Posts from the ‘Photography’ Category
Pittsburgh’s 9/11 Memorial
Right outside the Seahawks team hotel in Pittsburgh is a nighttime memorial to those who died on United Airline Flight 93 on 9/11. As is well documented, a group of brave passengers seized after the hijacked plane from the terrorists and it crashed in Stonycreek Township, PA.
Projected murals line two sides of 10th Street near the city’s convention center. On one side, a huge projection lists the names of those who died in the crash, and on the other side are three rotating projections, all of which are roughly five stories high. It’s quite stunning to walk along Penn Avenue and see this somber reminder of that tragic day.
The first three images rotate on a wall on one side of the street.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/60th sec./f2.8)
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/60th sec./f2.8)
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/60th sec./f2.8)
On the other side of the street is the listing of names. It’s much darker on this side. I slowed the shutter speed down to 1/8th second for two reasons — 1) to capture a bit more light, and 2) to add motion blur to the cars passing by.
- (Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/8th sec./f2.8)
Seahawks: Under the dark of night.
The Seahawks arrived here in Pittsburgh last night, touching down just before 10:30pm local time.
We wanted to put a quick photo onto Twitter, for those fans who love to keep track of the team, on and off the field.
The players disembark from the rear of the plane onto waiting buses. I came out the front, not really knowing what, if anything would make a picture.
From under the wing, I could see the players descending, lit by the lights on the stairs. The spotlight on the back of the motorized staircase added fill beneath the stairs, onto the tarmac and the bottom of the plane.
Messed around with exposure for a second, waited until some players in lighter colored clothing descended (to allow them to separate from the dark background), then held the camera still and hoped that the slow-shutter speed required to shoot in relative darkness would not allow motion blur.
Ended up liking this shot at ISO 4000, 1/5oth sec.,f2.8. In the next hour, it garnered over 1,000 views, which was not bad for a Friday night.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 zoom lens @ 48mm, ISO 4000, 1/50th sec./f2.8)
Please be my assistant for a day.
If you’ve ever dreamed about being on the sidelines of a Seahawks game or a Sounders FC match at CenturyLink Field, you now have your chance.
One caveat, you have get to do so with me.
Thanks to both teams, my good friend Mike Gastineau of Sports Radio 950 KJR-AM in Seattle is auctioning off opportunities to join me on the sidelines as part of his 17th annual Kares-a-Thon. There are myriad great sports memorabilia and once-in-a-lifetime experiences up for auction, with the proceeds going to charity.
One of those charities is Gloria’s Angels, of which I have a special affinity. Jerry Brewer, a great friend and former co-worker, wrote a book about young Gloria Strauss, who died of a rare form of cancer, but not before she touched the lives of the local community at large.
If you come to work with me, you’ll work as my assistant, which has about three total duties — carry an extra body and lens, carry a towel if it’s raining, and laugh at my jokes.
That said, there are some great benefits, too. You’ll see football (either our kind, or the rest-of-the-world kind, depending on which item you bid on), from a very unique vantage point. You’ll get to experience genuine media food and eat as much of it as you like (c’mon, you’ve seen some portly members of the media and wondered, “what the hell do they eat?” — no, not you, Gasman). Sure, you can bring your camera and try your hand at what I do as well (it’s alternately very easy, and very hard, as you will see).
At a Seahawks game you’ll be working right next to the Sea Gals (yes, they will smile at you, and no, not because they think you’re cute, but because they have to), and you’ll be amazed at both the speed and power that NFL players have to bring to the table each and every time they take the field.
If you bid on the Sounders match, we’ll be less than five yards from the pitch, and you’ll get to witness the grace of Mauro Rosales, the tenacity and leadership of Kasey Keller, and the finishing skills of Fredy Montero and Lamar Neagle.
Come join me on the sidelines. I promise you’ll have a blast.
Bid on the Sounders FC package
2012 Sea Gals Calendar Launched
Each year brings new challenges and opportunities, and this year much of my late spring/early summer was spent photographing the 2012 Seattle Sea Gals calendar. The calendar has just been released for sale, and I can finally share the cover image from the shoot.
With the help of two great assistants in Jon Hawley and Joe Nicholson, we photographed 32 dancers in two days (!) in and around CenturyLink Field. Mark Terao of Pure Image, Inc. produces the calendar, and everything is overseen by Sherri Thompson, the longtime Sea Gals director. I think I had the easiest job of anyone — shooting and directing the photos. Jon and Joe hauled c-stands, packs, lights, modifiers and sand bags over nearly every inch of the stadium and were amazing to work with.
