Western States 100

Faye at the Rucky Chucky River Crossing, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Faye and I volunteered at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run this past weekend. We helped at the the Rucky Chucky river crossing, where the runners crossed the chilly American River at Mile 78. It was inspiring to see the runners push themselves to the limit, as they overcame near record temperatures in pursuit of the prestigious finisher's belt buckle.

See more WS100 photos at my new Trail Portraits Project blog.

Congratulations Kami

Kami and Lexi, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Where do the years go? Kami finished 8th grade last week and will be headed to high school next year. Soon enough, she'll be going to college, getting married, and having kids. Okay, perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself here...

Here are a few photos -- with her friend Lexi at the HPMS promotion ceremony and with her other friend Paisley at Shadow Cliffs.

Playoffs

Kodama on Deck, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

The Vipers lost a tough game today in the PGSL Teal Majors playoffs. The girls played hard and hit well, but they came up just a bit short. This was their second loss in the double-elimination playoff, so the season is over for the Vipers. Kami was on the mound for every game and did a superb job pitching. It was a lot of innings, but her arm held up pretty well.

I dusted off my Nikon D80 for one last time today and here are a few photos from the game.

Garry Winogrand at SFMOMA

San Francisco, April 2013, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is exhibiting the work of Garry Winogrand through 2 June 2013. I took a day off from work a few weeks ago and dragged the wife, daughter, and one of my daughter’s friends to SFMOMA. The mother of the friend asked if “I was going to the museum too.” Little did she know, I was the reason for the trip to the museum. I’m not known to be a museum type of guy (ditto for plays, musicals, movies, etc.), but we’re talking about Garry Winogrand here, one of the great street photographers. The best part of all was I didn’t have to drive into the city. We rode the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train into San Francisco and walked a few short blocks to the museum. The SFMOMA is the perfect day trip!

Here’s a short write-up on Garry Winogrand from the SFMOMA website:

“Widely acknowledged as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, Garry Winogrand (1928-1984) captured moments of everyday American life in the postwar era, producing an expansive picture of a nation rich with possibility yet threatening to spin out of control. He did much of his best-known work in New York in the 1960s, becoming a major voice of that tumultuous decade. But he also roamed widely around the United States, from California and Texas to Miami and Chicago. He photographed the rich and powerful and everyday strangers on the street; antiwar protesters and politicians; airports and zoos. In many of these pictures, humor and visual energy are the flip sides of an anxious instability. As photographer and guest curator Leo Rubinfien says, "The hope and buoyancy of middle-class life in postwar America is half of the emotional heart of Winogrand's work. The other half is a sense of undoing."

When he died suddenly at age 56, Winogrand left behind thousands of rolls of exposed but undeveloped film and unedited contact sheets — some 250,000 frames in total. Nearly 100 of these pictures have been printed for the first time for this long-awaited retrospective of his work. By presenting such archival discoveries alongside celebrated pictures, Garry Winogrand reframes a career that was, like the artist's America, both epic and unresolved. This exhibition has been jointly organized by SFMOMA and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and will travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Jeu de Paume in Paris, and Fundación MAPFRE in Madrid.”

Dawn Patrol - My Morning Run on the Ridge

Morning Reflections, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Last Saturday’s ten mile run on the Pleasanton Ridge was a success, meaning I didn't die or get injured. I focused on long, slow, distance (LSD) and didn't push it too hard. My objective was to finish the distance, without worrying about the time. My running program for the first month will be five miles on Monday, seven miles on Wednesday, and LSD on Saturday; all runs occurring on the Pleasanton Ridge trails. My Saturday LSD runs will increase by two miles per week for four weeks. I plan on assessing my fitness level at the end of the first month and will increase the days and mid-week mileage accordingly.

Kami had a softball game on Wednesday afternoon, so I scheduled my run early in the morning before work. “Dawn Patrol” typically refers to surfers who catch the early morning waves, but I decided a dawn patrol run was needed to squeeze my mid-week training run into my schedule. I started my run up the ridge at 6:30 AM and surprisingly, saw a few mountain bikers descending the ridge as I ascended it. More mountain bikers were enjoying the sunrise at the top of the ridge. I’m new to trail running, but I've noticed the trail runner and mountain biker crowds are a slightly different breed. I love the encouragement and positive energy many of these people offer. I typically run on the roads for the convenience and physical benefits, but trail running is an entirely different experience – it’s almost a spiritual revival. Once I hit the top of the ridge, I spent a few moments enjoying the warm, rising sun. The morning light was beautiful, so I took a few photos of the landscape along the way, capturing the green hills before they inevitably turn brown.

