Photo Fix

March.. So Far!

2010-03-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

What? You thought summer would wait until June, maybe July? Forget it - it's already steaming hot in March! Well, swim teams are gearing up for the season already and this month I shot a few at Thousand Oaks High that came out really well.

Also, PONY baseball opened earlier this month in Agoura and I was there for the opening ceremony.

Agoura High held a dance marathon to benefit Camp Kindle!

Dr. Seuss' birthday came early in the month and the kids over at Arroyo West celebrated with storytime, a big book swap and lots of reading-related activities.

Teachers protested proposed education budget cuts in Moorpark. Hundreds attended the rally - it was a massive turnout. They filled the streets!

High school baseball kicked off too. Here, Westlake High competes against Ventura.

In Camarillo, the Pleasant Valley Aquatic Center is getting ready for summer with lifeguard tryouts. Here, a staff lifeguard is playing the part of an incapacitated swimmer for the skills assessment part of the tryouts.

The Simi Valley Dog Park celebrated its one year anniversary! I went up on a recent afternoon to catch puppies at play.

This is a Simi Valley singer-songwriter, Anita Coats. I loved all the color in this portrait.

Agoura High did some fundraising for its Grad Nite with an e-waste recycling event. These have become quite popular fundraisers!

Knights of Columbus in Moorpark celebrated St. Patrick's Day with Irish dancers from Claddaugh Dance school in Ventura.

The Moorpark College EATM program held its annual Spring Spectacular, with a show featuring the zoo's creatures, VIP tours, crafts, and a bunch of up-close and personal mini-shows.

I attended a wonderful memorial service for five homeless veterans from Ventura County in Agoura Hills, with the VFW District 7 (which includes Simi Valley) doing the honors as color guard. It was really a beautiful ceremony.

Finally, Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller announced he will NOT see re-election after 8 years as mayor and another 10 on the city council! He really has been around Simi Valley for decades - talk about dedication!

And Moorpark organized tryouts for the "Moorpark Has Talent" show, which will be mid-April. Lots of adorable and truly talented people. I'm looking forward to the actual show!

That's all so far for March... come back soon, as I do hope to keep updated around here!

Highlights from February

2010-03-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

Finally we're all caught up here, with the highlights from February!

This was my favorite photo of the month by far - from a Chinese cultural festival in Camarillo. This wasn't actually during the festival performance. She was practicing on the lawn behind the stage before she went on to dance for the crowd. I was photographing other performers and saw her start spinning - it always pays to keep your eyes open on assignment!

Finally, Happy Face Hill in Simi Valley was restored. The guy that sprays the happy face (and heart on the other side) onto the hill in Roundup is a really nice fellow and I wanted an interesting photo to go with his fun personality. Unfortunately, the writer scheduled the meeting right at 1 o'clock - awful midday sun! I was able to cancel it out well enough by cranking up my flash for fill, but it still wasn't as nice as I wanted. He had already done the spraying, too, and didn't want to hike all the way out to the hill again. Ugh! Fortunately, it worked out alright.

Students out in Westlake made blankets for soldiers - what a great idea and a very sweet gesture!

These Medea Creek Middle School students from Oak Park are making an inukshuk - a type of cairn made by Canada natives - during multicultural day.

Here these students are playing a Japanese game similar to Americans' pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, only this game is pin-the-features-on-the-face.

Water polo was winding down in February.

And the boy scouts held their annual Pinewood Derby. Cranking that flash up all the way allowed me to get some pretty cool shots with good lighting, despite the midday sun.

Water polo again. Water sports are always so much fun to shoot.

Here the Simi Valley Library celebrated its 40th anniversary. They made puppets, had storytime, reading to dogs, crafts, birthday cake... it was a really fun event.

Here's an example of what happens when you are unprepared. This school fundraiser out in Agoura Hills seemed like one of hundreds we shoot every year - silent auction, dinner, entertainment by students, etc. Then these aerial silk performers came onstage! I had no lights with me, so I couldn't properly light them for the paper. I needed way more separation between the performers and the background than was possible without lots of noise. But without lights, I couldn't make that happen. So I cranked up the ISO and made some pretty, if noisy, shots anyway.

Softball season is starting and we shot all the local high schools for team previews.

That's all for February! We're well into March now and I already have some great photos to show you.

Lighting Love

2010-03-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

I know we haven't yet covered the February highlights, but here's a cool portrait I couldn't wait to share from this past week. This is Maria Hernandez, a parent volunteer at Mountain Meadows Elementary in Moorpark.
It was so bright outside, and when I arrived the kids were already going out for lunch, so I decided to use the shade, crowds of kids in the background, angular buildings a nice white wall to the left to bounce my strobe off for a colorful environmental portrait. I had to use a lot of power but the effect is great. If I had not been working with my lights lately I wouldn't have though of this setup. I'm just bummed it couldn't run in color! Fortunately, because the lighting came out so well it looks good in b/w.

Here's the story, where you can also see how the photo ran: " A first-hand approach to helping educators."

January Highlights!

2010-03-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are the highlights from January of this year. Some cool shots!

Early in the month I shot the PAWS 4 Reading program at the Calabasas Library. This is always adorable, even if we have shot it a million times. I still love doing it.

Nearby, at the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center, a dad and his son played a friendly game of basketball in the early afternoon.

I shot the Simi High Wrestling team. Wrestling is so hard to shoot. You have to get low, onto the mat, or shoot from very high. They move around, feet are flying at the lens, it's sweaty and hot and gross... but sometimes the photos can be nice, especially if I can light the shots well.

Here's another playdate at Brandon's Village, a playground in Calabasas for disabled and normal kids to play together and have a good time in a safe environment.

This was not a planned shoot - I decided to get some wild art, so I stopped by the parks & rec building in Thousand Oaks and photographed a makeup class. Very informative, and the girls were thrilled to be in the paper.

I shot a ton of water polo this month! This is in Moorpark.

Here's a game at Royal High.

And another, Newbury Park v. Moorpark.

Out in Camarillo, I photographed a dog agility class for the first time. They move so fast, and it's very difficult to get owner and dog in the same frame. But it was challenging and fun.

Mr. Tom the music man came out to Thousand Oaks this month. What a fun show! The kids really got into playing all his different instruments, singing along, and even dancing!

Speaking of music, this is the conductor for the Westlake Youth Orchestra, directing his kids at Westminster Presbyterian in Westlake.

Here are some photographs of people very dear to me. John Grzywacz-Gray, on the right in the first photo, was my professor at Moorpark College for the four years I was in the photo department, taking classes. He is such a wonderful teacher and the most mischievous, sweet, silly man I know.

Some kids at Arroyo West Elementary (I swear, all the cool things happen at Arroyo West!) decided it would be a nice gesture to collect coins for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. How awesome is that?

And finally, at the end of January, the big sports complex in Camarillo, Pleasant Valley Fields, finally opened to the public. It's massive! I went to the grand opening celebration.

Thanks for reading! Highlights of February are coming soon!

I've missed this blog!

