Head Shaving Party

My wife's co-worker Jill was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Jill decided she wanted to hold a head shaving party where she and her husband would both shave their heads together while friends gathered around in support. Jill wanted to make the event fun and said while she couldn't control the cancer she could control when she lost her hair. It was an honor to photograph her party for her.

Butler Basketball

I've been shooting a lot of Butler basketball this season for the Indy Star. Here is sample of images from the past few games at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Fuji X100s: First impression

I was finally able to get my hands on the Fuji X100s camera. Having only seen the reviews on the camera I knew I wanted one. For a long while now I have wanted a camera I can bring with me everywhere, something small and unobtrusive, yet packed full of high quality features. A camera that I can use to record my own life and not just the lives of others while I'm working. This, for me, is that camera. I have had it less than 24 hours and has taken a bit of getting used to. Having used Canon DLSR's for my professional life, I can pick one up and am set right out of the gate. This is different. It forces me to slow down a bit and think about things more. The color quality and lens quality seem really great. The focus isn't exactly the fastest thing but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's never going to replace my workhorse Canon cameras but it sure is fun, and will be a great travel camera. Below are some of my first images with the camera. Toy Camera filter...probably won't be using this much but fun to play around with.

USA Swimming

Ryan Lochte competes in the 200 individual medley finals (and wins of course). 

The 2013 Phillips National Championship & World Championship swimming trials were held at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis last week and I spent a day and a half covering it. First for the New York Times, and later in the week for the Indianapolis Star. Having never covered a big swimming event, I was amazed at the access given to photographers had and how few photographers were there to cover it. At big events with high profile athletes you are often fairly restricted to where you can go, but with this swimming event, you could roam where ever you wanted and the staff and volunteers on hand couldn't have been more helpful. I'm looking forward to it coming back to Indianapolis.


Katie Ledecky reacts after finishing the fastest in the world this year and fourth fastest all time in the 1500 Meter Freestyle.


North Baltimore Aquatic Club's Bob Bowman, coach for swimmer Michael Phelps, watches swimmers warm up.


Samuel Smiddy competes in the 200 Individual Medley.


Katie Ledecky waves to spectators after finishing the fastest in the world this year and fourth fastest all time in the 1500 Meter Freestyle


A spectator watches swimmers warm up during the 2013 National Championship & World Championship Trials.

John + Emily

A selection of images from my first wedding this summer. It was a great day with Emily and John after they put together a wedding in only a few weeks.

2013 Indy 500

This was my first year helping cover the Indy 500 with the crew from the Indy Star. We had 15 photographers covering the main front of the track and a handful of people shooting crashes in the turns. The track is 2.5 miles around so there is a ton of ground to cover. 
We arrived race day at 7:30 a.m. after getting a police escort in and then it was off to work. My first gig of the day was to cover the "celebrity" red carpet event. Not much to say about that except i'm really glad they had a cheat sheet with names and pictures of the people on it. 

(Man vs Food host Adam Richman...hey I actually knew one!)

Then I was given great access to the Green Room where the drivers meet up before the race to relax and chat with each other. The room was packed and pretty loud, but behind a large wall banner I spotted last years race winner Dario Franchitti who used the time to be quiet and get himself focused.


(This was a tough shot to make, one, I tired to be as unobtrusive as possible so I didn't piss him off, and two, it was really really dark back there. For the photo folks out there, f1.8 1/6 second 2000 ISO.)


(IndyCar driver Scott Dixon has a moment with a friend)


(Jim Neighbors talks to eventual race winner Tony Kanaan)

Then it was time to hit the track where I found the Boston Marathon runners who weren't able to complete their race in Boston and finally finished at the famous yard of bricks on the track. It was a cool moment to see.


My assignment during the race was to cover the south end of the pits. Surprisingly not a ton goes on down there during the race and I wasn't anywhere near any of the leader's pits. Here is what I did manage to get from there.




(Late Show Host and IndyCar team owner David Letterman in his pit)




Finally the race was over and I made a mad dash to track down the winner and crowd favorite Tony Kanaan.





Though it was a long, tiring day there is nothing like having an up close view at the largest single day sporting event in the world, and I can't wait to be back next year.

Instagram Update

I've been on the move a bit lately and haven't had chance to share much on here. Here are some recent pictures run through the ever popular Instagram.

Dance

I spent Saturday morning photographing the Youth American Grand Prix dance competition for the Indianapolis Star. I initially didn't know what to make of a ballet dance recital as the assignment pretty much said but I had a great time. It was an early assignment and I wasn't on a quick deadline so I was able to play around with some slow shutter images. Enjoy.

Arizona

I spent a few days out in Phoenix Arizona visiting my parents and was able to get out and shoot a few images near their home. 

Butler vs Charlotte

Images from the Butler vs Charlotte game this evening. Another very close game that came down to the final seconds at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

IHSAA Swimming Championship

Last weekend I photographed the Indiana High School swimming championships at IUPUI's Natatorium in Indianapolis. I was only focused on a few swimmers my newspaper client was interested in so I figured I would show off every frame I made during the event... in 47 seconds.

Rock and Worship Roadshow

I was asked to shoot a Christian rock concert Saturday night called the Rock and Worship Roadshow held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Now Christian Rock isn't my thing but I never turn down a chance to shoot a show. Sure it's easy and always lit nicely but I have fun with them. Here are a few images, mostly of the crowd since they were so into it.












Indianapolis corporate and editorial photographer

Dubstep

I photographed my first (and probably last) dubstep show with artist Excision for the Indianapolis Star. If you don't know what dubstep is, it is essentially really terrible noise with lots of internal organ rattling bass. I had no clue what I was going into and didn't realize it would be teenagers with glowsticks and the odd creepy shirtless 40-year-old roaming about. It took me awhile to get into the shooting groove with all the stimulation but I came away with some images I am happy with. Thanks for checking them out.

Butler v Gonzaga

I've shot quite a lot of basketball over the years but have never seen an ending quite like the Butler v Gonzaga game at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Butler won by one point after Roosevelt Jones stole an inbounds pass and made a basket with no time left on the clock. The fans swarmed the court making it difficult to get a clear shot of the celebration. I managed to get one decent frame before running onto the court myself to shoot the celebrations.

Bald Eagle Watch

I spent Saturday morning going on an Eagle Watch at the Mississinewa River near Peru, Indiana to check out a Bald Eagle roosting site with my friend Nick who works for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. We saw about 25 eagles, mostly from very far away. One day last year over 150 were counted at this site.


The only one close enough to photograph






Best Eagle watching outfit ever!

Quotes

I received this book in the mail this week from my photo friends at Nathaniel Edmunds Photography. It's a fun read with some good photography quotes scattered throughout. Here are a few of my favorites.

"There are no bad pictures; that's just how your face looks sometimes." - Abraham Lincoln

"You don't have to sleep with the photographer, although it helps at times." - Marie Helvin

"I drifted into photography like one drifts into prostitution. First I did it to please myself, then I did it to please my friends, and eventually I did it for the money." - Philippe Halsman

"It's a peculiar part of the good photographer's adventure to know where luck is most likely to lie in the stream, to hook it, and to bring it in without unfair play and without too much subduing it." - James Rufus Agee