Slalom Skiing
Over the weekend, I photographed a high school giant slalom alpine ski race at Mt. Bachelor. I’ve shot lots of prep sports over the years but never skiing – it was both a good learning experience and fun to shoot. Add a beautiful day on the mountain to the mix, and it made for a pretty good way to spend a Saturday. I tried to set up a remote camera for a different perspective, but a few almost dead batteries didn’t allow that to last long. I settled for hiking around and shooting from several different angles instead. I think it worked out OK for my first time shooting ski racing, though next time I’ll do some things differently.
First Few Weeks
I’m enjoying work and life so far in Bend, my new home. I’ve mainly been shooting features and portraits, but overall a good variety of subjects. Here’s a selection of photos from the stories and assignments I’ve covered in my first month, as well as a few wanderings:
2011
It’s that time again – a look back at a year’s worth of pictures. It’s tough to edit down thousands of images from work and life and sum up the year in just a few dozen frames. For me, these photographs stand out from the bunch for one reason or another. I definitely noticed some growth in my work over the past year, but also areas in need of improvement. I hope to build on these images and push myself to continue finding and developing my personal vision in 2012.
I’ve lapsed from the blog for a bit as I’ve recently made some big changes to start the new year. After five years in Idaho, I’ve moved to central Oregon and joined the staff of The Bulletin in Bend. The Journal in Pocatello was my first newspaper job and one in which I learned quite a bit. While I’m sad to leave some of the wonderful people I’ve met during my time in Idaho, I’m excited for the new opportunity here in Bend. Look for some photos from my first few days soon.
I thought the blog was in need of some revamping – any thoughts/feedback?
State Championships
It’s that time of year again – the pinnacle of the high school football season, where champions hoist their trophies up to screaming fans, and the defeated collapse on the field with crushed hopes. Emotions and tensions run high, and the kids on the field play their hearts out for one last game.
Surrounded by so much energy, I’ve always enjoyed shooting these big games. They’re a rush – the adrenaline kicks in a little more, and I push myself a little harder to find and make telling photos. Four of the six state championships this year were held in town, and I shot three of them. Two of the games featured teams we cover pretty regularly throughout the season.
Both of those games, the 3A and 4A titles, were close until the end. The local teams, Blackfoot and Snake River, won, therefore I shot a lot more jube than dejection. After a late night with some crazy fast editing necessary to make deadline, the football season came to a close.
Well, almost. I shot ISU’s last home game the following day. I’ll post some of those next.
Salute to Veterans
Last week I photographed a pre-Veteran’s Day event in town honoring local vets who have served our country. I recognized quite a few of these gentlemen as they often make the rounds around town but was struck by how many people attended the event. I really wanted to make a photograph that captured some emotion, as in the past it seems when I cover ceremonies like this, I’m always missing it for some reason. This time, I think I came back with a few moments that tell of the respect this community has for veterans and how honored they are to have served.
More high school football soon. State championships tomorrow…
2 Games, 2 Losses
I’ve been shooting quite a bit of football this month, including the last 2 ISU home games. After coming up just short against Portland State, the Bengals were shutout the following week against Montana. The losing streak has continued against some good teams on the road the last few weeks. In addition to shooting the standard action photos, I tried to find moments that tell of the struggle, frustration, and overall feel of defeat this team knows too well over the past few seasons.
With high school football playoffs currently underway, I’ll have plenty more pigskin to shoot in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I’ll try to post photographs of something other than football.
Black and Blue
Last weekend was the Black and Blue Bowl at Holt Arena, where Pocatello’s two largest high schools play an annual non-conference game. It’s a game both teams want to win as much as a state championship, and the dome sees crowds bigger than most, if not all, ISU games. This year 5A Highland and 4A Pocatello came into the game undefeated, and after a back and forth battle for most of the contest, Highland held on to win 21-14.
Cub River
To kick off fall, I got out of town for a few days to do a little fishing on the Cub River near the Idaho/Utah border. A tributary of the Bear River, the Cub is a pleasant stretch of river with a good population of rainbows, cutthroats, and brook trout. My friend Harry drove up from Salt Lake, and we spent a day or so wading the river and taking in the start of some fall color.
Editing
In what little downtime I’ve had lately, I’ve been going through and editing weeks worth of photos. Some I’ve barely looked at, other than to provide a deadline photo to the newspaper. Editing is the yin to the yang of shooting and making photos – it’s slower, more passive, and requires a different kind of focus to make sense of what you’ve brought back. I further prolong the process by editing both for work, then later at home, looking for photographs that go beyond what fits a two column hole for the next day’s paper. I’m not a great editor of my own work (I don’t think most people are), but I’ve gotten a lot better out of necessity and sometimes spot frames I overlooked along the way.
