Wrestling Competition Official
Piping Competition
The 54th Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans was held at MacRae Meadows from July 9 – 12 2009. Over the past few years I have only been able to go for a few hours on one day, but this year I was able to attend both Saturday and Sunday.
I find the biggest challenge at an event like this is to isolate the subject from the often cluttered background. Because there can be many events going on all at the same time, there are people everywhere, with a full spectrum of bright colors, together with poles, fences, ropes, tents and other items in every direction. I try to use the longest lens that is practical for the image I’m trying to capture. Most of the time it will be a zoom lens set at 200mm and aperture between f4 and f5.6. These examples show that with a subject fairly close to the camera, this setup together with soft light, can produce very appealing backgrounds.
Parade of Tartans
Parade of Tartans
This year the weather added an extra challenge, alternating between brilliant sunshine, then lovely soft diffused light from an overcast sky, and dark times of pouring rain. This kept me guessing not only with camera and lens settings but also with white balance. In case of rain my camera bag has a fold-out weatherproof cover and I have a lightweight PVC poncho stored in one of the pouches. I also carry a small absorbent cloth to dry any equipment that might attract a few drops of water. So when the rain came, I just covered up and stopped shooting, and when it let up, shook the rain off the covers, mopped up any drops and continued shooting.
View photos from the weekend here. They are grouped into albums by athletes, bands, clans, dancers and miscellaneous (mostly children).
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Duncan Moody
www.sabelaimages.com