Category: Sports

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Pragmatism

My eight-eight-years old daughter is eager to help me with processing photos from sports photoshoots. She has been looking over my shoulder for a while now and tried using Lightroom herself, to the point where she is fairly proficient at cropping (e.g., she the understands the rule of thirds and has a natural eye for using leading lines in composition) and basic exposure adjustments (e.g., she understands the concepts of black point and highlight clipping). It is apparently a great fun for her, and she treats it like some sort of computer game. This morning, she pulled the laptop away from me and started cropping a selection of photos from the last night’s basketball game.

“You can check them later,” she said to prevent my interfering.

She was clearly enjoying the process, commenting on the photos, the facial expressions of the players and how much fun it was to edit the images.

“I want photography to be my hobby too!” she exclaimed.

Naturally, I was quite happy that my daughter found whatever I do meaningful enough to make it her own. So I encouraged her: “By all means! Why not?!” Or something along these lines.

She kept going through the images, cropping each one and checking exposure. Gradually, she began to realize that the work was pretty tedious and repetitive, and that the image set was rather large.

“Are they actually paying you for this?” she asked after a while.

Enthusiasm curbed with pragmatism – she might be on her way to becoming a pro.

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Forced mindfulness

I am starting the New Year by teaching a thermodynamics course that is new for me. There are so many details to attend to and to learn, that it feels like I don’t have a minute to stop and think about what is it that I am actually doing. Surprisingly, it is a liberating feeling to not have a choice of what to do in the next hour, but instead to have an obvious high-priority task in front of me at all times and to know that as soon as it is completed, another one would waiting in line right behind it.

This externally imposed state of focus is strikingly similar to skiing, or any gravity-assisted sport for that matter, where external conditions continuously and rapidly change and force you to adapt to them. When you are going down a mountain slope at high speed, turns, bumps on the ground and other people come your way all the time, and you must deal with each challenge, focussing only what is right in front of you at each moment . The same thing happens when you are skateboarding or surfing: you need to continuously adjust your balance, adapt to conditions of the road and avoid obstacles. When my daughter was taking skateboarding lessons last summer, her teacher, Carla, called this concentrated attention forced mindfulness.

For me, the takeaway from this observation is that doing demanding work, like teaching a new course, doesn’t have to be stressful. It is all a matter perspective. After all, when I ski down a mountain and have to deal with whatever is coming my way, I don’t consider it a stress. In fact, I enjoy the flow. It may be forced, but it is flow nonetheless.

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Reason for practicing

When I come back from a skiing trip, I typically have mixed feelings. On the one hand, skiing is fun, but on the other hand, I know that I cannot do it often enough to improve my technique substantially. And for me, part of the joy of doing something is learning to do it better. So if I know that progress is not possible, I wonder wha’s the point of doing the thing at all.

After our recent trip to Whistler I feel differently. I am fired up to get on the slope again as soon as possible. I believe that this is entirely thanks to my daughter (well, maybe also partially because I bought new skis, which are great fun). She is seven years old, and it was the first time that we were actually able to ski together. Her progress was so sudden: last time she attempted skiing, she was barely able to keep balance on the flattest surface we could find, but this year, she took two days of instruction at the kids’ skiing school and after that could confidently stop and turn on a legitimate green-level run.

My wife and I also took a lesson, to re-calibrate ourselves after the long break in skiing. The advice our instructors gave me, as we were chatting over hot chocolate during the lunch break, was that the focus of practicing for me should be improving efficiency of my skiing. The reason is that pretty soon our daughter would want to ski more and more, so to keep up with her (and to enjoy it), I need to get better too. I like the idea. It resonates with what Anders Ericsson said in “Peak”: the reason to keep practicing a skill, even knowing that we won’t be able to reach the absolute peak performance (there are so many people better than us ataxy given activity), is to be able to enjoy it alongside our children.

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Risk-taking and fun

Rock climbing is a lot of fun. After our daughter tried it at our university’s climbing gym, my wife and I were compelled to take a belaying course the very next weekend, so that we would be able to assist her. As a lunch-hour workout though, it’s pretty inefficient compared to a run or a weightlifting session. Still, I concede that the fun factor is more important for sustaining a long-term interest in the activity.

