Summer School

I didnt make it to Buck Hill this evening to follow through with my photos plan. Hopefully next week, but we'll see.  I started my summer classes tonight.  After compiling all my homework due dates into my calendar, mixed with already planned weddings and MNSCS events,  the next 2 months are looking pretty insane.  

I have 3 essays due per week until July 23rd so wish me luck, if anyone has any essays they would like to sell ; ) j/k.  Calm down!!

Justin & Kristina Witts

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding. Congratulations to my cousin Kristina and her new husband Justin on their Marriage!  Kristina was so kind as to allow me to be a photographer for their wedding.  It was my first time as a wedding photographer and I learned a ton.  There was also another photographer Patti.   Patti has shot weddings before, but its not what she typically shoots or prefers to shoot.  She had some amazing shots up her sleeve and was very good with posing the bride.  I don't think my shoot could have been a success without her. Thank you Patti! I look forward to seeing your shots from the day. 

 

One valuable lesson is to make sure to analyze the whole scene with wedding photography.  I know that statement sounds like utter commonsense. But with your focus on the bride and family its easy to forget about the background.  I also think that With mountain bike photography, its usually pretty easy to get a good backdrop for a photo. There are woods/forest in the background or a nice drop with lakes behind. There is always beautiful scenery.  I think I have been taking the background for granted. I first noticed this with the shots from Eriks Spring Cup.  Our Spring came late this year, leaving the trees bare for the first MNSCS race of the season.  The photos lacked a certain pizazz and it didn't take me long to realize it was the lack of background.

With the wedding photography, most of the photos are amazing, but some shots Patti would set up and they were so beautiful I would just start snapping away, only to learn in post production that there was a big ole RV in the background of the shot! 

.Not so cool.    I should have learned then, but I was either lacking in the common sense department or its because It was my first time shooting as a wedding photographer, but it happened again later in some of the photos of Justin and Kristina (see the photo above). The wedding party was behind the gazebo and we were taking photos in front of the gazebo. I didn't even notice those folks while taking the pictures.   All in all, i have only been discussing the screw ups, but the wedding photos were a success, I have a boat load of wonderful shots and I think Krissy is going to love them. 

My new skills will be photoshop. I have yet to spend much time with photoshopping of photos. I will be taking some of the wedding shots and experimenting with removing people from a shot and then painting in the background.  I also want to work a little with smoothing out skin and blemishes.  I am excited to finally have the time to put some effort into photoshop.

You can find the photos from the Wedding HERE

Buck Hill # 3

Last night was the 3rd Buck Hill event. I brought my camera out to practice some angle shots. Shot 1: not so good, Shot 2: Better, Shot 3: The best. I showed up late and miscalculated how many laps had already been ridden, so I didnt catch many riders during my last series of shots.

Next Weeks race I think I will start out at the log pile where I missed alot of opportunities last evening, then explore the trail north of that section. I have never ridden the buck course and didnt know there were actual obstacles.

Brendan Moore AKA Crazy Calves AKA the Faster Moore Brother AKA Lochness as I like to call him (because he alludes my shots all the time) Took first place last evening. Congratulations Brendan!!

There are these certain racers, I check a shot for lighting or angle, it takes a split second, and sure enough here comes one of 2-3 guys, my goal every race is just to get a good shot of them.

Like the Loch Ness, they show up when the camera is down, then they are off so fast I find myself wondering if I actually did see them blow by me. I pick up the camera and begin shooting again, only in post production do I catch a glimpse of the notorious Loch Ness, generally blurry and hard to recognize. But Atleast I know it exists and it gives me a carrot for the next event.

You can check out my Buck Hill Photos HERE

The As*Holes Chocolate

Janet and I hosted a freedom party for her newly divorced Brother - in -Law.  As a party favor we had T&A chocolates. Maybe a little crazy but I can believe it. This I am not so sure I can,  Its the Incredible Edible Anus!  No I am not kidding, this is real.

Can I even follow this with a post about biking. Sure, Why not!