This is one such frame from about a month ago I almost dumped, but decided I would give the take a once-over first. I didn’t have much worthwhile from this assignment, so I was pleasantly surprised to find I’d shot a photo I liked and that, to me anyway, works on a level beyond the assignment.
Geekfest–Denver
Continuing with my summer travels, last week I road tripped to Denver to check out Geekfest, an awesome conference/get-together of talented photojournalists and photographers from around the country. It was an inspirational weekend, with a number of incredible speakers talking about their work, as well as an overall sense of positivity that offset the constant doom and gloom talk that’s all too pervasive of late. Got to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and put faces to a lot of names I recognize. Just hanging out with a group of other people passionate about photography and making photos for fun/me recharged my batteries quite a bit. Great to hang out with fellow Idahoans Jerome Pollos, Matt Mills McKnight, and Drew Nash for the 18+ hours on the road. Good people, good times.
These are a few shots from the weekend – some wanderings around Denver, photos from the road, and the craziness that happens when you get a bunch of people with cameras together. Still editing everything, maybe I’ll post more when I’ve got some time.
Home Opener
Last Saturday, I spent the afternoon inside Holt Arena shooting ISU’s home opening game against Western State. I did the same last year, which was also the last time ISU won a game. With a new coach, new turf, and a more energized fan base (at least for the first game), the Bengals came out strong against their lower division NAIA opponent and snapped an eleven-game losing streak.
This year’s team is all about the pass, which definitely changed where and how I approached shooting the game. Also tried to focus a little more on the crowd and the action off the field. Nothing as super amazing or different as I hoped, but not a bad start to the season. At least came away with some ideas for future shots. 
Back on the Sidelines
Hard to believe it’s that time of year again, but high school football is under way. It actually started a few weeks ago, but I missed the first week of games while out of town on an assignment. I made up for lost time by shooting 4 games in 2 days – there were a few rare Saturday games – this past weekend. It took me some time to get back into the groove of shooting football, but it all returned relatively quickly. Luckily I wasn’t stuck in the dome for all the games and got to take advantage of the great light and warm weather of early season games. ISU opens at home this Saturday, so most of my weekends for the next few months will be filled with football. 
Drive-in Fire
Last week I heard a call over the scanner about a grass fire behind a trailer park in a field formerly the site of a drive-in theater south of town. Lots of times these turn out to be relatively minor and are put out quickly. Not so, in this case. I arrived at the scene soon after the call and spotted a number of residents from the trailer park running around with hoses and shovels trying to keep the blaze away from their homes. Fire crews started attacking the perimeter soon after, and it seemed they would have it under control without too much damage. Unfortunately, the winds picked up and carried the flames into the hills covered in sagebrush and grasses. The fire grew to over a 1,000 acres, and it took crews a few days to finally get under control.
Covering wildfires usually presents a conundrum – you don’t know what the fire is going to do so you don’t want to/are blocked from getting too close, yet you need to get close enough to make compelling pictures and show what’s happening. I hiked quite a bit around the trailer park and surrounding hills trying to find the right combination of access, distance, and activity. Along the way, I was kicked out of a number of spots and had to rely a lot on long lenses. As a few more (unrelated) fires have sprung up in the past few days, I have a feeling I’m going to be reeking of smoke throughout the rest of the summer.
Festive Light
I had some beautiful light to work with recently while shooting the Shoshone-Bannock Festival in Fort Hall. I arrived in time to make photos during the grand entry and some of the pow-wow. This year a local group incorporated an Aztec ceremony as well. A visual overload, almost – so much great color, light, subjects, and regalia.
Return to Nature
“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things?”
- Emerson, Nature
I’ve found that during moments in my life when I’ve struggled, felt lost, confused, frustrated, or troubled in some way, nothing helps to center me more than a journey into the natural world. Being alone, yet surrounded by the grandeur of nature we often take for granted provides me the ideal venue for some of my clearest and most honest thinking. And a place to not think, as well.
This weekend, I seriously needed to return to nature – some time to wander, get lost, take in the sites around me, gaze at the stars, fish, and put things in perspective. And to make some photographs for me. Though I’m usually focused on documenting humanity or life in some way, I also enjoy shooting landscapes and my interaction with nature. It’s calming and just something I like to do, I guess.
Spontaneity brought me by Stanley, Idaho – an area some would argue is one of the nicest parts in the state. The Sawtooth Range, numerous lakes, and the Salmon River provide quite the stunning background. After some scary thunderstorms during which I debated sleeping in the car, the weather cleared up nicely and I enjoyed the exploration. A few photographs I made along the way:
