Another 5K Run @ Balmain Fun Run

Note: I started this post last month but only could finish and post it today

Within a month of the last run Run4Fun, I registered for another run and this time it was a longer run i.e. 5K compared to last 3K run. This was on 2nd December and event was called BalmainFunRun.

Once again my running buddy-cum-mentor-cum-running adviser-cum motivator AF encouraged me to register and run in this 5K event. In total 3 of us (I and my work-colleagues AF & AW) participated and we all did very well. It was a beautiful weather on Sunday morning as I call it 'nice running weather' with overcast sky, bit of cool breeze and water-side running track with other runners.

Run start time was 8:30 and I was aiming to keep my finish time under 30 minutes - owing to the fact that I have not been running regularly in last two weeks. The track was different to what I have been running on and I didn't know if it would include uphill / downhill run as well. When the run started and we took the first turn on the track and came towards the end of the ground where the run started from, suddenly track wen uphill and that put me in the first gear, exerting the sweet energy I wanted to reserve for the last 10 mins of the run. The heart beat jumped up to the tops and that's how the run begin. The next 5K went in forcing myself to push and keep running till around the corner and then switch to walking for a minute before resuming the run.

In the end I managed to force and push myself enough to complete the complete run without stopping and within 30 minutes. To be exact it took me a surprising 25 minutes and 36 seconds. That made me happier than I was for completing the 5K runing.

Here is the winning shot from the collection of the run.

At the finish line they arranged for some fresh fruit and drinks. Enjoyed the fruit, did some stretches and went for a coffee with the team.

Next run - City2Surf may be ?

Run a Little Run a Lot - Just Run !

So since my last post about running, I have continue running and have completed the 8th weeks and next week will be the 9th and last week of the C25K program that I have been following.

It feels great that now I can run for 30 minutes straight, compared to earlier when I started and could run for couple minutes only in one go. I found it to be a continuous argument between your mind and body such as that your body may take you beyond what your mind tells you can actually do. So when it comes to running I like to follow this quote that my work colleague, my running mentor, buddy and motivator (AF) recently have shared with me.

 

So while I was in week 8, I also participated (along with my running buddy) in this charity run Run4Fun that took place in the Sydney Olympic Park on 4th November. Since it was my first ever run, I registered for 3K run only and surprised myself by finishing in 15 mins and 40 secs. Felt great, accomplishing actually.

Got my first medal for participating and finishing the run.










In few weeks, another run is happening in Balmain for 5K which I'm not so sure about yet, only because it is bit far from my place but will see if I can register for that as well.

Next target is surely the 10K mark because after graduating from this #c25k program, I will already be running 5Ks in one go. So 10K is the next target (iff I keep on running that I'm hopeful about).

Until then, my motto is going to be 'Run Shak Run' (self motivation often is the key to achieve what you want).

Nostalgia - Sahiwal - Home

9th November 2012 00:00 hours : Sydney - Australia.

It is heavily raining outside and I can hear the sound of heavy downpour inside my living sitting at the kitchen bar stool listening to old indian music "Wo Kaghaz Ki Kashti". Totally nostalgic atmosphere and I am missing my birthplace, my city, my home in Pakistan. I stepped into the balcony and let my feelings and memories take me back home standing in my courtyard at night time when it is raining heavy as well in the summer season. I still remember when it used to rain this heavy (any time of the day) while enjoying the initial moments we used to get worried and pray to the ALMIGHTY to make it stop because too much rain was bad for us and our neighbourhood. Old houses below the street level and heavy rain with the help of poor drainage system used to create more tension for the people than to enjoy the change of weather as summer season is usually very hot and dry there.

I love rain, specially of summer season and at the start of winter season. I loved to take shower in rain and I still do. It is refreshing, joyous, mood changer for me. It always remind me of my hometown, my home street, my childhood time and friends. It brings happy memories of those times when I was not aware with the meaning of tension / responsibility and all I knew is to change into shorts and shower in the rain. Go out with friends on the streets in the rain, play and enjoy it. Years gone by, I would still do this (in fact have done it last season here in Sydney) because it makes me happy.

