I love this time of year

Autumn in Colorado has to be just about the best time of year--warm days, cool nights...at least most of the time. And then there are the phenomenal fall colors as the aspen begin to change.



goo, goo g'joob
t- 136

My new favorite camera

I've been in the market for an additional camera body for the past few months, but was doing my homework before I decided on which one to get. For the past few years I have been using Canon digital bodies, but have been intrigued by Nikon's D700. I still have all of my Nikon lenses, so going with the D700 wouldn't cause any problems. In talking to several other photographers and looking at samples of photos from the camera, I was impressed by the D700's performance in low light. And because I shoot a lot of high school sports in bad gyms and at dark football fields made me think this might be the right choice.

I ordered the camera last Monday, it arrived on Wednesday. I spent the next couple of days getting used to the controls and doing some test shots. But what I was really waiting for was Friday and a chance to shoot it at a high school football game.

The lighting at the football field at West Grand High School in Kremmling isn't great--with my Canon 1D Mark IIN I could get an exposure of 1/250 @ 2.8, 1600 ISO, but there was also a lot of noise. As you can see in the image above, I was able get an exposure that could stop the action and even shooting at an ISO of 5000, the noise was more of what I was seeing with my other cameras at 800 ISO--if even that much. Getting images like this, under the lighting conditions I was up against, was beyond what I could imagine before last week. What a great tool to have in my arsenal.

goo, goo g'joob
t- 138

Last day of summer, first snow in Granby

I awoke this morning to the first snowfall in Granby on the last day of summer. There was at least an inch of accumulation before the temperature warmed up enough to melt the early snow and any further snowfall. As the clouds lifted, you could see that the mountains had a nice frosting of snow. I had to turn my furnace on--the temperature in the house had dropped below 60 degrees.

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