I found it interesting that the big questions after the shoot were where in the calendar which dancer would appear — which month, in which of the multiple uniforms they’re photographed in, and the big question — who was chosen for the cover? Sports Illustrated does the same with their supermodels for their annual swimsuit issue. “Who got the cover” becomes the big question.
What was interesting wasn’t so much that the women themselves were kept in the dark — it’s that I had no idea either. I’d see Sea Gals at training camp or other appearances and they’d ask how their photo looked and could I tell them what month they were? They absolutely didn’t believe me when I told them I didn’t know who was on the cover, much less who was going to appear in which month. The way I was kept in the dark is that the Mark and Sherri sent me multiple images of each woman to prep, leaving me with no idea which of the 60+ images I did post-production on would appear in the final version of the calendar.
Hopefully, they’ll believe me now, right? Btw, that’s Gelly on the cover…
Having spent most of the past two decades on the sidelines and baselines, I’m no stranger to professional dance teams and the women who comprise them. Contrary to popular stereotype, these are not vapid, air-headed women who are only concerned with appearance and fame. Members of the Sea Gals include attorneys, business owners, teachers and college students. They practice two-to-three times a week, have performances outside of games, and do charitable work as well. They are hard-working and professional women who are great to work with.
The calendar is a fundraiser for the team. Proceeds help them with uniforms, travel and other costs. I’ll update this post with links to purchase the calendar as soon as they become available.
Lastly, in the next few weeks I’ll post some actual images from the shoot and what went into each of them.
Beautiful Day: U2 at CenturyLink Field
It was indeed a Beautiful Day at Qwest Field in Seattle as U2 put on a great show on one of the prettiest days of the year.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 14-24mm/f2.8 lens @ 21mm, ISO 800, 1/20th sec., f/5.6)
Bono in the spotlights.
UFC — Fight Night 24 in Seattle
Had the great opportunity to photograph UFC Fight Night 24 at KeyArena in Seattle, WA. Shooting UFC is definitely a challenge. Shooting through the cage forces you to manual focus much of the time, and to add to the degree of difficulty, there is light falling onto the chainlink fence, making focus even more challenging. In this photo, Chan Sung Jung, aka “The Korean Zombie”, takes a flying leap at Leonard Garcia.
Seahawks: Smoke and Fire in the Pregame Tunnel.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor VR 24-70mm/f2.8 zoom lens @ 70mm, ISO 1600, 1/1000th sec., f2.8)
One of the many great things about working behind-the-scenes for the Seattle Seahawks is the private moments I get to witness. Here, Seahawks safety Lawyer Milloy exhales on a cold Seattle day before leaving the tunnel during pregame introductions to the roar of 60,000 fans at Qwest Field. His eyes are on fire with concentration and he is at this point of the day clearly focused on the job at hand. The light is dramatic which always helps — backlight and sidelight are bouncing around, highlighting his breath, and there’s just a touch of daylight to let us see his eyes.
Seahawks: Playing with Shadows
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 zoom lens @ 29mm, ISO 400, 1/1000th sec.,f5.0)
Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant stretches during pregame warmups and the low winter sun provides an interesting shadow. A sunny winter’s day in Seattle? Really? As the kids say, “I know, right?”. Took me a minute to find the right angle. So many of us photographers want to “see” in horizontals, especially when working with a wide-angle lens, that I find myself having to mentally “step away” in order to find the photo right in front of me.
Meet Jake Olson, a true hero.
Nikon D3, Nikkor VR 70-200mm/f2.8 zoom lens @ 80mm, ISO 500, 1/1600th sec.,f2.8)
Meet Jake Olson. In a world where the word “hero” is thrown about all too easily, this 14-year old from Southern California exemplifies the traits of a hero every day. Jake battled eye cancer since birth until doctors removed his eyes last year in an effort to stem the disease. Since becoming blind, Jake has become a motivational speaker and inspiration to many, including Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. Olson, a lifelong U.S.C. Trojans fans, met Carroll last year, and made the trip to Seattle to be around the team as they prepared for this week’s game against the Carolina Panthers. On the field before the game, Olson ran with a football towards his family in the end zone as cameras from ESPN’s Outside the Lines recorded a followup to a documentary piece they did on Olson a year ago. I was lying on the ground to shoot this photo, which helps the composition by clearing out the background and giving the image a sense of place.
Seahawks: A Beautiful Flight Home
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/1250th sec.,f5.6)
After a 23-20 road victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, the Seahawks boarded their Hawaiian Airlines charter for the return flight to Seattle. The light was undeniably beautiful, and I felt that a silhouette would be needed in order to properly expose the sunset. After a few poor frames, I moved my field of view a bit to the left to accommodate the tip of the airplane’s wing, and the image came together nicely. The sun’s highlight coming through the two players doesn’t hurt either.