Janet and I rode leb tonight. Great ride, good weather.  We rode at a nice pace, Janet got herself a few carrots.  Its not so fun playing cat and mouse when your the slow man on the totem pole.   Hopefully not for long, I let things slip for a few months but working on getting back to were I was, feeling stronger all ready and off to the blackdawg time trials tomorrow for another photo op!

The easter bunny almost took me out.  Going down the McAndrews & Cty Rd 11 hill in the big ring pedaling my heart out when a bunny freaks and dashes in front of me like 8 times, then into the street.  He realizes, Shite! I dont want to be here then darts in front of me again. I tell ya, if I had been taken down by a bunny wabbit.......

We also had fun taunting some turkeys.  Did you know that turkeys hang out in trees? Gobble Gobble.

Thanks to the trail workers working their butts off tonight while we were out riding!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

A big CONGRATS to Paul Hanson on his win this weekend at the 2008 Cable Off Road Classic!!

Way to go Paul, Looks like its shaping up to be a great year for you! Paul Also finished 1st at last weeks Buck Hill event, I'm excited to see what else this year has to bring!

Memorial Trail

This weekend was a very busy one. I have a cousin getting married next week, lots of graduations this year and birthdays too! Seems like more then usual. One good thing from all the craziness is that I ended up in Redwing on Saturday, I brought my bike along for the off chance I might have time to hit up Memorial Trail in RedWing.

The 12 Hours of Sexy Night was Friday Night/Saturday Morning. My aunt let me use her guest room so I could head out to RedWing late Friday to get some shots of the night race.

I ended up not making it. My Sisters Graduation the night before went until 11 pm, I was exhausted from the Thursday with the MORCers the night before So I stayed home and got some good rest, then headed to the bridal shower. It ended nice and early, perfect!

The trail was surprisingly tacky with a 12 hr race being held there the night before. Some dusty corners, but very few. I rode like a sissy!!! Walked my bike part of the way, then withdrew in shame after one lap. Guess I will try again next time. It was just one of those days were everything was shaky, I was questioning my every move & Every pedal stroke hurt. I kept telling myself. "come on, you raced here last year, pick up the pace! Have a good time with it! ohwell The one positive from the ride, climbing the hills felt great!! (only made it half way up the stairway though)

For the Love of Singletrack

Lebanon Hills is in amazing shape right now. Its so fast and fun, nice traction. Hitting the singletrack was what i needed. I had an amazing adrenaline rush after the ride, I couldnt stop smiling. oh how I love singletrack. It just makes me sooo happy! I missed the start of the group ride so I went out alone. I rode the beginning cautiously, and slowly built up my speed as my body warmed up. The flow of the singletrack all came back to me, by the time I hit the x loop I was feeling great and rolling along at a nice pace.


There were some Peace Coffee teammates riding, we stopped to talk for awhile then everyone took off. One of the women had a nice pace going (faster then I had been going) I played a game of cat and mouse with her, I dont think she realized we were playing ; ) I was in front so I hit it at her pace and tried to keep a big gap on her. It worked and it was what I need to get my speed up for the ride. I think she had been trying to catch me, so by the end of the lap we were both working quite hard. I started cooling down and she caught up. We chatted for awhile and rolled into the parking lot.


It was the perfect night for a ride, I only wish I had lights so I could have gone back out for another lap.

We had a huge MORC turnout for the first Thursday ride of the season. We headed over to the OC for some food and beverages. I think there were 16 or so of us. Most of us hadnt rode or seen each other since fall, and there were a few new faces (atleast for me). Lots of stuff to catch up on and good times to share. Thanks everyone for such a great night, and nice to meet Ken, Pete, Isaac & Travis. We met Travis in the parking lot (photo above) cool dude! Thanks for joining us at the OC!!


I only wish I would have gone home a little earlier because 6:30 came pretty fast this morning. Jodi, Kt, April I love you gals!! Where ordering the jerseys today, Woot!!!!

BOO!

Haha! Scared ya!

The site I need is down right now, so why find some other work to do when I can blog? I dont know either, thats why Im blogging.

I want to thank everyone who uses my photos on their blogs. I love reading about everyones unique experiences/views and seeing how they intertwine. For me being a photographer, its also cool to see which photos you choose to use.

I am thoroughly addicted to this blogging world we live in. Who am I kidding, its also nice to have the recognition as well, so Again, THANK YOU!. I am so glad that I can be apart of the series. Its such a great thing!

It looks like the indexing option I had hoped to bring to my smugmug page is out. It would on average cost me $150-$250/month to do so, as well as some hefty legal fees upfront. Sorry folks, you will just have to continue searching via those fancy spandex kits we wear.

On a serious note, If any readers of my blog have an idea as to a better way for me to sort the photos for you, by all means let me hear it. Whatever I can do (that doesnt cost me a ton of $) to make it easier for you I am willing to try. It can not involve the Bib #, time the photo was taken, persons name, or any relation to the timing devices used at the race.

I got accepted as a photographer for the Stock Photo site PhotoShelter, thats pretty exciting for me. I can now sell my stock photos. All the photos have to go through a pre approval process, then once excepted they need to be keycoded and catagorized. I will be working on this over the next few days. Woohoo! You cant find me on the site yet, but one should be able to by next week.

Tonight I am hitting up Leb for Jodi's Graduation celebration. I am excited to ride Leb, I havent rode their since early fall. I am alittle nervous about it though, I am trying to think positive thoughts. Leb usually gets me over my bars once or twice in the beginning of the season. My ride at Salem last week reminded me that the lack of working out (since December, Boo!) is taking its toll. Its quite irritating, end of season last year, four nice paced laps at Salem was cake, last week I barely made it around once.

Last year, end of season at leb, I was hitting all obstacles, clearing all/most during my rides, hitting the trail at a nice pace for me. Positive thoughts : ) Its going to be a great time. I haven't rode with the MORC crew in what feels like forever.

Jodi, way to go!!! She now has her BSN and a great new job, plenty to celebrate about! OC here we come!!

A Day at an Event

MNSCS #1 yesterday at Salem Hills in InverGrove Heights. The day started out damp and cold but manifested into the perfect day. My photos mimicked the day by starting out dark and uncooperative but got better as the day progressed. I have been spending lots of time with different photographers, getting a feel for their ways of doing things. I tried some other techniques early in the morning only to learn that:

1. Dont do new things on race day! I already knew that, but yet I didnt listen and failed miserably. I hate when I know better.

Anywho about mid way through the citizen class I scraped the new techniques and went back to shooting Manual mood, which is what I know best. My photos started looking better, I ran around to a few different locals on the trail, picking my locations by the best lighting.

I have yet to go through them, I spent last night studying for my algebra final which was today. I think the final went well. Tonights fun is checking out my photos and posting for all to see. I wont be indexing at this time until I can figure out the patent thing. I have the licensing agreement and I am awaiting a response from a patent attorney. Hopefully that will get wrapped up soon. Until then I will have the photos split up by catagory, then I will try to group all photos of one racer together. It really depends on how much time it will take. The only problem is people know where they were in the lineup which makes it easy to find themselves that way, I dont want to screw it up. I dont know, I will figure out what works.

I am spent today, running around for 8 hrs in the sun getting shots is definately alot of work. It feels great to be back at it though!

Buck Hill Race # Uno

It was a comfortable night for the opener of the buck hills series. Penn Cycle once again has done an amazing job with the course and reroutes at Buck Hill. The racing family is back together for another great season. Penn Cycle was looking very strong with a handful of top finishers. LCR has some great new additions to their team, as well as Peace Coffee Racing. Velo Rochester and Silver Cycling appear to be holding their spots as King of the Hill! With only a few rideable days in the dirt, the top riders looked great out there. Leaders of the pack:

Advanced Men:

Doug Swanson (Grandstay Cycling), Brendan Moore (Velo Rochester) , Sam O (Silver Cycles), Paul Hanson (Sobe/Cannondale), and Chris Fisher (Velo Rochester).

Advanced Women:

Anne Grabowski, Jennifer Fisher(Velo Rochester), Janna Krawczyk (in her sundays best, even).

Rec Men:

Bryan Rhody (Peace Coffee), Aaron Burroughs, Al iverson, Ted Siefkes, Eric Lebow.

