Smith Rock

Yesterday at o'dark thirty I drug myself out of bed to catch the sunrise at Smith Rock State Park. Even though I had never actually hiked the trail up to the top I already had the image I wanted to create in my mind. This can easily lead to disappointment. When you imagine a photo it's almost always better in your mind than in reality because you forget to account for the technically difficulties that exist in the real world. Needless to say I got the image above and it was almost exactly what I was looking for. Success! What I didn't expect was for my mind to be completely blown by the amount of color and the spectacular view from my location. So here's to being completely blown away by how beautiful nature really is.

"Timing is everything..."

Timing is everything...

Those three words can be used in almost every aspect of life from relationships to job opportunities. Speaking photographically timing really is everything. Capturing the right moment, the peak of the action, can make or break a photo. I can't tell you how many peak action moments I've missed while shooting sports but that's why to keep shooting, so that you miss fewer of those moments. It doesn't always come down to seconds or minutes though. Sometimes the right moment is within hours and days.

The other day while sitting in the break room at work I saw a great photo of Mt Bachelor which is just outside Bend, Oregon where I currently live. I decided I wanted to create an image similar to it but make it my own so I picked a location and went for a drive that afternoon. Personally I would say that I missed the moment I was looking for because I was hoping for more sunlight on the mountainside. I miss calculated, Oops. Move on with life it's not the end of the word. Then as I noticed the moon in the image above I started to wonder about a nighttime image from the same location.

After messing up the timing once already that day I was determined not to let it happen again. After a quick look through a couple of the weather apps on my phone it was easy to see that that night would be the best. The moon would set a little after 2 am and the sky would be clear.

Although I would rather have been in bed at 2 am, knowing that I would have to be at work by 6:30 am that morning, I decided that the timing was right. If I wanted the image I had envisioned in my head I would have to make it happen that night because when you're working with the moon you only get the opportunity every 28 days. Around here, and during fall, 28 day could be the difference in hiking a mile off the road and hiking 10 miles from the nearest parking lot because snow has closed the road for the season. Was the image groundbreaking? No. Did I learn anything from the experience? Hell yeah, tons of things about lighting, timing, and location selection. So it was worth the extra effort, and the incredibly long day that fallowed. 

Thinking ahead to the next image I want to create I have already figured out that this Monday night will be the best time. The sun will set at 6:11pm and the moon will rise at 8:02pm. This will give me the light I need to hike to the location and then the moon will rise once the sky has gone dark. I could potentially do this again for the following three nights but why wait. 

With all that said you can't predict everything. You can only put yourself in the right place so that you can hopefully be there at the right time. With decent accuracy I can predict when a 'Kodak moment' will happen but with everything else in my life it's a strait up guess. I just hope I'm in the right place at the right time because I've noticed that time doesn't stop for anyone, and waiting for the right time isn't going to get you anywhere. So I hope that all who read this post (all three of you) go out and see if you can put yourselves in the in the right place at the right time. I'm still figuring out how to do that but I wouldn't get better at it if I didn't try.  

A Day At The Races

Went to my first horse race last weekend. Really interesting sport that I think would be fun to shoot professionally but for now I'm just a spectator. Which is also really frustrating when you see a ton of potentially cool photos but can't get to the locations you want. 

CCC 2013

For three weeks out of the summer I get up early and watch the Tour de France when it is broadcast live. Forget early morning runs or anything of that sort, it's just watching the tour. This year the annual race consisting of 21 stages finished at dusk on the Champs-Elysees which is the first time that has ever happened in the tour's 100 year history. I watched in awe of the whole event. Possibly my favorite sport, in beautiful afternoon light, and on the world stage. Doesn't get much cooler than that!

Also finishing that day was the Cascade Cycling Classic-a week long stage race that takes place around Central Oregon every summer. It's easy to see that the CCC doesn't even come close to the Tour De France but I still went out and shot it for fun putting in as much effort as I would if on assignment. Here I think I realized that even though I'm not shooting on the world stage or anything close to it there is something special about cycling that makes it my favorite sport to shoot.

