Roland Simmons' Blog

ORPAT

2009-06-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

I recently passed the ORPAT. It was tough, especially for an old man like me. Seems that the part I was most worried about turned out to be the easiest. I will have to take this again when I apply for full-time status with the department. I will definitely improve my time. For those that don't know what the ORPAT is, it's a physical abilities test given by some law enforcement departments. I took mine for the McMinnville Police Department. Trying to become a reserve police officer. Here's a youtube video of the ORPAT.

Finally, an update

2009-06-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't been feeling up to updating lately. This is from the 6A state high school baseball championship this weekend.

2009-03-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I've updated. Guess it's time now. I'm working on my third day of shooting the OSAA girls basketball championships for 5A and 6A. They've been about 14 hour days...brutal. I love basketball so I don't mind too much. Saturday is the last day. Can't wait to shoot the championship finals.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks ma. There is too much snow for me to ride it. I have to wait until it melts away.

Thanks Uncle Jim. This is one of the games I wanted. I can't wait for you to play it with me.

December Snowfall

2008-12-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

We have gotten a lot of snow here. The images in the slideshow were taken on different days. Seems like everytime we look out the window snow is falling from the sky. Usually the snow stays in the higher elevations and we get a little here and there, but not this much. Rain is usually the order of the day. DeShaun's school was closed for a week because of the snow. And now he is off for another 2 weeks for winter break. He's been out playing and having a good time with some of his friends.

There are a lot of roads closed in the Portland area. The Airport had over 100 flights cancel. Traction tires and chains are required. Our cars are snowed in pretty good. Even if we got our cars out of the driveway, the roads in our neighborhood are not plowed. This doesn't happen much so it's not in the towns budget. So we are pretty much snowed in. We can walk to the store but other than that we are not going far.

Looks like there will be snow on the ground for Christmas.

Disco Dancing Elves

2008-12-21T20:49:00.000-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2008-12-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Saw one of these on a friends blog so I went to try one out with DeShaun's image.

State Volleyball

2008-11-12T23:17:00.000-08:00

Shot state volleyball over the weekend. 2 very long days. These are images that I used to update my SportsShooter page with.

Halloween Halftime Show

2008-11-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

DeShaun was part of the half-time show at the McMinnville vs. Newberg football game Halloween night. The high school dance team and a few kids did Michael Jackson's Thriller dance. The kids had a week of rehearsal and got a DVD to take home to practice. I had to actually shoot the game that night so I was on the field to get a few images of him. Jen had the camcorder but for some reason couldn't get it working.....love ya honey :x
He was a vampire that night. He had make-up on but it rubbed off by the time we got to the field. We started out trick or treating kind of early. He had a party to get to then the half-time show. There was some houses he would not walk up to, not even if I walked with him. He was too scared of some of the decorations. Where we went for the party, they had a cool zombie thing that made noise and pushed itself up when you walked by it. One second DeShaun was with me about to walk up the porch and then I turn around and he is standing on the sidewalk. LOL!!!! They had to open the garage for him so he could enter the house. Too funny.

DeShauns Boo Boo

2008-09-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

DeShaun got a small gash near his cheekbone playing silent ball after school at KOB. Not really sure what silent ball is. He said he was trying to catch a ball thrown to him but he had to reach for it and fell and hit the edge of a bench that is part of a lunch table. (KOB is held in the cafeteria after school). I had to take him to the emergency room to get some stitches. Being a little kid he doesn't like needles and he let the nurses and doctor know that. His face lit up with a smile when he was told he wouldn't need to have any needles. The doctor just "glued" the gash together. This morning his eye was swollen. Looked like he was on the losing end of a fight :).

State Softball Championships

2008-06-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

I shot 3 state title softball games on Saturday. All great games. All went into extra innings. Winners of the 3 games only won by a run. Shot close to 1,000 images. Here's 10 that I updated my SportsShooter page with.

Photo by YA-YA

2008-05-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

DeShaun played soccer for the first time this year. He did pretty well for his first year. I didn't make it to many games because of work and when I did go I didn't take any photos. Sequoia took this picture. Next year if he plays I will definitely get to more games and will take my camera.

Wedding Reception

2008-04-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

This is a proof book cover for a reception that I shot for Nick and Danell at the Thirst Wine Bar in Downtown Portland recently. Fun event to shoot. The family was great to work with.

DeShaun

2008-04-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I put an image of DeShaun on here. I was lucky to get this one. He was upset because I wouldn't sit down in a chair before I took this pic. Have no idea why he wanted me to sit.

More High Speed Photography

2008-03-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Me and DeShaun played with the sound trigger again. This time we popped some balloons. Today I made another trigger(top photos). The trigger pictured was used for the last photo in this series. I will post an image of the first trigger I made. That one is much more simple.

Tahoe Ski Trip

2008-03-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

OK Bro, here's the images from the Tahoe ski trip.

