CSC Concluded

Sorry for the delay in this post. We were without our left leg for a few days when our Internet went down Thursday morning. Somewhat scary how dependent we become on this thing. But it is my preferred method of communication, entertainment and business. Processing family photos for clients, preparing 1,000 number cards for Help-Portrait on Saturday and other daily chores certainly consumed my time. And those weren't even busyness related to Christmas. But enough of that. On to fencing.

It didn't take me long to appreciate the sport and start to want to be a part of it. Then I had a brief conversation with some parents about the cost of membership fees, tournament entry costs, travel and accommodations. For me, it might be an interesting hobby, but quick math had me thinking of the photography gear that could be in lieu of fencing costs.

2011 CSC Action - Foil - 2 by Jay Scott

I understand that a person doesn't need to get that involved but it might be one of those things that you enjoy so much that you commit fully. What cinched not trying fencing for me was watching a wheelchair fencing video. It just didn't have the excitement I had hoped. Add to that that I am not even sure if there are a pair of fencers in chairs in the city to practice with and it would seem limited, with a low ceiling, for what one could do on a hobbist level.

Sizing Up the Competition by Jay Scott

That doesn't mean that it lessened my enjoyment of the tournament and how much I appreciated being given the opportunity to photograph this event. The competitors were fine people, as passionate about their sport as any athlete I've met. Many of their shouts, yells and even screams of frustration and victory were startling at first but certainly a testament to the passion.

2011 CSC Action - Epee - 3 by Jay Scott

Of course, photos like the one below just make the event. Both of this little guy's parents are skilled fencers and the comment was made that he and Sharianne Schlam's daughter, of a similar age, might produce a world champion fencer with a legacy like theirs... twenty years from now. Who knows? Maybe this photo will really matter at someone's wedding decades from now.

The Youngest Challenger by Jay Scott

I will end this series letting the final photo, and the impressive maneuvers of the competitors, speak for themselves.

2011 CSC Action - Epee - 4 by Jay Scott

The Action Continues

There were undoubtedly some seriously skilled competitors but it was this match between to world class competitors that wowed me.

Sharianne Schlam. It must have seemed like her body was unreachable, or if they did manage a touch, they were always a slow second (longer than 40 milliseconds after the first touch), which, in epee, means no point for you. Every photo I captured had her legs and hips so far back from her torso that you cannot help but wonder how she did not fall over forward after her attack.

2011 CSC Action - Epee - 2 by Jay Scott

It was a great match to watch.

2011 CSC Detail - 2 by Jay Scott

The sabre matches may not have had as many fancy moves, but the energy with which competitors charged at each other was almost frightening.

2011 CSC Action - Sabre - 1 by Jay Scott

2011 CSC Action - Sabre - 2 by Jay Scott

One of the men responsible for keeping the competitors going.

The Armourer by Jay Scott

Blades by Jay Scott

Finally, perhaps my favourite action photo of tournament. Thank Heaven this is a sport. Imagining if that were a real blade actually makes me shutter.

2011 CSC Action - Sabre - 3 by Jay Scott

The last post to come in a few days.

En garde. Prêt. Allez!

2011 CSC Action - Epee - 1 by Jay Scott

November has come and gone faster than I thought possible. A significant portion of it was due to my preoccupation of our work at the Canadian Fencing Federation Canadian Selection Circuit here in Saskatoon on November 18-20. The preparation, scouting and planning had us busy, the shoot filled a good portion of the weekend and preparing the photos for delivery was a lengthier task than usual.

2011 CSC Detail - 1 by Jay Scott

I won't get into too much detail, but enough that a few of the photographers who visit here will hopefully learn something, if they don't already know how to best these barriers. The challenges were threefold. First, overall lighting. Dark for action to say the least. 1/500", f/2.8 at ISO 3200. I could've gone for a higher ISO and had noise under control but I wanted to maintain detail as best I could.

2011 CSC Action - Foil - 1 by Jay Scott

Parried the attack with a spin, got his blade down and scored with his back turned.

Impressive.

The second obstacle was the quality of the lighting. Awful orange cast of steady sodium/mercury vapour lights mixed with the unreliable green flicker of florescent tubes, depending where in the Fieldhouse I was shooting from. Florescent lights flicker 60 times per second, the same speed as alternating current, which means they are off 60 times per second. Shooting at a shutter speed faster than 1/60" (I was at 1/500" most of the time) means I am not getting the full on & off cycle that happens once every second. Think of video of old CRT TVs and monitors with the flickering, rolling screens of black horizontal bands.So, half of the photos near florescent lighting were affected by the florescent and half were not. The half that were had the green cast caused by florescent, mixed with the orange of sodium/mercury vapour. The, other half were darker with only the orange cast. Add to that the position of each strip used by the fencers, in relation to the proportion of florescent light as well as my shooting position, and maintaining colour consistency was difficult. The final colour slap in the face was the reflection off the ground. Either green from the court sections of the area or a deep red-maroon from the trackj lanes. Very unforgiving.

My method was to keep the torso of the uniforms as white as possible, even though one side of one fold could be two completely different colours.

2011 CSC Action - Epee - Blur by Jay Scott

A longer exposure (1/3") to capture a bit of motion.

The third challenge was my positioning. Simply put, the officials were mostly excellent. It was immediately obvious to me which of them understood that without coverage there would be little growing interest in their sport. Reduced interest means reduced funding which coincides with a greater challenge to Canadian competitors on the world stage which includes the Olympics. If they need to spend time away from training to fund raise it affects us all in some way as Canadians.

I worked hard to get the shot without interfering or getting run down. Had one close call, but there was no way I could move in time so I trusted the athlete's reflexes. Still have two eyes and and intact camera so we're good.

Quite a few more to come...