You can also view the video on Vimeo:

I was told to go to one of the social ecology buildings on campus where the coaches office is. It turned out that there was a nice plaza at the base of the building where I would have a lot of room to shoot. It was about 1:35pm so classes were in session, so the plaza was mine for about the next 30 min.

I quickly thought up how I wanted the photo to look. I wanted the coach to be in the middle, pretending to be running with the ball. Then I wanted the players to chasing her and trying to tackle or get the ball from her. When the players showed up I knew it would work. They were all huge guys and the coach was a much smaller woman.

I first did a shot with the coach by herself just incase the other photo didn’t end up working. I shot her with two softboxes on the side, an umbrella in the front and a speed light from behind for some rim light. Then I edited it as a composite to get all the equipment out of the photo.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm @ 20mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/250, manual

After I got that photo done I brought in the players and explained to them the parts that they would be playing. I really tried hard to connect with them and make it an easy and fun experience with them. I did my best to get them involved and even had them growling and screaming to really get the right emotions on their faces.

Nikon D3, 14-24mm @ 20mm, 100iso, f/8, 1/250, manual

Check out the slide show below…

I was so busy with other stuff leading up to Shocktoberfest that I didn’t really get to put as much effort into shooting the dunk contest as I wanted to. I had my strobes back in the Bren and I had one remote camera set up on the top of the shot clock. It wasn’t the best choice, and actually a pretty bad choice. Once again I am reminded not to rely on my remote camera. Anyways, below are some photos of my assistants Ryon Tanara, Pratik Panda, and Ian Massey.

Last Thursday was the MPSF Semifinals for Mens Volleyball. The No.1 ranked team UCI was playing No.5 USC. I really wanted to get a direct overhead shot of one of the UCI players serving. I had gone up in the catwalks prior to the start of the game to check out locations I could shoot from and found that none of the walkways were directly over the back line. I knew that I wasn’t allowed to shoot from up there too, but I didn’t know exactly where to set up the camera as a remote. About five minutes before the first game started I went back up and chose my position that I would be shooting from for the first game. Below, UCI’s sophomore outside hitter Jordan DuFault spikes the ball as three USC opponents attempt a block.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 320iso, f10, 1/250th

Below, from right to left, Carson Clark, Austin D’Amore, and Taylor Wilson stay close for a block attempt.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 320iso, f10, 1/250th

Below, Carson Clark gets high above the net for a kill.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 320iso, f10, 1/250th

The higher angle for volleyball is definitely my favorite. While shooting volleyball last year I had to discard tons of photos because players faces were covered by either hands or the top of the net. The backgrounds are also much cleaner while shooting from a higher angle and the shadows from using my strobes are also nice to have.

Due to a very rough start by UCI, they went on to lose the first game. I quickly repositioned my strobes and changed positions in the catwalks to where I able to get my overhead shot and be unnoticed at the same time. Below, different angle of Ryan Ammerman receiving the ball from USC.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 125mm, 160iso, f11, 1/250th

The overhead shot didn’t turn out exactly how I planned. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be up in the catwalks during the game so I chose a “safer” position where I most likely wouldn’t be caught. There was however a better place to shoot from but it was a little too risky for a high profile game. Below, Sophomore outside hitter Cory Yoder serves the ball to USC in the second game.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 115mm, 160iso, f10, 1/250th

Once again UCI was beat by USC and lost the second game. I quickly readjusted my lights and as I was coming down from the catwalks I was greeting by one of the Bren Events Center Staff…shit. I guess I wasn’t sneaky enough this time and was caught. The Bren staff guy wasn’t mean about it but just told me that I wasn’t allowed to be up there during the game. I thanked him for letting me know and continued to shoot the third game from the upper balcony. Below, UCI’s Kevin Wynne goes for a kill between two USC opponents.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 195mm, 320iso, f10, 1/250th

Below, UCI’s Austin D’Amore jumps above two USC defenders for a kill.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 200mm, 320iso, f10, 1/250th

So to end this night, UCI lost to USC in 3 games. They made tons of uncharacteristic mistakes and their play that night was not a good representation of what they have achieved this whole season. Which is why they were still given the No.1 seed at the NCAA Championships in Provo, UT. Therefore, I will be driving out to Utah with the sports editor and associate sports editor to cover the games. Check back next week for the Championship coverage.

