Welcome home

 

Today was our first day back at our old box and I went straight back to my exploratory photography, lying on the mats, shooting up, down, across, and toying with the exposure settings. It felt good to be back!

Halfway through I noticed a disturbing trend: I tend to favor full-body shots that take up about 3/4 of the frame and lack facial details. Once in a while is ok, but dozens of the same type of shot can get boring. So for this one I got up as close as possible without shoving the lens in Treefrog's face (sorry Treefrog- you were a good sport!) which sort of exaggerated the size of the near olympic plate. I cropped it even closer in picasa so that the plate filled almost half of the frame.

I'm going to try and shoot tighter shots from now on. I haven't used my 50mm lens in a while so maybe it's time to dust that bad boy off again now that we're back in the old gym. Actually, I will be using my 50mm very shortly for another purpose this weekend. I'll give a few more details in a day or two, but if all goes well this weekend let's just say this isn't the only website where you'll be seeing my shots....

The Pointe of CrossFit

 
Betcha don't see this everyday!

One of our athletes studies ballet when she's not CrossFitting. During warmup the other day, I noticed her bag sitting against the wall with one of her pointe shoes tumbling out. It was such a juxtaposition with the surroundings I had to take a shot. I grabbed a kettlebell and a jump rope that were in my path and placed them next to the bag, et voila! Pointe Shoe and Kettlebell still-life!

I submitted it to the CrossFit main site a few days ago but they didn't post it (I'm not upset; it might be a little artsy fartsy for their taste). But I didn't want to sit on it any longer. I'm pretty excited by it and I want to share it with everyone.

Basically, I adjusted the levels in GIMP to build up a little contrast between the pink slipper and the pinkish dance bag, desaturated it, and then selectively re-colored the shoe and kettlebell.

CrossFit Level I Cert - VA Beach

 

Just got back from Virginia Beach where I attended a Level I CrossFit certification course. It was.... humbling. I'm in awe of our instructors and their level of knowledge and fitness. They've given me something real and tangible to shoot for from here on out and I'm grateful for that. The course was made up of both lecture material and break out sessions, with plenty of time to practice the concepts we had just learned in the classroom. I got to try out equipment I had never seen before, and even started to develop the beginnings of a butterfly pull-up! Holy smokes, didn't see that one coming! Yes, I'm sore. Very very sore. And I did see spots after one of the workouts. But here's the thing- most of the stuff we did was all body-weight and PVC-pipe intensive. Very little time was spent carrying loads. And yet they still smoked us completely.

My one regret was that I didn't bring my DSLR. I felt naked the whole weekend without it. All I had on me was my little point and shoot, which I used to capture a bunch of images from the instructors' WOD on the second day. This is one of our instructors, Pat S., attacking a set of 15 push-jerks. Check out those shins! Reminds me of the day a guest athlete came to town and drew blood as well. You can't see it here, but Pat bears an uncanny resemblance to Ben Stiller (think Tropic Thunder, not Zoolander.)

Anyway, thank you everyone, instructors and fellow students alike for an amazing weekend! It was a wonderful learning experience and I can't wait to put all I've learned into practice. Now if only I could straighten my legs.......

Congrats Aaron Riley

 

Last night was an exciting night for One Spirit Martial Arts. Our very own Aaron Riley appeared on the undercard of UFC 91 and scrapped with his opponent, Jorge Gurgel. It was an exciting match, with both fighters landing some good blows.... as well as some not-so-good blows (Nice groin kick, Aaron. *grin*) But in the end, Aaron's arm was raised thanks to a unanimous decision. Much to my glee, (as well as about 20 other OSMA diehards who had joined me at the local sports bar), they televised Aaron's fight after the Couture vs. Lesner title match. I thought Aaron looked great. He was quick, had excellent defense, and seemed cool and calm while Gurgel seemed frustrated. When they announced he won, we all went crazy, even though we already knew the outcome thanks to a txt message from one of our guys who was actually attending the fights.

It makes for a whole different experience when you actually know the guy on TV. I'm still not used to that. For instance... the above picture is from one of the very first CrossFit workouts we did in our gym back in June. Aaron Riley joined us that day as well as Reshad "The Show" Woods (now at Lloyd Irvin). This was the first time I had really met Aaron and he struck me as the nicest guy- very polite, soft-spoken, and courteous. I think I even toned down my own potty mouth so as not to offend him too much. We all did the workout and vanity requires me to mention that I -a 33 yo mother of two- kicked the asses of both of these Pro MMA fighters on this particular occasion. (Reshad bristles every time I bring it up, which is why I mention it every chance I get.)

And look at Aaron now. Here he is, our very own instructor on tv, tossing head kicks at his opponent and getting bonuses for delivering the "Fight of the Night." I know he's been there before and done this many many times, but for me, it's a first. I know a fighter in the UFC. We've worked out together. And he's a super nice guy. Way to go, Aaron! We're very proud of you.

PS- If we help you move next weekend, will you treat us all to a few cold ones with that sweet bonus you just won? hahaha

When lighting gives you lemons, make silhouettes

 
Ironically, one of the main contributers to the difficult lighting in my gym (the garage door which allows blinding light to pour in) was responsible for this awesome pic today. Brown was showing Yong how to use the PVC pipe to stretch out his shoulders and gain range of motion. I focused on Brown and the camera automatically underexposed the guys due to the light pouring in from the garage door. I hadn't planned on shooting silhouettes, but since I had the shot, I boosted the contrast a little more in Picasa and then made it black and white et voila! Very cool pic.