Basketball Angles

Here in the Gem state refs apparently are not used to having photographers at their games. Sure, in the Bee Hive state refs always got in the way, we all have that immaculate shot only to be ruined by a refs leg. But here in Idaho it's something else. ALWAYS, in the way and on top of that I've never been stepped on this much. You may ask yourself, "he's too close, just scoot back" well, I have. I'm actually up against the wall. I sat closer at Jazz games. So, in the spirit of mixing things up and getting unique angles I've begun trying new positions all over the gym. It's fun, safer, and most of all a little different.

KidO

So...Yeah....I covered an assignment on putting down carpet. Then why do you ask do I have a small child in the picture? Well, because she was cute and curious about what it was I was doing. So I snapped this image and gave it to her mom as a thank you for letting me into her home for awhile.

Wrestlemania

Covered wrestling for the first time in a long time. Nothing really new here, got to hang with the sports guy who kept me really up to date with everything. Only covered 4 matches but received solid photo play. I guess I could mention how it was nice not to have 20 parents who all think they're photographers in my way. So yeah, overall it was good day.

Girls and their Basketball

Intense game considering I only shot 8 minutes of it. Top image is classic Jerome defense while the other is the closest thing I've come up with in comparison to Chris Detrick's award-winning eye gouge shot. Be sure to check out his blog under my "peers" tab.

Funeral of a Garbage man

Interesting twist on a very common cultural tradition. Burial. Shot some video of this event as well.

New Ride?

Santa showed up at the Magic Valley Airport in a helicopter and treated disabled children to his lap and candy-canes. I won't lie, I did a lot of blinking back tears on this one, very emotional day for those kids and their smiles.

It's Here

Winter that is. I didn't have any assignments for the day which was odd, so I took the liberty to shoot a quick weather feature. Barns liter the countryside out here in Buhl so it doesn't take much to find one. This shot is taken two steps out of the front door.

Game On

Tough and Physical, that was the name of the game. Between afros and tattoos this was an action packed game. Wish I could have stayed for the whole thing.

A kitty kingdom

Took me awhile to find this place. Out in the middle of no where this was one man's kingdom. The story was how feral cats keep down the mice population out in the country. Without staging anything this is what I was able to come up with in about 20 minutes of shooting. I was picked up in the dirt driveway by an ATV with a roof on it. The inside was littered with Bud Light cans as the cowboy said, "I don't know what you want to shoot, but here I am". I smiled and replied, "Don't worry bout it, take me to the cats!"

Black Friday

Sorry I didn't get these up earlier. Getting up at 3A.M. sucked. Hell I didn't even get to shop. No matter it was fun to hangout with shoppers and drink hot coco in the wee hours. I got to go through the fire escape door in order to get ahead of everyone. Good times.

Trout Capital

A somewhat informative shoot with nice light. Everyone was really nice and it wasn't nearly as fishy as the processing plant I worked at up in Alaska.

Almosts

I usually never post images that I wouldn't run in the paper but taking after my friend Trent Nelson I decided I'd show a few of my "what ifs". The reason for doing this is too help illustrate my struggles of shooting a one body 2.74 MP camera during a basketball game. You see when shooting 2- 8+MP cameras you have a combination of lens selection and MP cropping power. In my case I have to pick and choose when I slap a 300 2.8 on. The images you see here are all with an 80-200 whereas in the past I would have had the 300 to my eye. On top of that with no real cropping power let alone with an ISO boost these images simply fall apart when cropping which of course wouldn't have happened at all had I had the correct lens on at the time. You see I'm considering purchasing another D1H to fix the two body problem. The question is am I simply putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound?

Trailhead

Kirklyn Smith honored his old Scout Master by naming the trail he started as a boy scout after him. I liked the image in B&W, the color one has a really nasty orange stake in it.

JC Ballin'

These guys are pretty good, a bit lazy at first but they finally really stepped into rhythm. I could be off but most of these guys could be playing at Division 1AA schools with their skills. As I was shooting the team there was only one white guy and he was riding some serious pine. Got me thinking what it would be like to follow an all black basketball team in a predominately white/hispanic state. Self segregation? An overabundance of camaraderie? I wonder if they're treated like superstars here in Idaho whereas say Georgia they'd be just another basketball player?