High Speed Photography

2008-03-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

I made a sound trigger yesterday and me and DeShaun spent part of the morning busting up some light bulbs. I was going to damage some other stuff and then put everything on the blog but promised my mom I would update tonight. I will have to make another blog entry when I get another chance to get more images.

This was my first time doing this. It was kind of cool to do. The sound trigger I used for this was very simple to put together. I am now working on a different one that is a little harder to build. I'm not an electronics guy so I hope it works.

This bulb bounced instead of breaking

Last Day of 4A State Basketball

2008-03-14T20:27:00.001-07:00

This is the last day of the 4A boys and girls state basketball tournament. This shot is from the girls championship game. Hidden Valley lost to Sutherlin 28-26. Very low scoring game. About to shoot the guys so I expect a lot more points on the board.

More State Basketball

2008-03-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

Started shooting the 4A state tournament...boys and girls...on Monday. Finals are Friday. I've shot so much basketball these past couple weeeks. It truely is Madness.

Rod Benson

2008-03-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Rod Benson plays for the D-League's Dakota Wizards. He has a blog that is pretty cool. Start with this entry. It's the last entry that I read (March 12). You will have to read the previous blog entry to know what he's talking about.

2008-03-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

First Day of 6A girls basketball tournament

2008-03-06T18:14:00.001-08:00

Girls 6A basketball tournament got going today. Here's an image from the second game. Oregon City vs. North Medford. Oregon City won 53-39 to advance to the semis

Girls 5A basketball tournament

2008-03-06T01:57:00.001-08:00

I shot the quarterfinals of the girls 5A basketball tournament at the Chiles Center today. Got to the court a little early so that I could set up the White-Lightnings. The 6A teams start tomorrow. I will be covering every game (5A and 6A). Championships are on Saturday.

OSAA 3A 3rd place game

2008-03-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

Shot a 3rd place state baketball game for NSP last night....Portland Adventist vs. Cascade Christian. The game was suppose to be played at 3:15 at Willamette University but was instead played at 6:30 at South Salem High School. The game site and time were changed to accommodate Portland Adventist's observance of the Saturday Sabbath. The team sued the OSAA to be able to play it's game after sundown on Saturday.

Portland Adventist lost 68-61.

Western States Basketball Classic

2008-02-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

Last week I got an email from a friend to help out with a basketball tournament happening at the Oregon School for the Deaf. He had something to do in the morning of the first day of the tournament and needed the first few games shot. It was quite different than what I am use to. The basketball was the same, it was the communicating that was different for me. I can't read sign language so I had no clue. I would love to be able to spend some time with a team behind the scenes. That would be a cool project to shoot.

Swimming

2008-01-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

It's been slow around here. Things are starting to pick up a little though. I shot a swim meet for The Beaverton Valley Times on Thursday....Jesuit vs Beaverton...guys and girls. All I had to do was get an event winner from both schools from the girls and guys. Beaverton did not win a single event. The Beaverton guys did get second in a few events. The Beaverton girls could do no better than fourth in any event.

No Friday Night Lights

2008-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Decided not to light Friday nights girls basketball game between Gladstone and Molalla. The game was at Gladstone High School. There really isn't any good spots to put lights. Light stands will definitely get in the way and there is not a good spot to clamp lights. Usually I use stands but I'm always fixing them after they get kicked and tripped on by fans. That gym is one of my least favorite gyms to shoot in. The available light in that gym is brighter than it has been in past years. It use to be a dungeon. Now if only they can make the gym larger....at least give me some room to use remote strobes.

Fav Time of Year

2008-01-01T15:22:00.000-08:00

High School, college and NBA basketball is in full swing. Wonder how many games I will cover this year? Basketball is always fun to shoot. There is always good action to be got....sometimes I struggle to get "that" image but the action is always there.

Two NBA teams that I enjoy keeping tabs on, NY Knicks (I'm from NY so I am a Knicks fan) and Portland Trailblazers (living in the Portland area I like to see the home team succeed, except against the Knicks), are heading in different directions. The Knicks are a mess and the Trailblazers are looking like the team many thought they would be. They just had a 13 game winning streak snapped by Utah. It's time to start another streak.

This year one of the things I will have to do is watch Christopher play. So Chris hurry and send me a schedule!!!!

2007-12-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Oregon City upset 24th ranked Helen Cox (Harvey, La) 56-53 during the Les Schwab Invitational. This was the only game I shot during the tournament this year.

Baby Teeth

2007-12-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

DeShaun is putting a tooth under his pillow for the first time. He is really excited about it. He had a front tooth that has been loose for a while now. I pulled it out today. It was painless...he didn't even know I was holding it in my hand. He saw some blood and got a little nervous. I showed him the tooth, which was covered in blood, and then he looked at me and said the funniest thing....."I'm not putting that thing under my pillow".....he said it exactly like that. Jen was happy she was able to be there when the tooth came out. She went out of town for the weekend and she was afraid she would miss it.

