Running instead of Shooting

I haven't been very active updating this blog recently.  There's a pretty good reason for that.  My free time has been taken up by my other hobby - running.  I like to run.  A lot.  I like to race.  A lot.  Consequently I like to run marathons.  A lot.

Ran the Columbus Marathon yesterday.  It was my 57th or 58th marathon.  At this point I've kind of lost track.  But the highlight is that once again for the first time in three years I ran fast enough to qualify to run the 2010 Boston Marathon.  For those who don't know, Boston is one of the most prestigious races in the world.  Next year will be the 114th running of the race and the fourth time I'll have the privilege of running it.  Boston is also one of the very few marathons that you must qualify to run.  The vast majority of marathons, including the major ones like Chicago, New York and London are all races open to the general public.  Register early enough (or be lucky enough to have your name pulled from the lottery draw) and you can run the race.  Not Boston.  There are very strict qualifying standards that must be met before you are allowed to run the race.  Running Boston means you've made it in with the best of the best.  Many people these days take on and complete the challenge of the marathon.  Few will every qualify for Boston.  For distance guys like me running a Boston qualifier (a BQ) is like making it into the Super Bowl.  And running the race is like playing in the Super Bowl with it's million fans lining every inch of the 26.2 mile course.  Yep there's nothing better for a marathoner than running than Boston.  And I'm going back.

So once my legs aren't so sore I'll get back out there shooting fall foliage.  But in the back of my mind you can bet I'm planning my trip to Beantown.

Enjoy!
Tom Laux
October 19, 2009

Fall Colors

Here in southwest Ohio it's still a little early for the fall colors to be out.  Reports show good colors in the north eastern part of the state but we're still a couple of weeks away.  But unlike last year we had a lot of rain this summer which should yield a lot of brilliant colors in the trees and leaves that hang around long enough to get their picture taken.  (Last year was so dry that the fall color season was really short before all the leaves were on the ground.)

In lieu of my typical early morning run I decided to hit the local park and see what the trees were showing me.  Still mostly green but just enough colors to take a few interesting shots.  For the first time I took two cameras out with me to shoot.  On my Olympus Pen I mounted the 17mm pancake for it wide view of the world but also loaded up my Canon 40D with my longest Canon 300mm f/4 L prime telephoto as I was hoping for some wildlife shots as well as the trees.

The ever present deer population in the park all must have been sleeping in as there were none to be seen and I really don't enjoy the challenge of bird photography so I stuck to the trees and some detail work.  With a little bit of help in Lightroom to soften up a few of the images and pop the colors a bit I was happy with the results.

Enjoy!
Tom Laux
October 5, 2009

Travel Photography: This is why I bought the Pen

Last weekend we did a little traveling, heading to Orlando to one of our favorite places both to visit and to run - Walt Disney World!  We head there at least once a year in January to run the annual marathon but this time the event was the Everest Expedition Challenge Race, a combination 5K run, obstacle course and scavenger hunt all run through the Animal Kingdom park.

As usual we had a great time and as usual my camera was at my side most of the trip.  This is exactly what I had in mind when I bought the Olympus Pen E-P1 camera.  Small enough to carry all day but high enough quality to take great pictures.

In the world of airline baggage fees we're learning how to travel with less and pack lighter and the camera equipment was no exception.  In my backpack along with a couple of magazines and my HP 5101 netbook was packed the Pen with the 17mm pancake prime lens attached.  Knowing that this camera is still a little too large to be truly "pocketable" I also packed my small North Face butt pack  loaded with the FL-14 flash unit, 14-45mm zoom, spare battery and charger.  That all was packed surrounded by clothes in the small suitcase which we carried on board the plane.

So how did the Pen do as the main camera for one more travel destination?  In a word "fantastic".  I continue to be both impressed and delighted with this little camera.  I could have done without bringing the zoom lens down as I left the pancake on the entire trip, leaving the second lens in the hotel room and never missed it once.  I really didn't experience any framing issues shooting in the bright Florida sunshine even though I opted to no bring the little viewfinder attachment that matches the pancake lens.  Occasionally I had to shade the screen with my hand to be able to see it but never missed a shot.  About the only issue I had was the fact that during the day the flash had to stay on the camera to be used for fill.  With the flash on the camera would still fit in the butt pack but I was always concerned about banging it against something, causing damage to one of the pieces.

So for the second trip since acquiring the Pen it's proved it's worth as a great little travel camera.  I'm still a couple of lens choices short of where I'd like to be, still wanting to get a dedicated macro and also a fisheye just for fun.

Enjoy!
Tom Laux
October 2, 2009