A Triathlon, In Pictures

It’s time for another photography post! There’s no hockey going on right now (and yes, I’m enjoying the break), but I did have a chance to do something very exciting this past weekend—I got to shoot pictures of a new friend who was in a triathlon. Wow!!!

Andrea is her name, and in the short time I’ve known her, I’ve discovered that she’s amazing and so inspiring with her positive attitude.  To really understand just how impressive this triathlon completion is, you should check out her blog and read her story—you’ll be glad you did!

Andrea had mentioned to me at the Mother’s Day 5k (the one where she placed first among all females!) that she would really love to have someone take pictures during the triathlon she was doing in June.  I said I would be happy to, because not only does that help her, it helps me learn more about taking sports/action photography.  Below are some of the pictures I took, and some things I learned.

So, the first thing I learned is…I love taking pictures! LOL, yeah, I already knew that, but it was truly just so much fun taking pictures of Andrea! I took shots of her during the actual triathlon, of course, but I also took photos of her with her friends and family before the race, while she joked with her race-mates, and while she waited for things to start.  I tried not to be annoying about it, but to just stay back and shoot when I had the opportunity.

Here’s a shot of her before the race:

Andrea is a very spiritual woman, and I later discovered that that she was using this time to pray.  It made me feel so good to know that I had captured such an important moment for her.

It was freezing cold and cloudy that morning before the race started, and then the sky began to clear.  Being right on the lake, it made for some amazing shots.

I loved that shot of some kids playing in the water before the race started. They left a stick in the sand afterwards, and I just couldn’t resist that picture, too.

The sun was sparkling on the water after the first few groups went…

When the athletes for Andrea’s group began to line up, I took this shot of them…

Note that I did adjust (increase) the saturation a bit on each of the “sky” shots above, but that’s only because my “auto” settings didn’t really do justice to how beautiful the sky was!  That’s the nice thing about shooting in RAW mode—you can do some post-production manipulation so that the picture can truly represent what you saw when the shot was taken.

Time for the swimming leg of the event to begin!

Andrea is in purple, and she was just incredible!  It was so amazing to watch all those athletes working so hard—especially knowing that the water had to be so cold!  While I waited for Andrea to come out a few hundred yards down the beach, I took this shot:

The swimmers are the teeny tiny little blips toward the horizon.  Can you find Andrea?  Ha ha, me neither, but she’s there!

When Andrea came out of the water, I was so happy for her!

I will admit the pictures of her coming out of the water (such as the one above) presented an unexpected challenge…I was using the sports setting so that I wouldn’t have to do too much thinking while I was getting the shots, but because I was facing the sun, the shots were coming out dark! I quickly switched to the Tv setting and increased the ISO, and that helped.  I still had to do some brightening post-production, but not as much as I would have had to do on my automatic shots.  See, there’s a reason the good photographers shoot manual!

Back to Andrea…I knew that the swimming leg was the most difficult for her, and I was thrilled to see her complete it! Here she is, almost out…

Love that little smile…probably because she knows the swimming part is over!

The bikes were in what’s called the “transition area,” and Andrea had to run up the path from the lake to get to it. Which meant, in order for me to get pictures, I had to run with her!  Thank goodness for my friend Katie, who held most of my camera gear while I raced up alongside the path with my big heavy Canon 60D and zoom lens. :p   Still, it was very hard to keep up with Andrea, even when she was tired from swimming!

Once she was in the transition area, Andrea put on her biking gear (including the all-important helmet!) and headed out.

I had fun doing the shots in the transition area, because I enjoyed capturing her intensity and determination. Before I knew it, she was on her bike and gone…

That was the last I saw of her for a while, because there was no way for me to follow her on a 12-mile bike ride.  Which is a bummer; in retrospect, I would have liked to have gotten in my car and tried to find her at some point on the route, but they weren’t letting cars in and out of the parking lot, so it wasn’t an option.

I waited about 100 yards in front of the transition area and was able to get some shots of her coming back.

