Wednesday I was assigned to cover the annual Senior citizen picnic. Each year more than 1000 senior citizens spread across seven days go on the annual picnic, with a new destination each year.

It usually includes visiting some place and having lunch some other fancy place. This year it was at a very nice hotel, that the Royal Family sometimes use. It was a fantastic lunch (one of the benefits of going on such a trip!) and after that the seniors could dance to live music. It didn’t take long after the last plate was removed, that they attacked the dance floor.

Canon EOS-1D Mark II n, EF 17-40mm f4L USM @ 17mm, f/4, 1/80sec, ISO640, flash fired. (Photo: Brian Poulsen)

I had a journalist with me on the 10 hour assignment. We both agreed that most of the people would probably be taking a nap on the bus home. Only people taking a nap, was me and the journalist, both passed out in the bus, with everybody else still awake and having a good time..

So hockey is just around the corner. Yesterday I shot the first pre-season game of the season… In shorts and t-shirt.. That’s what happens when it’s around 22 degrees celsius outside. My mind says sommer, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s freezing cold at ice level…

Canon EOS-1D Mark II n, EF 300mm f2.8L IS USM @ 300mm, f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO1600. (Photo: Brian Poulsen)

It can be difficult to cover a soccer game in just twenty minutes. That’s all the time I had Wednesday when I had to shoot a cup game between the local team Ledoeje-Smoerum (a huge underdog) and BK Skjold who were clear favorites. So I have to hope for two things. 1) The favorites score a goal and catch the reaction of the home team, or 2) maybe a surprise goal bringing the home team in front and hope the game ends with a surprise victory..

Anyway against all odds the local team had the upper hand in big parts of the opening 15 minutes, had two shots on the goal post. I was completely off on the first shot, getting nothing but out of focus shots (damn you 300!!). By now I just have some regular “fighting for the ball” pictures from mid field and as I was about to fold up my chair and turn off the camera, the home team gets a free kick some 20 meters (about 70 feet or something) from the goaland I figured there might be a chance for a photo that would work.

Here’s a recap of the monologue I ran in my head..

- Ahh .. Thank you…. hopefully this will give me a good shot before heading off…

- What to shoot what to shoot ….. Do I aim for the wall (a line of opposing players trying to shield off the shot) and hope to get something? Do I shoot the kick it self, or do I focus on the goaltender making some outrageous save, or see the ball go in the net? Maybe I should go wide and have everything in the frame (I have my 70-200 on my backup camera in front of my feet and I’m almost in the right angle to the shot)?

- What the hell .. I’m keeping my focus on the goaltender, knowing the chance of the ball making it inside the goal posts is not that high, but it’s worth a try.

- Looking at the goaltender’s position in the goal, figuring out what side of the goal the ball will most likely go..

- I pre-focus in the area where I expect the ball to be. I don’t want the focus to start hunting incase I get the goaltender outside the focus point. I wait.

- The referee blows the whistle, listening for the moment where the player kicking the ball will make impact, and then react.

Here’s the result.

Canon EOS-1D Mark II n, EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM @ 300mm, f/2.8, 1/2500sec, ISO200. (Photo: Brian Poulsen)

The goaltender went right to the area I had focused on, I see the ball sailing into the viewfinder and I shoot.. Next thing I hear the ball going off the left goal post and flies back out of my view. I knew I probably had a pretty decent shot.

The local team lost 0-1 and this shot tells the overall story pretty well. They had plenty of huge opportunities but ended up losing.

Here’s the tip of the century…… Empty your CF cards after each assignment, or at least before swopping cards, if possible anyway….

Was at a soccer game a few hours ago and when I was about to run out of space on my card, I opened my bag, and to my big surprise, my CF card wallet was nowhere to be found!! Shit!!

I went to all the places where I remember swapping cards during the day, but I didn’t find it.

Close to four gigs of images down the drain!! It’s “only” two assignments and they do happen again tomorrow, so it’s not like I’m doomed besides losing two 2-gig cards and two 1-gig cards.

Maybe I should do that trick my mom did with my gloves when I was a kid, she tied the gloves to the jacket with elastic thread so I wouldn’t throw them away.

Maybe I should tie the new CF card wallet to my bag somehow, so I wont be able to drop it again…

Fuck me!!

A few weeks before I went on vacation, the high school students had their graduation. For those of you who are not danish, it’s a tradition that the different classes drive around in open trucks going from house to house to the parents or the students where they get a snack, something to eat…. And most importantly, something to drink.

I was assigned to shoot the students driving off in the trucks.

It brought back great memories from when I graduated myself…

Canon EOS-1D Mark II n, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM @ 40mm, f/4, 1/2000sec, ISO400. (Photo: Brian Poulsen)