Putrajaya Night Marathon had been going on for 2 years now but I never took part in this year’s edition instead, I chose to Kay Poh (Busybody) by going there and took pictures instead. Therefore in this post, it will not be post regarding my race experience rather it would be a post on what I had to go through during the night.

First thing’s first, in my opinion my shots are lousy. What I had planned against what did turned out was the total opposite and I was shell shocked to face so many problems. All the shots that I had preplanned in my head never materialized and I was left reeling from what I can salvage from my shots with my gear. So why did it turn out so wrong?

In my heart, I have that tinge of feeling that my gears may not be adequate for action night shots but I chose not to believe it. Instead, I planned to take shots at areas where there is ample of light hence, after studying the route that the runners had to go through, I chose to be at the Seri Saujana Bridge which among all the route, was the brightest lit.

Camera Body: I had always trusted my old Canon EOS20D as it never failed to provide me the shots required whenever I needed them. To me it was more than a companion, bordering on being part of an extension of my mind where things I see, I capture them accurately. However, it was in this night I realised that age is catching up especially on technological advancement in camera sensors. The EOS20D’s sensors are just totally inadequate when it comes to night shot where the highest setting was at ISO3200 (denoted by a H). Although Seri Saujana Bridge was fully lit during the run however to my dismay, the camera sensors are not sensitive enough to pick up light hence, requiring longer shutter speeds to get proper exposure while long shutter speeds are the bane of any sporting event where fast shutter speeds are the rule of thumb and without a proper exposure, the photos will turn out too dark.

Lenses: I wanted to compose shots of individual’s faces while they run and again to my disbelief, even at the setting of ISO3200 it was still inadequate to get proper exposure especially on my long lenses where the largest opening is at f5.6 only. Although I use f5.6 all the time during sporting events especially on bright days but when it comes to night marathons, it proved totally inadequate.

Flash: I tried to use the flash but the prospect of flashing directly into the path of oncoming runners is something that I hate others do to me. So the adage of ‘Do Not Do Onto Others What You Do Not Want Others Do Unto You’ applies here. Besides, I hate runners running after me instead of completing the course.

Well, with 3 of the factors above working against me, I had to improvise. First, I accept the fact that light will not be available and because I am seeking natural light, therefore flash is out of the option. Instead, I watched out for lamp posts as my ‘natural source’ of lighting. I timed my shots to coincide with runners running under these lamp posts so that lighting will be at their brightest while taking the shot. Not only that, I ditched the long lens and mounted the Sigma 24-70 f2.8 instead, with the aperture set at it’s maximum. As I knew that the reach of the longest 70mm is totally inadequate, I proceed to change my position from middle of the bridge to the sidewalk, as this this will enable me to get close to the runners capturing their emotion.

For the first few series of the shots, they turn out blur and I was wondering whether there is something wrong with the settings. I tweaked the ISO setting to ISO1600, with the Kelvin setting of 5000K while the shutter speed is at 1/50th seconds which I am already flirting with potentially blur shots here. It was then I decide to mount the camera onto my Manfrotto Monopod where I let loose the ball head so that the camera is allowed to rotate but resting on on top of a somewhat ‘stable’ platform. From then on, the number of good shots began pouring in while things begin to look better.

It was during this night that I learned quite a lot that why pros always upgrade their equipment. The prospect of having ruining shots will totally disrupt a pro photographer’s earnings and if I am a Pro myself, this is totally unacceptable. However, I had to admit that I was never a pro while I’m only a beginner, the thought of investing into a 70-200 f2.8 proved too much for me.

It was also at this night that I enjoyed photography so much where it totally pushed me to come up with an idea on how to get proper exposures with so much odds stacked against me. Although I have to admit, there weren’t much photos and they are not of acceptable quality but perhaps, my skills may not have rusted that much after all and yes, Jamie Pang’s Canon EF135 f2L is beginning to look like an indispensable tool to me.