09.18.10
It all began with a phone call from my mother.
Mom: "Do you have a telephoto lens" was the question which began the conversation
Me: "Yes."
Mom: "Well, Emily Huber might be calling you. There is a race coming up in Boise that needs a photographer with a telephoto lens."
Me: *silence* I didn't know what to think. My thoughts were racing.
The day wore on, my thoughts still running a mile a minute, and finally, my questions were answered with a sweet little facebook message from my old friend Emily Huber. We grew up in Bend together, she lives in Twin Falls, and seriously. A person should not be as sweet as she is. She is, and always has been, one of the most genuinely kind, honest, most thoughtful friends I have ever known.
The message went something like this:
"Rebecca. I have a friend who is looking for a photographer and I think this is a job you would be good at." Then, she had posted the message from her friend Garrett. Garrett was wanting to hire a photographer to shoot a 10K race called "The Dirty Dash" coming to Boise. It was Boise's first time hosting the race, and it was considered a "Mud Race." "Triathlons and Marathons are for wussy's" is their motto. COUNT ME IN! I wouldn't be caught dead running in a 10K, but shooting people running and actually having fun doing it? Love it already.
I contacted Garrett, who put me in contact with a sweet girl named Melissa who took my information. They checked my portfolio, my camera and lens specs, and hired me within a day or so!
One obstacle I had to jump through: finding a sitter for the ENTIRE day for my sweet boys. Justin has approached hunting season, making me a hunter's widow (if that is even what they call it!). I had been told by my good friend Amy that a girl in our ward, named Sammy was great. I have watched Sammy grow from a 7 year old to an almost 16 year old teenager with an imagination like no other and energy I could only envy. PERFECT for my two boys. She was hired and up for the challenge.
Day of race. Sammy arrived around 7:10am. The boys had just woken up, Trey was a cranky boy and Tian was as happy as ever. Sammy had some apple cider in hand an two pop tarts. A girl after my own heart. I had made banana bread and Caramel Rolls for the boys and Sammy to eat for breakfast. Sammy quickly ditched her pop tarts and took some Rolls. Once again, a girl after my own heart. Someone who isn't afraid to take the food offered to her!
At 7:30am I was off to Bogus Basin. I was supposed to be meeting my photog friends at 8am, and was a bit nervous I wouldn't make my scheduled time. I was right. Between the traffic weaving up Bogus Basin and my lack of steadiness around the curvatious roads, I got to my destination at about 8:20am. I was freaking out needless to say, but was grateful my new photog friends didn't seem to notice the time. They handed me a shirt, a bagel and cream cheese and took me up the side of the mountain to my station. They provided CF cards, a "camping chair" (which was actually a little "chair" they use in the military I think. I assembled it but never used it.) I was to stake my "Flo-Foto" sign near where I stood, but I don't think anyone noticed it. I waited, with the First Aid and Ski Patrol men and women until the racers arrived. 1.5 hours later. Did I mention I was stationed near the largest slip and slide I have ever seen in my entire life? I knew Trey and Tian would have been so jealous. Secretly, I was hoping to have time to test it out myself, but to no avail.
About 10:30am the first three racers cruised down the hill and slid down the slip and slide. They were serious about this race, no funny outfits or lally-gagging down the slide. After the first three racers slid down the slide, I noticed my CF card I was given did not work. One of the 4 cards was completely full from a race the prior week, the other three were not formatted for my camera. Needless to say, I had somewhat of a panic attack and remembered that I had brought my own CF card which I could easily use. Although, it had a family photo shoot and a maternity shoot from the prior week. Thankfully, I had already uploaded the pictures to my PC, my external hard drive AND my laptop, so I was cleared. The only problem, I had to manually erase one by one. By the end of the race, I could barely move my fingers and was SICK and tired of erasing.
The racing attire was hilarious. I haven't seen so many men in tutu's in my life. There was plenty of spandex and speedos to go around. One team wore tighty-whities. My all time favorite teams had to be the Scooby-Doo gang, including a full on Scooby-Doo outfit (the poor soul who had to wear that beasty costume!), a group of "butchers" complete with blood stained aprons, and one lady wore a bore's head in a Baby Bjorn strapped to her chest. I bet she has a huge bruise forming on her sternum as I type. Did you forget, this was a 10K race?!!!
Thank you Flo-Foto for taking on my skills for the day. It was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed. 5 hours of photo shooting with complete laughter overheard the entire time. The location was beautiful and fresh! I learned a ton, had never shot in AV mode before and was happy to try it out. I also learned I should probably do some more question asking prior to signing up for something so big, but all in all, was so happy to be given the opportunity.
BTW, I came home to two boys and one babysitter, all safe and sound. Although Trey has a fever, body aches and a yucky tummy. Let the flu season begin!
Beware: picture overload!!!! I couldn't help myself. When you take well over 1040 pictures, you just can't choose 3!
