Pumpkin Chuckin'

It's autumn, pumpkins are seemingly everywhere and pumpkins are colorful. Take a picture of a pumpkin? Sure, no big deal, right? Well it is a big deal if you are trying to capture a shot of a pumpkin being launched into the sky by a trebuchet ( a large catapult type contraption).

Attending the pumpkin chuckin' competition at Orion Oaks Park this past Saturday, I planned on grabbing pictures of the pumpkin launches along with more sedate still life shots. As things turned out, the action shots were a lot tougher to capture than expected. At first I oriented my shots horizontally but the pumpkins sailed out of the frame too quickly. Switching to a vertical orientation helped but it was difficult timing my shutter release with the "chuck". I decided to go manual and preset my focus and exposure before each launch. This gave me the best result but I had almost used up my twelve photo opportunities getting to that point. The four competing teams were allowed three attempts each, with the longest counted as their final score. By the time I had my methodology down the competition was done. Having never attended this event before I didn't know what to expect. Pumpkin chuckin' will be on my calendar next fall for another go at capturing the decisive moment for flying pumpkins.