, I knew we’d only have room for one or two photos, and that the press conference is really just my last chance / just-in-case to get something — we almost always prefer something active over guy-at-podium.

So, here, then, is what we ran with:

The expression on Donovan’s face, his position in the framing of the house and the light falling on him set him apart from Gov. Culver and Paula Hinzman Mitchell (Community Development Coordinator for Cedar Rapids), making the photo mostly about Donovan and the house.  Now compare that with this photo..

…which is in our archive for posterity/history’s sake, but it’s certainly not the most interesting or storytelling image from the day.

-liz

Fireflies

 The prodigious amount of fireflies in my backyard tonight was just to amazing to not set up the tripod and try to get a photo. -Cliff

‘It always rains for Fun Days’

.. or, so said a fellow journalist as I prepared to cover the North Liberty Fun Days parade. I had already been to the carnival, which was understandably quiet due to the late afternoon rain showers that started up about 30 minutes before the festival’s start.

Typically “cute kid photos” aren’t what I look for when I go into an event. (Yes, everyone loves cute kid photos, but, it can get boring after awhile, and we do strive for diversity of images in the paper — too many kids/puppies/flags, for instance, and it starts to look stale.) But this was event FOR the kids. And when I saw the parade route lined with umbrellas, I pretty much knew what my shot would be. Kid, somewhat restrained by umbrella, trying to take in all the action. Introduce self to parents, hang around until kid starts to ignore me, then shoot like mad when the right moment appears. Et voila.

-liz

Tennis novice

Somehow, in my ten years as a photographer (two of those at the Gazette) I have never photographed tennis.  So when I was assigned to shoot the girls state tennis team tournament, I walked in a bit nervous and completely clueless about scoring and how the game is played, aside from “hit the ball over the net.”  Luckily, there were plenty of coaches and parents around who were more than willing to explain it all to me, and I left somewhat more familiar with the game.  First up, a few singles matches (still working on my terminology, forgive me if it’s actually a game or a set or something else).. The serve is a pretty easy way to get the ball in the photo. (In sports photography, you generally want the ball in the photo — which can be difficult in fast moving sports like tennis).  I shot this photo from the viewing area, above the court, with a 300mm lens, all of which helped clean up the background.

I moved down to the court, where the background is a little messier but gave a perspective that spectators don’t really get. I incorporated the viewing area to give a sense of environment.

Back up to the viewing area for doubles.  I left the second racket in the frame for that extra context – a way to show that it’s doubles, without having to show the second player.

Another important aspect of sports photography is to show conflict. Not easy with a sport like tennis, where there’s no tackling or blocking or fighting. So, just a hint of the opposing player helps give that sense of competition, and gives the Kennedy player a place to look in the frame.

-liz

Gert and Geneva Tower

Photos of relatives, including 33 great grandchildren, fill the wall of Gert Steele’s Geneva Tower apartment in downtown Cedar Rapids on Thursday, May 28, 2009. Steele has lived in same unit in the building for almost 31 years and, at 97, is the oldest resident of the building. “This place saved my life,” Steele said of the support she received after her husband passed away shortly after they moved into the building.

Dave Rasdal and I spent a couple hours at Geneva Tower a few weeks ago for this week’s Ramblin’ column. The tower, whose residents are a mix of elderly, disabled, full market price and section 8 housing, was evacuated last June as floodwaters rose in downtown Cedar Rapids, and, after months of renovation, is now at nearly full occupancy again. Gert in particular was such a delight to talk to. She brought a sack of pancake flour with her when she and her husband moved to CR during the Great Depression, just so they would have something to eat — her generation’s Ramen Noodle equivalent, I suppose. As we were leaving, she made a remark that Nile Kinnick was one of the cutest quarterbacks to ever play at Iowa — can’t find the notebook for the exact quote, and wasn’t recording audio, unfortunately.

Deb Dufresne, far right, laughs with other Geneva Tower residents James Marugg, far left, Julie Fishel, center, and Katie Howrey, back to camera, on Thursday, May 28, 2009, during a coffee meeting in the building’s dining area in Cedar Rapids. Residents gather three times a week for coffee, and this week was Dufresne’s birthday, so another resident brought her a birthday cake.

-liz