Shoots From Last Sunday

2007-12-15T00:30:00.000-08:00

Had a couple of shoots on Sunday. I'm just getting around to adding a couple of images to the blog. The top image is from a senior shoot. Boy was it cold. It started snowing at the beginning of the shoot. The bottom image is from a portrait session I shot later that evening. We were inside for most of the shoot so the cold didn't bother us.

4A football semifinals

2007-12-03T22:57:00.000-08:00

Covered a 4A football semifinal game for the Bend Bulletin on Saturday. It was a very cold Saturday. When I left my house that morning it was snowing. I was lucky that the snow stayed away from the game I was shooting. It did rain a little bit though. I forgot to bring my rain covers for my lenses so I was pretty lucky it didn't pour.
One of the things I always worry about hapening actually happened....a corrupted chip. I was able to get the images with the help of some software but I was worried at first. Anyway, everything worked out. The team I was covering won 50-49 and one of my images was the lead photo in Sundays sports section.

Recent stuff

2007-12-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

Shot my first basketball games of the season last week for the Clackamas Review. I love shooting basketball. It's my favorite sport to shoot.

Volleyball State Playoffs

2007-11-01T23:22:00.000-07:00

I covered a 1st round volleyball playoff game on Wednesday night for a couple of papers. This was the first volleyball game I shot this season. Didn't last too long, only 3 sets.

USA Woman's Soccer

2007-10-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

I shot USA vs. Mexico woman's soccer Wednesday night at PGE Park. Soccer is becoming one of my favorite sports to shoot. The more I shoot it, the more I like to shoot it. I updated my SportsShooter page with a few more images. Check it out!

Beach

2007-10-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

I had to travel to the Oregon Coast Thursday for a small shoot. DeShaun came along with me. After the shoot I took him to the beach. Next time I have to remember to pack him some extra clothes. He just couldn't stay out of the water. He had a good time. He cried when it was time to leave.

Lance Armstrong Livestrong Event

2007-10-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

The last finisher
I shot the Livestrong Event September 30th at the Nike Campus. Left my house around 4:30 AM so it was a long day....wet and cold too. It's a fun event to be a part of. Many people get involved, even in the rain. Hope to be there next year too.

Recent Stuff

2007-10-02T12:35:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted something. I've been busy but just not posting to the blog. Here's a few images from 2 football games, a soccer game and a wedding.

The Last Post--Maybe (NOT)

2007-08-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

(THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED)

Brendan out on his bike yesterday.

LLSBWS

2007-08-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

The Little League Softball World Series is coming to an end. The championship game is on Wednesday at 6:30 Pacific Time. Morristown Tennessee, representing the South will take on Elgin Texas, representing the Southwest. Should be a great game. Both teams are undefeated in the tournament. I'm hoping I get some really good images. I updated my SportsShooter page with a few images from games from the past few days. Check it out.

Thatcher

2007-08-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for a reason to make a photo. Thatcher looked after DeShaun for me on Wednesday while I did more team stuff at Alpenrose. When I pulled up, him and DeShaun were outside riding skateboards so I set something up real quick and snapped some shots.

Softball World Series in Portland

2007-08-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

Teams starting ariving for the Major Softball World Series on Tuesday. Went to Alpenrose to do the team photos. DeShaun tagged along. Games start on Thursday. This is always a fun event to cover.

I need to shave my head.

First House

2007-08-06T01:38:00.000-07:00

We went and paid a visit to the new house this weekend. It looks like it's all done. Can't believe we are actually going to have a backyard. So it looks like move #2 will happen very soon. Anyone have a truck? Oh wait a second, I know a guy who just bought a new truck ;-)

Maybe I'll buy a motorcycle now since I have a garage to put it in.

Move #1

2007-08-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

So we are all moved out of Hillsboro now, into our temporary apartment. We should only be here a month or so and then we do another move. I hate moving. I'm sure most people do. Things get misplaced, you have to notify everyone of the address change, it's just a pain.

DeShaun hopes to stay here for as long as possible so he can go swimming everyday. Yesterday we spent 4 hours at the pool. The day before that we spent a lot of time there, not 4 hours though.

These images are from yesterday. I wasn't sure if I would take some photos or not but decided to take some gear (2 canon speedlights, PW's, camera) with us anyway. DeShaun didn't mind jumping in the pool for some images.

Oh yeah, I'm so happy to spend 4 hours in the sun. Do I look like I need that much sun?
I got bored so I started taking pictures of myself.

Celebrating DeShaun's 6th Birthday

2007-07-22T00:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to Papa's Pizza for DeShaun's birthday party. Nothing too big. Just a few kids and a few friends. Everything has been crazy around here. We are cleaning and packing stuff. We have a week before we move. Still lots to do.