2010-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything here and I'm determined to resurrect this little blog. I've been very busy shooting and I have a ton to post. But I don't want to overwhelm you with photos! So we'll go by month. Today I have December's highlights for you.

One of my first posts here was of the National Charity League debutantes ball. I shot them again, and it was as fun as I remembered.

Along with December comes, of course, ice skating at The Lakes in Westlake...

And visits from Santa, this time to a school in Somis, with his motorcycle buddies in tow.

But some kids just don't like Santa. This little guy at the Janss mall in TO wasn't thrilled about taking a picture with Santa.

Camarillo held their annual Christmas Parade, even in the pouring rain (note the raindrops on my lens!) I was soaking wet, but managed to keep my gear fairly dry.

Since it doesn't really freeze here, the Moorpark Water Polo team had no problem playing in December. These were shot during a practice at the Moorpark Athletic Club.

Also in Moorpark, big news - the Moorpark Post Office finally opened at the end of High Street, near the Moorpark Library.

And another highly anticipated grand opening, the Moorpark Skate Park.

It really was a gorgeous California Christmas, complete with sunny skies, a dusting of snow on the mountains, and blooming poinsettias in Camarillo.

We have plenty of fall/winter color though, and fallen leaves. Here's a family enjoying the warm December weather at Conejo Creek Park North in TO.

And at the RSRPD winter camp in Simi Valley....

Although they did have to truck in some snow.

There are always a few productions of The Nutcracker around the holidays, like this one in Thousand Oaks.

And after Christmas, families come out to play with all the new toys. These guys were at a park in Moorpark the day after the holiday.

December came to a close with a fundraiser to try to save the financially strapped Tutu's Hawaiian Ice Cream Shack in Simi Valley, but it was sadly unsuccessful. Tutus closed its doors at the end of the month. But the fundraiser was great fun, and the owner, Scott, had a good time despite the circumstances.

Finally, I finished December by shooting the Newbury Park High School basketball team, taking a day off from practice to stretch and relax at a gym across the street from the school.

Thanks for visiting the blog! Highlights from January and February coming soon.

I've been slacking...

2009-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Actually, I've just been really busy! But here are some photos from the past two months. If you've been reading the Acorn you'll recognize the events. If not, here's a quick rundown, in order...

Simi Healthcare Forum @ VC Library
Disco Inferno plays at the Blues Fest
TOHS Car Wash
First Day of School at Royal High School
Orientation Day at MATES charter in TO
Surf contest at Point Mugu
History Day at Strathearn Park
Freedom Walk at Reagan Library on Sept 11
Elvis Impersonator at Camarillo Concert in the Park
Dedication of the Chatsworth Train Crash Memorial in Simi Valley
Simi Valley Days Parade
Simi Valley Day Carnival
Simi Valley Blues Festival
Westlake High School Football
First Day of School @ Walnut Canyon in Moorpark
Santa Susana Field Lab Forum in Simi Valley
Simi Moose Lodge Barbecue

Classic Summer

2009-07-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Splashing in foutains to cool down, fresh produce at the farmers market, day camp with the girl scouts, sounds like summer! Well we're in full swing here at the end of July. Enjoy.

Kids play in the fountain and splash pad at Rancho Tapo Community Park (that's Lemon Park to all of you Simi-ites!)

The farmer's market in Thousand Oaks moved back to the Oaks Mall parking lot.

The Simi Valley Girl Scouts held a camping-skills day camp (the boys are there with the Boys Unit).

And, sadly, Vina June, a longtime Moorpark community resident, volunteer, and leader, is moving away. Her neighbors came to say goodbye.

Butterflies and Baseball

2009-07-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Lots going on in the baseball world lately, but first let's start with butterflies. A hospice in Thousand Oaks had their annual butterfly release ceremony, which turned out a lot of nice shots for me of people that jumped up and left right away. Without names, I can't run those photos! But I can post them here. :)

And now, onto something else that flies - baseballs! First, some PONY players in Camarillo.

And this is Little League in Moorpark, the 10/11 division - which won!

4th Festivities

2009-07-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Since this month has been so busy, I haven't been able to keep up with this blog (sorry Readers) ! But I thought I should post these before the month was over. Enjoy.

Boats!

2009-07-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I promised the raceboat guys that eventually I would get the photos I shot at the Camarillo Pond Rats race up here. So finally, here they are.
Have a look at the slideshow! Hint: Click play, then move your mouse off the slideshow window to make the thumbnails and stuff disappear.

Or, you can go directly to the flickr set here. Boat owners, if you would like me to send you a copy of any of these or if you would like to use any of these photos anywhere else (including newsletter, website, facebook, etc) please let me know. :)

A glimpse into the nightmare that is identification.

2009-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, I photographed a baseball game between Newbury Park High School and Moorpark High School. I took some nice shots of the NP pitcher, which I am planning on submitting for this week. If you don't work in newspapers, you might not know the absolute nightmare that is trying to identify athletes. It should be simple. Each player should have clearly visible numbers on their uniform, which correspond with the roster. But it's never that simple.
The photograph I have shows the pitcher in mid-throw, the ball headed toward home. He's bent over, his arm extended, uniform crinkled, no number visible.
First I check the roster to see if the pitcher is identified. It's signified by a number "1" or a "P" under the position column. I see no number one, and the column is smudged with inkblots covering multiple numbers. No such luck. Worse, the row with a hand-drawn divider, listing two players for the same position - a likely listing for "pitcher" - shows two names with numbers that don't match up for the second pitcher. So I can't be sure this roster is even reliable.
So I move on to the next method. I always save every single frame I shoot from any athletic event, because inevitably you will need the throwaway frames for identification help. Here, I should have been able to flip a few frames forward to the shot where he is bent over, arms down, after the throw, exposing the big number and name on the back of his uniform.
Except this player is a lefty, not a righty. So he is bent over, but his back is facing away from me. No luck there either.
Most athletic uniforms have numbers on both the front and the back. In photos of his teammates, their jerseys have the team name, "Panthers" on the front, and a number below. But he's wearing a slightly different jersey. No numbers on the front at all. Again, no luck.
I shoot from multiple angles for each game, and I usually have photos of the pitcher from different angles. One of them is bound to show his number. Except that they switched him out for a different pitcher before I moved to the other side, where his back number would have been visible. No luck.
Occasionally a player is identifiable by his shoes and uniform quirks - socks lower than his teammates, labels or stripes on socks, patterns on shoes, even shoelaces. So even if I have two players that look identical from the back (meaning I can't use their face or front of uniform to identify them) I can distinguish them by their footwear. But many other players have similar shoes and socks. No luck.

