There is so much going on in the world around us, the more you look for it the more you see it. People everywhere are rushing, biking, moving, skateboarding, I think that “people it motion” may be one of the easiest photo assignments I’ve ever been given. There was a bit of fiddling with shutter speed and ISO, but the subject matter was everywhere. Here are the best shots of the week:
 |
Erik Hasstedt, 21, makes it to the Stadium Piece and to safety after being chased across the communications lawn by Daniel Bronsdon, 20, during a game of Humans vs. Zombies on Saturday, Jan. 24, Bellingham, Wash. Humans vs. Zombies is a live action roleplaying game in which human players must defend themselves from zombie players using only Nerf guns and socks.
|
I took these two pictures a few weeks ago as part of a story on Humans vs. Zombies I was writing for the school newspaper. In situations like this getting photo caption information is like a big complicated game of Where’s Waldo. I continuously shoot photos while the action is going on around me, then, when a break comes 30 or 40 minutes later I quickly flip through the results and pick the best ones. I memorize key aspects about the subjects in those few photos, clothing, hair, etc., and scan the crowd around me to see if I can find them again. When I do I run over, corner them, and ask for all their personal information. It’s a fun game and it keeps you on your toes.
Speaking of being on your toes…
 |
Farris Rea, 22, of Kirkland, jumps a jump rope inside of a jump rope as part of the First Step fitness program in front of the Western Rec Center, Jan. 28, Bellingham, Wash. First Step helps students and staff at the university incorporate more movement into their life and has different activities every Wednesday.
|
Never before had I seen someone attempt to jump a jump rope inside of a rump rope. It was truly something to see. The long one was going around her horizontally and the short one was going around her vertically, like longitude and latitude on a globe. I kept waiting for her to get tangled and fall flat on her face (the detached photographer part of me was whispering that that would make a really good photo) but her failures were much less epic than I would have imagined. Mostly they just involved her stopping and then starting again.
There was a large group of people all doing different forms of jump rope outside of the rec center and they made quite a sight. So much of a sight that I met two other photographers from my class there, one was leaving just as I arrived and the other came just as I was leaving.
That was one of the best parts of this assignment – running into classmates all over the place taking pictures of the same things.
The second form of motion photo was blurred motion. This involves a longer shutter speed and a steady hand so that you can get a nice crisp background with blurry subjects rushing about in the frame. Of course, the best time to do these shots on campus is during the ten minutes in between class periods when the whole campus is flooded with students hurrying to and from class. Most of my classmates had the same idea. In fact, there was one afternoon where at least four of us were all lined up along the same path, swapping tips back and forth and waiting for the rush to start.
 |
Students rush to and fro in between class periods on the path around the communications lawn, Feb. 2, Bellingham, Wash.
|
 |
Three Western students pause to talk in front of Carver Gym while the crowd rushes on around them, Feb. 3, Bellingham, Wash. |
There were actually two of us from my class who submitted photos of these three students. They were standing still among the flow of people going to and from class. These blurred photos were especially tricky because I didn’t have a tripod with me. In order to get these photos to turn out I had to hold perfectly steady so that the three students would turn out crisp and clear and the people in the background would be a smooth flow.
I enjoyed the challenge that this week gave me to explore my camera settings. In the past I have been overly passive about messing around with shutter speed and ISO but this assignment pushed me beyond that. There was an awful lot of trial and error, you should see the digital mounds overflowing in my computer’s trash bin, but I always got one or two to turn out which is the important thing.
 |
A skateboarder cruises lazily through Red Square during the in between class rush, Feb. 3, Bellingham, Wash.
|
Of all the forms we had to use panning gave me the most trouble. For those of you who don’t know, panning involves following a moving object with your lens so that they turn out crisp and the background blurs. Basically the opposite of the previous photos and a lot more tricky. Nearly every time I tried to take a panning shot all I got was a jumbled blur of color. This time however, I hit it just right.
Technically we are supposed to put all of our photos into black and white but I felt that color showcased this photo better. I like the red of his jacket against the red of the bricks, slightly highlighted by the blues and blacks of the blurred people behind him. He was holding still on his skateboard so he made a perfect impression while everything else smeared as I followed his motion with the lens. I think it may be one of my favorite photos from this week just because it’s so different from what I normally do.
 |
Jordan Stello, 19, of Longview, Wash. runs towards the center line as the whistle blows to signal the start of an intermural dodge ball game at Western, Feb. 4, Bellingham, Wash. Stello’s team, made up of residents of Ridgeway Alpha, won all three matches and continued to hold the title of undefeated.
|
First, I want to say a huge thank you to all they guys who have put up with me tagging along to the dodge ball games lately and pestering them for caption info. I got a few strange looks here and there and had to assure them that I wasn’t trying to manufacture false ID, but they were fairly compliant.
The dodge ball games make perfect subjects because there is always so much going on. My dorm has an obsession with dodge ball which boarders on hilarious. I know several girls who will hide in their dorm rooms on game night lest they be discovered and pressganged into joining the team. But hey, it adds character to dorm life. It also adds great dynamics into my photos. Everyone always looks to focused and serious, like their whole lives revolve around that one game. I enjoy photographing it, and I think they enjoy being photographed.
This particular photo was the best, and one of only two photos which turned out after 45 minutes of shooting. A lot of people ask me how I get good photos, people who know my photo taking and editing habits better ask how I have the patience to get good photos. Photography isn’t point and shoot. There is so much slow steady work behind each photo I take. Setting adjustments, handling techniques, editing and post production, I’m beginning to understand why top photographers get paid so much and mediocre photographers flounder.
…
I don’t have a new photo assignment for this week but I took the skills I learned with this assignment and applied them to a hiking trip some friends and I took over the weekend.
I hope to have a post about that experience written and posted by mid this week – so stay tuned!
Kesia Lee 