For You Bones

2007-07-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Bones this is a different version of the image I was telling you about. Since you don't post this stuff, I figured I could post enough for both of us....I shoot enough of it :-)

Wednesday at Oaks Amusement Park

2007-07-12T23:50:00.001-07:00

I had a newspaper assignment at Oaks Park on Wednesday. Here's a couple of portraits from that assignment. She roller skates competitively and has a chance to make it to nationals. I also took a few images of her skating but didn't like the way they came out. The night before the shoot I was getting my gear together. I had decided that I was going to use a White-Lightning and a softbox for the portraits. I would have had to bring my Vagabond battery along too. The next morning on my way out I decided it was too much crap and just took my cameras and 2 Canon Speedlights and 2 lightstands. It was a wise choice to travel light. Everything fit in one bag, except the lightstands.

DeShaun came with me to the assignment. After I was done working we went and got something to eat and then headed back to the park for some fun. He had a great time and didn't want to leave. I couldn't wait to get out of there. It was freakin' hot.

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

I'm pulling an all nighter right now. I have to get some images shipped/emailed/ftp'ed out to a few clients in the morning. The sooner they get their images, the sooner I get paid. I figured since I was up, I would wish everyone a belated Happy 4th of July. This is a couple days late but who cares, right? Hope everyone had fun. One of the few days during the week that Jen and I both had off from work. I slept in until 10 and met Jen, DeShaun and Molly at the Hillsboro 4th of July parade. If you've been to any parade in Hillsboro, you've been to them all. DeShaun enjoys them though. I think it has to do with the candy that's thrown to the spectators.

After the parade we were going to take a ride to see our new home that is in the process of being built. Molly sprained her ankle so we took her to the emergency room. At first the doctors thought she dislocated her ankle and tore some ligaments but it turned out to be a really bad sprain. We stayed with her until Jules, her boyfriend, was able to make it. After that we went to Dexter and Paula's house for some food and fireworks. I left my tripod at home so I ended up hand holding my camera for firework photos.

The Assistant

2007-07-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Cyndie, thanks for your help Friday. Sorry, I just had to add you to the blog. If you were thinking, you could have whipped out your camera, took a photo of me and plastered it on your blog. Then again I don't think that my face is blog material. Thanks again. Oh, did you find your way home? :-p

Going East

2007-07-01T00:47:00.001-07:00

Caught up with my buddy Pete before he and his family head to R.I. on Monday. He is a fellow photographer that I had the pleasure of shooting with from time to time. Dude I will miss working with you. I will stay in touch and hope you do the same. And don't worry man, I will still have stuff to complain about so it will seem like you never left. When I visit my family back east we will have to get together. You can take the drive to New London and pick me up at the ferry. :-) Have a safe trip.

Trip to Ted's Place

2007-06-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

Amy and DeShaun playing with dolls on the way to art camp
DeShaun and I took a trip out to Silverton to visit my buddy Bones a.k.a. Ted. It's been awhile since I've been out to his place. I figured a visit was over due. We just pretty much BS'ed all day while the kids played.

Beer Makin'
Bones showed me one of his beer making gizmos that he is putting together. Bones, I'm not much of a drinker but you get some of that stuff bottled and I'll sit out in the back yard and help you get rid of them ;)

Cherry Pickin'
He has a huge cherry tree in his backyard so we ate a bunch of cherries. I don't think it was a good idea to give DeShaun cherries 'cause he has been eating cherries since Sunday. If you ask me that's too much :)

The Great Bones Miller
OK, Bones hurry and get some stuff brewed up and I'll be over again soon. We can sit around and complain about all the stuff we like to complain about while we drink some homemade beer. By the way the next Beavers homestand is July 4-8.

Thinking Vacation

2007-06-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

Jen has been talking about taking a vacation. I think we will probably just get away to the coast or somewhere not too far away. I've been feeling like crap since Thursday so a get away would do me some good.

One year we went to Mexico for our get away. Sure would love to do that again.

The Birthday Present

2007-06-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

I goofed up this morning. I'm getting dress this morning, go to the closet to get a shirt, notice a Game Cube game sitting on a shelf in the closet. It's not wrapped or in a bag...just sitting there along with some other stuff. So I'm thinking Jen was doing some cleaning and just put the game away in the closet or something. I take the game to DeShaun and ask him was he missing a game. He takes a look at it and says...."Yeah, I've been looking all over for this. Where did you find it?" He was got so excited about this game...I should have known something wasn't right....stupid me!!!! It turns out that this game was for his birthday....July 28. Jen wasn't too thrilled about it. She's been giving me a hard time all day. She will never let me live this one down.

Stepping Up Day

2007-06-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

Today was DeShaun's last day of kindergarten and this evening the school had a stepping up celebration for all the kids. He was pretty excited.

