Craigslist Score

When I made the decision to buy the Pentax k-x, I willingly sacrificed the wide range of lenses of Canon and Nikon for shutter speed, video capability, and price.  And, as an added bonus, the Pentax is backwards compatible with nearly all of the lenses ever produced for Pentax SLRs - digital and 35mm.  I didn't really give much thought to this added feature.  If I was going to buy a lens, it would probably be a nice new Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8.  Only problem: the lens is about $450.

So, whenever I went to a garage sale or flea market, I casually looked for any older Pentax lenses that might be around.  I never stumbled across one single lens.  I never even saw a camera.  Well, just the other day, a guy was selling an old Pentax camera (K1000) on craigslist with "extras".  Turns out the extras were a 70-200mm f/3.8-4.8, a 100-300mm f/5.6, and a 50mm prime f/2, a lens cleaning kit, some filters, and a camera bag.  Nice.

I haven't gotten to fool around with the longer range lenses, but here are a couple of shot comparisons with the 50mm prime (comparing to my 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens).

Kit:

Prime:

Kit:

Prime:

I don't need to be a professional photographer to realize that the pics with the new lens are a whole lot better.  The only problem is that with these new lenses (all of them), is that I lose the ability to autofocus.  I don't know if that is going to hinder their use in skiing, when I like to bang out a bunch of pictures in a row and I can't be bothered to focus on every one.  I guess time will tell.  Right now, though, I can't think of any other way I would have rather spent that cash.

Powder Skiing? This Year?!? Now!?!?!?!

Got a few pics from today that I played with on the computer a little.  The full report is over on Harvey Road.  Here's some choice shots:

Check The New York State Ski Blog for more!

Early Season Malaise

As a “weekend warrior”, I don’t suffer from the general malaise that seems to be setting in among mountain people across the country (except for Alaska). Here’s the Female Ski Bum:

I am here, stuck in the midst of my "why hasn't the winter season really started yet" depression, and struggling to feel my soul connected to the mountain.

Even the Jaded Local is talking crazy:

It all seems so far away, so impossible… and then all of a sudden you’re considering drastic measures like getting a job or buying telemark gear.

Now that's just insane. Don’t get me wrong. I ask the same questions, look at the same weather reports, and wish for the same powder. I just have other stuff to do: gym climbing Tuesday at The Edge-Halfmoon, office Christmas parties, last minute shopping, dicking around on the internet, work, etc. I’m keeping myself busy, confident that the snow will be there (as it always is) in February and March, when my ski instructing duties slow down and I can get to ripping.

I do have to say, though, that once I get to that point, I’m not thinking about work, shopping, or internet dicking. Apparently someone is, though, because the newest thing to be introduced in Vail is the Wi-Fi enabled gondola. I see more and more people whipping out their phones and texting, facebooking, and playing angry birds on the way up the mountain. God forbid they actually hold a conversation with the people around them – maybe make some new friends, discuss the snow conditions, laugh at a spectacular crash below. Nope. Instead of engaging with other people and actually being present, they choose to completely remove themselves from the situation and zone out everything that’s going in their vicinity. Ugh. They might as well be at home staring at a glowing box.

In a related story, there’s a new app available for iPhones that uses the GPS to identify the mountain peaks around you in the Adirondacks. Now this is the kind of thing I’d like to see more of. This app uses technology in a way that actually allows you to be more tuned in to what you’re doing. Part of the reason I like Photography and Video is that they force you to find creative ways to view your surroundings. Year End photo journal-style blog posts, like this and this, wouldn’t be possible if the authors were not paying attention to everything going on around them. Even a walk in the woods can be an amazing experience if you just stop and look around once in a while. These are the kinds of things that inspire me to get out there, have more adventures, take more pictures, and be more imaginative in my photography.

I don’t really know what I’m trying to say here (it’s probably another one of my pleas to live in the moment), but I guess I’ll finish with a story about the rock gym. First, let it be known that I am not a good rock climber. Well, I guess I’m good enough to know that I’m not good. I’m not a Gumby, but I’m definitely not flashing 5.9s, and I constantly find myself pumped out and hang dogging the last few climbs of the night (I’ve been reviewing the glossary of climbing terms because people have entire conversations in that gym that sound completely foreign to me).

Anyway, when I’m in the gym and I’m belaying or resting, I’m looking around like crazy. I always find it interesting how many different ways there are to climb the same route. And there are so many different styles (mostly corresponding to body type). I’m starting to learn what constitutes good technique (using the skeleton as much as possible to rest the muscles), and trying to be more smooth in my climbing (funny how that’s the goal in so many sports). I’m so caught up in everything I’m doing, that I’m not thinking about work or relationships or anything else. And I’m definitely not thinking about taking out my phone to see what other people are doing on Facebook. Maybe that’s why I’m happy.

Gore Mountain (4/2-4/3/11)

Thought I'd throw a couple of pictures up from this weekend.  If you weren't skiing this weekend, you're missin' out.  There's plenty of snow left, and you gotta get out there. It was phenomenal skiing.  Although I'm kind of bummed about my skiing photography.  I try to not interrupt the flow of the day, so I mostly try to ski ahead, whip out the camera, throw it on "Sports Mode" (which fires a bunch of shots in sequence), and slam the shutter button.  If I really wanted good pictures, I think I'd have to take more time to set up shots, have a skier ski through a certain section, make sure I locked the exposure by focusing on the sky and returning back to my shot, blah, blah, blah.  Then, I'd go back and do all sorts of post processing back home on my computer, make sure every pic is to my liking, and post on the internet with a witty caption.

