Long Exposure is Here.

Now again, being new to this photography world this is my first attempt at doing anything long exposure! I tried to put together some HDR… but because of the ridiculously low light situation it came out horrible. Lesson learned.

Second lesson learned. Bring a tripod, if you don’t you have to rig something up like I did in my previous post with sticks and rocks.

And here is one of my shots from my few hours out at sunset to see if I can do some long exposure work. Very fun!

The water was choppy, the light was really lacking, and it came out with a pretty well lit shot with a semi-glassy finish on the water.

Long exposure is a whole lot of fun, I gotta find some more rapidly moving water and some other chances to use this newfound skill.

Love it, hope you all have enjoyed my adventures.

Chesley

Soccer Nights: Learning Something New

 

 

 

 

 

 

When was the last time you learned something new?!

I’ve spoken to team building, life skills, and how much fun Soccer Nights is, but I have yet to explain that these kids actually learn how to play soccer! Every day has a theme and all the fundamentals are touched upon. The rules of the game are clearly explained and after a long hard day of drills… what’s the most fun part of practice?!

Scrimmage!

Below is a shot of one of our campers practicing a throw in from the side of the field during a scrimmage.

The rules of who gets to throw the ball in and what team touched the ball last before it went out are taught even to the youngest of soccer campers… whether the rules are fully enforced by the end of the evening is up in the air.

Another fun day for campers and a wonderful chance to spread the word.

Try something new today, and see

Chesley

1 Wonderful HDR Panorama : 9 HDR Photos : 27 Pictures

Last night after volunteering at the local MSPCA Humane Society, Kaylee of Dog Breath Photography and I found ourselves staring at a BEAUTIFUL sunset. This was unlike anything I had seen before so I snapped 27 photos at different exposers. This lead to 9 solid HDR images, which were then stitched in photoshop into one large panorama. Here is the result, PLEASE enjoy.

My first attempt at a panorama and my third attempt at HDR… I am quite pleased.

Chesley

Soccer Nights: Life Skills and Encouragement

Yesterday I left off touching on the importance of life skills! Although there were over two hundred kids who attended soccer camps, teams were kept intimate in groups under twenty. A strong focus on topics such as learning names, where people come from, and how their differences can be turned to strengths can be maximized through the more intimate coach/player interactions.

And what is the all time best way to get to know each other? Through tons of fun games, especially ice breakers! Each day to further each groups understanding of their fellow team mates, they would play some kind of game which tied directly into the focused skill of that day! If the focus was learning encouragement, each player would see encouragement through example, and then be given opportunity to give encouragement themselves to their fellow players. The recap of how this encouragement made them feel continued to solidify what a wonderful opportunity it is to build each other up!

The wonderful facilitation build teamwork and leadership skills for the players, and continued to bring the kids back the next day striving further and hungry for more. On such a beautiful set of nights in June, I couldn’t have been more content to see these growing minds learning skills which will take them further in life than they ever expected.

Chesley

Soccer Nights: Welcome to the Main Event

I finally get to share some of the wonderful experience that I had with soccer nights!

Welcome to the main event! This is where it all started, a huge welcome committee of volunteers, organizers, friendly faces and coaches scattered throughout the open soccer field. As all the children who attended this completely volunteer and donation driven soccer clinic begin to arrive, the fun began. Soccer balls flew, and through this week the children who attended Soccer Nights in North Cambridge learned the skills they needed to begin their fundamentals not only for a team sport, but also community building and mutual respect for each other. Each day not only focused on a specific soccer skill such as passing or dribbling, but also a life skill. Learning names was the first, as explained by Coach Brian.

As our head coach, Coach Brian, took the field  to welcome all of our 2012 soccer stars, he explained that this summer we were going to “Go for the Gold!” There was no better team building than the upcoming Olympics. As previously mentioned, there was just as much weight places on life skills as well as sports technique. It’s hard to ignore that being called “HEY YOU!” isn’t the best feeling in the world.  Each team took time to learn each other’s names before drills began.  An amazing life skill had been developed and soccer nights was in full swing.

Each day bring’s something new. Each day for the next week I hope to post a few more photos with a bit more information on the week long experience!

Chesley

Sunsets and HDR

I was never one for pictures of sunsets, although I have made it my personal goal to view as many of them as I can. People all around us have become so caught up in what would be considered the “most entertaining” movie, show, adventure… when really one of the most incredible sights anyone could see happens every day and is completely FREE. I made a second, more successful, attempt at some HDR photography yesterday! 

The next two are not HDR, but just a bit of fun playing with focal points on pictures. It’s amazing how different a quarter of an inch can make in the composition of a shot. With a beautiful fathers day weekend coming up, there should be some great stuff on the horizon! These are also completely unedited, just a great example.

Chesley