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Yesterday, the whole of Belgium went to the streets. It wasn't political unrest, it wasn't an eco-demo, it was more than that... the Tour de France, one of the world's biggest sporting events, had it's second stage of the 2010 edition finishing in Brussels. And being a bike-crazy nation, they all went to the streets to live this moment :)
Over 2,5 million people gathered along the course which took the riders from Rotterdam to Brussels. We too went to see it, although I'm not a big fan of big masses. Nowadays so many sporting events are seen so much better on TV... but to pay respect to these riders, their effort and the event in itself, we went.
We decided to stay somewhere close to the finish line, to witness the drama of the final sprint. Well, that's what half of the population of Brussels seemed to want, so there were tons of people everywhere. The only chance to actually see something was to be invited to a VIP area or have someone's shoulders to climb to.
I think everyone who goes to see such a bike race for the first time in his life doesn't realize how quickly everything's over. The peloton races past you with around 40km/h, that's not even a whole minute for you to enjoy the view. And towards the finish, they of course go way faster, but then again the pack is stretched out and you get to see a bit more of it.
From a photographic point of view, our standing point was of course useless. I don't even like it to try to take photos at big events covered by pros who take positions hours before, on accredited locations and so on. For me, it's either smaller events, where I stand a smallest chance, or bigger events but then with an accreditation. And the possibility to learn a lot :)
Yesterday though was another example of "take your camera everywhere with you". I had my girlfriend up on my shoulders and she was telling me what was going on, since all I could see were some necks. And then, after a first small group rushes by, I see a head with a helmet slowly going past us... "Hon, what's this guy doing?". "He...seems to have crashed. And lost his bike." Only later (on tv) were we to find out about the many crashes that had taken place. Luckily no one was seriously injured. And here in front of us we had Lloyd Mondory, from AG2R La Mondiale, walking towards the finish line. We felt sorry him, as for the other fallen riders, and today, as I'm writing this, there were some more crashes on the second etappe from Brussels to Spa.
So what do we learn? Yeah, always keep your camera with you, find a spot "above" the rest if possible (or at least with a good view) and... see what happens. It's not a great pic, of course, but it captures a moment, a situation, which has a relation to the beginning of this year's tour. Ok for now.
After that we went for a drink with our friend Marius "The-Bio-Racer", who'll start his own Tour of Europe later this month, driving from Belgium to Romania. Big up, mate!
while trying to keep this blog as little as possible about "tech&gear", issues arise from time to time which need to be addressed :)
so is the story about the canon 5d mark2... when it came out, I too was amazed, like everyone else. I wondered what lenses I would need if I decided to make this step, especially since I shoot wide-angle a lot and the lens I use on my 30D wouldn't (really) fit - well, not on it's entire focal length. and almost every single article I could find would tell you how important it is to get the expensive L glass, nothing less. and they wrote this so convincingly, that stupid me really started believing them... a simple google search will mainly reveal offers with the 50/1.4, 85/1.2, 24-70/2.8 and alike expensive glass.
so I thought: finding ~2000euros for the body will be hard enough, where the $%^& would I get the rest from? oh just screw it!
2 years later or so, still happy with my "old" camera (geez, time has gained some speed these days, hasn't it?), a friend made an offer I couldn't refuse. and more-or-less overnight found myself owning the infamous camera. the box rested near my desk for a few days, I felt I don't deserve it yet... but then I opened it, making no special effort in deserving it, put on my 50mm f/1.8 and clicked away. and loved it. and clicked some more.
then I went out and bought the 35mm f/2, and loved it even more. and both seemed so wide! I put aside the search for the 24mm, and have only once used my tokina 12-24mm f/4 at it's 24mm end when I needed the width at a concert.
and I keep looking at the pictures and don't understand where the loss of quality should be... for the normal user. so if google ever indexes this and you stumble upon it and read through here, these are my words: don't be afraid of less expensive lenses! the most important thing, in my opinion, is to have some gear so you can go out and do your thing. it's useless waiting to buy the "right" gear and getting old by then...
oi! I'm back!
well I wasn't really away, anyway, but other people here in this family have more important things to do on this computer than checking rss feeds and facebook games. take diana, for example. initially, she used to be here. then, all of a sudden, she started this 59 kilo project. and now she's giving interviews here. industrious girl, isn't she?
well, yeah. and since she really needs this computer again now, I'll just point you to this other blog post here, which comes to confirm "our" theory here about mainly shooting in M-mode. if you do read romanian blogs about photography, you already know andrei pandele. if you don't know him... no, that's really impossible. if you do understand romanian and don't read his blog yet... well, you get it!
back in a couple of days, take care
just found this picture with the tree which I think is very timburton-esque. taken back in resita, banat around christmas...
Just wanted to make sure you know Brooks Jensen's podcasts over at lenswork... they're a constant source of inspiration to me.
rafael is looking for some rerouting flights to get to thailand in time to meet a friend there... hope you made it, mate!
lots of people had to change their travelling plans when airports around europe started to shut down on thursday due to Eyjafjallajokull, a volcano in Iceland.
...so I was telling you the other day about me trying to shoot only in M(anual) mode, in order to think more and become wiser and, in the end, take better pictures.
but as things go in life, and especially in photography, I found others to be of a different opinion. look at this interesting piece of advice on Tewfic El-Sawy's blog, who says exactly the opposite. before quoting him, let me tell you that Tewfic El-Sawy has a very interesting blog which you should add to your rss-reader if you're intro photojournalism+travel. he also organises photo expeditions which seem very interesting to me...
ok, so Tewfic says: "I frequently advise participants in my Photo~Expeditions to set their cameras on the P setting during the first couple of days of the trip, to compensate for the jet-lag fatigue, and for the sudden disorientation we all experience in a new unfamiliar environment, especially if it's at a bustling heart-pumping festival." and "So my advice is when you're not getting the exact result you seek from a particular scene for whatever reason, set your camera on P and let it rip."
his thoughts are interesting and well-worth taking into account. his post was inspired by this interview with Harry Benson published on gadgetwise, a blog of nytimes. the interview in particular didn't really inspire me, I think it's more of a sort of how-to article done by mainstream publications, where "how to loose weight", "how to raise your children", "how to get back with your ex" and "how to take better low light photos" all come in one page and are aimed at a certain public. the comments below the interview sum this up rather well. and they also contain some more valuable info, so check them :)
so there you have two great photographers telling you to trust your camera's processor and software and concentrate on the important things, like the subject. do it with feeling :)
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