Far and Away

Spring is so tauntingly close that it kills me. While yes, weather here is considerably better than other places I've lived (Illinois anyone?), there is a down side to Colorado Springs winters. They are completely bi-polar! One day it's freezing, snowing, sleeting- what you would expect from an average winters day. Then the next day, it's 60 degrees, sunshiny and beautiful! You start to really appreciate sunshine actually touching your skin, when the weather drastically changes yet again. Blizzard! The worst is when you go into work and it's nice out, spend all day in the basement without windows, and leave to discover a winter wonderland. All I can say is - LAYER! Never leave your coat at home, no matter how it looks outside. And while you may think you know how to drive on the snow and ice, there are a whole heck of a lot of people out there who don't.

So in deference to spring, who keeps ridiculously peeking its head around the corner of winter, just to go back into hiding again, this post will be full of an outdoor sport. Soccer. Because I feel like kicking something.

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Although I am a Canon girl, I must admit, when shooting night games in a stadium with cruddy lighting, the Nikon D700 does a dang good job. You can crank the ISO up to 3200 before it starts to degrade. And that's a heck of a lot better than the measley 500 that our D200's were giving us. And if you understood none of that rant, I'm sorry, just enjoy the pictures.

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

A little note about frames per second, or fps. If you dig shooting fast paced outdoor sports, this is a very important number. The higher the number, like 7 or 8, the better. It makes the difference between catching a great shot in the midst of a fast play, or almost catching a great shot (believe me, that feeling sucks!). It comes into play when you are shooting continuously. Rapid fire. When you hold down the shutter release and it snaps a bunch of pics in a row. Now, I don't recommend you shoot an entire game this way. It's a waste. If you want a movie, get a camcorder. I mainly use it when I know a moment is coming up that will be short, but packed with action. Sometimes you can get a great series, but generally, you choose the best shot out of the group. It's annoying to see five seperate pictures that differ only in silly ways, like "look, his foot moved three inches in this picture." It's more like you want to pick the shot with the ball in the right place, the people's eyes either open, or showing appropriate sports faces, and limbs unobscured. Also be aware of where hands and feet end up in your image. You can easily take an innocent picture of two guys grappling for a ball, and suddenly it seems like a hand is going for the wrong ball. Needless to say, before you decide to publish something, take a look at the details.

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher

Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher