It's late June in Texas and that means the heat is suffocating, nights are muggy and fireworks stands are popping up everywhere. This combination of season and events gave me the urge to get in the car and drive North out of the city and into the rural areas of North Texas. A quick call over to my fellow photog buddy Rocky and i was off to pick him up to ride along. The plan was to drive straight north on Hwy 377, stopping at each little town along the way up and back to take photos. With about 2 hours of day light left and then lots of interesting stuff in the night to shoot, we knew this would be a fun drive.
After several stops, we can across this fireworks stand outside a small town called Tioga. We figured it would be best to leave the cameras in the car at first, rather than get out snapping pics. So we walked up to talk to the folks working the stand and even bought a couple fireworks. We then asked if we could snap a few shots. They were more than happy to play along. After about 10 minutes of shooting, we said by and loaded up in the car for the ride home.
Overall a very fun and productive photo drive. Its nights like this one that remind me why I was attracted to photography in the first place. The excitement of shooting photos, capturing the local feel of my surroundings and sharing them with people thousands of miles away who've never experienced a hot summer night in Texas. I guess its like sharing a window into my world. So much fun!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday Action!
This Sunday it was off to the small town of Boyd Texas to shoot the TCCRA race event. Id heard this was a good track to take photo's at. I'll have to say, I was not let down! Tight turns, large jumps and berms all within walking distance made this photographers job easy stuff. Accompanied by my photog buddy Rocky, we spent the large part of this Sunday afternoon shooting thousands of action shots. Looking for just a few quality keepers. We quickly learned we were going to have plenty of great shots to take home.
I had two friends participating in the race, which always makes it more fun to photograph. My friend JB, who was racing in it, was sure to give me a card with all the plate numbers of his buddies also in the race who'd want some action shots. So our work was cut out for us.
The weather was classic Texas. Hovering near 100F by afternoon, some riders struggled to keep cool and stay on their bikes. I saw more than one rider pulled off the track, sitting on the ground, drinking water to re-hydrate. We saw many others drive by their fans and get dosed with water, in efforts to stay cool in the heat. What makes it worse is once the riders enter the woods, there is no breeze or wind. Just stagnate, oven-like heat.
Overall it was an awesome day of action photography. Im still working my way through all the images, but its well worth the time. Its days like this that remind me what makes photography so fun to me. Being there, in the moment, in the heat and dirt, capturing exciting images for others to enjoy.
I had two friends participating in the race, which always makes it more fun to photograph. My friend JB, who was racing in it, was sure to give me a card with all the plate numbers of his buddies also in the race who'd want some action shots. So our work was cut out for us.
The weather was classic Texas. Hovering near 100F by afternoon, some riders struggled to keep cool and stay on their bikes. I saw more than one rider pulled off the track, sitting on the ground, drinking water to re-hydrate. We saw many others drive by their fans and get dosed with water, in efforts to stay cool in the heat. What makes it worse is once the riders enter the woods, there is no breeze or wind. Just stagnate, oven-like heat.
Overall it was an awesome day of action photography. Im still working my way through all the images, but its well worth the time. Its days like this that remind me what makes photography so fun to me. Being there, in the moment, in the heat and dirt, capturing exciting images for others to enjoy.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
A Day At the Air Show!
This Saturday was the long awaited Denton Air Show. Featuring many military and civilian aircraft. With an expected turnout of 10,000+ , there were more than a dozen aircraft on the tarmac for people to an up close look at . Followed later by aerobatics performed by prop planes, formation flying by WWII era fighters and later a real speed show by an F-16. The day was hot, but that didn't let that stop my fun! My friend Rocky joined me and we arrived early to get some good photos of all the aircraft on hand. We even ran into a few fellow local photographers out there, which is always cool. The show wrapped up around 4pm, with the F-16 giving everyone the final ear drum blowing performance of the day. I later found out a few aircraft canceled and backed out just before the day of the show. The massive cargo plane, the C130, an F-16 flight team and the A-10 Warthogs were unable to make it. Bummer, because those are all some of my favorite to see each year. Overall, a real fun Saturday.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Summer 'Ballin'
With another warm evening here in North Texas and a lot on my mind, I decided to set out with the camera to do some shooting. Nothing particular, so I made a stop at Eureka Park on the South end of Denton. Its always fun to get out the 200mm lens and do some people watching. Since the weather was perfect the park was full of people out enjoying the evening. People playing volleyball, basketball, jogging, kicking the soccer ball around. Even some guys practicing Parkor on some nearby walls and benches. No shortage of interesting photos to be taken! Of all I took this evening, this one was my favorite. Showing some decent vertical and a nice hook shot, these basketball players made for some great pics. Sports being one of my favorite things to shoot, I think the park will provide a summers worth of nice photographs. I see many more evening trips out there.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Ready For Launch
I was recently asked to shoot some fun themed photos from the Denton Water Park, for an upcoming marketing campaign. Id always wanted get in there with the sole purpose of shooting pics, so I grabbed my camera gear and moved out. It was close to 100F this past Sunday during the shoot. And lugging around camera gear and a pack made it feel like 150F! But after a couple of hours of snapping pics I was happy with what I had. It was a fun day with some really fun pics. I enjoyed the opportunity this gig provided.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A New Self Portrait!
My last self portrait was taken back in like February, when my 52 Week Project ended. At that point in time, I was SICK of seeing any photo's with my face. Well a few months have gone by. I kind of missed taking them now and then. So when I was home for lunch last week, the urge suddenly hit me to take a new selfie. Partially because my photo stream has been a bit slow the past couple weeks. No events going on and not much free time to get out and shoot. So, a photo of me it is! I was actually pretty happy with out this photo came out. I think I took the pic and processed it in Lr2 in about 15 minutes total. Which makes it the best kind of self portrait. The kind where little effort was put into it. Now... onward to shooting photo's of things besides me.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Spencer, Senior Portrait
Occasionally I break away from photographing animals, landscapes and sports and take on some portrait work. This was such the case with graduating high school senior, Spencer. Before the session I was talking to his mom, asking if she thought he'd have a hard time relaxing infront of the camera. She laughed and said "No way, Spencer is a crack up!". She wasn't kidding. He did a great job and was really comfortable in front of the lens. Always laughing, cracking jokes and smiling.... made my job easy! In fact, a few times I had to make him be serious so I could get some shots without a huge smile plastered across his face. But it was great having a subject so at ease and wanting to have fun on the shoot. His laugh and smile are contagious and I think made me a more relaxed photographer as well.
Congrats Spencer!! Off to bigger and better things. You'll go far my friend.
Congrats Spencer!! Off to bigger and better things. You'll go far my friend.
The John Cowand Band
Got to shoot another band last Friday night. This time, The John Cowand Band. Kind of a rock, bluegrass mix. This was another show that I really enjoyed shooting. Great music and atmosphere at their show. The small'ish crowd really seemed into it and I was actually surprised it wasn't a larger audience. Those who did show up did seem to be familiar with who he was and his music. A few times I caught myself watching and listening and not snapping the shutter on my camera. Then i'd snap out of it and focus on shooting again. That's a sign their a captivating group. Id like to see them again if they come through Denton in the future!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Enjoying the Dog Days of Summer
This past Saturday was the long awaited Dog Days of Summer festival in downtown Denton. Id missed the past 2 years of it because I always had something going on, on the exact day of it. But not this year! I was ready and waiting. Emily, Zita and I were to meet up with our friends Beau and Sarah with their Golden Retrievers and small dog at around 10am. Of course this event would provide a wealth of photo opportunities! I wanted to travel light since I knew I'd have Zita's leash in hand as well. So no big camera bag with multiple lenses this time. Bummer. No worries. I removed my battery grip from my 30D and selected my 28-70mm f/2.8 Sigma lens as my only lens for the day. I figured it would give me all the range I should need for doggie shots and the wide f/2.8 aperture would be perfect for portraits.
There were a couple times during the day when I wished I could have switched over to the 200mm. But, I made it work out alright. I managed to get several quality shots I was happy with. Although the one thing that annoys me about this lens is how it handles sunlight when its anywhere but directly at my back. For some reason this lens creates sun flares more easily than any lens I know. And it also seems to blow out images with lots of sun, easier than any of my canon lenses. Getting a decent shot in normal sunlight often requires really stopping down to f/6.3 or smaller. And thats when shooting even at ISO100 with a polarizing filter. Overall the lens is "alright". I can see myself selling it and putting the money into the upcoming Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 IS lens being released in a few months. I suppose this is the classic case of "you get what you pay for". This Sigma lens runs about $300. The Canon lens im waiting for will run around the $1200 range. Ouch... I know.
Anyhow, back on topic. The Dog Days festival was a blast. Our little Heeler, Zita, had a ton O fun and was exhausted when we got her home. Went to sleep on the floor ASAP. Another great thing about this festival is the free stuff. Frisbees, chew toys, snack and doggie bandana's are handed out to all. You can bet we'll be looking forward to next years as well!
There were a couple times during the day when I wished I could have switched over to the 200mm. But, I made it work out alright. I managed to get several quality shots I was happy with. Although the one thing that annoys me about this lens is how it handles sunlight when its anywhere but directly at my back. For some reason this lens creates sun flares more easily than any lens I know. And it also seems to blow out images with lots of sun, easier than any of my canon lenses. Getting a decent shot in normal sunlight often requires really stopping down to f/6.3 or smaller. And thats when shooting even at ISO100 with a polarizing filter. Overall the lens is "alright". I can see myself selling it and putting the money into the upcoming Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 IS lens being released in a few months. I suppose this is the classic case of "you get what you pay for". This Sigma lens runs about $300. The Canon lens im waiting for will run around the $1200 range. Ouch... I know.
Anyhow, back on topic. The Dog Days festival was a blast. Our little Heeler, Zita, had a ton O fun and was exhausted when we got her home. Went to sleep on the floor ASAP. Another great thing about this festival is the free stuff. Frisbees, chew toys, snack and doggie bandana's are handed out to all. You can bet we'll be looking forward to next years as well!
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