Paul graciously awoke very early for this photo shoot. Thanks to Dad for help with the lights and EV for collecting tennis balls and cheering when I hit 4 balls "out of the park" after the shoot. Too bad hitting them out of the park doesn't count in Tennis. I'd also like to thank Paul for not actually using this type of serve when I stood on the other side of the net.
Nick, take 2.
Nick Vienneau is a world-class skeleton slider who asked if I'd make a required shot of him for the national association. The rules were pretty stringent, things like, head and shoulders only, square with the camera, plain background, no toothy smiles, must be able to see the eyes, and prefer natural light rather than flash. Bah! This is the edit where I took some liberties. Click for the full version.
EV and I made a trip up to Utah Olympic Park and watched the bobsled and skeleton events. I've never seen this kind of sledding in person and found myself struck by the speed of the sleds. On TV it is far more difficult to judge the speed because they often pan with the sleds as they move through the curves of the ice-coated track.
We started at the bottom of the track, watching the sledders come into the finish station and then made our way up to the various curves. I noticed two things that I hadn't thought through previously: There are hundreds of "No flash photography" signs along the track. It hadn't occurred to me previously but it makes perfect sense that a strobe would probably blind a sledder. Secondly, the track is mostly covered with white awnings so that spectators cannot see the sledders. At first I was intrigued by this fact but when I leaned up to the guard rail and looked into one of the "tunnels," I quickly realized that the awnings create a softer, more diffused light that allows the sledders to see and judge the ice more effectively.
The sleds move so fast that I had no hope of capturing a non-blurring sled but I sort of like the effect of movement that the blur creates.
We also made our way up to the start station to see how that all worked. There we arrived just in time for the 2-man women's (?) bobsled event:
Note: Walking alongside a bobsled track to the start station is a great workout--high elevation, plenty of 15% grades. This makes up for missing out on a swim which we had planned but fell through earlier today.
Thanks to Nick at work, a skeleton athlete himself, for tipping me off about the event.
EV and I made a point of getting to Boise in time for the annual Boise Criterium. For all you non-cycling fans, a criterium is a road cycling race that takes place on a closed circuit, usually in a city, where the race consists of several laps. Crashes are common and because the riders pass several times, it makes for a more interesting spectator experience. After a very nice birthday dinner for Mom, we headed out to catch the pro event.
Downtown Boise is pretty impressive for a town it's size. The buildings have character, there are interesting looking shops, and it's overall ambience is inviting.
We arrived shortly after the race began and picked up some very effective "clickers" from one of the booths near the parcours. Traditionally, at least in Europe, fans equip themselves with cow bells to ring as the riders pass. The more economical approach here is the little plastic devices with a small piece of metal.
Mister P and Sijbrich found a great location for us to watch the race where there were fewer people and you could watch the riders make their way around corner number four. We learned from one of the seasoned fans near us that they corner at up to 30 miles per hour:
I found it interesting that last year's winner rode at the back of the pack. I assume his strategy was to conserve energy while his team ensured that he could work his way to the front in the later laps. Alas, EV and I ran out of energy given our 5 hour drive and other activities earlier in the day and left before the race ended. But I looked in the paper the next day for the results and learned that a different rider won. Last year's winner may need some strategic fine-tuning.