Railroad photography and Operation Lifesaver

Fall is nearly upon us here in the northern hemisphere, and the season is in full swing for family portraits and senior photos.  As photographers and their subjects seek to portray ever more interesting environments, they are increasingly shooting on and near railroad tracks.  Unfortunately, railroads are private property, so this activity constitutes trespassing, and more importantly, can be very dangerous.  I've recently learned of a big push that's being made here in the US by Operation Lifesaver and the rail carriers to curtail this behavior.

Fashionable camera bags

Nobody ever accused me of having great fashion sense.  I once dressed my son for church in plaid shorts & a striped shirt, and saw nothing wrong with it.  I also carry all my camera gear in old bags that I pick up at thrift stores and garage sales.  You, however, may be blessed with a little more style in your wardrobe (and I hope this includes most of you women out there).  If you'd like that style to carry over into your camera bags, your options today are much broader than they were even a few years ago.  Gone are the days when you were stuck carrying your gear in a rectangular, black, nylon bag like those that line the shelves at Best Buy.  Since I've been asked to recommend storage options to several friends lately, I figured I'd post what I've found publicly for your shopping enjoyment.

Skating at sunset

I had the privilege recently of hanging out with my family, our neighbor kids, and a bunch of strangers at a local public skateboard park.  My oldest son was the impetus for the outing.  He's no Tony Hawk, but he enjoys playing with his skateboard, his BMX bike, and especially his brand new Rip Stick.  As I do with most family park outings, I took my camera bag just in case.  There was a large crowd at the skate park that evening, and we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset that provided some excellent photo ops.  All of the kids were happy to perform for my camera after they saw the type of shots I was getting, and I handed out several business cards so I could share the images with them.  I figured I'd share with you a few of the techniques that I used that day to capture the action.

Brenden Stai Golf Classic, round 3

Every year, Husker football celebrity Brenden Stai sponsors a golf tournament in Lincoln to raise money for Tiny Hands International.  A handful of other Husker celebs partner up with each foursome on the course, and a dinner & silent auction take place the preceding evening.  This summer marked the fourth year of the tournament, and the third year that I've been its official photographer.

Shooting youth soccer

Odds are, at least one of your kids has played organized soccer (or "football," as it's more appropriately called in most of the world) at some point.  It's an easy game to pick up and requires very little equipment other than a round ball & some open real estate.  Being an outdoor sport, it's also one of the easier pastimes to photograph.  I'm no Sports Illustrated photographer, but I have shot my share of kids sports.  There's also a lot of carry-over here from other types of event photography, which is my bread and butter.  Keep reading to find out what I know about shooting soccer.

Err 30 on my Canon 7D

A month or so ago, my primary camera body (a Canon 7D) started locking up on me and throwing an "Err 30" message.  I was instructed to pull the battery and try again, which worked only for a couple shots before the error reappeared.  The battery being used would then show up as being dead.  After going through a couple batteries in just a few minutes, I removed my aftermarket vertical battery grip (a Flashpoint / MeiKe).  With a battery inserted directly into the camera body, the problem went away.  The problem was solved... for a few weeks.

Rained out... almost

This summer, I was scheduled to photograph the third annual Cross Pointe Innovations charity golf tournament.  It's been a dry summer, and we hadn't seen any significant precipitation for six weeks prior to the event.  Of course, that meant that we experienced torrential thunderstorms for a solid twelve hours prior to tee time.  It made for an interesting day.