I guess it's no secret that I'm not doing all that stuff.  As soon as I get a little faster, I'll be able to do more and more, but right now, I'm still a little slow on the trigger.  Anyway, without further ado, here are some results (without witty captions):

Northeast Ski Blogger Summit: Inspiration

I'm mostly going to load this post with pictures, but I wanted to talk a little bit about inspiration.  Going into a semi-blind meeting with a bunch of people you've never met before (in real life) is kind of an uncomfortable situation for me.  I'm not the kind of guy who goes up to random people at parties and strikes up conversations with them.  I mean, sure, I'll talk to anyone I meet, but it usually takes me a while to get comfortable with someone enough to open up a little bit.

But whenever I'm skiing, it's different.  I definitely feel like I'm in my element at ski areas.  I think a lot of it has to do with the group dynamics of a bunch of skiers.  Here's a quote from the scholarly book Group Dynamics in Recreation and Leisure: creating conscious groups through an experiential approach:

Many recreation and leisure groups involve people who want to learn and grow from their experiences.  They are aware that learning and growth are a primary motivation for being involved with others in recreation and leisure activities.  These groups can be referred to as conscious groups.  A conscious group recognizes that besides its other goals or productivity objectives, the personal growth of its members is the main objective.  Members of a conscious group strive to better themselves and their relationships with others in the group – and probably beyond the group as well.  In fact, this is why many people engage in recreation and leisure pursuits – to relax, meet others, and engage in activities they enjoy, all of which helps them become better people. 

This is my goal in every group lesson that I teach when I'm ski instructing.  And it's amazing when it happens organically. I think it took about 2 runs in the morning on Wednesday before we got to that point at the ski blogger summit.  You see a lot of trip reports that say something like "everyone was pushing each other and the level of skiing was really high." Some people even refer to it as "bromentum." Well, after these last few days, I feel inspired.  Inspired to be a better skier.  Inspired to be a better blogger.  And inspired to be a better person.

So without further ado, here's the pictures from Thursday at Jay:

More Photography Stuff

A couple of quick notes:

As I learn more about photography, I'm thinking that's it's not always the camera that makes the shot.  Case in point: I took my camera out last Monday for a walk around the nature preserve by my house (along the old Erie Canal) to work on my photographer's eye and try to get a few good shots.  I ended up deleting most of them.  This was probably my best attempt:

 

Not so good.  It was the middle of the day, so the light wasn't really stellar, and to tell you the truth, the scenery was a little boring (would have been a good place for some xc skiing, though). Contrast that with this picture (another find from my old closet) I took when I was in New Zealand for a semester in college:

That picture was taken with an old, cheap, 35mm camera, developed as a 3x5 and then scanned in to my computer at one of the lowest settings.  And it has a date burned into upper right corner!  And it still looks a million times more artistic, creative, and lively than that drab picture from the Nature Preserve.  I guess there's only one solution: go back to New Zealand.

All hope is not lost, though.  If it takes me a while to get the hang of photography, I can always fall back on video.  I thought the video feature of my new camera was kind of a nice bonus, but not really of much use for serious film.  I was seriously mistaken.  Here's a video shot entirely with my camera (the Pentax k-x):

Scion Snow Tour 2011 Roundtop Rail Jam from Manhouse Media on Vimeo.

Sick.

Weather might be a little sketchy this weekend (thaw/freeze/thaw/freeze/wind), but I'll be skiing both days.  Maybe I'll see you at the mountain.

New Camera

Well, I did it.  I bought a new camera.  Even though my furnace needs fixing and my car has weird warning lights popping up, I felt I needed to plop down a few hundred for a nice DSLR.  I went with the Pentax k-x over the Nikon for two main reasons: Price (about $150 cheaper) and faster continuous shooting capability.  When I go to buy new lenses, this decision might come back to haunt me (quick internet searching reveals that Nikon lenses are more readily available), but right now, I have to say I'm completely stoked on my new purchase.  After a little internet research, I figured out the 3 main points of SLR photography (and photography in general): Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.  How these three go together separate well exposed pics from poorly exposed pics.

I took the camera to the community college class I teach at West Mountain on Thursday night for some trial and error (mostly error). As The Saratoga Skier and Hiker has found, nighttime skiing photography is a difficult endeavor.  Here was my first attempt:

  

I was trying to capture a decent sunset through my front window as I was driving.  Unfortunately, the auto focus focused on my filthy windshield instead of what was beyond the windshield.  No way to focus while I was driving, so I waited until I got to the mountain to shoot more. I stepped out of the car and shot this:

Better, but a little grainy.  I wanted to open up the aperture to get as much light in as possible, but doing that increased the ISO to a level that I wasn't happy with.  I moved the ISO down to 1600 and took another.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere.  The only problem with this photo is the blur in the center right.  The skiers coming towards me are fine, but the skier moving perpendicular to me is blurry.  Another example:

Clearly I need more shutter speed to capture action.  Or do I?  I've seen some pictures that create a cool effect by panning with the moving object, creating a blurred background, but a focused subject.  I thought I'd give it a try:

Not bad for my first attempt!  I definitely have to remember this technique for mountain biking shots.  I put my camera away for the time being and taught my lesson.  After a warmup break, we came out and took one more run.  I decided to practice some action shots:

 

 
For these shots, I cranked the aperture as wide as possible, jacked up the shutter speed, and kept the ISO at 1600.  I tried to pan with the skiers as they were moving, and I used the burst mode on the camera to shoot at 4.6 frames per second.  I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the results.  If this camera can get this kind of resolution at night, it's going to look pretty freakin' good during the day.  Can't wait to try it out.

I'll be teaching the "Master of the Mountain" 2-day class at Gore this weekend, so if anyone wants to dominate the mountain Matt-style, c'mon up and ski with me.