My last resort is to move to outside sources. I check Maxpreps, a high school athletics website, to see if these players are pictured there and I can use those shots to help me. But it's off-season. These kids aren't listed anywhere yet!
I look for Newbury Park's baseball website. The link from their school website is broken, leading me to a dead end. Finally, using Google, I locate the new baseball site. And fortunately, they have a 2009 roster listed. With pitch/throw listings! Two players throw left-handed. One is an outfielder, and I have another photo from the front of the same pitcher in the outfield.
So I cross-reference this roster with my roster from the game. The lefty thrower from the online roster matches to a player in the game I shot, one of the guys with a smudge over his position. Bingo.
Sometimes you can never identify the player, and the shot goes into the trash can. This time, with a little extra work and a little luck, I saved it.

Roller Coaster Week!

2009-07-03T13:07:00.001-07:00

This week has been a little bit crazy. Some very slow days and some crazy ones. Onto the photos!
First, Simi Valley had a shooting. The news came to me through my editor, and I live on the opposite side of Simi from the location. By the time I got over there, picked my way through the police barricades, talked to the Public Information Officer and got to the actual scene, it was all over. Sometimes even with your best efforts, you're just not quick enough.
This was my most interesting shot, and it really doesn't excite me. Michael Coons, a local freelancer, was much quicker and got the best shots out of all the photogs there. He actually got pictures of the hostages escaping, of the arrest, of the SWAT team moving in.

We didn't use it in the Acorn, and I noticed the Star didn't use any shots from their photogs either. Sometimes it's all over before you get there, and the rule is to never leave an event without a shot, any shot, you have to FIND a picture before you go. But sometimes the best picture just isn't yours. It's always a bummer.

Anyway, onto the photos where I actually was in the right place at the right time.

Arboles Animal Clinic held a microchip day.

There were quite a few pet events to shoot, actually. Here's an adoption event at YogaWorks in Westlake.

A cute scene at a pet faire in Camarillo.

Last week I shot the poppies in bloom at the Conejo Valley Botanical Garden.

The Conejo Valley Arts Council held its 40th anniversary celebration, with some local performers.

The Camarillo Newcomers club gave Food Share a check for $4,000. Apparently much more than they were expecting!

Conejo Valley Association of Realtors handed out their annual scholarships to local high school kids. Here's a great way to make group shots more exciting - use a wide lens and get close! I used bounce flash here, which would have been better if I could have had some natural light mellowing out those shadows, but it was a very small, dark room. It still came out better than your standard on-camera-flash group shot.

Simi Valley's little league Challenger Division (for the handicapped) held its annual baseball game. What a fun event to shoot. Difficult (parents wandering around the field, getting in the way) but fun.

Venture Crew held a backpacking seminar. I think they must not have advertised much - it was a very small turnout. Good information, though. Here they are showing off their camping knives, an essential piece of equipment.

And in Thousand Oaks, I shot Touch-A-Truck! Very cool event.

I also added Agoura High pictures to my graduation photos. Scroll down a couple entries and you can find the slideshow.

End of Graduations

2009-06-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

With one graduation left on the schedule (Apollo High in Simi, on Wednesday) graduations are just about over. This week's paper will have Agoura High, so I can't post those until Thursday, when the paper comes out. But the flickr set - and the slideshow in my previous entry - now include all the outtakes and extras I promised. I did end up with some nice shots this year, and I'm proud of them. Have a look, leave me a comment! :)
And just so this post won't be without photos, here is a pair of shots taken a few weeks ago. Moorpark High's band director is retiring after decades at the school. The moral of the story these photos tell is don't always shoot from the audience. Ask to shoot from the wings, too!

Also, as it turns out I really like twitter. It's fun, a little silly, mostly just a nice way to punctuate and take note of the highlights of my day. You can follow me by clicking the twitter icon in the column to the right (the big blue "t").

Forgot to mention.

2009-06-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Quick camera update, forgot to mention. I've been using the Mark II for the past 2 weeks, as well as Joe's 20D, since the part the Mark II needed was on backorder. It was supposed to come in this week, so I'll be taking her in on Tuesday to get all fixed up. She worked surprisingly well through graduations, fairly infrequent Error 99 issues. Not nearly as often as I expected. Nonetheless, I will be ever so happy when the Mark II is all fixed up.

Graduations 2009.

2009-06-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

This year I was pretty sick for the grad season. First a throat/head cold of some sort and then the kicker, a stomach flu immediately following. So I don't feel that I did as well as I had hoped. I was quite dizzy and hacking through most of them. But anyway, here are the results. I've put them into a slideshow to make it easy on the front page. You can also find a direct link to the set on flickr here.

The next post will be all graduations outtakes, the shots that I didn't submit for publication. Some photos I just don't have the graduate's name, some photos are detail shots, some photos are just silly. These are usually my favorites. Coming soon! :) Also, in other news, I get my nose pierced on Monday! I've been trying to do it for months, but first vacation, then being sick, then schedule problems... it's finally all worked out. I'll get Joe to shoot it, of course. We have to document what a sissy I am around needles.

Not Graduations.

2009-06-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

I feel like all I've been shooting for the past few weeks is graduation after graduation. I hear the song in my sleep. All the speeches sound the same. You really get stuck in that rut! But I haven't been shooting ONLY grads. Here are a few photos from the not-graduation assignments of the past couple weeks. A benefit concert by Jet Stream at The Canyon Club, for 15-year-old Taylor Messina. The concert, silent auction and raffle raised funds for Messina's treatment for Stage IV Midline Carcinoma.

Some wild art for Moorpark at Underwood farms. Little kids and strawberries. Let the insanity begin.

The One Gathering in Camarillo, 14 local churches came together for Pentecost. It was massive.

And on the other end of the spectrum... the wine and food fest for Casa Pacifica out at CSUCI.

(I love the shot above. I really, really wish it had run. Something different!)

I went out to the Camarillo Pond Rats pond for the very first time in Acorn history (we're fairly new to Camarillo) and shot some photos of the guys racing their RC boats around the pond. Those guys are FAST! The boats were super trick, I ended up with about fifty really nice shots. I normally wouldn't shoot so many, but I was having a good time playing with shooting angles and the water reflections and spray (plus my new lens' servo - first test!). I promised to post more photos here, so in a couple of days when I get all those edited I'll upload some additional photos from this event.

And finally, the Greek festival in Camarillo. The photo that ran was of the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star, who came to sign posters for her new movie "My Life in Ruins." I didn't think it was as interesting as these shots, but you know... celebrities... I guess just don't get that excited about them as most people do!

In other news, I am now on twitter! My twitter name is "snapitsiris"... yes, as in snap like a camera shutter. You can follow me and my daily adventures shooting. I'll add a direct link here to my twitter profile for easy access. And the 70-200 arrived safe and sound just before graduations began. It's a beast, a big lump of metal and glass to lug around, and it's already making me wonder if my chiropractor offers frequent flyer miles. But it shoots like a dream and I'm thrilled to have it. It was so nice for graduations. Next up: the photos from said grads!

Camping Trip!

