OSU Wins At Matt Knight Arena

I love rivalries, I think they are what make sports fun, and living in here Oregon the rivalry between Oregon State and the University of Oregon is usually a close and fun game in any sport. Lately though the Ducks have really been the dominate power in the state of Oregon. So as a student and a fan of OSU it can be discouraging at times, but I have always thought that the longer a school goes without beating another team the better it feels when they finally do. On Sunday the Beavers came back from a 10 point deficit to beat the Ducks in Eugene at Matthew Knight Arena. Which is the first time OSU has won against the Oregon in Eugene (in any sport) in a little over a year.  

OSU vs Stanford

Last night the Oregon State gymnastics team took down Stanford at Gill Coliseum giving the Beavs their third strait win of the season. Frankly, I suck at photographing gymnastics so I tend to search for different angle then the other photographers on the floor because quality alone usually does not allow my images stand out. Add in that last night I used Lightroom for editing photographs for the first time while shooting for OSU and this was one of my best set of gymnastic images.

Gary Payton Pays A Visit

Its always cool to see some of the OSU greats come back to Corvallis to talk with current teams. Last year I had a chance to see Steven Jackson of the St. louis Rams along with a few other current NFL players during the lockout. But I have never really been the kind of person to get excited about meeting these athletes. Instead I'm much more interested in getting to see the action that goes on behind the scenes.

Beavs Get A Win Over UCLA

I haven't been happy with a set of game photos in a long time. Tonight though it seemed like everything just clicked, and that feels damn good.  Lately I have felt that maybe I have peaked with my photography and should start finding a new career path, but after a night like tonight I feel re-energized and ready to keep pursuing what I think is an increasingly difficult field to break into. For example, tonight there were eight photographers shooting the game. Only two of those eight have full time jobs as photographers! 

Its a shrinking field for a professional and growing field for an amateur which I why it feels so good to have a great night of shooting to give you that little boost in confidence. It's a long road ahead but it doesn't look impossible yet.

Swimming & Speedlites

After five years of shooting swimming I finally got smart and used an off camera flash during Oregon State's swim meet today. I set up a light stand in the corner of the pool with two canon 430EX Speedlites and triggered them using my RadioPoppers. I love this set up, and although the photos may not be outstanding they are a big improvement over my past attempts. I think by the next meet I'll have this figured out and looking pretty damn sharp.

New Year, New Perspective

Last night I shot my first game of the new year and I'm pretty damn pleased with how it went. Along with getting some good individual shots of the OSU men's basketball team I also stumbled across a new location to shoot from in Gill Coliseum. With this being the start of my fourth year shooting basketball for Oregon State Athletics I want my images to stand out in a crowd and I think last night was a good start. 

Best of 2011

Considering that I didn't cover anything major in my little world of sports here in Oregon I think that I'm leaving 2011 with some great images of the everyday moments in sports. My photos, ranging from celebrations over rival teams to the frustration of questionable calls and losses, never had a chance of gracing the pages of some major magazine or newspaper. 

Although I didn't capture any history making moments I'm still proud of the fact that I went to these events looking to walk away with my best photo yet and always kept searching for new locations to shoot from in an effort to keep improving my photography. For 2012 I'm hoping to find the next job that will help in my search for a career in photography along with continuing to improve every time I hit the sidelines.