On the other hand, there is the risk factor. How does one handle the choice between doing something inherently risky (but fun) and something much less risky (but possibly better for your health)? I think that if one takes the path of avoiding all risks, not only the life would be incredibly dull, but one would end up unprepared for the eventual situation when the risk simply cannot be avoided. So we need to practice taking risks, but do so safely enough to avoid injuring ourselves all the time.

I am very new to climbing, so cannot say anything about it with authority, but take kendo as an example. It is a fairly low-risk activity, as far as martial arts go, but injuries still occur (I am recovering from one right now). Kendo is also a very high-impact activity. I don’t think it is good for one’s health from a cardio perspective either. The exertion level is too uneven to be beneficial. You both overload the cardiovascular system too much (at times), and do not sustain the useful load level long enough. So would one be better off going for an easy run or lifting some weights instead?

“But kendo is more about building character, rather than muscles or stamina!” some say. I agree. There is no argument against this. For this reason alone, it is worth taking risks in general and practicing kendo in particular.

…as long as we can avoid replacing “character” with “ego” somewhere in the process.

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Flow

Trying to surf on a stand-up paddle board (SUP surfing) for the first time over the last couple of days decidedly did not feel like a flow experience for me. The concept of flow was coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I’ve been reading his book, aptly named “Flow”, and it’s one of the best reads I’ve head in a while.

At he first place, SUP surfing is supposed to have all the components of a flow-inducing activity: the goal is simple and well-defined – not to fall from the board; there is immediate feedback – I am either falling or not; the activity requires complete focus and certain level of skill. So in principle, SUP surfing is supposed to be tremendously enjoyable and relaxing. Yet so far, it hasn’t been so. This was initially surprising to me, because I really enjoy SUP boarding on flat water.

I believe the reason SUP surfing doesn’t feel as enjoyable to me as I would like is because it lacks one important aspect of a flow activity – my skills are not matched to the level of challenge. The learning curve for surfing of any kind, SUP surfing included, is quite steep. Enjoying the learning process requires a certain mindset that takes be a bit of time to develop. I realize that I need a certain playfulness, a willingness to view numerous falls and tumbles as fun time in the surf, rather than as continuous negative feedback on the level of your surfing skills. When SUP boarding on flat water, if I fall from the board, that’s a clearly unintended event and something that I generally try to avoid. When SUP surfing, falling over is the name of the game. In fact, being able to stay upright and to catch a wave is more of an exception, at least at my current level. Hopefully, one day it will become a true flow – both challenging and enjoyable.

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The mushroom story

This weekend was incredibly packed with activities for my daughter, even considering her typically busy schedule. She played violin at a local festival, had two dance classes, and played golf – all in a single day. And then, the next day, we were back at the golf course for more practice – all because she had such a good time the day before with some fantastic mentors from our university golf team.

I am continually surprised at how easygoing my daughter is. I think her secret is that she naturally focusses on one thing at a time and enjoys it. She is definitely a good example for me in that respect. She even turns commuting into story time, by asking me and my wife to tell her stories from our childhood, sometimes retelling the stories that she heard many times before. She actually knows them so well that she asks to make sure that her favourite details are not omitted.

Lately, she has been asking for “the mushroom story.” Here it is.

When I was about five years old, I went to a summer resort with my grandparents. One morning, as we were walking in the forest, we found a huge, round, white mushroom on a log. It appeared there overnight after rain. We picked it and brought it to our condominium, where my grandfather and I turned the mushroom into a monster’s head with some charcoal and sticks. Then, we placed it on the edge of an open window and shot acorns at it from across the room using a slingshot that my grandfather made for me a few days earlier. I suspect that he retrospectively realized that giving a slingshot to a five-year-old was not a particularly responsible thing to do, because I had been shooting acorns at everything in sight since laying my hands on it. So having an actual target must have been a welcome development.