The plan for tomorrow is to complete approximately twelve miles. I mapped an “out and back” route that starts at the Staging Area trailhead, proceeds north along the ridgeline and down the Bay Leaf trail, with the turnaround point at the Sinbad Creek Trail junction.

Here are a few photos from my Wednesday dawn patrol run.

No Pain, No Pain

Trees Behind the Fence, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

I don’t mind pain, unless it’s me it’s inflicted upon.

On my first backpacking trip (not counting the 50 Miler we did as Boy Scouts), I was unknowingly dragged on a 28 mile trek on the Ohlone Trail in two days. Many hiking books rate this backpacking route as “very strenuous” when performed over three days -- and we did it in two. The death march began at Lake Del Valle, proceeded up a grueling hill, up more grueling hills, and continued across several more grueling hills, until we completed the 16 miles to the Sunol Backpacker’s Camp. My calves cramped, my quads cramped, and I was seriously considering cutting my legs off with a pocket knife. Fortunately (or unfortunately), one of the guys helped me ease the pain with an 800 mg Motrin and I was able to complete the 12 miles to Mission Peak on the second day. I returned home after successfully completing my first backpacking trip and things were great. Well, things were great until that 800 mg Motrin wore off. I could barely walk up and down the stairs in the house. After six weeks of physical therapy, I vowed never to put myself in that situation again. For future backpacking trips, I trained for six months, putting in the mileage on the road and running a lot of hills. Never again was I going to torture myself physically and mentally by not being in adequate physical shape. The fear of pain motivated me to put in the extra hill workouts, often late at night and often after a long day of work.

As I noted previously, I’m planning on pacing a friend on her 100 mile race (assuming I don’t die trying to get into shape in only four months). My “pacing” will consist of 20-30 miles, at high elevation, and with several thousand feet of elevation gain. Once again, the fear of pain is motivating me to put in the training hours. After a cautious five mile run on the Pleasanton Ridge on Monday, I used Tuesday as a recovery day, massaging my legs with a foam roller, stretching, and wearing compression sleeves on my calves at night and during the day at work. Today, I decided to try my seven mile route on the ridge – and it felt great! Depending on how I feel later this week, I’m considering LSD for Saturday – ten miles of long, slow, distance. I need to make sure I don’t ramp up too quickly and over-train or I run the risk of injury, but based on how I felt today, I think a slow ten mile run may be feasible.

Above is a shot from my run today. Not a great one, but I liked the way the low, afternoon sun lit up the trees, creating shadows on the wonderfully green grass. Within a few months, all of this green grass will be amber.

Escaping the Daily Routine

Trees, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

A friend sent me an online article about breaking away from the mundane, day-to-day routine and actually making time to do things that are important to you. I would post a link here, but unfortunately I must have deleted the e-mail (I’ll need her to resend it). Anyway, as a result of reading the article, I set out to define the things I would like to do outside of the daily grind. One thing I wanted to do was run another trail race. The last race I ran was a 17km run at Muir Beach in December 2007 (or there about). My friend is an avid trail runner, so I asked her for recommendations. I didn’t want to schedule a race for December because it’s too cold and I wanted something sooner, so I would have motivation to begin my training immediately. She said, “Oh, you could be a pacer for me when I do my 100 miler in August.” After further discussion, I realized I would need to run 20-30 miles, at high altitude, with thousands of feet of elevation gain – clearly not what I had in mind when I asked for a suggested trail run. My four mile, flat runs with the dog were clearly not going to cut it. I would need to significantly increase the distance and intensity of my workouts, or she would be pacing me during the 100 miler.

I resumed my trail running on the Pleasanton Ridge a few weeks ago, but unfortunately developed Achilles Tendinitis. This was clearly caused by increasing my mileage and hill work too quickly. After a week of resting, icing, massaging, stretching, and ibuprofen, I decided to give the ridge another try today. I ran/walked my five mile route, walking up the hills to minimize the strain on my Achilles, and stretching frequently. I also stopped on occasion for some photographs. The afternoon light created nice photo opportunities of the West-facing landscape.

