GOOOOOAAAALLL!!!!!!!

I am not a very sporty guy. I don’t follow any professional teams for any professional sports. I don’t watch games on television and rarely go to a sporting event. I just have other interests, like music, photography, my family, etc…

With that being said, I still enjoy getting to photograph sports and athletes. I was hired by a corporate client to shoot an event they were hosting/sponsoring with soccer (or futball/European football) legend Claudio Reyna. He was supposed to do a full coaching workshop with area kids, but the weather forced everyone inside. He was still nice enough to talk with all the children and sign autographs.

First LEGO League…


I don’t know if I mentioned this already, but one of my photo shoots from last weekend was pretty wild. I was hired to shoot the First LEGO League competition in Dallas for its sponsors. It was a total blast!

The event consisted of 58 teams from various elementary schools from across Texas and Oklahoma. The teams designed robots from special LEGO parts to perform specific tasks on a playing field. It was an all day event, and it ended with a Super Bowl-style showdown between the final two teams.
I got so many great images from the day that I’ll probably post a bunch more in a future blog. I really like shooting fun events like this. It would be nice if every gig involved such a great theme.

Art contest…

Do you feel like entering your photography in an art contest?

www.artistsassoc.org

CALL FOR ARTISTS
AANC 19th National Art Exhibition & Sale

The Artists Association of Northern Colorado (AANC) is currently accepting entries for its prestigious National Art Exhibition. Artists from across the country are encouraged to enter. For the prospectus: www.artistsassoc.org.

Call for Artists
Deadline: February 4, 2010

Artists Association of Northern Colorado
19th National Art Exhibition
The Lincoln Center – Fort Collins, CO

April 3 – May 7, 2010

Entry Fees: Members $35/3 entries
Non-members: $40/3 entries
Over $5,000 in awards!

Juror: Frank Francese, NWS – Grand Junction, CO
Workshop: April 7 – 9

www.artistsassoc.org
[email protected]

New print…

I know that I always post blogs about my Quick cover shoots, but I don’t just shoot for them. I actually have a lot of other clients. Some of the shoots are really boring, and wouldn’t be worth sharing (but they still help pay my bills). Some other shoots are a lot of fun, but I run out of time during a busy work week and forget to post about them.

In any case, I’m going to try and share more samples of my work, and not just Quick stuff (even though Quick is totally cool). Here are a few recent issues of The Dallas Morning News that I did photo shoots for. They are all concerts, plays and musicals that are going on around town…

iPhone pics…

A lot of people have been publishing their iphone (and other brand of camera phone) pictures on the web and in print for a while now. I’m not sure that I’ve ever shared my iphone pics here before, though I do post them on my facebook page and email them to friends and family.
So, I ran through my phone and picked a few favs from the last year, including one from the Warped Tour concert, a wild looking sky and my oldest boy asleep with his trains…



Profoto event video…

I got some video up from the Profoto-sponsored event last night. Dallas area photo assistants and photography students got a chance to try out some really nice gear, and everyone seemed to be having a great time!

Profoto dancer…

So, I went to the Profoto shoot that I mentioned in a previous blog… the one to let photography assistants test out their strobes and light modifiers during a free seminar with professional ballerinas as models. I was there as vice president of the Dallas ASMP to represent the group and answer any questions the assistants might have.

I shot some video of the event, which will be online later, maybe in the next few days. It was fun and the photo assistants and students that attended got some good experience with the new Profoto Pro 8a Air packs and Giant Reflector 180. I was eager to try out the new equipment, too. I snuck into the mix and snapped off half a dozen frames. Here is one of my better shots:

I definitely liked the packs and wouldn’t mind some one on one time with the reflector. It was too hectic to really get in there and play around with all the gear tonight, especially when this event was supposed to be about the students and assistants.
We are talking to the Profoto guys to come back in town sometime this fall and maybe give the ASMP members a closer look at some cool, new gear. That should be fun!

Not photography related…

I know you all follow my blog for photo tips, or to hear stories about my shoots around north Texas. Well, this post is not photo related. I just wanted to give you all a heads up, in case you feel like joining me.

Either the first or second week of February, I will be taking a large supply of hats, mittens and assorted clothing downtown to give to the homeless. Most likely, I will be doing this at The Bridge – the area’s homeless shelter. I purchased approximately 60 pairs of mittens, 40 warm hats, and a dozen or two shirts and light jackets.
Remember that February is still very cold for north Texas, and the average evening temperatures reach down to the thirties. Do you want to help out? Do you have blankets, shoes, socks, underwear, etc? Let’s do this!