Why I'm disappointed about the new USA Gymnastics photography policy

In light of USA Gymnastics' new photography policy (only point and shoot cameras allowed for people without credentials), I'd like to explain why I take pictures and why I don't want to go to meets where I can't take pictures.

I've done gymnastics since I was very young. When I lived in Southern California, I continued doing gymnastics as an adult because there were several gyms that offered adult classes in gymnastics/tumbling/trampoline. When I first moved to Austin, I excitedly started looking for somewhere to workout - hoping to stay involved with the sport I love only to find out that most gyms here don't offer adult classes. Sometimes an adult class will appear in South Austin but that's 40 miles from my house and not an easy drive during rush hour. I found myself with no way to stay involved with gymnastics and totally unmotivated to watch any gym meets (I find it too depressing to just sit and watch a meet when I wish I could still be involved).

Then I upgraded my DSLR camera and began taking gymnastics pictures (I've done photography since high school). All of a sudden, I was excited about gymnastics again. I found a way to stay involved and I was motivated to drive to Dallas to go to the competitions. Those of you that have met me know that I have chronic injuries and I cannot spend long hours on my feet. Thus, I never intended to be a professional photographer who has to stand all day at the meets - you guys have my utmost respect for standing there all day long! I've always obeyed the "no commercial photography" rules and I've never once sold any of my photos.

USA Gymnastics used to have a photography policy that stated "no lenses greater than 6 inches". I thought this was a very reasonable and fair rule (no monopods or tripods either - which is also reasonable). This rule allowed people in the stands to take decent photos while the pros on floor could get the best angle and sharper photos since they were close enough to use a 1.8 lens (allowing for faster shutter speed). For awhile I found a very exciting way to stay involved in the sport and I was eager to travel to Dallas to attend the meets.

Now USA Gymnastics has changed their rule to allow only point and shoot cameras from the stands and no lenses greater than 35mm. I think this is very unfair. If I can't take pictures, then why should I spend hundreds of dollars to drive to Dallas (or travel further for the other meets) just to watch? I can WATCH gymnastics on TV! I'm trying to stay involved not just WATCH. It seems that USA Gymnastics doesn't want to encourage fans to take pictures? But why not? If it encourages fans to attend and it publicizes the sport then it's a positive thing.

I'm not sure why this new policy was put into place. I doubt it has anything to do with flash photography (which is dangerous and distracting) because, from my experience, it's the point and shoot cameras that are more likely to have the flash go off accidentally. Is this new policy a way to force the parents to buy photos from the pros instead of taking their own photos? I don't have kids but I think it's wrong to tell the parents of the gymnasts that they can't take photos of their own kids competing. Do other sports tell the parents that they can't take pictures of their kids with a real camera? I doubt it.

I feel like gymnastics is becoming a very exclusive sport. I hear that attendance at the meets is low and I'm not surprised. It's hard to stay excited about a sport that won't let you participate after the age of 18 and won't let you come to the meets and take pictures. What is left for an ex-gymnast to do? I would really like to see gymnastics become a sport that everyone can participate in and where the fans are made to feel welcome and encouraged to publicize the sport. It seems that gymnastics is just pushing me out the door.....

Please USA Gymnastics.... let's return to the "no lenses greater than 6 inches rule" and I'll start coming to the meets again.

WOGA Classic

Mackenzie Brannan
Originally uploaded by DigiNik13

We headed up to Frisco TX for the WOGA Classic on Saturday, February 19. We got there just in time to watch the second session of the Elite Qualifier. We went back later for the International Elite Session in the evening.

Austin gymnast, Mackenzie Brannan, did a great job - placing 4th in the junior session.

The WOGA Classic is an awesome meet to watch and they allow cameras so I'm always grateful to be able to take photos. This year though they wouldn't allow the audience to sit at the end of the arena - only on the sides. Thus I couldn't get a decent angle of beam without a distracting background. I'm not sure why they had this rule (we sat at the end of the arena for the afternoon session) but many people (us included) were very annoyed by it. I hope they change this for next year.

I have a lot of photos to edit now. I'll be working on them slowly over the next couple of weeks.

Don't forget Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion is coming to the Cedar Park Center in March......

UT Gymnastics Home Meet

UT Gymnastics is having their first meet of the seasons this Saturday, February 12th, at Crenshaw's Gymnastics. Warm-ups start at 6:00pm and the competition begins at 6:30pm. Last year it was very dark in the gym for photos, this year I'll bring a 1.8 lens and see if I have better luck.

Check out the photos I got last year. If you'd like more information visit the UT Gymnastics website.

**** Update... I never made it to the UT Meet that day. Austin allergies had me out of commission by afternoon :-(

Not exactly Austin related but...

Switch leap

I had a great time at the WOGA Classic in Frisco, TX. The lighting was okay, depending on what the scoreboards were showing (if the boards were white, my shutter speed almost doubled!). I'm slowly adding photos to my Flickr account.