A couple weeks ago I went up to Mammoth with the UCI Snowboard team to shoot their last slope-style competition of the year. It was supposed to be a full weekend trip but turned into sleepless 24 hour adventure. Actually, I slept a lot in the car, so it was actually more sleepless for the two guys I rode up with, Daniel and Justin.

On my previous trip to Mammoth, I brought my two Sunpak 555′s for lighting. I found that it was hard to aim such small flashes, and this time decided to bring my White Lightning X1600′s. I also borrowed a vagabond portable power-pack from a friend to power the strobes. Besides the addition of my bigger strobes, I had all my usual equipment (camera, lenses, rented fisheye, light stands, pocketwizards, etc.)

Anyways, we left Irvine at about 10pm on Friday night and like I said, I slept most of the way. We got there around 4am at which we brought our stuff into the rented condo and got ready to get a few hours of sleep before having to wake up at 7:30am.

After getting to the mountain the next morning and getting my free photographers ticket (the UCI snowboard team hooked me up), I gathered all my gear up and headed for the lift. Below, UCI snowboard team president Daniel Seo does some stretching in the parking lot before heading to the lift.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/2500th

I had so much equipment that I even had Daniel and Justin helping me carry stuff throughout the day, including my board as we walked over to the lift in the morning.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/3200th

Below, Daniel gets strapped in and ready for some practice runs before the competition.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/8000th

Below, Justin checks all his equipment and secures all his gear before getting off the lift.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/1600th

There were actually two parts to the terrain park. There was an upper part and a lower part. The upper part consisted of a few rails and two huge jumps, while the lower part of the park was where the competition was going to be held and had many more jumps and rails. I decided to set up at the upper part because the jumps were much bigger.

Once I got my lights set up, all I had to do was experiment with different angles and find what I liked. Below, two skiers do backflips synchronously.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

I liked the sun in the background, but it always seemed to be getting in the way of the rider. It was hard to get it framed correctly so that there was separation between the sun and the rider.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

After a while of shooting the first table top, I moved down to the next jump, which was a hip. I got my light set up again and was ready to shoot, although it was a little scarier this time because the riders were pretty much going right over me and I was laying down close to the lip of the jump. Below, Daniel flies by me after hitting the hip jump.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

I pretty much shot anybody who was going big. Below, a skier does a 270 off the hip.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

Having more powerful lights with bigger reflectors was great. I’ll probably never want to go back to using anything else. Using my friends vagabond power-pack was awesome too. I’m definitely planning on buying one soon. Below is the basic setup I used: a White Lightning X1600, hooked up to the vagabond power-pack, and triggered with a pocketwizard.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/125th

>

After more and more shooting I was able to frame the riders above the tress and below the sun. Below, a random rider launches high above the top of the jump.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

I also tried to switch up my angles as much as possible. After shooting the same thing over and over it was very important to move around and see what other angles could offer me. Below, one of the few female riders does a huge tail grab off the hip.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

When I think of sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, and other alternative sports, fisheye/wide-angle is the first thing that comes to my mind. These are the sports where this view is used the most, especially in videos and magazines. Its hard to put the fisheye away and shoot something different. Anyways, after a certain point I felt like all my photos were starting to look the same so I put on my 70-200mm and moved down to the runway of the hip. This view shows height in a very different way, its crisp and its simple. Below, a random snowboarder tweaks out a grab as he flies high above the top of the jump.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 185mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/2500th

Since I wans’t near my strobe I had to just aim it where I thought they riders would be and then hope for the best. I didn’t shoot all my shots with the strobes for this reason, but I still managed to get a few where the light hit the rider perfectly. Below, a skiing spins left to right as he does a 270 off the hip jump.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 170mm, 50iso, f11, 1/250th

Below are three more shots from the same angle.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 140mm, 50iso, f16, 1/250th

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 95mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 98mm, 50iso, f14, 1/250th

Before we left, I had the idea of lighting a semi see-through wallride using a blue gel. It was a good idea, the only thing was that it was 2pm with the sun almost directly over us. It would have definitely turned out better at night or while the sun was setting, but oh well. I’ll get it next year. Below, you can see my lighting setup as a snowboarder stalls on the top of the wall.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f16, 1/250th

This is what it looked like from another angle. You can see the light coming through but it faint. Below, UCI Snowboard team member Justin stall on the middle of the wall.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 70mm, 50iso, f18, 1/250th

After the wallride session we were all done for the day and ready to get some food before heading back to Irvine. Below, Justin throws a snowball at his teammate Daniel after taking off they’re snowboards and finishing up for the day.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 100iso, f2.8, 1/8000th