This post may give an impression of me of a person who likes to live in the past, but that is not true. The fact is that while I do like to recall and cherish the old times, but I do not live in the past. I do take time to recollect the good, happy memories of the past times but that is about it. Stop, recall, rejoice and resume.

I think you should never forget your past because it has made you what you are today.
Rather remember your past, learn from it and invest it into your future.

Run Run Run ..

I have been planning to start running during my lunch hour but have been procrastinating for all the reasons of laziness and slackness :P

But finally last week I have moved my 'butt' and did some running over and around the Sydney Harbor Bridge. On first day, I walked and ran (mixed) over the bridge to the city end and returned that counted for over 6KMs and that made my legs sore the next day. But it was like a case of "his first flight" for me because even sore legs didn't make me not go the next day and I must acknowledge the 'motivational talk' of one of my colleague "MG", that helped me go running despite the aching legs. But it felt great actually afterwards due to that sense of achievement. The total distance from my office (North Sydney) to the end of the bridge (bridge stairs - The Rocks) and back to office is, as per Google maps, just above 6KMs but if I use Sports Tracker then it calculates it to be around 9.5 KMs; don't know - don't ask.

Based on my earlier experiences, I was under the impression that working-out makes me sleepy but I wasn't regular at it, then. Since I've become a regular gym goer and lunch-runner, I have discovered that it actually feels great and refreshing which everyone else agrees to as well. I have found that it is very very important to take a shower after the work-out, otherwise you'll end up feeling sleepy too.

Lunch time run has many benefits for me; 1) There are many people out there running/working-out on/around the track that I follow and I found it encouraging 2) It is also a good time for exercising because stomach is empty and since it is midday usually you still have left enough energy to go out running 3) It feels lively because usually people come out of their offices for lunch break/walk/run/sunbathing /relaxing and that gives the whole atmosphere its hustling bustling look which I like 4) Being a part of the hustle bustle refreshes me as well and helps me relax during a working day full of pressure/stress 5) Above all it helps me burn some calories, lose weight and stay fit which is my main objective to do the lunch-run.

The only drag is that I don't have a partner to join the lunch-run with me, which can be a real drag at times (I know this - knowing self) but nevertheless I have to keep pushing myself out of office regularly for the run and hopefully I will achieve my target (Weight-10) in next 5 months time (no expectations just a try and hope).

Until then,

Happy Running - Shakeel !!!

Learning Panning Photography

Panning is a photography technique in which the objective is to capture a photo of a moving object while capturing the speed as well i.e. the resulting photo will also show the fact that the object was a moving object.

In the last post, Learning the Shutter Value, I have noted that how you can control the speed of a moving object using different shutter values. We touched base with how a fast shutter can freeze a moving object as well. Panning, although is related but, altogether a different concept as mentioned above. In panning you work on 2 objectives; 1st is to capture a sharper image of the moving object and 2nd is to also capture the speed of the moving object.

Panning is done by moving the camera along with the moving object to shoot. This can produce amazing results depending on how skillful you are at this technique. Using panning technique, the main object comes out sharp while the background gets blurry effect evidencing the movement of the object. This requires a lot of practice and patience along with good handling of the camera such as it should not shake vertically while you are panning horizontally along with the moving object. You should 'pan' the camera at least at the same speed as the moving object i.e. along with the movement.

I am new and learning this technique myself. Last week I have tried it for the first time and here are a couple of photos that I can share here (i.e. that came out better than others :P)

-
I took this shot near Bondi beach while standing at the road side where our car was parked. I quite like this one as this was a curvy road (wasn't straight which is recommended for a better panning shot).

