Basketball Game, 2/11/09 8-9pm, Pleasant Hill

Four players fight hard for a rebound

A player looks for an open pass while #3 keeps a watchful eye

Jason Wheat (with ball) reaches above his opponents to take a shot

Jason Wheat (Oakland Athletics shirt) blocks a player from moving toward the basket

A player tries to score from underneath the basket

For my event project, I took shots of a local basketball game. Jason Wheat, one of my roommates, invited me along. Which is good, because I was having a REALLY difficult time finding an event to photograph. Every place I called either told me photography wasn't allowed, the event was canceled, or you had to be a member of the place to get in (which typically involved paying $75-$150). I found a photography-friendly Chocolate Factory tour going on in Emeryville which was free, but much to my dismay, the word "tour" to these people means sitting in a room for 1 hour talking about the history of the factory, then leaving. What a tour that was... So when my roommate told me about a basketball game 5 minutes away, I jumped at the opportunity. Took 516 pictures for a 40 minute game! Went home and narrowed down the field to 100 for my contact sheet, the selected the 5 pictures above as my 5 favorites. If there's one thing I learned from sports photography in taking pictures of this basketball game and the hockey game (pictures below), it's that sports photography is HARD!!! Players move around so much, they get in the way of my shot, ect... Using auto focus is a waste of time too, cause the focal point changes every 2 seconds. I had to manually change the focus every few seconds manually. But it was definitely an enjoyable experience. When I learn more about my camera, I hope to give sports photography another try, especially my favoritest sport ever, hockey.

New camera time! (Decisive Moment Project)

I got a new digital camera, a Nikon D80. And I heart it. It's the most confusing thing I've ever tried to learn in my life, but I'm improving slowly but surely. I've been playing with the functions and whatnot. I took some pics with it of course, including some attempts at the Decisive Moment project, as well as a shot of a bridge which has nothing to do with Decisive Moment. I just felt like taking a picture of a bridge. I'm glad I did it, I have no regrets.






I tried really hard to get the effect of having the goalie in focus while everybody else was blurred, but the damn goalie wouldn't cooperate and stand still enough! I was marginally successful, but I know as my instincts as a photographer get better, I'll be ready for those kind of pictures.

I struggled at first to keep a balance between a quick shutter speed AND having the picture lit well enough to where you can actually see it. I ended up having to max out the ISO in order to get the look I wanted. The grain actually didn't look too bad in my opinion, I was pleased with the results.

The pictures of the birds were the most difficult. I don't know what's harder... following a moving puck with a camera or following a bird around. I took 318 pics of ducks and birds at the pond at DVC. Only got a handful of decent pics of the birds flying in the air. That and the 104 hockey pics I took tonight are going to be part of my Decisive Moment project. I still have one more photo shoot tomorrow planned, after the oh-so-yummy chocolate factory visit.

Go Navy!

 1/2 years in the US Navy was... an experience.  Lots of great memories, lots of memories I'd rather forget.  Of course, an experience like this isn't complete without a billion pictures!  All of these pictures were taken during my first 3 years.  I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan aboard the USS Blue Ridge, which was a command ship used to transfer Marines around.  My job title and rank at the time of being discharge was Engineman 2nd class, which means I spent time working on diesel engines, air conditioners, refrigeration systems, and water distillers.  I really have no clue as to how any of that stuff works, but it still sounds impressive.  I spent my final year in San Diego on the USS Shiloh, but didn't take many pictures of that ship.  Didn't really have a whole lot of fun on that ship to be honest...

Legion of Honor

A museum always gives an opportunity for picture taking, even though I'm technically just showing off somebody else's work.  There were a few images that really caught my attention.  Some of the glass sculptures were quite amazing.

I was paranoid enough about breaking them to the point where I held my breath and never directly looked at the sculptures when I walked by them (OK, that's a lie).  They were quite amazing  though.  You have to see them in person to get an idea of just how large they are.

There were many paintings as well, but I just kept the pictures of the ones that caught my eye for the longest.

Black and white Decisive Moment

After seeing Henri Cartier-Bresson's pictures in Beginning Photography in the Fall of 2008, I decided to do my final project in his style. I was fixated on the idea of using a camera to capture a moment that comes and goes in a flash. I took 10 pictures, but I would have to say that only 4 of them came out truly the way I had intended. All pictures were taken at 1/2000 shutter speeds. I did a picture of spraying Pam cooking sprat through an open flame, a picture of shooting a glass bottle and capturing the image just as the bottle broke, a drop of water as it falls into a large glass of water, and water running over a knife. The bottle and water drop was especially challenging, as my camera was completely manual; I had to advance the film every time I took a picture, so timing was key. I used 3200 speed film for all shots. I thought I would have to since the shutter speeds were so fast, but after developing the film, I could tell it really wasn't necessary, and 400 speed probably would've been fine. In the end it turned out great, and made me feel more confident about what I was capable of doing as a photographer.

Testing, Testing

My blog is born.

Fin