There is a chill in the air

Another sign that fall is in the air, frost on the car in the morning.

goo goo g'joob
t-151

Contest time

Fall is probably my favorite time of year. Cool nights, warm days, the changing of the aspen. It also means the entry deadline for the Colorado Press Association awards is here. I usually spend a few hours each day for several days going through the papers from the past year looking for my best work in the four designated photo categories: news, feature, sports and essay. I try to find from five to a dozen possibilities in each category, which will then be whittled down to the three entries allowed for each category.

Then the fun begins.

I am usually able to find two solid entries for each category, but then it gets tough to select the third entry. I have co-workers take a look. I go away for a while, then come back and look at them again. This tends to go on for a couple of days until the deadline approaches and I just pick one and say, "this will have to do."

The process does give me a chance to review my work from the prior year and see how I did. I see images I could have done better, images I shouldn't have taken at all and ones that are very satisfying. Images that generated good feedback from either my editors, friends or the community. It's a process that makes me realize I am very fortunate to be doing what I do, where I do.

goo, goo g'joob

If all sporting events were played in light like this, the world would be a better place...

I was supposed to shoot a volleyball match in Kremmling last night, so I left soccer practice early in order to get to there in time for the 6:00 start. When I walked into the gym, all I found was volleyball practice. I then learned the match had been postponed due to a large number of players on the other team were sick.

I wandered back outside and saw that there was a pee wee football game being played on the high school field. So I thought to myself, as long as I'm here I might as well shoot it. And I am glad I did. I was able to shoot the final quarter in some of the most wonderful light I have seen in a long time. All of the high school football games I shoot don't start until after 7:00, so if I see anything like this, it only lasts a few minutes and then I am at the mercy of the stadium lights, which aren't very good at the two schools I shoot at. This light lasted the entire time.

Karma?

It has always been a dream of mine to cover the Olympics--winter or summer, it doesn't matter. The parent company of the newspaper I work for had two credentials available for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and had anyone interested submit an application and short essay earlier this year. I actually thought I had a pretty good chance of being selected, but the powers that be selected someone else.

After being excited about the possibility of going to cover one of the biggest events in the world, I found myself relieved that I wasn't chosen, because I started to realize that the logistics of packing and transporting all of the gear (photography, clothing, ski, etc.) I was going to need for two weeks was a little daunting. I was also going to be on my own for those two weeks and that was going to mean some long days, as well as likely being burnt out by the end of the event.

Fast forward to today.

Earlier today I was talking with my editor and publisher about a variety of things and we briefly talked about how I missed out on the opportunity to go to the Olympics through our company. Our publisher mentioned that she was very surprised that I hadn't been selected. It brought back memories of my dream of covering the Olympics...maybe someday.

Then this afternoon I received a call from the assignment editor at my photo agency, which took me by surprise, because, since I have been working for the newspaper, I haven't shot very much for them. He said he had two questions for me, one that was pretty simple and the other that was a little more complicated. The first was if I would want to shoot any of the Denver Broncos' games this season. When I was freelancing full time, I shot just about every Broncos home game for almost three years. The work I produced was some of my best-selling images I had with the agency, but I really don't have any desire anymore. I don't miss it, other than seeing my photographer friends from Denver. I enjoy my days off now and really don't want to use up one of them driving to and from Denver, and shooting a game. It turns into a 10-12 hour day. No thanks.

Then for the second question, he asked me if I could get two and a half weeks off in February--he wanted me to be a part of the agency's photo team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He anticipated me being one of three photographers based in Whistler, shooting primarily the skiing, snowboarding and nordic events. I was stunned and then thrilled, but then I realized I would still need to get the time off from the paper. After getting off the phone, I explained the situation to my bosses and asked if I could take the time off. They were pretty excited for me and at this point, don't see any problems.

I need to confirm everything tomorrow and then start thinking about all of the planning I will need to start doing over the next few months--packing lists for clothing, photo gear, computer equipment, ski equipment, plus get more aggressive about getting in shape. The two weeks of the Olympics can be very physically demading, so my body will have to be ready as well.

