More Baseball...

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!

Conejo Valley Wild Art

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.

Bounce Flash

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!

Sports: A Few Shots.

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