Gym at Fullerton in the early 90s

A few photos from a gymnastics meet between Cal State Fullerton and Utah. I must have taken them back in the early 90s, since I would not have been available after because, of course, I would have been up in northern California from mid decade until the end. I was using my Canon T-70 with, I think, my 135mm f2.0 lens. I have another lens, my Tokina 200mm f3.5 lens, but that is not adequate to take photos in situations with dim lighting, and that is always the case with these gymnastics meets, they take place in indoor gymns and the light is very subdued. I often wonder how the athletes are able to complete their routines in such lighting.

Those were the hallowed days of film. I would go to one of the retails stores, maybe a Target or Walmart, and buy rolls of 1600 ISO high speed film. It was not cheap for me back then, but given how much film prices have skyrocketed after the ascent of digital cameras, it was next to nothing. You could buy three-packs for about $11, as I recall, and maybe even cheaper. I wish I had saved at least one receipt. 

This film, of course, is grainy, but it would do because, even with a fast lens, the light is so dim you cannot freeze fast motion. So, I would set my camera to maximum aperture, f2.0, which of course gives me a very shallow depth of field, and since I was using a camera that didn't have auto-focus, I had to focus manually. Many times I wasn't successful, the motion was too quick, but mostly I could capture a performance. The rolls only had 36 exposures so you could burn through one after two or three performers had completed their routines. It was best to take about 8-10 rolls, because that way, you could somewhat capture a meet event and also, budget for the exposure costs afterwards. 

I used to attend regular meets elsewhere too. It was an excuse to go out and see different campuses, and I needed those road trips. We do not have many gymnastics programs left in our area of southern California. We used to have UCSB (program discontinued), CSF (program discontinued) and, of course, we still have UCLA (program still present). I don't know, I guess these programs don't garner enough interest or have sponsorship from companies the way football and basketball? I always saw well-attended events. 

Look at the hairdoos on the people who are watching! That young man in blue towards the left, he is very much a young Michael Fox type. The hairdoos remind me of the 80s.