2009-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Back from vacation in the June Lake Loop, bearing good and bad news.
Good news first - we had a great time! I shot some digital, brought along the Mark II for the very first time on family vacation, as well as the Yashica 124. Joe brought the field 4x5 and also his A2E. We shot some of our favorite films, 320 Tri-X in the Yashica, Delta 100 in the 4x5, some very old, color-shifted, semi-exposed Polaroid type 59, and we even shot one roll of Agfa 25. Oh how I miss shooting with Agfa 25. So in short, we enjoyed the trip immensely. I took a few digitals - mostly landscapes. But we did some fishing, some hiking, some fooling around town.

Here are a few shots.

We stopped at Manzanar on the way home and left a 4x5 polaroid at the obelisk in the cemetary.

The bad news - I came home with a broken Mark II. It has started giving me Error 99 consistently, and it won't clear as normal. So I'm taking it in today and really hoping it will be fixed by the time graduations begin. We'll see.
I'm shooting with the 20D until it's fixed, and the 20D has a broken hot shoe. So I have an old bracket rigged up to hold the strobe out to the side... it's a pretty ghetto setup but it works.

That's all for now. Headed out to an assignment!

Science, Bikes, Cajun Fest!

2009-05-23T18:33:00.001-07:00

Royal High School recently started a mountain biking club. Currently they do not get P.E. credit for participating. However, the golfers do. What's up with that?

I took some photos of Stage Plus employees setting up for the Cajun Festival this weekend.

And I photographed the grand opening of the new science lab at University Charter Middle School in Camarillo. Lots of great shots. These were a few of my favorites.

On the way, and in the news...

2009-05-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

On the way - a 70-200 to replace my cheapo 70-300. And a 2.8, no less! Finally I will have the speed for indoor sports and the glass for nice blur, attractive bokeh, short depth of field. You cannot imagine how excited I am. I mean really, it's only a 70-200. Nothing that special. But this lens will be Mine. No more renting!
In other news, the NY Times has put up a stellar photo blog. The format is very nice and the posts are quite interesting. Great insight into the best journalism in the US, if not the world. http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com

Balloons of celebration and balloons of mourning.

2009-05-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I shot lots of balloons - water balloons at a church carnival, and helium balloons released at a memorial park by families who had lost loved ones in the past year.

Carnival shots first.

This is sort of a mini-dunk-tank game, so instead of having a water tank, when the ball hits the target, water balloons pop onto the victim's head.

Then I photographed a balloon release ceremony at Conejo Mountain in Camarillo.

When I photograph mourning families, I always try to be very sensitive to their grief. Sometimes your job as a photojournalist is to get the 'grieving family' shot no matter what. You have to swallow your empathy and intrude on their private moment. But whenever possible, I try to make compassionate photographs and if a family member hides their face, turns away, etc, I prefer to respect their wishes. I'm very sensitive to the wish for privacy at events like this. But occasionally, I come across people who seem not to mind being photographed, but then snarl at me when I ask for their names. This was one of those.

I made a few very sweet frames of this mother and daughter, holding each other, looking at this photo, with their balloons. When I approached to ask their names and reason for attendance, the mother nearly pushed me away and snapped "No. NO! It's different when it's a child."

While I very much sympathize with her grief, I often wish I could explain to people in this situation that as she is attending a public event, I may use the photograph no matter what. If she gives me her name I can publish a beautiful photo with a sensitive caption that explains her reason for grieving, something that she can clip from the paper and keep with her memories of the loved one she lost. Something that might help the process.

This photo ended up running on the front page of the Camarillo Acorn. I only wish I could have spoken to the mother and added a sensitive, empathetic caption rather than just using a generic that talked about the event.

Anyway.

Let's end on a positive note. Here are a pair of shots from the Conejo Valley Days carnival.

Catch-up and a wanted ad.

2009-05-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

A bit of business to get out of the way first. I am in the market for a Canon 70-200 lens, either a f4 IS version or a 2.8 non-IS version. Hoping to pay between $750 and $900, hoping to find one that's in good working condition and tack sharp even if it has some normal wear on the outside. Email me if you have one for sale! Thanks!

And now on to the good stuff. I shot some interesting photos week before last that I didn't get in to my last post. Here are my favorites.

These were some swimmers from Calabasas High. Group shots are always hard, and one of the swimmers had a cast on his broken leg so an in-the-pool shot was out of the question. Here, standing them in the shallows and having a fill flash really popped out the portrait.

Here was a K-9 demonstration at the annual police department "luncheon with the chief." Very cool! Seeing the dog take down a "suspect" up close was impressive and made it obvious that having a K-9 unit would be extremely useful for the department.

Coach Gene Ubelhardt, who has taught football at Royal High School for as long as I can remember, is finally retiring. He's a really great guy and I will miss working with him when I shoot the team. This was just a very nice shot at his retirement dinner, where a ceiling bounce worked wonders for the photo.

And finally, a couple from the Pleasant Valley Museum living history day.

From a while back

2009-05-11T15:39:00.001-07:00

These shots are from last month's Ventura County Firefighter of the Year Awards. But I loved the shots as a group and wished they all could have run together somewhere, rather than each in the firefighters' respective home papers. Here are my favorites.

Champions! (Again)

2009-05-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

The Moorpark Acadeca team took first place in the nation for Division 1, again. Congrats to them! I can't believe the amount of work that goes into something like that. Incredible.

They had a police and fire escort to the party, but my camera kept giving me the dreaded Error 99 - right up until they were getting out of the limo! I can't afford to have it gone for a week to be fixed right now, which is really frustrating. Fortunately, despite the technical problems - and ensuing ones like not being prepared with the right shutter speed! - the photos came out nice and I ended up with much better shots than I thought I had. Lady Luck was with me.

Some catching up to do!

2009-05-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Recent happenings in Simi...

The freeway widening project completed Phase 1. Hooray! I love it because I live off of Kuehner. Makes the commute home so much nicer.

A side note with this photo. At the ribbon cuttings, it's inevitably the project managers and the developers that get all the recognition. But I always try to include some of the guys whose fingerprints are in the concrete, you know?

Mr. Q and Mrs. U got "married" at Phoenix Ranch elementary. Q and U are always together in the English language... get it?

"...in sickness and in health, in printing and in cursive, as long as you both speak English..."

Yes, that's a Ring Pop. Sweet.

...And the annual Arroyo cleanup pulled volunteers together from all over the community for a good cause.

(It was a water heater, and they're dragging it out using a power winch on the front of the jeep. Very cool!)

Earth Day and Volunteering

2009-04-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I nearly forgot to wish everyone a happy Earth Day. Calabasas hosted an earth day celebration earlier this month. I took a few shots there. The little guy above is writing "Food Counts" on his calendar coloring contest entry. The city holds the contest every year on a earth-friendly theme like composting, recycling, etc. This year's theme is the importance of properly disposing of food waste.

And then I shot a mosaic mural project at Sinaloa Middle School, where a volunteer group is working on their latest project. They have done murals all over the city and this project shows the school's mascot bursting through the wall of their amphitheater.

Turmoil & blue skies.

