Explosion Blue's photostream  

In the fall of 2007, I set up this photo site to share parent-photographer photos of ATSC Explosion Blue's soccer games and events.

In the winter of 2009-2010, I pretty much stepped away from shooting E/B games. Since that time, I've used this site to irregularly post sets of photos of general events.

If you see a picture you want, it's easy (and free) to download. Just double-click on the photo to bring up its photo page. Just above the photo, click on the Actions Tab and then on the All Sizes entry. Now select a resolution and then click on "Download the (selected file size)" link to the right of the word Download. The higher the resolution, the better the picture will look, but the correspondingly larger file will take longer to transfer.

Most pictures are cropped from a larger original RAW file which may contain irrelevant visual elements. If you would prefer a copy of the RAW file or an uncropped JPEG, please copy down its file name and game date and let me know. I will be happy to provide it to you. RAW files are only available for photos taken from July 2010 onward; all photos from before that time are JPEGs.

All of the Explosion Blue pictures are still there in the Explosion Blue collection and this site is currently paid up through September 21, 2012.

My long range plans for the site are indefinite, so if there are photos you would like to have permanent copies of, please download them. Downloading is free. Alternatively, flickr.com will make prints for you for a fee.

Cameras / Lenses / Tech

From September, 2007 until May, 2008, I shot all of my pictures with a really overworked Canon S2 IS superzoom p&s. Late in 2009, I moved up from a Canon EOS Rebel XSi DSLR camera to a Canon EOS 7d. The XSi is a terrific basic camera, but the 7d is optimized for shooting sports events: near-instantaneous autofocus, stratospheric maximum ISO and 8 fps.

My standard lens was a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM telephoto zoom. I replaced it with the Mk II version in October of 2011.

This camera-lens assembly is cumbersome to hand-hold for a whole game, so I initially employed an old Bogen monopod with an RRS swivel head to support it. More recently, I have added a battery grip and a hand strap; I really like the freedom of not being encumbered with a monopod.

Sometimes I added a Canon EF 1.4x teleconverter to the 70-200mm lens to provide more 'reach', but it softened the focus very slightly and cost one f-stop, so I generally used it only on really bright, sunny days.

Because the 7d is an APS-C sensor 'crop-body' camera, the nominal 70-200mm zoom lens is 163-466mm with the 1.4x teleconverter. -GA