For Your Viewing Pleasure

Some Gymnastics

I shot me some gymnastics tonight. Its always hard, but I managed some decent shots. Most of these aren’t typical action because I can't seem to focus on the gymnasts. The lighting is terrible so everything is a blur (you can't use flash.) Oh, well: enjoy. (I'll fix the cutlines once the results are in.)
Freshman gymnast Leslie Mak hugs a teammate after completing her beam routine.
A gymnast from the Utah team paces.
Oregon State Gymnastics head coach Tanya Chaplin watches freshman Stephanie McGregor on the floor routine.
A currently unidentifiable gymnast sprints towards the vault.
Sophomore Jereme Bigelow performs on the floor.

Equestrian Practice

Resident herdsman Sierra Paxton walks Ruby back to the stables.
Oregon State Equestrian team coach Dawn Salazar instructs members at a practice on Wednesday.
Averie Sherburne, a sophomore in animal sciences with a pre-vet option, calms Joe.
Lauren Kallaway, a junior in animal sciences, leads Ben back to the stable.

As Promised...

Recent Photos

Beavers forward Daniel Dean leaps up into the air, only to miss the shot.
Seth Tarver and Alex Johnson battle over the ball.
Runners guard Alex Johnson made six of ten three point shots.Head coach Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s brother, brings national attention to Oregon State basketball.Mini Cooper, outside Benton County Health Center. 35mm scan.

Sip

Oregon State men’s basketball coach Craig Robinson (center) takes a drink before the half at the Oregon State vs. Cal State Bakersfield game. The Beavers beat the Runners 65-59.

I like this shot a lot. Comments, please. Colour? Contrast? Composition? Any good? Let me know!

Old Work

I was sorting through some old images and came across this. This was never in print, but I feel it is extremely powerful.
Kelley Kendall, a family nurse practitioner, is one of two certified sexual assault nurse examiners at Oregon State's Student Health Services.

Crosses In The Quad

Students For Life set up four hundred wooden crosses in the Oregon State Memorial Union Quad on Thursday, the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The group stated that the crosses symbolize abortions, and that the demonstration “served to get people thinking.”
(I will start uploading larger photos. Click on the image above to view full size.)

Frankie

I shot this last night, he had this amazing mustache. Not bad for a few incandescent light bulbs and a door. The simple lighting gave impressive results. (Fun fact: Mark Seliger had less than two minutes to photograph Obama for the December ’08 GQ. He hung a sheet in a doorway and shot a single strobe through a screen.) I'm not happy with my composition, it should be framed a bit more to the left. The negative space is awkward. Oh, well: gallery coming soon. Maybe (if I'm lucky) I'll go to Portland, do portrait shoots and make some money. I should post to Flickr. (Just kidding.)

Procrastination

Back by request. Often times I post something and think better of it a day later. But whatever. This is expressive.

I created these the night before a big design project was due. I procrastinated for a good three weeks and crammed most of the work into one night.

Birthday Party

Rosie Oatman celebrates her 102nd Birthday with friends and family Saturday at the Philomath First Baptist Church. Eight-year-old Anna Heslinga, Rosie’s great-great niece, looks on. (Minimal dodging and burning, wish I had Anna framed completely in the dark door. Best seen large, click on the image for link.)

Baskeball, Pt. 2

I think ESPN runs stuff like this in the Zoom Section. I mean, way better than this shot, but still. I figure anybody can sit behind the hoop and shoot. Its way more of a challenge to shoot from above. Finding the right angle/height is difficult. My focus was off on quite a bit of the shots. I pulled eight or nine usable photos out of about 400.This is a very small crop: I need longer glass. Anybody want to buy me a 400 or 600? I shoot Nikon, but either one works.

From the Stands

Lately I've been shooting events in a stadium. I like to go up in the seats—up to the top—and shoot with a 300. Its strange but fun.

Apologies for not really keeping up. I've been crazy busy with school and work. I'll try to post more. (Not that anybody actually reads this, but whatever.)

Swimming, pt.2

Nikon D300, 70-200mm 2.8 VR. 1/125, 3.2, 1600.

The problem with shooting swimming is the light. The pool is extremely dark and the subject moves very rapidly. The other photographers had flashes, but let's be honest: swimming photos with a flash look terrible. The flash temperature doesn't match the house lights, so everything not illuminated is tinted an ugly greenish hue. The flash is hard light, so strong shadows fall across the subject. Also, the subject seems to pop while everything else is darkened. Check it out here. Granted these things can be compensated for, but I don't have a diffuser or gels, and I'm not about to spend a bunch on lighting paraphernalia.

So, I set the ISO to 1600 and shot away. Most of my stuff is out of focus, the motion is blurred, etc. I probably should have raised it to 3200 and dealt with the awful noise. I've found that its okay to sacrifice grain size for images that can actually print–to a certain extent, of course.

Studio Time

A friend asked me to do some portraits. We shot in colour, but I'm only now noticing the tones in black and white. We should have chosen a darker background.That's the thing about the studio: its either amazing or discouraging. I find it frustrating more often than not: I'm just not that knowledgeable with light (where to put the strobes, how to fix shadows, bounce light, etc.) Practice makes perfect, I suppose.

Swimming

I shot a swimming meet. It was difficult and none of the images are much good, but it was fun. More to come.

Some Reflection

I haven't really been shooting much lately. I had goals of taking tons of photos during winter break, but such is, I suppose. In a few days, when I get back to school, I'll be shooting more than I can handle.

I went to see a good friend over the New Year holiday. We drove about in these random neighborhoods. It was raining and water got all over the lens, so everything turned out a bit hazy. This particular photo is tack sharp at the center. I was worried that my lens was damaged, there was condensation inside a couple of days afterwords. I pulled it off the camera and let it sit for some time: now its fine.
Chunks of concrete sidewalk, Northeast Portland.

I've been meaning to buy some old crappy 35mm. It rains all the time during the Winter here. I'm always afraid to take the digital camera out for fear it will be ruined, but an old beater Nikon would be just fine. I especially enjoy the film aesthetic, as well.

I intend to shoot a series this term. I'm thinking of something weird like: the Unicyclist Club, Oregon State's Agriculture Program, or these crazy kids that gather under a clock tower and read Bibles. I'm enrolled in my very first photography class. My car brakes are nearly out. I'm considering training for 10k track races. It should be an interesting Winter.