I love that one because it’s so candid and you can see her looking over at the transition area, probably already planning her dismount, lol!  When she rode by and saw me, I got this shot:

I love that big smile! Bless her heart, even though I know she had to be exhausted, she actually called out her thanks to me for taking pictures as she was biking by! 🙂

I waited around the corner for her to transition to the run portion, and she was there in just a few minutes:

Gotta get those tunes set! 😉  She rounded the corner and was out of my view again…

I really wanted to get some shots of her ON the run, but I just couldn’t make it work logistically…I’m not a fast runner, and I didn’t know the course well enough to know the best spot to find her, take a shot, and get to the finish line in time.  In retrospect, I would do more research on that front.

I waited by the finish line after that, knowing that she would be back quickly (she’s a fast runner!).  After scoping out the area, I decided I’d get a shot farther down the path to catch her coming up to the finish line, so that I could get her family in the shot as well.  Then, I would race to the end and get a shot of her actually crossing the finish line.  I had it all planned out…or so I thought.   I did get the shot of her coming up to the finish line…

Unfortunately, at that point, the flaws in my plan became apparent, as I discovered two things I hadn’t previously accounted for:

1)      The number of people who suddenly appeared all around the finish line.

2)      How stinkin’ fast Andrea runs!!

Once I took the shot above, I tried to run back to the other side of the finish line, but holy crap, she was coming fast.  I got this shot of her whizzing by, just before the finish line:

I went break-neck for the end at that point, but just as I turned and backed up to get the shot, I ended up running full-force into a lady standing next to the lane.  🙁  I had to of course turn and apologize to her, because I really ran into her hard, and by that time, Andrea was already across.  🙁  I felt so bad…I had missed such an important shot, all due to my inexperience and lack of planning.  It was definitely a sad learning experience for me.  Next time (should there ever be a next time), I will camp out at the finish line and not move from my spot!  In addition, I will switch from my zoom lens to my standard lens at the end as well.  If I’d had my regular 18-135mm lens, I wouldn’t have had to back up to get a shot of Andrea at the finish line, and I might have gotten the shot instead of almost plowing someone over.

I was able to get some nice post-race shots of Andrea and her family, and of Andrea herself.

Though I was bummed at having missed the final finish line shot, I know all the other shots are important, too.  As someone who has run a couple of races (and who loves pictures), I know I for one would appreciate having someone on hand during a race to take lots of pictures , and I enjoyed being able to fill that role for Andrea—especially during such a special event in her life!

The whole experience was an incredibly positive one for me.  I loved taking the pictures, of course, but equally important, I loved being able to participate in the triathlon experience—as a spectator, that is!  I have never seen one, and I knew very little about it before Sunday morning, but being able to see it all first-hand gave me an incredible appreciation for all that those athletes accomplish.  The WORK that has to go into it is just astonishing!  I really enjoyed being able to cheer for so many of them at the finish line, and I was especially honored to be there to cheer on Andrea and share a little bit in her experience.

I had looked up the link to the triathlon website while I was waiting for Andrea to return from her bike ride, and I was astonished to discover that the bike leg of the full triathlon actually ran very close to my house!  I was so moved by the dedication of these athletes that, when I got home after finishing with Andrea’s portion of the event (she did the sprint, which is shorter than the full), I directed the kids to get on their bikes, grabbed mine, and we all went down the road to the race course.  We then stood on the corner for about 40 minutes and cheered all the bikers as they went by.

That’s my kids, shouting encouragement to one of the bikers.  It was an unbelievably windy day, and we knew that those bikers were having a tough go of it.  It felt really good to cheer them on and see their smiles and waves as they went by.  Every one of them looked surprised to see us (we live pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, lol!), and more than a few looked truly appreciative of the support.  It was hot, and we got a little sun burnt, but it was worth it.

I’m so glad I was able to participate in this event in my small way.  I had no idea what I was really getting into, but I left feeling inspired and energized.  Not that I’m going to run out and do a triathlon (lol), but I am definitely motivated to work hard toward my goals after seeing everything that all the athletes—especially Andrea—accomplished.

Thank you to Andrea for giving me this wonderful opportunity to try (and learn!) something new, and thank you for reading!