Gearing up for the Fourth

Danny Tucker assembles sideboards for mortars that will be used for the Grand Lake Fourth of July fireworks display. Tucker was helping Chuck Barry, whose family has been putting on the Grand Lake show for the past 28 years.

When an event happens every year, it's easy to get in the habit of shooting the same thing each time. So my challenge is to come up with something different. I was fortunate enough today to come across workers rigging up the mortars for the fireworks show in Grand Lake. As Chuck explained, "Putting on a fireworks show is a lot like preparing Thanksgiving dinner. There are weeks of preparation, the dinner itself that doesn't last very long, and then the clean-up, which seems to take a couple of weeks."

It sounded like a good idea...at the time

While shooting the Mud Race during Kremmling Days last weekend, I kept trying to think of something different I could do in order to come up with a really awesome shot. It was easy to shoot straight-forward action, so as I watched the first run I noticed there were a few of the trucks that had open roll cages that I might be able to attach a remote camera too.


Between runs I approached the driver of the truck that I had noticed didn't seem to get too much mud on the driver or in the middle of the truck where I would likely be mounting the remote. I explained to Mitch Perron of Soda Springs, Idaho, what I had in mind and he said go ahead.


After clamping the camera to the roll cage and adding a couple of safety cables to keep the camera or rigging, if it should happen to come loose, from dropping into the mud, Mitch checked out the set-up:


As Mitch's second run approached I got more nervous as I thought about all of the things that could go wrong. I had double-checked to make sure everything was tight, exposure was set and Pocket Wizards were working:


Aside from my concerns about my equipment, I was also worried about if the lens was going to give a wide enough view and if I was using too slow of a shutter speed. The answers would turn out to be no and yes.


The 16mm didn't quite give me the view I was hoping for and 1/30 of second was too slow for the speed and vibration from the truck. Oh well, live and learn. As the truck crossed the finish line I noticed that the Magic Arm and camera were starting to fall over (I think the vibration the truck experienced during its run loosened the Magic Arm). Fortunately the safety cables did their job, however the rig fell over far enough to put it in line where the mud was flying.




I finally broke down and cleaned the camera and lens this morning. The only consequence appears to be that I got some moisture in the lens while I was cleaning it and the autofocus seems to not be working. However, it does show signs of starting to work this evening.

This tree is just right

Heard a call on my scanner late yesterday afternoon saying there was a report of a bear in a park in town. I was going to ignore it, but seeing as we don't get many bears here in Granby I thought I might as well check it out. He was hidden by the leaves and branches from most angles, but after moving around to the east I was able to get this shot of him. In talking to the police officers who were keeping tabs on the situation, they said the plan was to leave him alone and let him come down on his own. The wildlife officer wasn't too concerned as this bear hadn't been a nuisance before, so they would let him be and sure enough, a few hours later he came down and went on his way.

"Please keep this pass visible at all times"

As I was trying to be productive today and clean up some things around the house, I came across the bag that I have tossed all of the various media credentials and passes I have accumulated over the past 28 years into. As I looked through them I reflected back on the variety of experiences they represented--predominantly sporting events, some significant, others just another game.

Among the credentials you can find:

•my forged photo pass for the Iowa-Michigan State game in 1981 which sent Iowa to the Rose Bowl. The first college football game I shot from the field, but spent most of the time worrying I was going to get caught rather than shooting.
•my pass for Mother Theresa's 1986 visit to the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colo.
•my photo pass from the Colorado Rockies first home game in 1993.
•my Secret Service pass for G8 wives visit to Winter Park in 1996, actually it's so small compared to the others you probably can't see it.
•my media credential for the Kobe Bryant hearings in Eagle, Colo., in 2004.
•numerous Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies credentials.

Contrails

I'm not sure what it is about contrails, but they fascinate me.

Catching up, again

Surprise, surprise...way behind on posting, again.


Between work and coaching, it's amazing how fast the past two months have gone by. The Middle Park HS girls soccer team really put together a season to remember. They ended up undefeated in our new league (10-0) and lost just one non-conference game to finish 14-1 overall. We anxiously awaited the state tournament bracket to come out and see where we were seeded. Much to our surprise, we got the 9th seed and would face Aspen HS in our first-ever playoff game, which we would also host.

We came out looking very strong, dominating possession, getting shots, but we couldn't find the back of the net. An unfortunate handball in the penalty area gave Aspen a penalty kick midway through the first half and a 1-0 lead. A second Aspen goal in the second half didn't keep the girls from continuing to shoot. In fact we out-shot Aspen 15-3. We finally scored late in the half to close the gap, but just couldn't find an equalizer. Another frustration for us was hitting the crossbar five times. Just a case of outplaying our opponent, but not being able to score when we needed it.

As a coach, you really feel for your athletes when they have been working so hard all season long, but then their hard work isn't rewarded with a playoff win. This was a special season with a special group of girls. They have set the bar very high for future teams.

A very special thank you to the seniors we will be saying goodbye to at our banquet on Tuesday evening: Emily, Lindsey, Anna, Brittany, Khyla, Shelley, Kristin, and Ryndi.

Curling and soccer

With the start of the girls high school soccer season and more changes at the newspaper, I haven't had as much time to update as I would like. I continue to make progress post-surgery--the knee feels better every day. I've been able to do low-impact exercise for the last month, but I can't wait for clearance from my doctor to start skiing and running again.

In the last month I have shot an interesting variety of assignments. My favorite was easily the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials. I became fascinated with curling when it became an Olympic sport in 1998 and by the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, I easily watched more curling than any other sport. While it seems as though the sport is the butt of jokes (primarily because people don't understand it), I am fascinated by the strategy and after seeing it in person, the true athleticism of the curlers--those sweepers work up a sweat! I'm hoping to give curling a try by the end of the year and, who knows, maybe I'll be making a run at the 2014 Olympics. In any event, here are a few of my favorites from the women's final:





Another great thing was the start of the Middle Park HS girls soccer season. We have a great group of girls this season and they have been working very hard. Their hard work was rewarded a week ago at the Mesa Ridge Tournament, a tournament we have been going to for five years. Each year we have done a little better and we felt we had the players to win it this year. And sure enough, the girls rose to the occasion and defeated three 4A schools to take first place and win the first-ever trophy for the soccer program at Middle Park. The 3-0 start to the season is the best start we have ever had and the winning continued this weekend with a 7-0 defeat of the Denver School of Science and Technology, our first league game of the season.