OSU Marketing Photos

This post probably should have been made about three months ago but I kind of forgot about it. Here are a few of the photos that I shot for OSU's marketing campaign last year. There isn't a lot to say about these images other than it was great experience and I have a few images to add to the portfolio.

Oregon Enduro Series - Bend

Stop number two for the Oregon Enduro Series brought the racers to Bend, Oregon this past weekend. With only three days of covering enduro racing under my belt before this past Saturday I still felt new to the sport. It takes a while before I feel comfortable shooting a sport or event because I haven't yet experienced all the possible issues that may make it difficult to create quality images.

On Saturday I took a risk and tried to find locations that anyone else covering the event would not think of going to. There were a few spots on the course that were going to have a bunch of photographers camped out at so as much as I wanted those safety shots I also wanted to prove to myself that I could make any location on the course work for making great images. It's kind of like a confidence builder for me because then I know that if something happens and I don't get to shoot from the perfect location with the best jumps, technical sections, and backgrounds I can still deliver quality work. So what do you think, did it work?

On The Road to Omaha

Everything great about the game of baseball was on display last weekend here in Corvallis. Walk off wins, intense battles at the plate with batters and pitchers working to outsmart each other, and unbelievable catches with players diving all over the field.  Oregon State hosted the Corvallis regional as part of the 2013 NCAA Baseball Championship and the Beavers are moving on to supers next weekend. OSU won all three of their games, sometimes just barely pulling out the win, to face off against the Kansas State Wildcats at home in Goss Stadium. Sadly I'll be missing the first game on Saturday afternoon while I'm in Bend covering the second race for the Oregon Enduro Series but I will be back for the games Sunday and Monday so keep an eye out for that post. 

In addition to covering OSU last weekend I also had the opportunity to shoot a few games for the Aggies of Texas A&M. I love working with great people and that is exactly what A&M had in Corvallis along with some of the friendliest fans and alumni I have ever met from another school. So because of that the Aggies have a new fan. 

Oregon Enduro Series - Hood River

This year I am working for the Oregon Enduro series photographing all their races and this weekend was the season opener in Hood River, Oregon. Overall the racing was fun to watch and take photos of. Something that I really enjoyed was the challenge of trying to make images look different when shooting 60+ riders all passing through the same sections of trail and only separated by one minute intervals  It kept me on my toes and constantly looking at angles and backgrounds. Usually I have to spend time looking for a creative angle but on the trails this weekend I felt like I was trying to create an entirely different scene every minute or so. It's a nice change of pace and really pushes your skills with a camera.

The Weekend In Eugene

Last weekend the Oregon State Beavers and the Ducks of Oregon faced off in the annual Civil War baseball series with the Ducks hosting this year down in Eugene, Oregon. After a 3-0 loss to the Ducks I was a little afraid that we were going to see a repeat of a couple years ago where the Beavers lost all three games in Eugene.

My worries were put to rest though as OSU dominated the rest of the weekend winning 9-0 on Saturday, where Andrew Moore (23) threw a complete game shutout, and on Sunday with the Beavers beating the Ducks 12-2 behind a grand slam by Michael Conforto (8). To top off a great weekend of baseball I was shooting in a different stadium which always makes me shoot better. I'll be missing this weekend's baseball action because of the Oregon Enduro Series season opener in Hood River but I can still look forward to post season play!

No Place Like Home

This past weekend I headed over the mountains back to Central Oregon for the first time in months. I was driving over to go race in my first mountain bike race in something like 4 years. Lets just say I finished it and leave it that. Something that I kind of forgot about though was how much I love Central Oregon. Morning trail runs, bike rides, and afternoon hikes are second to none in this place and can't wait to move back there after graduating in a little over a month. Here are a couple photos from the past weekend and a few more from Christmas and last summer just to give you a better idea of why I like this place so much!