Sports: April 2005 Archives
I had about 800 photos of runners to go through in trying to pick one to show today. I had a lot of photos that were probably technically better than this one; I feel the colors are a bit off here, and I wasn't able to correct it entirely in Photoshop. But unlike a lot of runners who appear to be in agony, this girl looked happy. And I liked that.
The Corpus Christi Triathlon last Sunday was smaller than I'd thought it would be, but on average the athletes looked more serious about the sport than those at the few triathlons I've done. A lot of them had the aerobars (complete with shifters) on their handlebars, like this guy here.
The course was two out-and-back loops along the bay. Very pretty, but very windy!
I went down to Corpus Christi last Saturday night and shot the CC Triathlon for on Sunday morning. If you like sports photography, you now have three days of triathlon photos to look forward to. First up -- what else? -- the 1-kilometer swim.
I've done a few triathlons before, but I've never swum in water like these guys dealt with. They were in Corpus Christi bay, waves crashing onto the shore. The wind was blowing something fierce, with enough force that I worried my photos might come out a bit blurry because I couldn't hold the camera still! It had to have been a tough slog through the water.
As for me, it was tough shooting the swimmers because at the time they were coming out of the water, around 7:30 a.m., the sun was rising right over the bay, just off the left hand side of this shot. I think this one turned out ok though.
These two shots were taken looking just ahead of me and just behind me as the sun continued to rise and we inched toward the start of the second day of biking. I love these two photos because I adore colors and loved the way they looked in the early morning sun. Cyclists are such a colorful group!
As I've already mentioned, I rode from Houston to Austin in the MS150 this weekend. I decided not to take my "nice" camera and instead just carried along my "not as nice" point-n-shoot. When I pulled it out Saturday morning at the start line: "CF card error." I was not happy.
Fortunately, I managed to get the card formatted and working Saturday night and was able to take a few shots yesterday. This photo, taken at about 6:55 Sunday morning, is one of my favorites. With 13,000 riders all trying to exit through one gate, it gets pretty crowded. I think this captures the "up early, sun's finally poking through, anxious to get on the road again" feeling...
Roy Oswalt throws the first pitch of the Astros 2005 season last Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.
I'm greeting the new season with excitement and apprehension. Public opinion says that the Astros had a horrible off-season, letting Jeff Kent go to the Dodgers and then letting Carlos Beltran string them along before he bolted for the Mets. But I have faith. Roger Clemens is back, Andy Pettitte is healthy, Lance Berkman will be coming back in a month, and the 'Stros have a slew of promising rookies. They have all summer to make some more magic.
