Ringling Brothers was fantastic....

Jumping from one wheel to the next (Explored)
Originally uploaded by DigiNik13
I really enjoyed Ringling Brothers' show "Fully Charged" last weekend in Austin, TX. We went on two different days and I took lots of photos each day. The show had some good acrobatics and aerial acts. It ended with a "tumble track" act that really was a rod floor instead of a trampoline. The tumbling in the act was very good but not spectacular. I think the most impressive skill I saw was a quad full but I was so busy taking pictures that I'm not 100% sure it was 4 twists instead of 3 :-) My bad!

As always, the Wheel of Death was a crowd favorite and a very energetic act. I also enjoyed the handbalancing, the aerial act and the guy who was shot out of a giant crossbow while on fire (yikes!).

The Ringmaster, Brian Crawford Scott, was fantastic.  He was very charismatic and had an amazing voice.  He also had several cool costumes so I took quite a few photos of him.

There was lots of juggling in this show and the jugglers were very entertaining! The high wire performers were also great to watch and one of them even did a side flip off the high wire onto the platform (I haven't seen that before!).

Overall I definitely recommend this show and I'm always grateful to Ringling Brothers for allowing cameras so I can take pictures. I have to say that Ringling Brothers has become my favorite photo op in Austin :-) I look forward to it every year.....

I'll post a link to the final set of photos once I am done editing them.

Ringling Brothers is coming back to Austin

I'm quite behind on my blogging but this is a quick post to say that Ringling Brothers Circus is coming back to Austin on August 22-26, 2012 at the Frank Erwin Center.  It's a new show called "Fully Charged" and based on the previews on the website I think we're going to get a power tumbling act :-)  Yay!

As always, I absolutely love taking photos at Ringling Brothers so I cannot wait for this show! 

Austin Shrine Circus 2012

We had a good time at the Shrine Circus this year - I think I am getting more acquainted with how they run the show and that makes it easier. For example, this time we did not buy floor seats because the setup never matches the seating chart and that always frustrated us. This time we bought seats in the first row of the arena and they were good seats. It was nice to be a little higher than the floor seats because it was easier to see over equipment and people walking around during the show. So I never had a problem with my view being blocked while they setup for the elephant rides (which happened last year).

Another advantage of the non-floor seats is not getting trampled while the elephant rides are happening. I mean trampled by people pushing to get into line - not trampled by elephants :-)

Some of the acts are the same every year - like one of the clown acts but it's a great act so I don't mind seeing it again. My favorite acts had to be the Wheel of Death and the juggling. The female juggler in the center ring was very good and engaging to watch. I enjoyed seeing the Wheel of Death up close for the first time. Other acts included trampoline, horse riding, motorcycles, dogs and a human cannon ball. My best suggestion for this circus would be to include less animal acts and more aerial acts - like Ringling Brothers has been doing over the years.

I took quite a few photos and I'm slowly editing them and posting them on Flickr. I'm always grateful for the shows that allow cameras because I love taking photos of circus, gymnastics, acrobatics etc!

The next circus event at the Cedar Park Center is Quidam by Cirque du Soleil in March - can't wait!

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.

Cirque Du Soleil is coming back to town!

Cirque du Soleil will be back at the Cedar Park Center March 10-20th, 2011. This year the show is Dralion which is a blend of traditional Chinese circus arts with typical Cirque du Soleil flair. I saw the tent show in 1999 and it incorporated many entertaining acts: juggling, teeterboard and hoop diving with fantastic Cirque du Soleil music. I have not yet seen the arena version but I've heard that the show has been updated and now includes a trampoline wall act - Yay!

For more information on the show visit Cirque Du Soleil's website here.

The Cedar Park Center sent me this link for discounted seats - use the promotional code STARS (all caps).

I'm always happy to see Cirque du Soleil come to town, even if they don't allow photography during the show :-)

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......

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.

Trapeze Classes in South Austin

Since September 1st Trapeze Experience has been running trapeze classes at the Soccer Zone in South Austin. It's a nice facility for trapeze because it's indoors, although I do wish it was closer for us North Austin folks. For people who are interested in trying circus arts, flying trapeze is a fun and safe way to start. Beginners always wear a safety line and start with a very basic position called "knee hang". Once the "knee hang" is mastered, the individual has a chance to be caught by the catcher from the knee hang position.

It appears that the company is changing ownership after January 1st. Before January 1st, the website for information is http://www.trapeze-experience.com/. After January 1st, the website will be http://www.trapezeaustin.com/

I definitely want to stop by and try trapeze again. I had a blast doing flying trapeze in Jamaica many years ago. Here are a couple of photos. Sorry about the poor quality but these were taken quite a few years ago with a film point and shoot and then scanned (before digital was very available). If I remember correctly, I was doing a split catch in both photos.

Reminder - Cirque Du Soleil tickets on Sale today!

Tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's Alegria go on sale to the general public today, Dec 4th, at 10:00am. Alegria will be at the Cedar Park Event Center from February 17-20, 2010. Yay! It's great to have Cirque back in the Austin area.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the Cedar Park Event Center box office.

Blue Lapis Light

Blue Lapis Light is a site specific aerial dance group with a studio in South Austin. I have the bad luck of continually missing their performances but I often check their website to see what's coming up. They teach ongoing classes at their studio (unfortunately, I live too far away to attend a class) and they also teach private lessons. It's always been a dream of mine to try aerial silks so one of these days, I definitely want to go to their studio for a private so I can give it a try and take some photos.

I just noticed on their website that they are offering aerial dance workshops for most Sundays in December. If you are interested here's the link:
http://www.bluelapislight.org/classes.html

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