Rec Women:

Andrea Horner, Kirsten Kosloske, Jordan Horner

Congratulations to last nights winners! Looks like its going to be another exciting year of racing in MN!


You Can Find my photos from Buck Hill HERE

SmugMug

I will be selling my photos for the first time this year. I had planned on using my .mac account but it has turned out not to be the best for selling photos. I want a site to be professional and easy to use. I have been scoping out many different sites. I am looking for a site that allows me to price my photos without them taking a huge chunk of it so that i can keep prices low, a site that allows for digital downloads, a site that has prints available along with other merchandise for people to purchase. A site that again looks professional and does justice to the photos.

I finally found a site that encompasses all the things I was looking for www.dschoppe.smugmug.com The thread links directly to my site (no photos yet). I just started with the free account so I could get a feel for the site and make sure it was everything I could hope for. During the sign up process I came to the typical "Terms & Agreement" page, I read through everything only to come across a section that reads:

Notice for Professional Account holders: Uploading more than 500 photographs of participants in a single sporting event may require a License from PhotoCrazy, Inc. To avoid patent infringement, please contact:PhotoCrazy, Inc.Attn: Peter Wolf509 Raindance StreetThousand Oaks, California 91360-1219Email: peter@photocrazy.com

It turns out that this guy has two patents on the process of Taking photos, uploading them to a site, organizing them by bib number, and then selling them to the public. Who would have thought?! I sure as hell didnt think you could patent something like that.

I reviewed my photos from the prior two years and I definately had more then 500 shots at every event with all the different classes. I can post up to 500 without being licensed, with that being said, the last two years I didnt filter out any photos. I posted up every single shot I took. My options for this year are:

1. Get licensed with Photocrazy to avoid patent infringement, but by doing this i will need to raise the cost of the photos to cover the portion that photocrazy will take from each sale.

2. Weed out photos to drop the number below 500

3. Only offer the high resolution electronic copy of the photo, people will just have to email me the photo number, pay at a race or via pay pal, then I will respond with the photo.

None of them sound to appealing to me, I guess get the photo count below 500 is probably the best option.

I have signed an NDA with Peter Wolf from Photocrazy and I am working on obtaining additional information to determine if I would actually be infringing on his patent. I also have a patent attorney reviewing Photocrazys two patents to determine if this is something I should be concerned about.

Can anything be easy these days?

You know what can be easy to do, blow money! I shouldn't say blow money because I am buying a sweet new toy that I really want, but its alot of dough. I will be staying home for a couple months to cover this expense. Its been raining presents this year, this will probably be my last along with a nice pack for all my camera gear, then its paying off my latest toy, because this one I dont have the money for right now. I know, I know I should wait, but Guess What, Im not going to. That stimulation check will cover a nice portion of it, then hopefully people will buy my photos.

So here it is:

Perfect timing it is indeed, the lens came in today. I will be picking it up around 6 oclock then heading over to Buck Hill for the first race of the season. Woot! Hope to see you there. Tomorrow is trail work, Saturday is Trail work, Sunday is the first race of the MNSCS series and my first official photo op. Yeeehhhaaaaa!

Flashing

I met with two other photographers today.  Our goal was to play and learn our flash devices.  I actually didn't use the flash during any of my photos but I learned alot from the two gents who were experimenting.  We went to Lebanon Hills, there wasnt much for wildlife but we found plenty to photograph regardless.  I then made my way to Salem Hills, I rode 2 laps while scoping out photo opportunities for next weekends race. I ran into some fellow teammates and got some shots there as well. Here are some of my shots from the day.

Which One?

End of September. Bloomington IronGirl or Osceola Duathlon. Distances are the same, weekends are one apart. Do I do them both? Can i physically do them both? The bloomington Irongirl is the day after the last MNSCS race. I believe the following day there is a CX kick off event that might be fun to attend as well.

The 12 hours of nine mile is also now official. Classes end 7/25/08, I will be teaming up with Nicole Waxmonski and possibly Katy Rudolph, it would be fun to get a team of 4, hopefully we can track down one more lady. Any takers out there???????

Janet, ITS ON!!!!