2009-04-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a sad day here at the Acorn. We lost three very talented people in the first layoffs in the history of the paper. I can only wish them all the best in the future.
Fortunately, the photo department is running a very tight ship and therefore we were spared from any cuts. It was so nerve-wracking to hear about the layoffs, knowing that the photo dept is usually the first place publishers look to cut. But we're at three photogs for five papers and it's already tight. Here's to hoping that this is the bottom for us and we'll pull out of this hole a stronger, leaner paper. I know as a department we're still learning so much. The three of us make an excellent team. I have no doubts that this year, all three of us will be award-winning photographers in the CNPA awards. We can only improve... I know this year's graduations and sports finals will be fantastic, now that I have the 20D and the MkIIN. Having both bodies will be a major plus, and on top of that I'll likely be buying a 70-200 4.0 with my tax return. I can't afford pocketwizards, but I'm going to give the $60 set of Cactus V2s a shot for off-camera lighting and I'm planning on attending some lighting workshops and becoming an active strobist poster as well. With the improved gear and some added education, I think my photos should improve a ton.
So it's stormy in the office here but in other news, we've had ridiculously hot weather lately and bright blue skies. When it's that nice I pull out the polarizing filter every chance I get and pop those clouds.

Here are a few shots from this week:

Moorpark High School varsity baseball player Landon Hunt.

And a roofing company in Moorpark generously donated a new roof to the Little League snack shack. I found a nice banner flapping in the wind for some color.

On the lighter side...

2009-04-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

A mobile home park putting competition! This was so much fun, just a sweet little event at their new putting green.

Tea Party Protests

2009-04-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

Protesters gathered at the Simi Valley Civic Center this week for one of two TEA Parties in the city. Shooting was fine, and most people didn't mind giving their names, but I got quite a few nasty looks when I mentioned I was with "The Acorn". I finally resorted to saying "the local newspaper" or "Acorn Newspapers", then hastily explaining that we are not connected with the political organization A.C.O.R.N.
Anyway, a few photos:

Youth Soccer

2009-04-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

Only one of these shots ran, and it was one of those happy/sad accidents.
The photo that I like the best was one that I didn't see until I returned. I pointed the camera, took the picture and thought to myself, that's not the one. And moved on. But when I looked at the shots afterward, it was one of my best images. But I had no info. So my editor held it back for a week so he could get some info on the coach and team.
Unfortunately, that meant there was less room for the photos. So only one ran, instead of the two or three that might have run. These are the situations where I am glad I have a photo blog. Here are my favorites.

More Baseball...

2009-04-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

This was a Simi High practice a couple weeks ago. A cold, dreary day and very little time to make a good photo. However, I did end up with a few nice frames. It's always hard to make those standard practice shots interesting. I hope these images are a little more surprising and unusual.

Even the coach got in on the practice!

Art Show in Newbury Park; Season Opening at McGrath Family Farms in Oxnard

2009-04-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Westlake Art show at the gallery in Newbury Park next to the library.

McGrath Family Farms opens for the season.

Newbury Park High Infielder Michael Dennis

2009-04-06T13:17:00.001-07:00

A few shots from last week. I was hoping for more photo room so a couple of these could run, but then again I'm always hoping for more photo room! :)
I always enjoy shooting the NP baseball team - every time I go out there, they're funny and easy to work with.
The full story can be found here: http://www.toacorn.com/news/2009/0402/Sports/091.html

The Darkroom

2009-03-17T11:58:00.001-07:00

One of the best parts of working in a wet darkoom, watching your image come up under the safe lights, prodding it with the tongs, is the collective that forms. In a place where everyone's images are set one on top of the other and you're looking at your neighbor's photograph as much as your own, you have the opportunity to talk about the process and critique. I love reading photo blogs because I get that same sense of seeing all the images as they come through the print dryer, still a little tacky. But the difference is that there is no conversation. No peering at a friend's negs through the loupe. There's no bulletin board to pin your finished images to, squeezed between everyone else's. You don't get any feedback on the process. You don't have as much discussion.

Sure, there are comments to read, but it's not the same sort of unrehearsed, colloquial discussion. You can't say, well I like that shot, but this thing in the corner is distracting. It pulls your eye away and well, I just think - let me see that loupe again - yeah, I think this one is a much stronger image.

So when I go through these blogs, sometimes I get a sense that there is no real community. Or, to be more precise, in this economy I get the sense that the community is also competition. If you can't make a photograph as good as the one on that blog, you'll never succeed. There is so much more tension. And I feel like now that we're all holding our prints close to our chests, keeping them locked up in LCD screens and terabyte backup drives, you lose the intimacy of the print dryer. And the creative melting pot that comes with it. And the community.

It can be immensely difficult to make interesting photographs every day without feeling the collective support and creativity of the community around you. That is sometimes the hardest part.

Miscellaneous... playing with strobing.

2009-03-15T10:38:00.001-07:00

A few different techniques for strobe usage last week.

Balanced with late afternoon sunlight. I wish her family was better lit, but I would have had to flash them separately... This woman "won" a sweepstakes at the town center and got the run-around. She still hasn't got the car she supposedly won. Story here.

Bounced off the ceiling. I tried to make it a little unobtrusive here, balanced with the ambient lighting. Just enough for me to tone down the ISO a bit and reduce the noise.

Bounced off the ceiling here, with exposure set to completely obliterate the ambient. It was Thelma's 100th birthday. What a gorgeous woman!

Direct flash here, to balance with the sunlight. I wanted to flash off-camera from the front of the little yellow car, but I didn't have the equipment or time to set it up properly. Anyway, I was able to get the sky nice and contrasty with my polarizing filter and balanced with the flash. Looks pretty good.

Bounced off the low ceiling again here, upped the flash a couple stops for some drama. Worked well with the moody ambient coming in from those windows. Fortunately for me, the fluorescent lights in half the wrestling room were out, so I didn't have to wrestle with them.

Baseball lately.

2009-03-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

I shot a portrait of these four Agoura High School players last week. I tried to do something different. The more experimental shots didn't run, but I suppose that's the way it goes sometimes. Here's a link to the story.

And the Grace Brethren Youth Baseball league had its opening day. I absolutely adore shooting youth leagues. Pub page is here.

Authors Visit Elementary School

2009-03-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Makes My Heart Ache...

2009-02-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

Have a look.

Last One Out, Please Turn On The Light.

Lee Williams' darkroom really tugs at me - it looks so much like the little garage darkroom in which my father first taught me how to make photograms. I used my lego giraffe. Still have some of those.

Goodbye, Rocky.

2009-02-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

This morning I nearly broke down in tears as an NPR reporter announced that today the Rocky Mountain News will publish its final edition - 149 years, 311 days since its first one.
This was one of the few smaller papers left that published in the tradition of truthful, honest journalism, asking the hard questions and taking the important photographs. The publication was characterized by sharp, smart, thoughtful stories. I counted it as one of the top ten papers in the nation. A newsroom full of staff who wouldn't just run the articles that advertisers wanted to see. Staff who believed in hard-hitting journalism, not fluff and not PR. Photographs run large, full of emotion and light. I was always inspired by their photos, always, always.
This is devastating news, friends. I'm shocked and disgusted that the Scripps corporation didn't do more to preserve a top-notch paper and a staff of breathtaking quality. The paper was for sale for one month before it was shut down. What a disgrace.
My hat is off to the photographers, editors, writers, and countless other behind-the-scenes staff, who suddenly find themselves out on the street in cold and dark economic times. Best of luck, friends. You can read their final edition stories at the Rocky Mountain News website.

