Every spring, a convoy of trucks towing trailers filled with state of the art shells and long oars descend on Mission Bay. Then come the busses filled with athletes from schools all across the nation. Finally, SUVs and minivans pull into the parking lots, disgorging excited parents wearing all forms of college attire. That’s when we know it is time for the annual San Diego Crew Classic.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to bring down the long lens and see if some good images could be created. Here’s the thing with crew: it takes place way out in the bay! Positioning is critical for trying to photograph this sport and I tried two different locations. First, I set up on a spot of land in the middle of the course. I brought out the 500mm lens and a 1.4x multiplier to get 700mm of glass on the athletes. This also made for some cool scenery pics with USD or La Jolla in the background.

Next I set up at the starting line so that I could see down the course. This offered a fun perspective as the 4man and 8man crews were showing a range of emotions from serious to loose while they queued up waiting for their turn at a practice run up the bay.

Overall the energy today was high as all these teams were getting ready for the racing to start this afternoon and throughout the weekend. There will be winners; there will be losers. There will be close races; there will be blowouts. It looks like it will all take place under blue skies this weekend so get out there and enjoy!