(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 160mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 200)
Tardiness = Pictures. I've been somewhat on hiatus the last week or two, so there will hopefully be a few posts trickling in soon. More after the break.
As hinted to earlier, I had shot my first Ultimate game of the season on Monday, with a team I had shot for last year. The game took place at Sunnybrook park, located in midtown Toronto. Nice place, except for the drive or walk in. The former is of course faster, but in my opinion still quite bendy and twisty along with its fair share of speed humps. The latter of course is longer and thus more tiring, but I prefer it. It's quite a nice view to enjoy - that is, if you weren't late like I was. Call it a bad mismangement of time, something I seldom do. By the time I got there, the game had already started.
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 200mm, f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 200)
Once I got there though, the sight of familiar faces and greetings pretty much obliterated the "oh crap I'm late" feelings since for the most part, the team has remained relatively unchanged from last fall when I last saw the team. Probably about the only that's changed significantly is the name of the team. They're now known as the 'Quick Dumpers', a reference to 'dumping' in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, not... well, you know.
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 120mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 200)
The first half of the game seemed rather one-sided, with the Dumpers taking quite a dump of their own (har har har, I imagine the whole dumping joke will get old within a few weeks). Play was a bit slow to start, but the team picked up significantly after the half. While they still lost, it was a much more interesting game. All in all, still plenty of the season left to go.
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 100mm, f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 200)
Photo-techno-geek-wise, the 70-200 stole the show. Didn't have to use D60 at all, though it hung around on my shoulder during the game. Shot in Aperture priority, rather than Shutter, to maintain a constant f/2.8, AF mode was on Continuous (AF-C; AI-Servo I believe for you Canon shooters), and Dynamic Area AF. I find I don't need a very fast shutter speed for Ultimate games, despite the intensity of the sport.
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 120mm, f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 200)
For the most part though, I found that I - like the team - was a bit rusty in shooting. A lot of missed shots, out of focus shots and the like. Part of me really wishes my lens had a focus-hold button, instead of having to rely on my right thumb to hold down the AE-L/AF-L button on the rear of the camera whilst it's pressed against my face. It'd help a lot when folks cut between the subjects and I. Alas, gotta live with what you're dealt with.
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 130mm, f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 500)
Still, there were some keepers to be had, and I'm content with the results, given that I was also shooting into the sun for about half the game. I had the opportunity to shoot away from it, but that would've put me in this narrow strip of space between two fields, and with the tendancy of disks and/or players to charge into that space, I didn't want to unnecessarily risk myself getting tackled by a player (although I did shoot from that spot for about 10 to 15 minutes).
(Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200 II @ 112mm, f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 1000)
More comin'.
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