Talent Show

2009-02-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

Trying out the flickr method of posting. All photos are clickable and link to their flickr page.

From the Moorpark College "Winter Wonderland" Talent Show last week.

The Very Good and the Very Bad

2009-02-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

...of sports photography.

Lately I've been using that basketball ceiling bounce trick an awful lot, and it's beat out my other methods - the Canon infrared wireless system, on-camera flash, and going commando - so far. Last week I tried using two 580s, one on-camera master and one as the slave, and that was a disaster. The slave fired a full second after the master, and only fired at all when I was within 10 feet! Useless, totally useless.

However, bounce flash has worked quite well. I turned out some really nice images in the past two weeks. We're just getting into CIF basketball games, my very favorites. The bleachers are full, the crowd is passionate, access is restricted so you don't get people running into your gear or in front of the lens. The players are brilliant, great action, and tons of emotion. And the best part - all players are wearing the right jerseys (usually with numbers on both front AND back!) and coaches always bring a roster! Those two factors make my life so much easier.

The downside of this season is that I'm also shooting a lot of soccer. Night soccer, on dimly lit fields. The play ranges far and wide, so there is absolutely no way to light it except on-camera. Action is hit and miss, the referees are uptight, the stadium lights create hotspots and every field has black holes, devoid of even the puniest photons. It wouldn't be so bad if I had a 70-200, a 400, anything with sharper glass than my cheapo 70-300. I end up follow focusing so much because the autofocus is sketchy. Even so, the glass isn't sharp anymore and I end up with fuzzy images that need a lot of post-processing. Which I hate.

But editing those basketball photos is a real dream, and that almost makes up for slogging through hundreds of fuzzy, noisy soccer shots. The latest basketball game fit onto just one card and editing took less than a half hour! The images needed almost nothing, just a bit of sharpening and color balance (just barely). Here are a few from a game last week:

Sleep well, and dream of Pocket Wizards...

Kudos to you if you caught that Princess Bride reference. Greatest movie ever.

Bounce Flash

2009-02-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is an easy, easy, easy technique that anyone using a hot shoe flash with a swiveling head can do. For this portrait of four tv/radio broadcasters who are now moving to internet-based broadcasting, I had a big conference table in a small, white-walled room. Boooorrriiingg. But they had a pair of rabbit ears on a tv nearby. Since these will be obsolete very soon, I thought it would make a cool prop for these broadcasters who are now using new technology.
I stood them all very close to me and put my back up right against one of the white walls. With a bare flash head, I swiveled it around to point behind and slightly above me, at the wall. I shot wide with them in front of me, exposed for the flash using aperture priority, then upped my shutter speed until the ambient exposure was about one stop underexposed. I actually could have underexposed it even more, but it worked okay for this shot. I scooted the people in so the closest guy was about a foot from my lens and shot away. Then I moved the rabbit ears around until they were in a good spot, and voila! A nice, simple portrait with soft but dramatic light. The key is to have a big, white wall. This technique would work even better if you can back into a corner for even more diffused light.

Dog Whisperer Auditions & Controlled Burn

2009-02-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a few shots from the controlled burn I mentioned a while back. I arrived on time, but they had started earlier than expected and the flames were mostly out when I got there. Just lots of smoke and steam left.

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And from auditions for the Dog Whisperer late last month in Moorpark. Some owners brought the cutest, sweetest dogs and insisted that at home, they were monsters. One owner brought a darling boxer and told the interviewers that she was just "too friendly" and worried that she might get into a fight with a more aggressive, territorial dog. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think an overly friendly dog was a big no-no! I guess it's one of the better problems to have, when it comes to behavioral issues.

He's making his best "Who, me? Behavior problems? I think not!" face.

Aw, a 10-month-old bulldog. Nothing cuter. Or more slobbery.

Snow Days!

2009-02-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Always love shooting these, especially on warm sunny days. Lots of fun, get a little wet, cute kids and snowballs. Good stuff.

She was so adorable. Here she was holding out her hand, er, paw for me to feel how cold it was from playing in the snow. I love her little bear hoodie.

Soccer Players Need Rest, Too

2009-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

From a quick shoot at Rio Mesa High School, during boys' soccer practice.

Bicycles

2009-01-30T16:05:00.000-08:00

It's always nice to get people in the paper that normally wouldn't. For this shoot, meant to go with a story about the city expanding its Master Plan to include more bike trails and support for bicyclists, my editor Kyle Jorrey asked me to get a nice photo of a family riding together, or perhaps someone on one of the existing bike trails. Unfortunately, the trails were pretty empty and it was quite windy.

So I stopped by Corriganville, a popular location for mountain biking. It has miles of great trails, an old wash, good hill climbs, and lots of easy, flat areas for families to ride around.

Instead of families riding slow and taking it easy...

These guys were fun to shoot. Although it wasn't what we originally envisioned for the spot, the photos are relevant to the article, and some people who wouldn't normally get any coverage ended up on the front page. So all's well that ends well.

On another note, I'd really like to run these photos larger, and I'm thinking about opening up a flickr account so I can do that rather than hosting them through blogger. The accounts are cheap... but I'm still thinking.

Peeewww!

2009-01-28T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today the local fire department set off a controlled burn at the Reagan Library to reduce the surrounding brush for the upcoming fire season. Nothing like a fire to make you stink all day. I might just do some swimming at the YMCA today (I haven't exercised in so long...) to reduce the stench!

This is a preview for shots that will be in this week's paper - it's a photo I wouldn't put in for publication because it doesn't show the action, but it's one of those shots I have a soft spot for - super wide and visually nice with good color and contrast.

Having shot a few assignments with the MkII now, I am extremely impressed with the ergonomics of the camera. I barely feel the weight. It's superbly balanced and everything is in the right place. I'm still bothered by the two-handed operation for setting aperture, iso, etc, especially for the upper LCD screen, but I can learn to live with it. But I just love that shutter - so quick and the sound is gorgeous. I'm a sucker for a pretty shutter. I only wish it was as quiet and pretty as my old Yashica TLR!

Last Week's Favorites

2009-01-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

These are all shots I put in for publication, some ran and some didn't.

This was for an event at the Camarillo Ranch House, a historic landmark in the area. Adolfo Camarillo was a majority landowner in the area and the founder of the city. He was also the founder of the Camarillo White Horses, a rare breed of pure white horses (not albinos), which are still bred today by some of his descendents.
The colt is a six-month-old Camarillo White Horse, named Xamarillo. (Best guesses for the originator of the Camarillo name was Don Xamarillo, a member of Cortez' original Spanish exploration party.) The colt is a direct descendent of Adolfo Camarillo's own white horse, Sultan, the founding stallion of the breed.
The little girl is a great-great-granddaughter of Adolfo Camarillo, and the woman in red is also a descendent. The historic house can be seen in the background. A lot of history in one shot!

