Southern Oregon University Prom Dress Rugby Game

Following in the traditions of generations of mothers and grandmothers, the SOU Women’s Rugby team put on their finest prom dresses and headed out to the rugby pitch this past Saturday afternoon. It was supposed to be a friendly game, but the sounds coming from the field and the hits being applied seemed far from civil.

Next week I will be in New York, so while I’m gone I think I will pre-blog a week’s worth of photos from the prom dress rugby event to keep you entertained in my absence.

Posted on June 12th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, nikon d7000, rugby, Southern Oregon University. Comments Off on Prom Dress Rugby

SOU's Hannon Library at dusk

Back to school today after a long, holiday weekend. Many colleges and universities are already done for the school year, but SOU is on the quarter system which means another couple weeks of school.

Posted on May 29th, 2012 under only in ashland, places. Tags: campus, nikon d7000, Southern Oregon University, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX Autofocus Lens for Nikon, trees. Comments Off on Hannon Library at Southern Oregon University

The SOU Chamber Choir, directed by Dr. Paul French, performs "Dirait-on" from "Chanson des Roses"

Posted on May 25th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: campus, music, soar, sou performances, Southern Oregon University, video. Comments Off on More SOAR

Connor Quinn sings "Vasga luna che inargenti" by Vincenzo Bellini

Another photo and video today from SOU’s SOAR 2012…

Posted on May 23rd, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: music, soar, Southern Oregon University, video. Comments Off on More from Southern Oregon University’s SOAR

Southern Oregon University student Chas Barnard performs Bach's "Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1" at SOAR 2012

This past week has been SOAR (Southern Oregon Arts & Research) week at Southern Oregon University. Today was the final day, and it included a two-hour performance in the SOU Music Recital Hall.

Posted on May 18th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: music, nikon d7000, soar, Southern Oregon University, video. Comments Off on SOU’s SOAR 2012

Tonight is the annual International Show on the Southern Oregon University campus. I will be out of town and unable to attend this year’s performance. If you are in Ashland, you should check it out. The International Show is free, but sometimes it fills up well before and people are turned away. The show kicks off at 7 p.m. in the SOU Music Recital Hall. Get there by 6:40 if you want to be sure of getting a seat. Arrive before 6:30 (when the doors open) if you want a good seat.

Posted on April 27th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: international show, nikon 18-200mm vr ii, Southern Oregon University. Comments Off on SOU ISA International Show 2012

Posted on April 17th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E 1.7X II for Nikon, kara kelsey, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, nikon d7000, softball, Southern Oregon University, sports. Comments Off on Kara Kelsey makes the catch

On Saturday the SOU Raiders finished their home season with Senior Day. It was also Strike Out Breast Cancer Day so the team wore pink for that event.

Normally, when I’m shooting from behind the plate or near the dugout, I don’t even consider taking photos when the ball is hit to outfield. Instead, I’ll focus on a base where a play may be made. But from the right field foul pole, with the 1.7X teleconverter providing an effective 510mm (200mm x 1.7 x 1.5) on a crop sensor camera like the D7000, I figured I may as well see what happens.

I thought this ball was out of the park when it came off the bat. However, the wind was blowing in from center and right field.

Brooke Springer got a good jump and went straight back for the fence.

A leaping catch near the fence to haul it in!

Nice play, and she kept the runner from advancing as well.

Posted on April 9th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E 1.7X II for Nikon, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, nikon d7000, softball, Southern Oregon University, sports. Comments Off on Brooke Springer snags one at the wall

Later this week I’m heading to a conference in Southern California. Along the way I plan to catch my first, ever game at Dodger Stadium and then witness my A’s (for the first time in many years live) at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on my way back. I have pretty good seats, but I thought I still may not be close enough for decent photography so I purchased a 1.7X teleconverter to go with my D7000 and 70-200m lens. It arrived earlier this week so I headed out yesterday to give it a try in a real setting.

Most photographers that buy a teleconverter do so to photograph birds. Bird photography isn’t too interesting to me so I was hoping that it would work OK for sports (outdoor anyway). The teleconverter increases the normal f/2.8 on my lens to f/4.8 which was a concern. In addition, even though photos at f/2.8 are sharp with just my 70-200mm, I had read that photos with the teleconverter don’t get sharp until f/7.1 or f/8.

I shot today’s top photo from the right field foul pole (probably 200-250 feet from the subject) at 340mm (200 x 1.7) at f/4.8 and 1/1000 of a second. The photo is pretty sharp, but Karlie Stephens’ right hand is a bit blurry so I should probably go up to 1/1250 or 1/1600. ISO was at only 280 so I can increase ISO some more. Only a very minor crop has been done to the image.

I can’t tell through the display screen how things are looking so I tried some experimenting. This next one was shot at 1/800 at f/8 (ISO 400) from the same location. Again, there is a slight crop on the image.

The ball is fuzzy so my shutter speed wasn’t fast enough.

In conclusion, it looks like the teleconverter works fine for outdoor sports. As far as aperture goes, f/4.8 doesn’t look as unsharp as I was expecting based on the reviews of others. If you want to really freeze the action, keep your shutter speed faster than 1/1000. ISO up to 800 or even 1600 shouldn’t be a problem on the D7000.

Stay tuned for some photos under the lights, which will likely present some additional factors to consider. The photos above were taken with overcast skies.

Posted on April 8th, 2012 under only in ashland, people. Tags: AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E 1.7X II for Nikon, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, nikon d7000, softball, Southern Oregon University, sports. Comments Off on Sports photography with AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II for Nikon