After the ceremony we took him to Chuck E. Cheese for some food and fun. He pretty much wanted to skip the food and get right to the fun.

He is growing so much. This morning I was rushing to get him to school so I could get back home so I told him to hurry because I wanted to get back home...He told me, "Dad, it's not always about you and mommy. Sometimes it's about me too". I didn't know what to say....just had to laugh to myself about it.

We also celebrated Father's Day while we were at Chuck E. Cheese. DeShaun will be going to the coast this weekend. I have to work so no fun for me.

High School Graduations

2007-06-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

I shot 2 graduations this week, Sunday for The Clackamas Review and Monday for The Beaverton Valley Times.

Made me think about when I graduated from H.S. Seems like yesterday, but then I start thinking about the year I did finish and it sure wasn't yesterday, not even close :-). I couldn't wait to get out of high school, now sometimes I wish I could go back.....Sometimes!

Oatmeal Box Camera

2007-06-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I made a pinhole camera out of an oatmeal box. Very simple stuff. Don't know why I decided to do it. Guess I was bored. But it was a fun project and even more fun when I developed the prints in the bathroom and got some images. I used 5x7 B/W photo paper as my negative. Once that was developed I used another piece of photo paper to make the actual print. I still have the "camera" and I'm thinking about using it again. If I do get around to using it again, I will definitely post some images here.

Noise, Noise, Noise

2007-06-05T23:42:00.001-07:00

Someone gave DeShaun an electronic keyboard today. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??? He's been playing that thing all night. He really thinks he's playing something too. (Didn't we all at that age?) The thing that's funny is he opens up the music books like he knows what he is looking at and starts playing. I won't be home tomorrow so Jen will have to attend the show by herself. Sorry baby. :-)

More From H.S. Baseball Championships

2007-06-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Medford Mail Tribune Sunday sports section. Sweet!

The 2 on the left and the one in the middle are mine....

The one on the left is mine....

The 2 on the left and the bottom 2 on the right are mine....

SportsShooter page updated!!!

High School Baseball Championships

2007-06-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Friday and Saturday I shot the HS state baseball championships here in Oregon. I must say I had a pretty good couple days of shooting, especially on Saturday. I will put some images from the 5A and 6A championship games on the web later. This image is from the 6A championship game...North Medford vs. Westview. And yes he was tagged out trying to score. Will add a caption later but NM won the game 3-2.

Another One Bites The Dust

2007-05-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

So another cell phone has gone belly up on me. Not sure how many cellphones I've had over the years but it's been a few. I guess it was for the best because I was outgrowing that phone really quickly. I guess I just held on to it a little bit too long. It was a good little phone though.

My new Blackberry
So I decided to get a Blackberry. I also looked at the Treo line. I thought about the features I needed and the Blackberry fit the bill. One of the more important features was being able to use the phone as a modem for my laptop. I never know where the next assignment will take me. Once in a while there can be internet connection problems at the venue where I'm shooting. Or there is no connection at all. Being able to transmit from almost anywhere allows me to accept more assignments. I could use my previous phone to connect to the internet with my laptop but that was using Sprints Vision plan and it gave me dial up speeds. The Blackberry is on a data plan so it's pretty fast. The one thing i need to do is get it working with my iBook. I got it working on a Windows laptop but not my Mac. I'll figure it out real soon though.

On a side note, I updated My Sportsshooter Page with some images from a softball game I shot Tuesday. Take a look.

It's Been Too Long

2007-05-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

I really hate it when I can't post anything to the blog. Either I'm busy or just plain lazy. This time it's been a little of both. I will try to get caught up a little with this post. Can't put everything I've been up to here, just some.

I had a really cool assignment. Probably the best one I've ever had. I got a call one Thursday night at about 10PM from a woman in Arizona looking for a photographer for her friend, Chris. Chris was flying in to Portland the following day to meet his biological mother for the first time. She lives in Portland but was flying in from Italy. He was put up for adoption 39 years ago. This is stuff that I see on TV and thought it would be great to be a part of this. The hard part was getting through the gate without a boarding pass. Chris was a smooth talker and somehow got me through. It was really a treat to witness this. I wish I had an assistant for this but it was very last minute. The lighting in the airport is horrible. Chris, when you come back to Portland give me a call.

Shot some golf........

Some tennis.......

Shot some little 9 year old baseball tournament.......

I shot some HS playoff baseball and playoff softball on the same day.....

And I just got back home Saturday after spending 2 days shooting the WIAA Track Championships in Pasco, WA....

I did some other shoots for NSP and for some newspapers and a little assisting. I will try to do a better job keeping the updates current on the blog. My next mission is to update my sportsshooter page....with some good images this time! Shooting OSAA HS State Championship baseball this week. Hope I get some good stuff there.

Evening shoot

2007-05-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

A few shots from a shoot I did Monday evening.

