5 Frames on the Angels 5K with the Olympus XA – by Tiffany Perez

Welcome to another 5 Frames with the Running Olympus!… Okay so this is only the second one but still. Baby steps. If you haven’t seen my first Running Olympus post, you can see that here. It is a personal project for me where I bring my Olympus XA on races with me (I am also looking to bring my Olympus Infinity Stylus on a race or two in the future so stay tuned for that!). I do this in the hopes of capturing unique things along the route of the race rather than just the views you can get on the sidelines.

Before you read on, for the US readers who are into baseball, I am not an Angels fan despite having gone to school and working in Orange County. I am not a Dodger fan either despite having lived in LA county for a majority of my life. So please don’t hate me on that part please and thank you. Hahaha

The Mission

I got to participate in the Angel Stadium 5K at Angel Stadium. This was very much a “fun run” meaning that it was not a serious race. There was a lot of areas to stop and take pictures. There was a bubble detour and you also got to go inside the stadium to see yourself up on the jumbotron. Despite having done this race once before, I was not sure how it would feel now that I had a goal of, not only crossing the finish line but, also to take pictures along the way.

The Gear

Once again, I brought my go-to point and shooter, the Olympus XA. It was a fun race and the XA was very convenient for all the shots I was taking. With so many people, I had to consciously step to the side when I took my pictures. I needed to be careful not to get on anyone’s bad side either since there were a lot more children this time around in comparison to my first race with the XA. Not everyone takes kindly to a random person taking pictures of their kids and I am truthfully not the most stealthy person even with such a compact, quiet camera like the XA.

Shots Fired

The Artic

Ready, Set, GO!

Wide Vehicle Exit

Bubble Fun

Home Run

My Conclusion

Smaller races, in terms of the length, seem to be harder to shoot. Especially when the course itself isn’t as diverse in the surroundings. This was a learning experience because it taught me to look more around me given the limited range. I was finding more interesting things to shoot because I was looking more for the small details as well as trying to capture the event overall. It also pushed me to learn more about composition as I want to try and make more interesting photos during these events. Have less fear in shooting people up close. Challenge me overall to capture some of those moments of the race that aren’t always seen in the photos you can buy at the finish line.

With any project or just any photo in general, that pushes you to improve yourself is a good project, no matter how the images might turn out. That being said, I hope you liked the photos I was able to capture at this event.

You can see my other posts here on 35mmc or visit my Instagram to see more of my work.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comment section. Cheers!

Tiffany Perez
The Drive-By Film Shooter

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