These two shots are from one of my favorite annual assignments, the Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration at the area's only baptist church, Simi Second Missionary Baptist. The congregation members are such wonderful, sweet people and the church service is always more like a party.
This year's celebration was especially poignant because the next day, Barack Hussein Obama would be sworn in as president.

And here are two from a PTA Reflections art show award ceremony. I think I succeded in turning a very everyday, conference-room, grip-and-grin event into a few photos that are fun and interesting. That was the idea, anyway. The third shot is my favorite.

Conejo Valley Wild Art

2009-01-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

This was just a shot I grabbed at Cheseboro Park in Agoura Hills a few weeks ago, on a nice morning when we needed some wild art. I didn't put it in since the paper filled up before we needed the photos I had shot, but it is quite pretty. Nothing special, really, just some old oaks and a bench. Nice sky. Rolling hills.

Here's a shot I've been meaning to put up for a while now. This is an occasion when having a stand or tripod on which I could have mounted my flash would have been just killer. It's also an example of how much I've learned even in the few weeks since I shot this. Now, I would shoot it very differently. I would pull the background down a half stop or so, strobe with a cord from the upper left or perhaps give her a little side/back lighting. This is just plain old on-camera, with an omnibounce. But now I am prepared.

The "500" is because this is the 500th game she has coached at Newbury Park High School. Yes, the 500th game. She's been there over 30 years, if I remember correctly. Talk about a legacy. Arranging the basketballs like that was an idea from my sports editor, and I liked it. Again, nothing fancy, but more visually interesting than a standard headshot.

New Kit

2009-01-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

The Mark IIN arrived yesterday and I spent a large portion of last night learning the features - mainly deciphering the button symbols, but I'm definitely impressed.

The construction is much sturdier and while the camera is large, it's not bulky or awkward. Very comfortable. Grips are in the right place. That big prism is a dream. Shutter button feels sturdier and more durable. I love that the eyepiece keeps my face farther off the LCD - on cold nights I won't be worried about condensation on those menu buttons anymore.

With the extra weight I'll be using the monopod much more often, and the two-handed menu operation is a little bothersome - but the increased speed and tough construction are spectacular. I was expecting the shutter to be quieter, but instead it's louder - won't be any better for shooting funerals or concerts. The good news is that the sound is much beefier. I can see why it's rated for 200,000 cycles.

Should be a perfect workhorse.

Bounce Flash

2009-01-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

I took a page out of Gary's book (A Little News) to shoot this two weeks ago, in the Rio Mesa gym. It was just a simple basketball practice with one featured player, and normally I would just throw a 580 on the camera and bang out a few action shots, but I've really been trying to improve my lighting. The shots are decent now, but my lighting is technically awful. So I took his advice to bounce off the ceiling in small gyms (Rio Mesa's is TINY with a pure white ceiling) and I think it turned out well. I don't know why this didn't occur to me before. I suppose it was just lack of inspiration.

I only shot about 30 frames - a super quick shoot - and these were the nicest of the bunch. I'm still learning. But I do like these. Neat trick, Gary. Thanks!

The Arrival

2009-01-26T15:46:00.001-08:00

The 1D Mark II N is here... or rather, at my house. Joe got it from the mailman this morning, and the battery is charging up as we speak. I snagged the 17-40 from Canoga Camera last week, and it couldn't be nicer. So I should have the new kit up and running by tomorrow morning, at the latest.

I'll have a working hot shoe again! And less noise in the high ISOs. Thanks to all that is holy.

Water Polo Under Stormy Skies

2009-01-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

Shot some water polo last week just before the rain started. Two shots ran, but the group shot was cropped horizontally and ran in b&w. I was disappointed - I like the vertical so, so much better. Camarillo practicing at the rival school, Rio Mesa High, since cam doesn't have a pool.

Also - happy inauguration day! What an incredible time to be alive. I'm especially encouraged by Obama's actions in this first week. We didn't send a photog out for the moment of inauguration - and though I watched it alone, by the end of his speech I was rather glad to be sharing such an emotional moment with just my cat Max.

MLK Day

2009-01-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Flory Academy of Science and Technology ifth-grader Aleksey Terry gives a moving rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the school's annual assembly on Thursday morning.

------------

I was disappointed to see that we didn't have enough space this week to run my favorite shots with this story about a Russian boy who recites the MLK "I Have a Dream" speech. Here's the story link:

http://www.moorparkacorn.com/news/2009/0116/schools/021.html

And here's the Decisive Moment shot. Following his speech, as teachers and parents wiped tears from their faces, the boy walked to the back of the audience to greet his neighbor, Christine Lute, who came specifically to hear him give the speech. What a moment.

Shelter Love

2009-01-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

This is Denise, a head honcho over at the Camarillo Animal Shelter, with a Boxer a few weeks ago. She picks the Pet of the Week animals, and when I go over to shoot, it's always so much fun. I've never met a dog that didn't absolutely love Denise. It's clear that although it's not a no-kill shelter, the staff just adore the dogs, cats, bunnies, birds, goats, horses, even chickens that arrive daily.

Here's a teaser shot for a soccer story we'll be running this week. I really liked the shot, but it wasn't right for the space on the page. The kid on the right is the focus of the feature, Thousand Oaks High School varsity player Nathan Jasperse.

1/87th Scale Ice Cream

2009-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

...and everything else, too!
I shot this HO-scale model train layout at the Santa Susana Railroad Depot & Museum around Christmas. They're expanding the layout and thinking of even setting up another, connected layout in the next room. The idea is to represent an entire train ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
The engineer in these photos is Amos. Each engineer brings their own engine to the layout, and sometimes cars as well. If they don't have cars, they can use the "club cars" that live on the layout. There are train yards, where each engineer picks up and drops off cars, working versions of the hammer-shaped oil rigs that dot our local mountains, buildings and farms... the detail is incredible.
It's definitely a place I would love to visit again soon.

This was definitely a situation where I might have got better results by bouncing flash off the low ceiling, but I just didn't think of it. Ah well, I'll remember next time. These were all shot at ISO1600 and are a little too noisy and color-shifty for my taste.

The Hard Part

2009-01-06T14:23:00.001-08:00

The hard part is not winning the awards, although don't get me wrong that is definitely A hard part. The hard part is making an interesting photo every time you lift the camera to your eye.

Hello, beautiful.

2009-01-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

This is the Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, birthed in 2005 and soon to be the replacement for my old, tired, beat-up 20D. A Christmas present from my generous mother. We're not loaded, so it won't be a new one, but a nice ebay model with low actuations should do nicely.