Wasted Day

2007-05-08T02:47:00.000-07:00

I had to take a 3 hour drive to Seattle on Monday to shoot some teams at a high school. When I get close to the school I notice a few school buses pulled off to the side of the road and a cop car blocking the road leading to the school. I found out that 2 schools were on lock down....one of them happen to be the school I needed to get to. So it turned out that I wasn't going to do the shoot so I made the 3 hour trip back home. Talk about a wasted day. 6 hours in the car and not one click of the shutter. To make things worse I have to fill my gas tank up again....at over $3.00 a gallon it's killing my wallet. Something definitely will have to change. It was a really nice day out and I couldn't take DeShaun to the park or anything. I was really tired after all that driving. I took him to IHOP instead and got him a Rooty Jr. with a big strawberry shake to make up for not being able to take him out.

Quickie Portrait

2007-05-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

A recent portrait of some pole vaulters I took during a track meet for the paper. Lit with one speedlight on a monopod, held by one of the kids dad.

Kite Night

2007-05-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

Took DeShaun to the park Sunday evening to fly his kite. We have been to the park a few times to fly the kite but the wind just didn't cooperate. This time was different. We got a good wind and got the kite up pretty high. Then DeShaun lost interest and wanted to play on the play structure. This image was taken after the kite was put back in the trunk. A church group with a ton of kids came to the park so DeShaun had MANY kids to play with. I wanted to get a picture of him with his kite....I was lucky to get this one image of him.

Timbers Home Opener

2007-04-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

I shot the Portland Timbers home opener Saturday night. They beat Puerto Rico 3-1. I haven't shot soccer since last season so I was a bit rusty. Can't wait for the next game. I'm always looking to improve.

Vanessa Vortex

2007-04-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

Had a really cool shoot on Sunday taking pictures of Vanessa Vortex, a clown/hula hooper/juggler/performer. She performs at some of the clubs in Portland and also performs at birthday parties. She needed some images for her upcoming website. We ended up shooting at 2 locations. The images at the train yard are from the last location. My Vagabond battery got it's first real workout. These images were lit with one sofbox. Hope you like. I will try to throw some more images from the shoot up on the web and share.

So Far This Week

2007-03-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just a few images that I have shot so far this week...nothing too exciting.

Top Model

2007-03-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

DeShaun is always up for pictures. He really likes cheesing it up for the camera. I'm glad he's like that becuase I get to try different things and use him as my model. I recently purchased another camera body and haven't really used it too much. I wanted to take a few pictures with it and get some big prints made so it was DeShaun to the rescue. We sometimes switch and I let him do the picture taking and I pose for him. Maybe one of these days I will put some of those up on the blog.

Spring Time

2007-03-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

The weather is starting to warm up....means more outdoor team and individual and buddy) photos. Also means I will be shooting a lot of high school baseball games. I should also be getting a schedule to shoot some Portland Beaver games. I'm looking forward to shooting the Beavers games this season...should be fun.

More Girls State Basketball Action

2007-03-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

I'm here at the Chiles Center for my 3rd day of shooting.

6A Girls State Basketball Tournament

2007-03-07T23:50:00.000-08:00

Covered the 6A girls basketball tournament today....4 games. More on Thursday. I'm pretty tired right now. Got this image from the last game. I shot like crap today.

Spokesman-Review Sports Section

2007-03-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

The Spokesman-Review used 3 of my images from yesterday's game in Monday's issue of the paper. Here is the front page of the sports section with my image (middle) printed pretty big.

Here are the other 2 images printed inside.

WCC Women's Championship Game

2007-03-04T22:45:00.000-08:00

Covered the West Coast Conference women's basketball championship today for the Spokane Spokesman-Review. It was a fun game to shoot and gave me and Craig Mitchelldyer (he shot the men's semifinal game Sunday evening) another image for round 2 of our friendly competition. The object is to see who shoots the best single frame on any given day that we both shoot an event.

Here is my entry. Shot from up in the stands.

No strobes...had to shoot available light. Take a look at Craig's image here. I must admit, he had a pretty good game but so did I ;-)
OK bloggers, time to vote. Who wins round 2?

A few more images from the game.......

And you can see a few more images on my SportsShooter page

More Playoff Action

2007-02-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

Had another playoff game to cover tonight. I broke out the White-Lightnings and I'm glad I did. I was going to set up a backboard remote but didn't get to the school in time.

I am having a friendly competition with my buddy Craig Mitchelldyer. We are seeing who has the best image after each game. He told me I'm making him look bad :-). Dude, it's your fault....you are a good teacher. Anyway, after each game we are going to post one image to the blog. This is my image. Go take a look at his. (click his name)

I don't have a game to shoot until Saturday. He shoots tomorrow. Maybe I'll go out and find a game to shoot. Sunday I should be covering the Gonzaga women in the WCC championship game. Let's hope they make it.