At some point, I had a direct hit that knocked the mushroom/head over the windowsill. Grandpa and I didn’t give it a second thought and went on to play some other game. Our condo was on the second floor, and soon there was a knock on our door. My grandmother opened it – it was the neighbour-lady from downstairs, and we heard that she said something to the extent that “your boy splashed some nasty green paint all over our window.” My grandmother said that it was not possible, because the boy had been under constant supervision of his grandfather, who was an exceedingly responsible gentleman. But the grandfather came out and said that he might have an idea of what had happened. And he went to see the aftermath for himself. It turned out that the mushroom that fell downstairs was full of bright green spores that exploded all over the neighbour’s window (in fact, completely covering it with green goo) when the mushroom hit the ground.

My daughter inevitably asks how it all ended, and she is visibly glad when I tell her that I did not get into a slightest bit of trouble. My grandfather cleaned up the mess himself, probably feeling the responsibility of not directing my playing into a less destructive direction.

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Keeping up with children

After spending a beautiful afternoon at the Butchart Gardens, my daughter wanted to go for a run/bike ride with me. We first did thins kind of thing last year in Milan. I would go running, and she would bike alongside. We would go from our apartment along Naviglio Martesana to a playground that was about 2.5 km away. That was about how far my daughter could pedal nonstop at that time. Today we did a solid 5k, almost without a word of complaining from her. Our average pace was still nothing to brag about, but I am not taking for granted that we can do this together at all. At some point, it is I who won’t be able to keep up and will be slowing her down. What are the chances that she would want to run with me then?

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Running with my daughter

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Today, my daughter and I went for a bike ride/run to a nearby ocean-side park. I ran and she biked. I remember that the first time we did this was last Spring in Milan, where we were on a six-months sabbatical. We would run/bike along Naviglio Martesana. She could handle about 15 minutes of non-stop pedalling on her bike, which we borrowed from my colleague. In that time, we could get to a playground, where she would play for about half-an-hour, spending most of that time hanging on monkey bars. We would eat an apple and some pretzels, which was her go-to snack over there, much like “fishy crackers” are consistent favourites here in Canada, and head back home. It was hot. We strategically chose the path to stay in the shade, as we ran/biked along the canal.

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Today, it was cold (by Victoria standard anyway – about 0 degrees C) and windy. My daughter is stronger now and she has a bigger bike, so she can ride 30 minutes non-stop. Still, I ran at a pace, where we could talk without breathing hard. It was fun to run with her, but it was no question about playing when we got to a playground at the local park. It was so cold, that even stopping was uncomfortable. This is the thing about Victoria: the running trails around our home are some of the best I’ve tried anywhere in the world. The air is unbelievably fresh – I was really missing it in Milan. The nature is spectacular. The people are friendly and polite. Yet, it is just not quite warm enough to be truly enjoyable.

To be fair, though, I would need to compare apples to apples, or rather, winter to winter. The very first time I ran in Milan was in the winter, in the cold, in the dark, along a busy Via Melchiorre Gioia to Piazza Game Aulenti, which was the closest place to our apartment (that I knew of), where some stores were open late at night. I wanted to buy a thermos for my daughter to bring hot chocolate in to her ice-skating lesson the next morning (the irony of the fact that she came to Italy from Canada to learn skating is not lost on me, by the way), so I decided to make a running workout of the shopping trip. It was slippery with ice, windy, dark, noisy and generally quite unpleasant to run that night. But at that time, when we were without a car for the first time in many years, simply bing able to cove some distance on foot and explore the new city was liberating.

Today also, the simple fact that my daughter and I could on the whim put on the runners, jump on a bike and be in a forest, by the ocean in less than 15 minutes, chatting all the way there, was definitely a gift, cold weather or not.

Night view of the Unicredit tower in Piazza Gae Aulenti. Milan. Italy.
Night view of the Unicredit tower in Piazza Gae Aulenti. Milan. Italy.

