Summer of Solstice (almost)

I figured I'd pop off a few shots with it almost being summer solstice and all plus it had been a long time since I used fill flash on a sunset and I had some time on my hands. Also, figured I'd try and show a little bit of what my back yard vista looks like.

Kitty Kat

This is a little gem I worked up from my P&S. Reminded me a bit of my former co-workers and their love for their cats. You know who you are.

Last of SLC

This is about the last image I shot while in Utah. It's of a close friend in the middle of downtown SLC. I know this post is a bit past it's sell date but I ran across this image on my point and shoot and thought it was fitting enough for the blog. To all my friends and peers in Utah I just wanted to say thanks for the memories.

The BLM Smoke Jumpers

Here are a couple I liked for the shoot but didn't turn in because they didn't help tell the story. I still liked them anyways so here they are. I was fortunate enough to hang out with Brittany Cooper the cool T.V. lady for a minute and we got to learn about smoke jumpers and things of that nature. It was a nice little shoot and met some really cool peeps. 

Kristin Armstrong (The other one)

Here's Kristin Armstrong, an Olympic Gold Medalist that resides in Boise and who came to Twin Falls for a charity event. (Oh, and no it's not Lance's wife, not even related from what I'm told.) I shot probably more than I needed too, even had one kid ask me if I was a Pap. lol. The reporter on the story asked if I would take a few candid shots of the interview, even the T.V. girl was excited about the story. Guess this is considered the big show here in the Magic Valley. Reminded me of the first time I met a bigger name. It was Bobby Seal, co-founder of the Black Panthers. Maybe one day I'll get those goose bumps again like everyone there had, until then I'll just keep shooting. :)

Western Days?

Okay, We all know 4th of July. Many of us know of Pioneer Days....but Western Days? Well, it's a huge gig here with all the trimmings. Parade, Frisbee Golf tourney's, farmers markets, craft fairs, etc etc. My job was to cover the parade. 

Daytime Football

Great times. This was actually an 8 man all-star game I was covering, so basically 1A schools. :) At the end of the day though it really didn't matter, the light was out. Reporter on the story was an Ace as well. Cool peeps. It's great to be back even if it's not at full capacity. Thank goodness these guys have a 300 I can use. 

A quick trip

Top: My friend decided about 10 months ago to grow a mohawk. This was the first time I'd seen it in almost five months. 

Second image is an idea I stole from an E-mail my Mother sent me. Kinda a cool look and something I hadn't ever really thought of doing. Could be the next niche portrait work I do. Simple, Easy, and you know the high school kids will love it.

Shooting Sports Again!!!!

Damn it's good to have a 300mm back in my hands. Granted I wish it had been a 400 for baseball but nonetheless it felt right. Anticipating the moment, squeezing the release, following through the action. It puts a sports shooter high on life. This was basically an All-Star game in Twin Falls that I shot. I had to readjust to shooting a Nikon D1H compared to Canon Mark III's but after a couple of innings I had knocked enough rust off to at least capture a few images including these two. For those of you who have kept up on checking for my updates only to see nothing new I hope for now that will change. Don't give up on me yet. Take care and lets all record some history. :)

KillDeer

Came across these little eggs amongst the gavel near where I live. I've been told they're KillDeer eggs and I found the Mother only a moment later. Turns out the parent pretends to be injured while hoping to draw attention away from it's eggs. The weird things I come across back here in Idaho. 

Long Time Coming

It's been a long time coming for a trip back home to St. Jo, Missouri as well as a blog post. Over the next three entries you'll see in no particular order some of my favorite images from my five day trip to the Mid-West. These top two are my favorites. The first just had that amazing texture that you often find in black and white prints along with great gradual tones from black to white. I was impressed with my old D1H. I know my awesome photography professor Tim Frazier would scowl me for splitting the frame but nonetheless I enjoy this photo. Number two is a street scene in KC, MO. After shooting straight frames for the last five years give or take I'm beginning to enjoy the freedoms PhotoShop affords. It's fun knocking some rust off and just playing with the curves and layers in some of these images. The bottom frame is a candid of my grandfather Bob Nash chowing down in a pub in the Power and Light District in Kansas City, MO. The whole trip was filled with laughter and smiles and most of all stories with which I will hold dear to my heart for years to come. 

Missouri take 2

I covered a little bit of the city market it KC which was the closest thing to an event assignment I've had in months. Of course I didn't worry about idents and with limited lens selection (I only have an 18-50 2.8) I could only shoot so many angles that I wanted. Regardless it was fun to wander about shooting pictures.

As for the structure images I love seeing where other shooters work from so I always try to get a pic. I wish I had arranged for a tour and a little meet and greet with the photo editors at the papers so maybe next time. BTW the Kansas City Star has some of the best photo play I've seen from a rag. Very nice.

The bottom image is of the original Pony Express stables. It was a fun little tour and I enjoyed shooting with the hard natural light around me.

St. Joseph, MO : Hometown

These are random images from my endeavor to Missouri. All of these are taken in St. Jo where I was born. It was a great time walking the museums and hearing about the stories of the gateway to the West. 

Dreams End

This is probably the best candid image of me at my former post as a photojournalist. It was on an Eagle Viewing outing with the governor. I remember being cold and tired that morning. Perhaps a bit groggy. I remember doing the usual bitching about revenue issues with the TV guys and not having our own company cars. lol. Ah, the little things back then. Once the gov. got there we all perked up a bit. I sat two seats behind Huntsman. I remember I was using my video camera as a telephoto lens. Actually worked really well. Leah had a 100-400 or something like that and Brandy had a friggin' 600 mm I think. He had spoken about how their paper was going to get video cameras and he was a tad nervous about it. Anyways, I remember focusing on the little one in front of me and of Huntsman and his daughter in front of her. I used a frame grab of Huntsman's daughter with him that his office ended up requesting from us. I remember thinking, Damn, wish it had actually been a frame and not a grab. Anyways, while I ramble here I guess what I'm really trying to say is this image helps embody why I loved my career. Seeing little eyes light up with joy after seeing an image I had taken. Chasing history down and finding the good and sometimes bad in people. Sigh, oh well, se la vie.

Painting with Light

I went around with an old friend from college and we took images around downtown Ogden. Great fun. She's in image 2. I hadn't shot images just for fun for a very long time. Of course, when I'd see an image I'd take it while on assignment but actually go out just to screw around with our cameras was a whole different ball game. :)