Basketball Playoff Time

2007-02-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

High School playoff basketball is underway. Saturday I covered a game for the paper. It was a great game. But it was in a really crappy gym. Small and dark....sucked up all my light. On one side of the court I had to clamp a flash to a banister and every time something exciting happened someone stood up and blocked the light. There was no way I could get the flash any higher. I was able to put a flash on a light stand on the opposite side and get it above heads. The only thing I had to worry about was someone kicking the light stand and moving it.

I decided to use my wide angle as my primary lens for this game. It worked out pretty well. Came away with some good images. I have another playoff game to shoot on Tuesday. Maybe I will try the wide angle as the primary again.

Girls Basketball

2007-02-21T00:38:00.000-08:00

The game that I covered for the paper tonight was suppose to be a heck of game. 2 of the top 3 6A girls teams were going against eachother. Lake Oswego ranked #2 in the state against #3 Oregon City. The game was a blow out. Oregon City dominated the game, winning 53-31. Both teams are 10-1 in the Three Rivers League standings. Oregon City has a chance to win it's 14th straight league total. They also kept their 14 year home court win streak alive. (I will have to check to see how many games they have won during the home court streak). I brought along my white-lightnings for this game. I only used one. Bounced it off the ceiling.

DeShaun

2007-02-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted some images of DeShaun. He's getting bigger everyday. While he was playing with his cars I set up a speedlight and a shoot through umbrella and had him sit in a chair and took a few images. 3 shots from our less than 5 minute shoot.

State Swim

2007-02-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

Working on my 3rd day of covering OSAA State Swim for Northwest Sports Photography. 3 long days.

Thursday Night's Assignment

2007-02-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Last night I had to get some images of Mike Doherty, Oregon City HS boys basketball coach. From what I understand he is the 2007 National High School Basketball Coach of the Year and the paper needed an image to run with the story. These are just a few that I got. I sent in a few so the editor could have a bit to choose from.

Last Week

2007-02-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the Super Bowl. Here's a few images from some newpaper assignments that I had last week.

Friday Night Basketball

2007-01-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

Here's an image from a basketball game I covered for the paper last night. I wanted to set up a backboard remote but couldn't make it to the gym before the start of the game. I didn't make it to this game until halftime because of some other shoots I had. Next time I get the chance to set up a backboard remote I will post an image to the blog.

Feeling Under the Weather

2007-01-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

I've been sick this week and getting a lot of rest. I don't have any new images to share because I haven't been shooting. So I will share with you an image that I've already posted. This is the image that I shot of Kyle Singler during the Les Schwab Invitational. Always cool to see an image of mine in print.

Les Schwab Invitational Championship Game

2007-01-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

Duke bound Kyle Singler had 39 pts for South Medford
Oak Hill Academy and South Medford went at it for the Les Schwab championship Saturday night. I covered the game for the Mail Tribune in Medford. Oak Hill has been blowing teams away in this tournament. They had a 25 pt. lead in this game before South Medford battled back.

With less than a minute left South Medford cut the lead to 5. There was still a chance for an upset.

But South Medford ended up losing the game 99-90.

Les Schwab Invitational

2006-12-29T01:22:00.000-08:00

For the past 2 days I've been covering the Oregon City H.S. boys basketball team playing in the Les Schwab Invitational. Thursday night they played against Oak Hill Academy from Virginia in the 2nd round. Oak Hill is the #1 ranked boys high school team in the nation by USA Today. Oregon City kept the game somewhat close in the 1st half but Oak Hill was just too strong, winning 98-71. Oak Hill is favored to win the tournament.

I was thinking about setting up a backboard remote for this game but got lazy and decided not to. Well, after getting the above image I wished I would have used a remote camera. I think that image would have looked cool shot head on.

Once the tournament is over I will add some images to my SportsShooter page.

Happy Holidays.

2006-12-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Everyone.

Recent stuff

2006-12-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Some recent basketball images. Hope everyone is all set for the Holidays. I have one more thing to get and then that's it for me. Still enjoying my ipod. :-)

Early Christmas Presents

2006-12-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

Jen got me an iPod for Christmas. Of course I couldn't wait to use it. I needed something to keep me company while I'm working. Sure came in handy Saturday night. We were without power for about 5-6 hours. This is my first iPod and I'm having fun with it. Now I need to get some new music to put on it. I put 170 songs on there so far with room for more.

I'm Back

2006-12-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

I'm back from NY after a week away. Got back Saturday afternoon. Here are some of the images that I made.

My daughter Alison the violinist

My son Chris the big brother and all around cool kid

My brother Greg the fireman

My brother Tim and his daughter Jaiden

Even though I went for a funeral, it turned out to be a nice trip.

Live from New York.....