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The preferred weapon

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Last Sunday, I had an excuse to put away my Sony a7R II, which I have been using almost exclusively for the last year, and to spend some time with my old Canon 1DX. Armando and I were covering the Cross-country National Championship at the Beacon Hill park. It was an intense day, both i terms of the race itself and in terms of shooting. Everybody hoped in vain that the cold, pouring rain that started just as the athletes began their warm-up runs would stop before the race. Instead, it continued on and off throughout the day.

On the positive side, rain makes action photos more interesting, at least for sports like running, soccer and rugby. I like how the fast shutter speed (I was shooting at 1/1000 s most of the time) freezes the out-of-focus rain drops between the subject and the camera.

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The cold rain is tough on the hardware, though, not to mention the athletes and the photographers. For example, I could not shoot with the Sony as much as I wanted to – it is not weather-proof enough.

The bulletproof feel of the 1DX, the autofocus speed, the framing rate, even the characteristic shutter sound of the high-speed bursts – these are the things I’ve been missing in my mirrorless camera. About the sound of 1Dx – I can recognize it in the crowd of photographers even on TV. It reminds me of an episode from “Heartbreak Ridge”, when Clint Eastwood’s character says to young marines: “This is the AK-47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy, and it makes a very distinctive sound when fired at you, so remember it.”

For the rainy days, my preferred weapon is definitely a Canon.

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Shooting Raptors

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Last two days, I was shooting basketball games at our university.

Toronto Raptors, the only Canadian NBA team, had a training camp at our university last week. At the end, they had an inter-squad game and I had an opportunity to shoot photos of it.

The NBA training camp was a big event for our university’s athletics department and, arguably, for our entire town. The Raptors media unit had their procedures worked out in minute details, and they conveyed a message that we, as photographers, were privileged to have access to the players. I fully realize that this was, indeed, the case, considering that the tickets for the only publicly-accessible game were sold out in a matter of minutes. I came to the athletic centre an hour before the game, and the was already a line of lucky ticket holders stretching around the building.

The instructions for photographers were exceptionally detailed. They specified everything from the designated area beside the court (a square of approximately 1 m x 1 m marked by a tape on the floor) to how we were supposed to sit in it (cross-legged, with cameras on our bodies or behind us) to the periods during the game when we were allowed to leave the box.

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I believe the hype leading to the event played a large role in creating a positive experience for the spectators and the local media people. The game itself was a bit disappointing, because it obviously lacked the competitive aspect. The pace was quite slow. Despite having almost no breaks, most of the players literally didn’t break a sweat by the end of the game. Of course, this is also due to their impressive physical condition. There were a couple of episodes, when some players showed the speed they were capable of by sprinting across the court. I missed some shots of these moments because I simply could not react fast enough to keep these guys in the frame. Only during these rare bursts of speed could I hear the rapid squeaking of the sneakers on the floor that is so characteristics of basketball matches.

Yesterday’s opening game of our university’s men’s basketball season was a complete opposite in terms of the energy of the players. It was fast and exciting. It was a real completion, which is what basketball is about after all.

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Both the professional and the student games were fun to shoot, though. It was my first time shooting sports with a mirrorless Sony a7R II instead of a Canon EOS-1DX DSLR. I took the Sony with me on sabbatical trip, and I have gotten used to its higher resolution, larger dynamic range and advanced focus tracking features. Of course, the autofocus on the a7R II is not as fast as it is on 1Dx and the faming rate is not as high. On the balance, though, I find that the Sony produced nicer images.

I shot compressed RAW files, which allowed practically the same level of flexibility in post-processing as RAW, but did not fill the buffer during continuous shooting nearly as fast.

Another useful setting that I learned from Armando, my associate, who has been shooting sports with a7R II during entire last season, is the focus area – Lock-on AF: Flexible spot L. Combined with the continuous AF setting, it makes the camera focus on the object in the centre of the frame and then track it as long the shutter button remains half-pressed. It is just a joy to use for sports. An important note is that tracking features like this (and also eye detection, which is fantastic for portraits) work only with native Sony lenses. Using my Canon lenses on a Metabones adapter is a bit frustrating, because it feels like I am missing the best part of the mirrorless experience.

For these two basketball games, I shot mostly with my new Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens, which I used for the first time during my latest trip to Japan.

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