I’ve never understood
how some people can oppose
free wind energy
because of “bad aesthetics”
and other people can put
windmills
in their gardens
not hooked to anything
because they’re “decorative”.
Archive
Category: ScheduleJust found out that the Tampa show prejudging starts about 9 am and is scheduled to run past 2 pm.
I don’t really feel as though I have that much time to spare– I’d have to be up about 5:30 AM to get a good seat and I wouldn’t get home until 5 or so. I think I’m going to shoot Deke’s show in Orlando the following weekend instead, even though the lighting is better at the Tampa venue.
Shots from the 2009 Gateway Classic are up on the site.
Lighting wasn’t too bad, though I had to shoot at 1600 and the banners behind the competitors fouled up the white balance again. I also made a boneheaded mistake; I left the autofocus set to “all points” from my last use of the camera instead of a single point, so in several of the shots the autofocus was zeroing either the banner ads on stage (bad but salvageable) or the top of one of the judges’ heads (very very bad).
I really want to push myself so that even in rough lighting conditions I’m keeping more shots than I’m throwing away. I’m not there yet.
Anyway, enjoy. The next show I’m attending is late June, but I hope to have some updates before then. Why “hope”, you say? Well, if anyone didn’t know, I’m getting married (!) next week, which fact may limit the amount of attention I can give this for a month or so.
“There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.”
Brilliant oratory, isn’t it? And so apropos.
But it’s not new.
It’s a quote from Robert A. Heinlein, from his short story “Life-Line”, first published in 1939.
Shots from the 2009 Jacksonville Championships (a.k.a Jax Physique) are up on the site.
I’m not sure what it is about Jacksonville that all the venues seem to be dark pits, but I smelled trouble on the wind as soon as the front door attendant ushered me around to the side entrance. Turns out the main auditorium was in use by the Sunshine District of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and the bodybuilding was held in a smaller auditorium around the corner.
It’s been far too long since I’ve sung any barbershop. One day soon, perhaps… my voice is still in pretty good shape.
Anyway. I shot the show at 1600, which I don’t like to do, and ran a custom white balance as I couldn’t be sure whether the lights were tungsten, incandescent, or agitated fireflies. A usuable fraction came out all right, though, and though the show was probably the smallest I’ve ever attended, all went smoothly.
Ironically, due to the river and the ginormous mirrored buildings next to the Jacksonville Landing, the area outside was literally awash in light– a magnificently lit setting. I didn’t know anyone at the show well enough to suggest an outside shoot, though, and didn’t feel quite up to making a new connection– my mind was already elsewhere after the prejudging ended.
This is the first show I’ve been to this year, and so is the first in which I’ve encountered the “Bikini” class. There are several reasons that I have been and remain skeptical.
- First, it seems too much of a throwback to the Sixties– is the next step to eliminate all women’s athletics and go back to wet T-shirt contests?
- Second, the most seasoned bikini-circuit competitor in the world is going to appear mushy when compared to the athletes– that has to be a bit initimidating.
- And third, the last thing that women’s bodybuilding needs is _one more_ path to siphon off the potential competitors. Fitness and figure are damaging enough.
Oh, I could have a long theological discussion with the NPC officials about it, but they would just end up noting that it isn’t all about what I think, that the shows aren’t held for my personal benefit, and things would spiral downward from there. Who needs that bother? Not me.
;)
Seriously, though, enjoy the photos (and the short turnaround). There’s another one coming up in just a couple of weeks.
I’ve added the shows I plan to shoot in 2009 to the site. There are six, all close to home and well-lit venues.
“But,” I hear you cry, “what about the 2009 Nationals? In Hollywood, Florida?”
Probably I’ll go.
I wish that I had more time to devote to what has become a delightful but costly pastime. I expect next year to be better.
Then there was the guy who was soooo dumb….
[audience] “How dumb was he?”
This guy was so dumb that he Scotch-taped chickens to his body before going outside,
because he’d heard that he’d stay warmer if he dressed in layers.
…
I apologize.