October 17, 2018

 Whats up guys and gals and welcome back to another blog post!

Once again this year I was asked by the Sioux Falls Stampede if I could come up and photograph a game for them. This time it was for their home opener of the season where they are celebrating 20 years of USHL Hockey. Since the Stars were out of town I had the night free so we agreed on the price and off we went. Part of the images they were looking for were some of the jersey promotion they do where the first 1000 kids get a Stampede jersey and wow there were a ton of kids in line for these jerseys. It looked like a great promotion for the team and there sponsors. I was also asked to get the standard game action as well as some crowd shots that they could use throughout the season for promotion stuff. After the game there was a post game skate with the players so I also gapped a few snaps of that as well. 

I always love going up to Sioux Falls the facility is by far the nicest in the USHL and the staff there are always great to work with. Plus my 5 year old daughter loves the hotel there and the hot tub, she thinks that the hotel has the only hot tub in the country lol. 

Anyways let get to some images shall we?

Hundreds of kids were lined up prior to the game to get one of the 20th Anniversary jerseys.

Canon 1d mkIV - Canon 17-40 - ISO 4000 - f4 - 1\160

By far some of my favorite images of the night was during the team introductions.

Canon 1d mkIII - Canon 17-40 - ISO 2000 - f4 - 1/400

The lighting in the arena is NHL quality and makes shooting here awesome.

Canon 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200 - ISO 1600 - f3.2  - 1\1600

Sioux Falls hosts some of the largest crowds in the USHL! Making crowd shots a breeze.

Canon 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200 - ISO 1600 - f3.4 - 1/400

The post game skate was filled with kids and photos with the players. This image is of my daughter who happened to have her skates in the car. Dont worry she still bleeds the black n blue of the Lincoln Stars! 

Canon 1d mkIV - Canon 17-40 - ISO 1600 - f4 - 1/500

October 9, 2018

Well it's been back for a couple weeks now but the home schedule for the Lincoln Stars started up last weekend. Home openers are always fun as the Stars debut their new 3rd jerseys so its exciting to see what Corey Courtney comes up with for a design and once again he killed it, I love the way these ones look. The Stars make a big deal about the home opener but as far as the photography goes I treat it as just another game night as my main objective is to capture a few action shots that will show how the game is going as well as isolation shots of players that our media director can use for social media. So lets take a look at the images.

Stars Capitan Josiah Slavin during the starting line ups showing off the new 3rd jersey for the year.

Canon eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 8000 - f2.8 - 1\400

Forward Zach Dubinsky moments before ripping a shot past Omahas goaltender.

Canon eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 3200 - f3.2 - 1/1000

One of the isolation shots that can be used for various things though out the season. 

Canon eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 3200 - f3.2 - 1/1000

Stars defenseman Hunter Carrick hi-fives the kids outside of the locker room before taking the ice for the 3rd period.

Canon 1d mkIV -  Canon 17-40mm  -  ISO 3200 - f4 - 1/160

Just a standard action shot, Caleb Rule moves the puck past a Omaha defender.

Canon eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 3200 - f3.2 - 1/1000

October 7, 2018

So its been a while since Ive last made a blog post, so much for making this a regular thing :) Anyways this past month or so has been super crazy with the racing season winding down and hockey starting up, not to mention all the personal life stuff as well. 

Earlier this month I was in Pittsburgh for the USHL Fall Classic and I had a free Saturday night so I made the choice to knock off one of my bucket list tracks and make the 3 hour drive to Williams Grove Speedway for the final night of the National Open! Boy im sure glad that I went, this place is awesome. Here are a few of my images from that night. 

Brad Sweet during his qualifying lap from out side turn 3

Canon Eos 1d mkIV -  Canon 70-200mm - ISO 6400 - f3.2 - 1/320

Carson Macedo in the JJR 41 from outside of turn 3

Canon Eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 5000 - f2.8 - 1/320

Brian Monteith ripping around turn 1 of Williams Grove Speedway during the Craftsman Dash

Canon eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 5000 - f2.8 - 1/200

National Open Winner Lance Dewease in the 69k flying under the backstretch bridge 

Canon eos 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 4000 - f2.8 - 1/200

One of the coolest things of the night was getting to shoot the 4 wide parade lap from the top of the bridge, this is the missing man formation in honor of Greg Hodnett who lost his life the week before 

Canon eos 1d mkIII - Canon 17-40mm - ISO 2000 - f4 - 1/200

August 20, 2018

A couple days ago I was contacted by a friend of mine that seen a post on Facebook about a "best friend" photo shoot. She asked me if this was something that I could do and after thinking about it for a little bit, I figured I would give it a shot. I told her that we would see what happens and the worst case would be her and her friend would have a good time drinking some ice cold beers on a summer evening. Anyways I was quite pleased with the images that were made that night and here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

Canon EOS 1d mkIV - Canon  70-200mm - ISO 400 - f2.8 - 1/500

Canon EOS 1d mkIV - Canon 85mm - ISO 400 - f4.5 - 1/200

Canon EOS 1d mkIV - Canon 50mm - ISO 400 - f4 - 1/320

Canon EOS 1d mkIV - Canon 85mm - ISO 400 - f4 - 1/1000

August 14, 2018

This past weekend was the 58th Knoxville Nationals at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville Iowa. Over the years I have had the privilege of covering this race for FlatOut Magazine and this year was no different other than the fact that I made the decision to go at the last minute, boy am I glad I went. Besides the awesome racing this event is a gathering of some of the best racing photographers in the country and its always great to catch up with them. 

Here are some of the images that I captured from the 2 nights that I was there. 

Outside Turn 2 is one of my favorite places to shoot from, its such a great angle to get the cars coming out of the corner. 

Canon EOS 1d mkIV -  Canon 300mm - ISO 800 - F6.3 - 1/500

One thing I really like to do is use a slow shutter speed  as the cars are on the back straightaway, it really gives the image a sense of speed.

Canon EOS 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 2500 - F4.5 - 1\160

I have struggled with candid images in the past but this weekend I think I got some really good images. Here is defending Nationals Champion Donny Schatz as he prepares for the night.

Canon EOS 1d mkIII- Canon 85mm - ISO 800 - F1.8 - 1\50

Canon EOS 1d mkIII - Canon 85mm - ISO 400 - F1.8 - 1\600

Victory lane was restricted this year with limited spots for each publication since I made the decision late to go I had to improvise on my wing dance shots. I think I did a really nice job here.

Canon EOS 1d mkIV - Canon 70-200mm - ISO 4000 - F2.8 - 1\5000