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Last Sunday I went out to a 'Muddy Trials' event at Craufurdland Castle in East Ayrshire. This was a mud run event (sort of a cross-country run with a very muddy obstacle course, for those who don't know). I'd heard of mud runs before, but didn't know any were in the local area. I found out about the event by chance the day before, when one of the people I follow on Twitter mentioned it. After contacting him about the event, I went along as an unofficial photographer for one of the teams in the event. They were competing for the Beatson Cancer Charity.
The day was quite hectic, with 3 races through the event (a 1 mile race mostly for younger children and 10 & 5 kilometre races for older children and adults). I was able to catch the start of the 3 races and get out to a couple of the features on the track, but I didn't get the fastest finishers of the first race, and only got about some of the field coming in. According to the official results there were 196 entrants for the 10k, 369 for the 5k and 220 for the mile-long children's race. It was great to see such a big and enthusiastic field of people eager to be wading about in mud in the Scottish Spring time!
I've shot a couple of events which had similar elements to this (e.g. motocross racing and local gala/hot air balloon festivals), but I found this quite hectic. I tried to keep pace with the action, but I know I missed a few good opportunities. Anyway, in terms of technique I wanted to make good use of my monopod to get interesting perspectives. I was using it (in conjunction with my wireless remotes) to get the high shots (e.g. of the warm-up and race starts) and some low shots (e.g. the ones where people are wading or swimming through the quite deep and thick mud). The lighting for most of the day was very overcast, though there were some sunny periods. I'd expected to use my flash for much of the day (and had 3 sets of batteries fully charged in anticipation), but when I got there I quickly went to ambient light for most of the action, as the flash recharge times weren't quick enough, especially when shooting with my longer 70-300. This gave me a few problems with backlit people, but I was able to combat that with some shadow and highlight adjustments in Lightroom.
So, I've created 2 galleries for the race: the main gallery and the selections. The main gallery has a lot of similar images in it, and is intended to be browsed by people who are looking for pictures of themselves or someone they know. The selections gallery has fewer similar shots in it, and is intended to be browsed be people who just want to get a feel for the event.
It was a fun day out, and I'll definitely try to get back there for the next event, in September. Thanks to all the officials, organisers, participants and attendees.
Finally, before I get to the images, if you enjoy them please consider donation to the Beatson Cancer Charity, either through their site or through the JustGiving campaign set up for this event, which has raised over £2250 so far.
Thanks for reading. As ever, constructive criticism and advice is welcomed.
Before the races:
Pre-race registration and staging area.
A brave man in 'traditional' Scottish attire (and before you ask, no, I didn't ask him if anything was worn under his kilt...).
I think the kids these days call this a "photobomb"...
A quick warm-up before the action.
The day was quite hectic, with 3 races through the event (a 1 mile race mostly for younger children and 10 & 5 kilometre races for older children and adults). I was able to catch the start of the 3 races and get out to a couple of the features on the track, but I didn't get the fastest finishers of the first race, and only got about some of the field coming in. According to the official results there were 196 entrants for the 10k, 369 for the 5k and 220 for the mile-long children's race. It was great to see such a big and enthusiastic field of people eager to be wading about in mud in the Scottish Spring time!
I've shot a couple of events which had similar elements to this (e.g. motocross racing and local gala/hot air balloon festivals), but I found this quite hectic. I tried to keep pace with the action, but I know I missed a few good opportunities. Anyway, in terms of technique I wanted to make good use of my monopod to get interesting perspectives. I was using it (in conjunction with my wireless remotes) to get the high shots (e.g. of the warm-up and race starts) and some low shots (e.g. the ones where people are wading or swimming through the quite deep and thick mud). The lighting for most of the day was very overcast, though there were some sunny periods. I'd expected to use my flash for much of the day (and had 3 sets of batteries fully charged in anticipation), but when I got there I quickly went to ambient light for most of the action, as the flash recharge times weren't quick enough, especially when shooting with my longer 70-300. This gave me a few problems with backlit people, but I was able to combat that with some shadow and highlight adjustments in Lightroom.
So, I've created 2 galleries for the race: the main gallery and the selections. The main gallery has a lot of similar images in it, and is intended to be browsed by people who are looking for pictures of themselves or someone they know. The selections gallery has fewer similar shots in it, and is intended to be browsed be people who just want to get a feel for the event.
It was a fun day out, and I'll definitely try to get back there for the next event, in September. Thanks to all the officials, organisers, participants and attendees.
Finally, before I get to the images, if you enjoy them please consider donation to the Beatson Cancer Charity, either through their site or through the JustGiving campaign set up for this event, which has raised over £2250 so far.
Thanks for reading. As ever, constructive criticism and advice is welcomed.
Before the races:
Pre-race registration and staging area.
A brave man in 'traditional' Scottish attire (and before you ask, no, I didn't ask him if anything was worn under his kilt...).
I think the kids these days call this a "photobomb"...
A quick warm-up before the action.
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