Cross Country Weekend

So i had a busy weekend, shooting photos at a combined 7 cross country races between Saturday and Sunday. I started Saturday morning at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI with the ECAC Division 3 Championships. My buddy George Ross and myself were asked to do this race Charlie Breagy of Eident Sports Marketing and we jumped at the opportunity. It started out as a foggy morning on the edge of Narragansett Bay making for some interesting shots when combined with the last of the fall foliage. As for the races themselves, it looked like a Williams College team workout. In the womens race, Williams had 7 of the top 10 runners and in the mens race "only" had 6 of the top 18 finishers. The race was a lot of fun to shoot, as most are. We cover a lot of area in these races, i shot from 5 different location around the course. Seems like i get better workouts than the runners, after all, they aren't running from spot to spot carrying two big cameras.

On Sunday morning, i headed up to Franklin Park in Boston for the USATF-NE Cross Country Championships. The weather was great, just the opposite of Saturdays. The thing about a beautiful day is that the bright sun can actually make it harder to get good photos. You have to be aware of where the sun is at all times. Keep the sun over your shoulder if at all possible and try not to shoot where the shade is being pierced by sunlight or you get spotted runners. With most of the leaves off the trees , it is a real challenge to shoot cross country right now, but i manage.

The mens and womens races were won easily by Mary Cullen and Dylan Wykes. I ended the day shooting the NCAA Division II Regional qualifier, it made for a long day. It was good to get home, upload the photos and crack a cold beer, a DogfishHead 60 Minute IPA, YUM!! I was happy with most of my work over the weekend and a got to try out my newest lens for the camera, a Nikon 70-200vr Tele-Zoom. It really makes a difference.