Refs EVERYWHERE!

The dance team apparently decided to dress like the refs for the day so I couldn't help seeing stripes everywhere. Maybe next time I'll do a group photo with all of us.

A whole new basketball world

I quickly realized how much I miss a two body system. I quickly got bored just shooting with the 80-200 once I had what I needed. I was inspired by the one and only Scott Strazzante with the top shot. As for the game itself I had a great time and was impressed by the level of competition at the NJCAA level. The bottom image was an example of the trade-offs of having kids as a sports fan. I can see the conversation now, "Sure honey you can go to the game, just don't forget to feed the baby!"

Tear Down this Wall!

This gentleman took a sledgehammer to the Berlin wall back in 1989. His ex got the piece piece of history in the divorce. Nice guy, great story, but no visual aids for the shoot other than a printer sheet of a photo he was able to get. We do what we can.

Sunset

I finally decided to try a quick and dirty panoramic shot with my P&S Nikon. Used the nifty software that came with the camera too. Turns out it's super simple and fun to boot. Plus, by putting 3 full res images together I can print these puppies HUGE! I can't wait to try another one more seriously. Watch out!

Diving Volleyball

Yeah, so still no portfolio VB shot. I decided I'd get one dive photo no matter what at this game.

Halloween!!!!

I was apparently the Halloween guy this year. Actually I've been the Halloween guy since 2005. This was however the first year I didn't shoot a creepy cemetery illo just tons of haunts (4). This is my favorite image I shot on Oct. 31st though. I was only about 2 feet from this little girl as I snapped away and she simply didn't care. Love it when that happens.

Cheerleader

The college of Southern Idaho has 10 male and 10 female cheerleaders currently. The guys do all this really cool tumbling while the girls just kinda stand there. It's a really weird situation they have over there whereas I'm so used to almost no guys and girls tumbling this way and that as I almost get kicked.

Haunted?

Got to cover a possible haunting at an old school (now a museum) near Twin Falls. Shooting was tough but it was a fun assignment. I mean who else gets to go to haunted building legally and get paid?

H1N1

I'm sure many of us are shooting this story this year. Here's what I got. Hindsight tells me I should have worked the moments a little more after I saw what Djamilia Grossman captured with her work. Be sure to check out her blog. (on my blog roll)

Albion Grounds

Wow, this little adventure scared the hell out of me. I didn't even know this woman was real until I started shooting her. Now I've shot haunted mazes/buildings before but I've always gotten there early and eased my way into the old pagan culture of demons and ghosts. Usually it's cracking jokes with the werewolf before the show starts while sitting at one location and working the living daylights out of it. This time around I went with the reporter (and her husband) and while she wanted to go through as a participate I tried to capture as much of the atmosphere as I could while I was screaming, crawling and even getting tagged in the groin by a ghoul. As they say, a new twist on an old story.

Faceless Football

This isn't the ideal image for print but I liked the gritty rawness of the scene, the attempt at the strip and the power of the running game. Sums up high school football with two faceless players grinding it out.

Lights Out, Camera On, Be Still!

I felt the urge to take a couple of shots tonight and this is what I came up with. Thanks Djamila for giving me the idea. The first one are Buhl, Idaho's town lights that I shot while jiggling the camera. 3 sec. f5, 1600 ISO, 50 mm. The second is an old chili plant I found. Odd, I know.

ICON

This is a 13th century icon in the Russian Orthodox Church. Told to be one of the most sacred ones too. It was really cool to feel the energy of close to 100 people pouring into a small room to kiss the Mother of God icon and I'm glad I could be a part of it as it reaches through history on it's way to SLC for a spell.

JubO!

I've been shooting more and more of CSI Volleyball lately which is good for me. I think if you can shoot volleyball you can shoot anything. I know that's pretty general but the hand-eye it takes for this sport surpasses any that I've shot so far.