Swift Water Rescue Training
Sep, 2018Views
596
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Awards
Contest Finalist in The Photojournalist Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken under the University of Oregon, Autzen Stadium Bridge Crossing, of the Willamette River, Eugene, Oregon, USA. There is a set of good rapids and a flat shelve to hop in and out. The shelf creates a fairly decent hazard that can trap people below and is why we chose that location, as this was all part of a Swift Water Rescue Certification Course. As well as the Photo Journalist Finalist Award, I also received my entry Swift Water Rescue Level III Certification.Time
We spent most of the morning learning how to tie and use various types of knots; followed by a couple of hours of river entry methods for attempting to make physical contact with a victim; while in the background thousands of Oregon Duck fans were crossing the foot bridge to get to a football game, so this was taken right around 1:00pmLighting
The day was overcast and lighting was erratic, so I spent an extra few minutes walking up and down the bank while taking test shots to get settings right, as I really wanted to capture this part of the training. The light was a little low to get good shutter speed at a low ISO, but I did not want to use a flash in this case, because of the water reflections. To get to the 200 ISO I used, I opted to get downstream a little, using a longer lens (aperatyre wide open), as a subject coming towards shows less motion in the camera, than a subject passing by at same the speed. I think this shot could have improved a little if I had had a slightly faster (wider aperature) lens, as it was all I could do to achieve 1/250 shutter speed. There is a saying though, “The best equipment is the equipment you have with you.” In this instance I think I did the absolute best I could with what I had and am pleased with the results.Equipment
I used an Nikon D3200 with an 55-300 VR Kit lens, hand held. ISO 200, Aperature about 4.5, shutter speed was around 1/250, no flash.Inspiration
I have been an active volunteer in my community. I work with the homeless, performing arts, river cleanups, addiction, trail and habitat restorations, etc.. When I first started volunteering I discovered how little I knew about how involved many of these projects are and how dedicated and giving the volunteers are. Over the past couple of years I have bringing my camera along to document these efforts, in order to educate the public about what we are doing and why. This particular training event was a consequence of being a Willamette Riverkeeper/River Guardian, where I float the river with a small group every month and remove debris from the river, paying special atttention to the muscle beds, which are in constant danger from our growing populations; we obtained certifications in the event there is an accident while we are performing our volunteer river cleanup duties.Editing
As I shoot RAW photos I always perform minor adjustments to color and lighting. I attempt to use the camera to get as close as I can, but Lightroom or photoshop express on iOS tend to be my go to’s. For social media I tend to constrain to an aspect ratio of 2x3/4x6 and bump up sharpness quite a bit more than I’d like, but it helps with the compression factor of most platforms.In my camera bag
Speed Flash, Nikkor 18-55mm VR, Nikkor 55-300 VR, 3 Tripods, 3 continuous LED light sources (10k watts), polarizing lenses, extra batteries and cards.Feedback
Take in as much detail as you can while approaching the scene. Be observant of the light conditions, shadows, clouds, trees, people, obstructions, hazards and such. Take a lot of test shots from various angles to find the best perspective and settings. When not using a tripod, tuck arms in to stabilize breath and take shot while slowly exhaling. Get low, lay down if you have to; I took this from a rock shelf and put myself in an awkward and slightly dangerous position to get this photo. I should also note that I had three rescuers within arms reach watching me and alert should anything had happened.