I'm still debating the lens to pair with the new body, since my workhorse EF-S 17-85 won't mount to the EF body. I want to stay as wide but there are not really any EF lenses that give me the coverage of the 17-85, which is actually a classic 28-135 with the 20D's 1.6 conversion factor. The Mark II has a 1.3 factor, so the closest I can get to that same spread is the 24-70 (a 31-91 with conversion factor) or 17-40 if I want to stay wide, but that means I would be relying on the cheapo EF 70-300 a lot more... ugh.

Anyway, I'm still thinking.

Thought I should add this shot, captured by my longtime friend and talented photographer Jon Gordon, at an event last month we were both shooting. He sent me this email along with it:

Dear Friends,

I am distressed to find that there are no depths to which paparazzi will go to get photos of celebrities, now even lurking in cemeteries. I captured a photo of this unscrupulous photographer the other day, and will be forwarding it to the proper authorities. Please let me know if you can identify this nefarious character.

With a heavy heart,

Jon Gordon

Looks like nefarious characters like me better find new places to shoot!

Surfing in December

2009-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

Last week, I went out to shoot a local middle school surfing club from Thousand Oaks at a beach in Port Hueneme. They started at 7 am, and was scheduled to arrive at 8 am. In late December.
I asked Joe to write down the directions while I got dressed and ready to leave. He wrote, "Take Lewis road to Surfside Drive. Turn left. Park in pay parking lot. Look for frozen children on left side of pier."
He wasn't far off. It was ridiculously cold at the beach, but the kids were all suited up in their neoprene and already out in the surf. I tried to use the gorgeous morning light to my advantage and not get too many cliche surfing shots. It was a crystal clear day and we could see all the way out to the channel islands. The water was beautiful, the sky had just a few clouds and contrails, and the waves were small but pretty.

Holiday Photos

2009-01-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

This year I really made an effort to get something different in my holiday photos, and focus on people. I didn't end up getting any good Christmas light shots, or caroling or anything, but I did get a good variety and I think I ended up with a decent collection. Most of these didn't run, but often the ones that don't get in print are my favorites.

First, a trip to the mall Santa. This guy has been playing Santa at the Janss Mall for 21 years now. Most of the families that come to take photos with him have long stories about all the past years' photos. Parents lean over to whisper, "Sarah was afraid you wouldn't recognize her anymore with her new braces," and he leans back, grins his big Santa grin and replies, "Of course I do! How could I forget such a pretty face?"

This little guy was all but buried in Santa's huge coat and furry sleeves. He had a long list (you can see it covers both sides of the page) !

The Giving Tree moved back to the newly remodeled Oaks Mall this year, and the volunteers who run it returned too. I love that the actual tree looks exactly like the one on the poster.

The award-winning Los Robles Master Chorale performed their holiday program. Choirs are always fun to shoot, since each singer has a different expression. I was hoping for a little more ordered shot, with all the faces clearly visible, but this was the best I could manage.

For the first time this year I shot a Toys for the Needy pickup, around the 23rd of December I beleive, and it was such fun. I'm determined to learn fluent Spanish this year. I think it's ridiculous that I live in a place where freeway offramps are named "Reyes Adobe" and "Avenida De Los Arboles" but I can't understand what these families were saying. I had no way to chat with them and make them less nervous around my camera.
Still, it was such an (unexpectedly) joyous atmosphere. Think more Holiday Fiesta than Toys for Needy Families. Everyone was drinking steaming cups of hot chocolate, huddling close against the freezing wind, laughing and chatting. Children weaved between the adults, chasing each other and playing with their new toys.

A living nativity, of course, this one put on by a Catholic youth group in Camarillo.

And the very first community menorah lighting in Moorpark. They had stunt bike riders doing tricks (and jumping over Jewish leaders!) which made for some really nice expressions on these little boys.

Mighty Mite Football

2009-01-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

I shot these in early December of a Mighty Mites youth football game. I had photographed the practice games before and I was astonished at how hard the parents push these little 7 and 8-year-olds. Some parents were even yelling things like, "Get him! Make him cry!" from the sidelines. The coaches are as tough as high school coaches.
Regardless, the kids seemed to be having a great time. They still sucked on their juice boxes at halftime and giggled when the water carriers squirted them in the face. It was a great time, and fun to shoot. The action isn't nearly as quick as in high school games, and harder in some ways since they have a standard size field with tiny players, but their expressions are priceless.

Sports: A Few Shots.

2008-12-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

A few sports photos from the past few months. A very random selection, but some of my favorites.

A portrait.

2008-12-13T00:18:00.000-08:00

I shot this a few weeks ago of local portrait/event photographer Tony Maddox. I found him to be an engaging subject, more suited to a casual portrait. The lighting in his viewing studio was great, as you might expect for a photographer. He took a series of photographs of children when he visited Africa last year that will be published in his new calendar, and the Simi editor wanted a portrait that would incorporate some of those photographs.

I mostly like the shot - and it nicely includes all the right elements, but I'm worried it's a little too cliche. Thoughts?

Debutante Ball

2008-12-11T17:08:00.001-08:00

I shot these the other day - this is a perfect place to showcase the more creative shots that didn't make it into print. Great visuals, but the lighting was less than ideal.

And, as promised, here are two older favorites.

Thanks for reading.

A Beginning

2008-12-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

So here's a basic introduction, nothing fancy. I'm 21 years old, I'm on my third year of shooting for the Acorn Newspapers in Ventura County, California. I live with my photographer/motorcycle dealership manager fiance in a little townhouse we bought at the west end of Simi Valley. I have one cat and eight goldfish.

I've been shooting since I could hold a camera (my parents met in the Moorpark College darkroom) and I studied there under the same wonderful professor, John Gray, from about 2003-2007. I was one of the last students there to learn in wet darkroom using hand-mixed chemicals in metal trays. The scent of photo fix would cling to my clothes and skin for weeks. Hence the name of this blog, photo fix. It's also my personal photo fix, as it gives me a place to put all the interesting orphan images from my shots with the Acorn. Photos that don't get published in print or don't really work for the newspaper medium.

I use a Canon 20D, and about 75% of my photos are shot with a 17-85 mm zoom. I like wide.

Another 20% are shot with a cheapo 70-300 mm zoom, and the rest are a rented 70-200 whitebody or 100-400. These are mostly football. I'm not a big fan of flash, so I usually try to shoot with available light. This results in lots of very noisy images, since I'm almost always shooting inside. I use Imagenomic Noiseware and Photoshop CS2 or PS6, depending on whether I'm editing at work or home.

When I'm not shooting for work, I love to pull out my old Nikon FM or better, an old Yashica twin lens reflex. It was my father's.

I still have a lot to learn, especially in terms of lighting. But I'm getting there.

Those are the nuts and bolts. As for the rest, I hope the photos speak for themselves. I'll try to put up a few recent shots each day and some from my past three years for the Acorn.

Let's begin with one from a few months ago - September, I think - shot at a gymnastics fundraiser.

If you know your photo history, you'll think immediately of the Aaron Siskind photos of the boys jumping in the air. As soon as these kids started jumping, I though of those shots. The kid making the face just made it better.

Thanks for reading.