2006-12-03T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'm in New York for a week to attend my uncle's funeral. I didn't have a chance to update my blog before I caught my flight so I figured I would update it now. I shot another basketball game for the Clackamas Review on Friday. Not sure if I will update this blog again while I am on the East Coast. I have my camera with me so if I get any images I like maybe I will throw them up here. I will be spending most of my time with Chris and Alison and I know I will be taking a lot of pictures of them. Anyway, if I don't update for a week you guys know why.

This game was lit with Canon speedlights. I didn't make it to the game until the second half and I was happy to be able to set something up in less than 5 minutes.

First basketball game of season

2006-12-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

Thursday I shot my first basketball game of the season for the Clackamas Review. I had a couple of assignments on Thursday so I decided not to lug around my white-lightnings. Instead I used 2 Canon speedlights on light stands.....easy set up and easy break down. I might just have to use the speedlights more often for basketball. They fit right in my camera bag so I don't have to bring any heavy cases just 2 light stands. Doesn't get any easier than that...unless you want to shoot available light but I try not to do that too often. I like the quality I get when I add light.

Back To Work

2006-11-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. I Just got back from Whistler, BC Friday night and it was back to work on Saturday. I shot some basketball mugshots for a high school team. Mugshots can be so boring and the kids hate doing them so I figured I would let them have fun and do whatever they wanted to do. I think the images look a lot better than just having the players standing there with their hands behind their backs.

High School Soccer Semis

2006-11-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

I covered 2 high school state semi-final soccer games on Tuesday for the Clackamas Review....boys game and then a girls game. Both teams I covered won their games and now are going to play in the state finals on Saturday. The boys game was a class 4a game....La Salle 2-Hidden Valley 1. The girls game was a class 6a game....Oregon City 1-Beaverton 0.

State Volleyball

2006-11-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Updating my blog live from the University of Portland, Chiles Center. I'm shooting HS state volleyball today and tomorrow. 2 long days. Got here at 7:30 this morning and will leave around 9 tonight. Pretty much the same on Saturday. Not only will it be a long day, but I am having trouble transmitting my images to NSP. I will have to stop by there on my way home to download my images from the chips. Well, time to grab some food. Have 1 1/2 hours until the next games start.

On a side note, I am making changes to my website so check it out. It should be completed soon.

Trick or Treat

2006-11-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

Jen and Molly had a party for the residents in the apartments last night. Jen "volunteered" me to take pictures of the kids (and some adults) at the party after I took DeShaun trick or treating. DeShaun went through his first haunted house last night too. He was screaming the whole time. I wish I could have recorded it.

By the end of the night DeShaun's makeup started rubbing off

Ya-Ya and Thatcher

Ya-Ya and Thatcher----Thanks for coming out. Thatcher we have to play a game of clue in the big house before it's sold.

5th and 6th grade football

2006-10-29T10:37:00.000-08:00

Shot some little kids playoff football Saturday morning in the fog. It was cool shooting football during the day. Normally I'm covering high school football at night. I got a few cool images that I will put on the sportsshooter page soon so keep checking.

Indoor Sports-From Dark Fields to Dark Gyms

2006-10-26T01:15:00.000-07:00

I got an assignment to shoot a volleyball game Tuesday night. Shooting indoor sports means breaking out the White-Lightning monolights. I started using the lights to shoot basketball last year and liked the look I was getting compared to using available gym light. Granted, I just can't show up at a gym and start shooting....I have to take a couple of minutes and set the lights but it is well worth it. Instead of shooting at ISO 1600 or ISO 3200, I can shoot ISO 100, 200, or 400, depending on the way I position the lights. Gotta love that! I can't wait to put the lights to work again. I'm looking forward to a productive basketball season.

Since my last post

2006-10-24T01:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since my last post. Here's some stuff that I've been up to.....

I shot some portraits at a wedding on the Oregon Coast.....

I covered a girls soccer game for a newspaper....

and a football game for the same paper....
here are some images from the game. I tried to embed the slideshow to the blog but couldn't get it to work. If anyone can show me how it is done, please send me an email.

Home Alone

2006-10-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

Jen and Deshaun are out of town until Monday so I'm home alone. I have to work this weekend so I couldn't go with them. Since I had nothing better to do I went and shot a football game Friday night for the heck of it....Hillsboro vs. St. Helens. Hillsboro won the game 35-14. The field was only 2 miles from my house. I had never shot at this particular field before. The lighting on the field was pretty good. It was a treat after shooting on some poorly lit fields this week. I will update my sportsshooter page with some shots from the game.

Day Off/No School

2006-10-13T01:11:00.000-07:00

I had a shoot cancel one day this week so I took DeShaun (he didn't have school) to a pond a few miles from our place. We played hide and seek, he fed the ducks and he rode his bike. We even squeezed in one of our photo shoots. I know I only posted one shot of him and his bike (he isn't even riding it), he did ride his bike most of the time.