A Little Something Different

I think it's safe to say we here at 3C1D have fallen into a rut of sorts. It's not a bad thing really - happens to everyone. When the holiday season descends at the speed of light upon all our heads with a dash of sub zero temperatures, some things get neglected. I won't speak for the chicks, but my creative juices have just been frozen a bit lately.

So tonight, on my way home from work (at 8:30pm), I found myself without a picture and short on ideas - not good at all. I can usually dig something up from my most recent shoots but frankly, there haven't been many recent shoots. It was while I was driving that I spotted the Norge Ski Jump in Cary, visible from my office. I had never been over there and yet it was shining like a beacon in the softly falling snow. AND (get this) the car thermometer read 23 degrees! Holy crap it's a heat wave! I've got my sign. It's time to do what this guy tried to do (see - ski jumper at about 13 seconds):


Don't even try to tell me you don't remember the agony of defeat! Besides, I really wanted to prove I could post a video too. That's done. Let's move on.

When I finally arrived at the jump (there were several forks in the road and I happen to guess right), there were about 10 kids sledding on a side hill. I thought about shooting them (with camera only mind you) but decided I would try to capture how freaking huge the jump is. I'm not certain, but I think I was looking at the worlds first extreme sport. Unfortunately there were no jumpers but I did have fun hiking around the base and seeing what I could do. Actually, I think I want another crack at it now that I've played a bit. Anyway, here's the shot I've decided to post.


Canon 30D
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Shutter 1/25
Aperture f/4.0
Exposure Compensation -1 1/3 stop

You'll notice I underexposed this shot. I'd like to say there was a good reason but here's the truth. I had my camera set-up for bracketing and to aid with that my shutter was set to rapid fire. I had forgotten this little detail and began snapping single shots. What happens is that the camera exposes "correctly" the first shot, then follows with a shot that's underexposed and a shot that's overexposed. This is great for HDR and tough metering situations. But when you forget you've set it up this way, it can really screw you up. Additionally, I really prefer shooting in RAW. Wednesday however, I had cause to shoot in JPEG and I forgot to change that back too! Oh the horror!!!!

Alas, I've made due. And I think I'll get over that this isn't a perfect shot - not by a long shot. What I really love is the framing. And I will revisit this locale on some future date and do it right. For now, you get this definitely less than perfect view and one helluva hill.

Also, I posted 2 others here on our Flickr photo stream in case you want to see more. Thanks as always for stopping by. And remember, as the great Yogi Berra once said, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it!"

Scott