-
This shot was taken from the back seat of a moving car and the bike was crossing the car on the left side. This may not be called as "Panning" (i'm not sure) but still this does blur the background slightly while the image is comparatively sharper.
Nevertheless I still like it :)

As I said I am a photography enthusiast, student myself and this is my first ever attempt at this technique, therefore I don't claim whatever I wrote above is 100% true but I know some of it is valid. I am recording this for my own learning and will be adding more as I learn more.

Here is a blog-post "Mastering Panning - Photographing Moving Subjects" where from I have learnt some about this technique. I hope you can also learn some and please do share / leave a comment on the post if you have benefit from it.


Happy Panning !!!

Happy Learning !!!

10 Reasons to Shoot Portraits During the Golder Hour

Recently I have subscribed to an online Digital Photography School which I found very useful and filled with loads of tips and information for all the photography enthusiasts. I quite like this website/blog and intend to make use of this more as I get time to learn more about this art of digital photography.

In today's email that I received from the subscription, there is one very useful article they have published "10 Reasons to Shoot Portraits During the Golder Hour" 

This illustrates how you can use the 'golden hour' lights to add the magic factor to your photos. Beautiful, isn't it?

I made this reference (post) to that article for my own use and quick reference in future. I hope you benefit from it too.

Happy Learning !!!

Disclaimer: As mentioned in the post above, I have added the link to the original post and blog on my blog only for learning purposes and for future quick reference. It does not intend to take any credit for the work of the writer of the article (or the blog/website where the article was published to)

Learning the Shutter Value

Shutter Speed is one of the most important setting on a digital camera - in this case I am talking about a DSLR. It is one of the famous trio settings i.e. Aperture, ISO and Shutter.

It is the property of the camera (body) that controls the time duration for which the light enters through the lens onto the sensor. It is represented in seconds or fraction of seconds i.e. 1sec, 1/2sec, 1/4, 1/8 and so on.  Keeping other settings (i.e. Aperture and ISO) unchanged, different shutter speeds can produce different different output images when the object is non-stationary. 

Most of the digital cameras and dslrs have a Shutter Priority (or Tv) mode on it which is used when you want to control the speed of the shutter while your camera controls all other settings based on what shutter speed you choose. A good example of using Shutter Priority mode is when you are shooting kids who are constantly moving/playing and generally do not stay in the same pose for long enough to be captured. Even if they do then most of the pics come out blurry because they like to move just on the last moment when you press the shutter on the camera :-). 

A fast shutter speed freezes the moving object and hence produces a sharper image (based on the shutter speed). Last weekend I tested the same in an attempt to understand and experience how it comes out. Below are three different images that were captured at different Shutter speeds with different output. This may not be good quality photos as I was actually helping a friend to understand the affect of shutter speed therefore just took these rather randomly without much attention to overall composition of the image.




Image 1:

Running water from the Tap:

I deliberately opened the tap only a bit to get an appropriate flow of water as shown here in this image.


Camera has following settings:

Manual Exposure:
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/50
Av (Aperture Value): f/16
ISO: 400











Image 2:

Water dripping from the Tap

In this photo, notice the affect of a faster shutter speed on the output. The running water looks like dripping only i.e. the movement of the water was slowed by the faster shutter speed.

Camera has following settings:

Manual Exposure:
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/320
Av (Aperture Value): f/16
ISO: 2500











Image 3:

Water leaking from the Tap

Notice the affect of an even faster shutter. It now looks as water drops are being leaked from the lose tap. The fast shutter speed has frozen the movement (of running water) and made it look like a drop of water. Note closely there are at least 3 water drops in this photo.

Camera has following settings:

Manual Exposure:
Tv (Shutter Speed): 1/640
Av (Aperture Value): f/16
ISO: 3200


The ISO settings were different on all these photos as well (just ignore that bit as that is not our topic today). There is lot more for me to learn and try out still and I have different ideas that I want to try with different settings.

I will post more about shutter speed effect in later posts only after when I’ve had tried the different settings/variations of Tv values.

Happy Learning !!!