Here are a few photos from my training run today. I love my compact Panasonic LX5 camera and how easy it is to carry on my water bottle belt during my trail runs.

Mike Shimansky Pole Vault Meet

Cleared It!, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

After shooting film predominantly for the last twelve months, I switched to my digital SLR this spring for the kids’ sports seasons. My son pole vaults for the high school track team and my daughter plays softball in the local recreational league. In the past week, I’ve shot two track meets and a softball game, and I’ve forgotten how long it takes to post-process these photos. While I’ve been up late three nights this week staring at my computer screen and processing photos, my wife ran off with our pool boy. I’m actually just kidding, we don’t have a pool…she ran off with someone else’s pool boy!

Kevin participated in the Mike Shimansky Pole Vault Meet at San Ramon Valley High School today. This is an informal meet, with everyone having a lot of fun, and even the coaches joining in on the vaulting. Since it’s an informal meet, Kevin opened his vaults at 11 feet. He PR’ed (Personal Record) 11 feet several times recently and decided he’d focus his energy on besting 11 feet. Now it takes big cahones to open at one’s PR, but he decided to go big or go home. Unfortunately, today wasn’t his day and he wasn’t the best company for the few hours following the meet. But, no apologies needed. I love intensity, passion, and dedication, and being upset for a less than stellar performance means one has these traits. Besides, I’ve been married for twenty years, so I know how to keep my mouth shut for the drive home when the person in the passenger’s seat is pissed off!

Here are a few photos from today’s action. One of the things I like about these informal meets is I get to photograph from inside the track. This gives me the freedom to get closer to the action and shoot it from perspectives not normally possible from outside the fence.

Granada HS Track Meet

Cleared, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

The Amador Valley track team traveled to Livermore for a track meet at Granada High School. It took a few hours for the girls and JV pole vaulters to finish, so the varsity boys were vaulting under the lights. This meant two things -- I would be pushing the limits of my camera, shooting at high ISO in the dark, and I would be a bit chilly, wearing shorts and slippers.

Here are a few photos from the meet.

The Winter Sierra

39/52 - Campsite at Lake Aloha, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Over the years, I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, backpacking the John Muir Trail (JMT) and sections of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) during the summer months, and leading several Boy Scout backpacking trips. I particularly enjoy the high Sierra, with the clear lakes and creeks, beautiful granite peaks, and cool, crisp air. These mountains hold a special place in my heart and will likely be my final resting place one day. The high Sierra is incredible, but I’ve recently been introduced to a new Sierra experience – the winter Sierra.

The snow transforms the Sierra landscape into a winter wonderland. I love how the trees and granite contrast against the clean, white snow. While the views are postcard perfect in color, nothing brings out the beauty like black and white photography. My camera of choice this season was the Nikon FM2, coupled with Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI-S and 35mm f/2 AI-S lenses, and Kodak BW400CN B&W film.

Shooting in the snow is pretty simple – meter off the snow and increase the exposure by 1.5 to 2 stops (assuming the scene is in the same light). Camera exposure meters try to make everything medium gray, so it will typically underexpose pure, white snow (and overexpose dark, black subjects). Not the most technical and elaborate explanation, but basically if metering off snow, increase the exposure to get the “correct” exposure and if metering off a predominantly black subject, decrease the exposure. I noticed a friend’s compact, digital camera had a “snow” mode, which took care of the exposure compensation for these snow scenes auto-magically.

Another technique I frequently use for my landscape work is the hyperfocal distance. Using a wide angle lens (e.g., 24mm or 35mm), I set my aperture to f/16 or f/22 and use the depth of field scale on my lens to set the hyperfocal distance. This creates huge depth of field, providing “acceptable” sharpness from near to infinity. The only issue is a slight loss of sharpness when shooting at f/22, due to diffraction. Unfortunately, many of the modern auto-focus lenses don’t have depth of field scales on them, which is why I love my old Nikon manual focus lenses.

Okay, enough technical talk. Here are a few pictures from my trip last weekend to the Desolation Wilderness, near South Lake Tahoe, California. We parked at the Echo Lake Sno-Park and started our snowshoe trip at Echo Lake. It was a nice six mile trek to Lake Aloha, with Pyramid Peak providing a wonderful backdrop. Many of my photos here were shot using the hyperfocal distance.