the one with the track meet, DISTRICT

COOPERSPORTS

Apr 11

See that? That above? Yeah. It's a butt. Mister. I don't now your name, but when you walk out on a track in front of a gaggle of photographers who just happen to be photographing the finish line, THIS IS WHAT WE DO. We plaster your booty on facebook, the internet, our blogs, etc. So, if anyone recognizes this butt, tag it on facebook. I posted pics on the LCHS Athletic Booster Club Page as well.

So, on to my blog post.

Summer came home yesterday and quickly changed clothes and then headed out to the track meet. I had no idea we still had one. I thought I missed it when we went to Austin earlier this month. Turns out it was simply prelims, but hello! I wanted to to go and photograph. I was missing me some Pirates.

So, this blog post is dedicated to just how awful I am at track photos. Keep in mind this was my first track meet since Kalyn and Boo back in middle school. Lord! That's a long time. 2007 to be exact. I looked it up here on my blog but the pictures aren't loading. That's because a server went down and I haven't linked back up. Yes. It's on the "to do" list with tons of other stuff. I'd rather talk track. So, no links. Only words.

Okay, so you can see the finish line and with a large aperture (or f-stop) it was fairly easy to get everyone in focus and accounted for. Notice though that this was made AFTER they crossed. Yep. Intensity lost. But I did better the next race. See Hollie's face? Yep. This was made a pre-second before they crossed. Improvement!But in between races I saw emotion EVERYWHERE. It was a beautiful day! Lots of sunshine and you could feel the energy of the kids getting out of school. Mixing together. Only a few short weeks and summer would be upon us! So, in between races, I found the faces.And then the guys...And of course, the wind! HELLO! It's West Texas. It blows during track. We were just thankful it wasn't a brown out. LOVED seeing alumni on campus! Summer, Payton Hurst, Adrian Smith AND Ashley Parr. Who is now coaching at Cooper! WOO HOO! Go ASHLEY! I asked her how? I mean, we all know Ashley as sweet, adorable smiley Ashley. And she is that! AND more! So, she has a coaching face as well I'm sure. I'll have to go and photograph her in action next year. That would be fun!More faces.

This part of a track meet I've got down. I know how to do this. It's the other stuff, running, hurdles, knowing where to put myself I needed practice on.Running...Got it. But judging from my shot below, take offs, need some work. HELLO! Chopped another head off. But a few pans, I had it down. Tongues and all.The faces always drew me back in. So many stories to tell during a track meet! I wish I could go back on Friday for the rest, but there's no way. I have a wedding to travel to. This guy was fun to watch. He's the guy that starts the race. The one with ear plugs in, thank goodness and a smile on his face. Or is it a grimace? Who knows?

And a Coach Bridges! LOVE watching him! Always expressive!Yep. PAIN. When your lungs are burning as well as your thighs...this is what your face can look like.I started photographing the hurdles front on. Which is fine. But then I wanted to try something else.After more faces.A different angle. I like this. But my timing wasn't always good. You had to prefocus and then move the camera away from my face and watch the runners to anticipate when to press the shutter. I got pretty good at it after a few mistakes. Okay, lots of tries and mistakes. But that's how you learn and get better. KEEP PRESSING THAT SHUTTER.All in all, fun day at the track meet.