As a follow-on to my last post with infrared views of Vermont, here we check out the wonderful Craftsbury Sculling Camp and I get some good practice in taking action shots (as well as plenty of rowing).
In addition to taking some infrared shots, I also wanted to document our yearly trip to Craftsbury Sculling Camp. I had no theme in mind, but with a break in the weather I decided to work on my action photography, and I got some surprisingly good results.
Getting setup for a shot.
About the gear
I opted for my Hasselblad 501c system with its 50mm f4, 80mm 2.8, and 150mm f4 lenses..quite the combination (and quite the weight!). To complement this, I also brought my Hasselblad Xpan for some super wide angle shots.
About the shots & film
I was hoping to skip one of the sculling sessions to go out with a coach in their launch to practice some action shots. The weather was pretty uncooperative all week but we finally had a sunny break towards the end and I grabbed my chance. I used my Hasselblad 501c with primarily the telephoto lens for the rowing action shots. I had a real mix of film: Kodak Portra 160 & 400, Fuji Pro 400H, Ilford HP5+ (for my shots in London as a stopover and for another post), and the infrared films (from my previous post). On reflection, I would have preferred a Portra 400 & Ektar 100 combination, as I am not the biggest fan of Portra 160.
Bye, bye Heathrow airport (enroute to Boston).
Classic car in Tilton, New Hampshire, enroute to Vermont.
This was our 7th visit to the Great Hosmer Pond, where Craftsbury Sculling Camp is based.
Charlie and Tom getting one of their boats ready for the week long course.
Now that is what I call some flat water!
A happy coach Kevin after an afternoon's row.
Lots (and lots) of oars!
Boating after an outing can turn into a bit of a traffic jam scenario.
Lots of attentive scullers at a daily dock talk before going out on the water again. We row 3 times daily.
It's not all serious talk with the coaches as coach Kevin is having a bit of a "zen" moment here (actually I am not quite sure what he is doing?!).
My twin brother Eoin coming back to shore from another session on the water.
Yep, this place is special.
Glad I had my Hasselblad Xpan for a shot like this!
Coach Landon at work.
The boathouse with more single sculls than you have ever seen in one place!
I favour a mix of clouds and empty skies for sunset shots, so always happy when I come across scenes like this.
The rowing "action" shots
The following shots were taken in a period of about 90 minutes as I tagged along with the coaches in a launch. I am actually really pleased with how some of these came out, analogue photography is not best suited to fast action shots. I've grouped them into a gallery as I will let the photos do the speaking for themselves, rather than extensive commentary. Enjoy!
Overall observations
Did you see the guy with the Superman rowing all-in-one one? What a legend! (that may just need to go on my Christmas list).
I really enjoyed the many shots I got this year at Craftsbury, in particular the previous infrared shots, that was fun! The rowing shots were indeed a challenge, not only because I was half hanging off the coach launch to get the best angle, but because shooting fast moving subjects with an analogue medium format camera is never going to be the easiest task.
That being said, with the wonderful (and massive) medium format negatives I got from the Hasselblad, I got some real winners. Most of them were shot with my 150mm telephone lens at f8 or f11, although remember the Hasselblad has a maximum shutter speed of 1/500, which is really not very fast at all to properly freeze action.
But if you look at the depth of field on some of the shots it is clear that medium format photography is a whole different level to 35mm, and that is one of the reasons I enjoy shooting it so much. You get some really great detail and ability to make really large prints.
I did however struggle with nailing the focus on some of these, as I was using the waist level finder right at the water's edge in a moving launch and keeping up with rowers who were also moving - remember, there is no such thing as "autofocus" with this camera!
Thanks for stopping by and I will leave you with a final shot of us twins below.
Cheers!
Neil
