Once upon a time I went to Utah State University and one of my favorite things about USU was basketball in the Spectrum, nothing compares! Luckily for me my brilliant brother Benjamin is editor-in-chief of the Utah Statesman and was able to get us both onto the floor to shoot a game. Definitely a bucket list moment for me.
This game was on December 23, 2010 during Christmas break which is why the stands aren't completely packed. This was the final of the Gossner Foods Invitational which of course the Aggies won.
A few things had changed. When I was in school the Frat section (and therefore main cheering section) was bottom right of the student side. Now the loudest, perhaps you might say most obnoxious (if you are the other team), section is under the basket to the right of the student section. I wasn't supposed to cheer or show any affiliation but they were absolutely hysterical and I laughed the entire game.
Big Blue!! Can you have a crush on a Mascot?? :)
Tip-off!
My favorite pic of the game. Coach is not thrilled that they had a technical foul called on them. A little showboating (read hanging on the rim) after a slam dunk.
Yes, that guy is dressed like a Christmas tree, yes his outfit glowed AND blinked, and yes, the crowd is singing
Oh, Christmas Tree. Good times!!
Always fun to get a little under the basket action shot.
I have NO idea why he is looking at me like that, it was a tad disconcerting, lol.
MVP player for the night and the one my brother says about trampled me, I was busy ducking so I didn't see.
Crowd doing the
Winning Team, Losing Team chant. That was a new one for me, fun though.
And to top the night off they won the game and the Invitational.
So this was basically my first foray into sports photography. I need to practice more! I spent the night messing with my settings and talking to myself. Do I want a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture? Shallower depth of field or deeper. Continuous or Single autofocus? Should I try to focus on the player or pre-focus and wait for the action? Why can't I get the white balance I want? Should I bump the ISO? But what about the noise...it was so much fun. The next sport event I'm dying to shoot? A Real soccer game. Don't know how I am going to manage that one but I am determined to keep trying.
I got hit by a ball, trampled {sort of} by a player, and got to sing the ol' fight song again.
Perfect, perfect night!
September 3, 2010 found me giddy with joy because I got to combine my love of music, photography, film, and a great party all in one gig. I was lucky enough to get hired to photograph the 2010 Gangrene festival featuring Mini Kiss. It was a fantastic night!
For more images of the festival please check out my business facebook profile. :)
I've started another photo project that I am calling My World. It started with a particularly brutal day, January 10th. Just one of those days where you feel like you are being pummeled for no particular reason. I tried all the standard cheer-myself-up methods but to no avail. I even called my sister in Australia for a chat only to find that she was being evacuated in the terrible flooding that ended up destroying her home...not a good moment. Someone who I admire told me that they use writing as a way to work through things. I've tried doing that but it doesn't work very well for me. I feel self-conscious about who may read what I say and what they might think, so I wall off. I was thinking about this that night when I realized that I prefer to communicate through images because that's really how I think. There are always pictures in my head. So I decided to try to communicate my world, my thoughts, my emotions, through photographs. There are stories behind every one of them. So far it's been a wonderful experience and a lot of help...I figure it's a whole heck of a lot cheaper than therapy. :)
This is the favicon I made all by myself. I'd never even heard of a favicon before. It's the little icon that show up in the address bar of your web browser. For some reason I'm most proud of myself for figuring that out. All. By. Myself. Lol
A few things had changed. When I was in school the Frat section (and therefore main cheering section) was bottom right of the student side. Now the loudest, perhaps you might say most obnoxious (if you are the other team), section is under the basket to the right of the student section. I wasn't supposed to cheer or show any affiliation but they were absolutely hysterical and I laughed the entire game.
Big Blue!! Can you have a crush on a Mascot?? :)
Tip-off!
My favorite pic of the game. Coach is not thrilled that they had a technical foul called on them. A little showboating (read hanging on the rim) after a slam dunk.
Yes, that guy is dressed like a Christmas tree, yes his outfit glowed AND blinked, and yes, the crowd is singing Oh, Christmas Tree. Good times!!
Always fun to get a little under the basket action shot.
I have NO idea why he is looking at me like that, it was a tad disconcerting, lol.
MVP player for the night and the one my brother says about trampled me, I was busy ducking so I didn't see.
Crowd doing the Winning Team, Losing Team chant. That was a new one for me, fun though.
And to top the night off they won the game and the Invitational.
A wonderful Photographer friend of mine, Meghan Derico of Derico Photography, told me about this photography location. In fact she did more than that. She gave me the contact info and sent me a link so that I could see a session that she had shot there and get a feel for what was availiable. Thanks Meghan, you went above and beyond and I am very, very grateful! I believe photographers should share and help each other and she certainly is a perfect example.
This above is my favorite shot of the entire day, I call it the "magic" shot. I just really love it.
This image was kind of an experiment, I saw it in my head and wondered if I could make it work.
Movie scene shot, establishing locale, lol.
My second favorite shot though when I saw it blown up to a 16X20 and beautifully framed I had a hard time choosing between it and my first favorite.
Hero shot of the bouquet Karissa (Alex's friend) did such an amazing job on.
This is my favorite shot of Alex, I added textures to enhance the Vintage look. I really like how it turned out.
I always love to play with lens flare and I love the connection between Alex and Christopher and the back of Alex's dress. Love, love, LOVE this dress!!
