Hotel Hartsfield

My travels through Atlanta were delayed twice this week. Sunday afternoon I was flying back to Mississippi from Hartford, Conn. We were hit with a 90-minute ground hold in Hartford because of weather. Once the plane touched down in Atlanta, we sat on a taxiway for an additional 90 minutes until a gate became available. My connecting flight to GTR was delayed until 11:30 p.m. (original scheduled for an 8:15 departure) and then ultimately cancelled.

I spent the night in Terminal E with thousands of other stranded passengers. It was neat to see what occurs in an airport overnight, but sleeping on the floor at Hotel Hartfield was not enjoyable!

The second delay of the week happened yesterday. We were slapped with an hour-long ground hold at GTR because of traffic in Atlanta. The flight from Atlanta to Orlando was delayed because the law had to perform a security sweep of the aircraft. (All incoming international flights are swept before new passengers board.)

Finding Frames in Mississippi

I've been in Mississippi for two weeks now, but if you take away the seven days I was in Salt Lake with ALMS, I've only been in town for about 10 days. Last night I headed to the Columbus Speedway to check out dirt track racing. The place just screams photo story, but we'll see how things turn out over the next few months.

Sometime back I swore I wouldn't go to a race like this just to be a fan. Though I really enjoy my work, I spend enough time at the track as it is. But it was pretty neat - the crashes reminded me of an ASA race in Lakeland I once attended. I went to the "Baddest Bullring in the South" not really expecting to stay until 11 p.m. or to make a picture I liked. I did both.

Just Another Saturday

I was scheduled to shoot the Central Florida Home Show and UF Softball today. I was told that if the home show was not very visual, I needed to find a stand-alone centerpiece as well. Needless to say, the show was bland. But lucky for me, the Gator Swim Club was practicing in the O'Dome natatorium. I climbed to the catwalk to find this picture.
Softball and baseball aren't my favorite sports to shoot. Sensing that I didn't have a great frame from the first game of a double-header, I stuck around for the first few innings of game two. Florida beat Ole Miss twice today. The score was 4-3 at the end of both games.

This Week's A to Z

Today I shot a portrait of Buchholz catcher Brett Bozeman for The Sun's A to Z feature. I shoot a lot of these, and they have to be verticals. That might explain why many of the portraits on my Web site are vertical images.

I had a hard time deciding where to shoot this picture. Once I saw the "field closed" sign behind the dug out, I knew what the picture would be.

State Final Blues

P.K. Yonge lost in the state final for the second consecutive year. Tricia Coyne (shooting video) and I got to Lakeland extra early so that I could hang a remote on the hoop.
I think my pictures are solid, but I wish they were better. Since hoops season is over, it's time for baseball, spring football and a little bit of track and field. After several months of working in gyms, I'm ready to be outdoors!

Light. Lots of Light.

I've been planning this portrait for about a month, so I was really happy the day finally came to shoot the image.
I brought a whole lot of extra gear that I don't normally use on a shoot. Namely, that extra gear was a giant boom and large octabox. I knew that I would be shooting the group of five straight on, and I needed to get a large light source directly in front of and above the team members. So I used the boom and octabox.

There were two rim lights behind the team at 45-degree angles to add definition. I used a fourth light to light the basket.

But here's where I need your help: Which crop do you prefer?

What A Day It Has Been

I thought it would be a good idea to borrow my brother's bike to use while covering the marathon this morning. Half the city is blocked off because of the race, but on a bike, I don't have to worry about that.
I scouted the half marathon route yesterday and found a few places to shoot from. After the start, I went to the 34th Street wall and shot from there. Then, I left the race route and continued north on 34th Street to the intersection with SW 16th Boulevard/SW 16th Avenue. There's a great hill there with a wonderful line through the frame. And there's a hydration station nearby.

I followed the route for a bit, then headed south towards another location I had scouted near the UF Campus. About a third of the way there, the rear tire blew. Awesome. I had to walk back to the finish line before the marathon runners got there.
After the marathon, I headed to the UF Golf Course to shoot the final round of the Lady Gator Invitational. Since it was almost noon, the light was pretty crappy. But Florida won, and senior Tiffany Chudy won her first individual title. Pretty cool.