A couple of February events to note:

Capital Gymnastics in Cedar Park is hosting their "Heart of Texas Invitational" this weekend. There are more details on their website www.capgym.com

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Cedar Park on February 17th-21st! This is the first time Cirque du Soleil has been in the Austin area since 2005.

The Artistic Director of Blue Lapis Light is featured in a new book: "Site Dance: Choreographers and the Lure of Alternative Spaces". There will be a book signing at Book People on February 27 at 5pm. Sally Jacques (Artistic Director of Blue Lapis Light) will join Carolyn Pavlik (Co-editor) for a book signing and Q&A.

University of Texas Home Meet

UT Gymnast on the high bar

We had fun watching part of the UT Home meet Saturday night (January 16) at Crenshaw's. It was a little dark for photos but it's always fun to try. Other teams there included Texas A&M and Texas Tech. We had to leave before the meet was over so I don't know the results yet. I'll post them as soon as I can find them online.

Level 6 State at Capital Gymnastics

Level 6 State Championships were held at Capital Gymnastics on November 21-22. I enjoyed watching and taking pictures for awhile. The new facility is awesome! Too bad they don't have adult classes - well maybe it's a good thing (I don't really need to know if I can still do a full-in on the trampoline or not). Everyone we talked to was very nice and I'll definitely go to future meets at the gym.

Cirque Du Soleil is coming to Cedar Park!

This is an update to my previous post about Cirque Du Soleil's Alegria coming to Austin. I received an email this morning and the venue is actually the new Cedar Park Center. I'm thrilled because it's closer to where I live. Yay! Tickets are on presale now for Cirque Club Members (it's free to join - just sign up at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/). The dates for the show are February 17-21, 2010.

Assuming that the arena show is similar to the tent show I saw in 1995, I think this is a fantastic show - especially for people into gymnastics! Alegria has a tumble trak act (called power track), Russian bars, aerial high bar and other great acts (like trapeze). I already got my seats and I'm considering going twice to just support Cirque coming to Austin.

Here is a small version of the Alegria wallpaper image available from Cirque Du Soleil's website. Check out the Alegria page for more information about the show:
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/alegria/default.aspx

Austin gymnast at 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas

I am thrilled that I was able to attend the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, TX this past August. Even more exciting was that I was able to take my camera and photograph the meet (this is the first time I was able to photograph gymnastics). Local Austin gymnast Mackenzie Brannan qualified for the event and did a great job placing 20th out of many competitors. Here is a photo I took over her overshoot on the uneven bars. To view more photos from the competition visit my flickr account: www.flickr.com/photos/flipimages

Cirque Du Soleil may return to Austin!

For the first time since 2005 we may have a Cirque Du Soleil show coming to Austin. According to http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ the show "Alegria" has Austin listed as one of their stops in early 2010. Alegria is now an arena show which means the show is performed in an arena instead of the famous Cirque Du Soleil tent. The purpose of the arena shows is for Cirque to visit smaller cities or locations where setting up the tents is unfeasible. Alegria is a very acrobatic show including power track (similar to tumble trak), trapeze, Russian Bar and aerial high bar. Aerial high bar is like a combination of men's high bar and trapeze. The performers do release skills similar to gymnastics but they perform them to a catcher or to another bar (like women's uneven bars). It's all performed very high in the air to add excitement. Power track always has great tumbling along with fantastic music and choreography. Alegria has been one of my favorite Cirque du Soleil shows since I first saw it in 1995.

I'll post more information on Alegria as it becomes available.

Why I am starting this blog

This blog is still in its infancy (just started today). What is the purpose of this blog? Well, I did gymnastics most of my life until I moved to Austin and discovered that adult gymnastics classes are next to impossible to find here. That's fine, I can do handstands and conditioning at home but eventually I started to miss just being around the gym. I can't coach (I have another job) so I tried to fill the void with another old hobby - photography.

Then I ended up in Dallas taking photos at the 2009 Visa Championships. I had a fantastic time and now I miss gymnastics even more. I've found myself scouring the newspapers and websites looking for any kind of gymnastics related activity that I could watch and photograph (if photography is allowed). So I decided to start this blog that will list some of the events that I find and hopefully some photos (if the event allows it). I would like to see gymnastics and Circus Arts get more publicity in Austin and the surrounding areas.

Cirque Mechanics Birdhouse Factory

Thank you to The Long Center and Cirque Mechanics for bringing Birdhouse Factory to Austin! It was a fabulous perfomance with plenty of acrobatics, entertainment and good music. The story is based in a factory with acrobats as workers. The workers perform a variety of amazing acts including contortion, German wheel, hand balancing (with a female base), aerial hoop and trampoline .Most of the artists have performed at Cirque du Soleil at some point during their career and all of them are very talented and engaging. The clown brings a great sense of humor to show and really connected with the audience.

The show was inspired by the industry murals of Mexican-born artist Diego Rivera as well as images of Rube Goldberg (cartoonist) and the humor style of Charlie Chaplin. Originally the show was performed in San Francisco in 2004 but it's now touring around the United States and internationally.

For more information on Birdhouse Factory visit their website: http://www.birdhousefactoryshow.com/