So, assuming I didn't imagine all of this today, I will be on my way to Vancouver in a little over five months. I'm sure my preparations for this event of a lifetime will be the subject of additional posts as it draws closer. Stay tuned...

goo, goo, g'joob

Just about 24 hours in LA

I had told my son Erik that as part of his high school graduation present I would take him to see one of the World Football Challenge matches this summer. The one that would work out best for us was the Inter Milan v. Chelsea match that would be held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It would be a quick trip--fly in on the afternoon of the game and back out the next day.

As we waited for our flight, I became bored and started shooting reflections in the floor of the DIA terminal:


After arriving in Los Angeles, we went to pick up our rental car. I got a great deal on a full size from Enterprise, but Erik thought the Mercedes looked like the way to go...we went with the Altima...Erik, the Altima, it's behind you:


Heading to our hotel in Arcadia, we jumped on the 605 freeway. Five minutes later, this is what the rest of the drive looked like:


After checking into the hotel, I had also promised him that I would take him to In and Out Burger. Here he is experiencing his first Double Double in 100-degree heat:


From there it was on to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. It was my first trip the stadium since the 1986 Rose Bowl when Iowa faced UCLA:


We were part of a crowd of 81,000 at the game and what a great setting on a wonderful evening. It was a very entertaining game, but maybe next year Liverpool will take part:


The next morning I discovered my point and shoot was no longer functioning, so I wasn't able to get any additional photos. We found out our hotel was actually on Route 66, but I couldn't get any pix of the sign and I don't have any photos of Erik's first trip to Baja Fresh--yummy Mexican food. That was pretty much it--almost 24 hours on the ground in LA, most of it spent either driving on the freeways or sleeping.

goo goo g'joob

Fire on the mountain, lightning in the air

As I was getting ready to close my blinds last night, I noticed that clouds had built up over the Continental Divide. I didn't think much about it until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw several flashes in the clouds. A few weeks ago there had been a similar storm, but I was on my way back from Denver and I didn't have my camera with me, so I missed out on quite a show. I told myself I wasn't going to miss out this time, so I jumped in my car and headed to the Granby airport, which gave me a clear view of the storm.

I wasn't the only one who wanted a good view of the show. Not long after I got set up, one of the local police officers came by, not wondering what I was doing, but he said he was just wanting a better view. One of the advantages of working in a small community is getting to know the local law enforcement officers and having them not be surprised when I show up in strange places, at strange times.

The photo above was probably the best image I captured that showed a significant number of lightning bolts. I tried a variety of exposures trying to capture what I was seeing. As the sky got darker, the lights from Front Range cities began to light up some of the clouds along with the lightning. It took on an appearance of a massive fire or a scene from Lord of the Rings. The scene also brought to mind the Marshall Tucker Band song "Fire on the Mountain."

Stalking bicyclists

Had an assignment this week to illustrate a story we were working on about a new Colorado law that will go into effect on August 5. Motorists will now be required to give at least three feet of clearance when passing a bicycle. I had seen several other photos illustrating this, but they were all shot straight on showing a car passing a bicycle. I definitely wanted to do something different, so I thought the best route to go would be to shoot with a wide angle from a car as it passed a bicycle.

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? But I would need to mount a camera to my car and position it in a way that it would show both my car and the bicycle. And I would need to find someone riding along the highway, not on a bicycle path. Actually the first thing I did was call a couple of friends to see if they would be doing any road biking--they weren't. So I would have to rely on coming across a cyclist by chance. Here is how my set up looked:


I clamped the Magic Arm to the handle on the door and ran a safety cable through the camera strap, Magic Arm and PocketWizard just in case anything would come loose. I would rather it dangle alongside the car than hit the pavement at 45-60 mph.

I was in the western part of the county, but didn't find any bikers, so I headed back towards Winter Park where I thought there might be a better chance of coming across some riders. My only worry was that the weather looked like it might take a turn for the worse. But it didn't take long for me to find someone and I was fortunate enough to pass him once, then pull over and let him go back by, then have one more pass.

Looking at the results, I wish I would have been a little closer, but that's where I wish I was photographing someone I knew, so I wouldn't cause the rider to panic. But considering on how quickly I had to get the shot done, I'm pleased with the results.

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