Nathan had his first Pinewood Derby experience last night. His (ok our) car ran fairly well, finishing in the top 5 or 10. But he was much more excited about getting the trophy for the shiniest car. He also won the Sportsmanship award. When I think of a Sportsmanship award (I hate to admit) I usually think of a consolation prize. But he really was a good sport. He sat near the finish line and after every race he kept telling the other boys, “good job” or “way to go!” So I was more proud of his Sportsmanship award than anything else.
I included a few pictures here that tell the story for me: The infamous track, a close finish, the expressions on the participants’ faces as their cars close in on the finish line, and of course the prizes.
Taking photos at an indoor event like this is very challenging. I ended up using the flash for pretty much everything and boosting the ISO to 800. I noticed a pretty significant difference (read: decrease) in exposure when zooming out near 105 mm as the aperture stopped down to f/5.0 or smaller. It was a balance between trying to get as much as possible in focus, stopping the action, and getting a good enough exposure. It was fun though.