Daniel and Justin are fun guys. They are the heart of the snowboard team at UCI and they are what keep it alive. Below, Daniel and Justin talk about the realization that they just made a 24 hour trip to Mammoth.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 50mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/4000th

Like I said, this was the last competition for the UCI Snowboard team. It was my second time going up with them and hopefully not the last. Below, Justin (left) and Daniel (right) walk away from the mountain for t
he last time this season while carrying their boards and my lighting equipment.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 50mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/1600th

Once off the mountain we stopped at a grocery store before going to get a meal. Below, Justin looks up and surveys the candy, trying to decide what he wants to snack on during the long ride back to Irvine.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 50mm, 250iso, f1.8, 1/320th

It seems like everybody who goes to Mammoth knows about this mexican restaurant call “Jalepaneos”. Its good and its filling. Below, Daniel and Justin talk about thier day on the mountain before ordering.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/50th

I ordered a steak quesadilla. There was so much food that I had to be a box to go. Only thing was that I left the box on the table. Damn. Below, my quesadilla, lost and forgotten.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/160th

I think we all left full and satisfied. Below, our table after the madness.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 250iso, f2.8, 1/80th

During the car ride home Swedish Fish were my candy of choice. Below, Swedish Fish remained close by as they rested on top of my camera bag.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/160th

Below, Daniel fills up the car at a gas station on the way back to Irvine.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/1250th

Below, Justin cleans the bugs off the windshield while stopped for gas.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 15mm, 50iso, f2.8, 1/1600th

One thing that I’ve been thinking about lately is getting different angles and framing. Its something that I want to get better at and I’m going to practice every chance I get. Below, Justin seems to be contemplating something as he makes his way back to the drivers seat after cleaning the windshield.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 50mm, 160iso, f2.8, 1/400th

Nearing Irvine, it was about 10pm. Twenty-four hours later and we were back where we started. Yeah…we just did that. Below, thats not rain on the windshield….

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 50mm, 1600iso, f1.8, 1/50th

This was by far my longest post. Usually I stick to just shooting the action and the sport itself. It is one of my personal goals to go beyond and capture these peoples lives away from the action. I want to show to people the human side of the athletes I shoot. I hope you like it.

Last week I was called up by the sports editor to do a track feature photo. I asked him if it was more than one person and what event(s) they did. All he told me was that they “throw shit”. I was currently swamped with school work and didn’t have time to plan anything out so I went into the whole thing a little worried.

I was told to meet out on the UCI track at 3pm. I knew that if I was going to use any lighting it would have to be powerful since I was shooing in the middle of the day. At around 11am I headed over to the Bren Events Center to take down my strobes so I could use them for the shoot. I still had a vagabond portable power-pack in my truck that I had borrowed from a friend so I didn’t have to worry about finding an outlet.

At around 1pm, after going to class and getting some lunch, I once again realized how much equipment I had to carry and set up. I quickly emailed the other newspaper photographers to see if anybody wanted to help out and then headed for the track. Not too long after I got a call from one of the newer photographers, Nick Vu, letting me know that he could come and help. I then began my first equipment trip from my car to the track. By the time I had arrived at the track from my last trip, Nick had arrived.

We took out the light stands, set up the lights, got everything hooked up to some power, and positioned everything in the approximate positions. Then, because all the athletes were not ready yet, I had Nick stand in for some test shots.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 100mm, 100iso, f11, 1/250th

I wasn’t pleased with how my test shots were coming out and couldn’t get a good idea of how it was going to look with all four athletes. Once they were almost all ready, I had them all stand in (including Mark Ratto, the associate sports editor) to take some test shots.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 70-200mm @ 70mm, 100iso, f11, 1/250th

I still wasn’t feeling it so I switch to my wide-angle zoom. Now that was much better. My side flash didn’t fire either, which I didn’t mind seeing as that it kept blowing out the sides of their faces.

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 17-40mm @ 21mm, 100iso, f11, 1/250th

After they were all ready we got them their props and I arranged them how I wanted them to stand. I made a last minute adjustment and moved a light directly behind them because it didn’t seem to be doing much from its current position. This is the shot that ended up running in the paper. From left to right, Lauren Collins (heptathlon), Alisia Misiata (Shot put), Matt Lahti (Hammer throw), and Jenny Lee (Javelin).

Canon 1D Mark IIn, 17-40mm @ 17mm, 100iso, f11, 1/250th