Finally a Post - Hockey, Lacrosse, Basketball

It was a slow February, but March, with warmer weather and some seasons coming to a close while other starting, brought on many games that I am finally getting around to posting. 

My neighbors have two boys in hockey and asked me to come shoot their games before the season ended. Having never shot hockey before, let alone little league, I had no idea what to expect. Needless to say I had a great time. Both games were at Steiner near the UofU. It was brighter than anticipated and I tried shooting through the glass around the rink. I was amazed I didn't lose more light through it and the angle was pretty cool. Links to the galleries are below:

http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Hockey/EaglesM - The Mite Division Game

http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Hockey/Eagles - The Squirt Division Game

My oldest son's basketball season ended with them winning the last two games.  Those games were played back to back in a very dark gym.  The old Nikon 50mm f/1.8 is a must for anyone shooting basketball.  I would like to try the 35mm f1/.8 DX for under the basket and the 85mm f/1.8 for the baseline/corner.  Of course a f/1.4 would be better. 

 http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Basketball/RvsSE

http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Basketball/RvsAT

College lacrosse has started and the UofU played Boise State and two weeks later Montana in the ever dark field house.  For the Montana game I tried using a slow shutter speed then panned a player moving.  If done right, the player being tracked is in focus while everything else is in blurred.  The best result is the one below and there are a few more in the gallery.

http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Lacrosse/UUBS - Utah vs Boise State

http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Lacrosse/UUvM - Utah vs Montana

Last Saturday the snow came down hard at the first outdoor lacrosse game of the season for me, Westminster vs Utah Valley.  I had fun, but the flu bug in me disagreed.  I only lasted for the first half and missed an exciting overtime victory by Westminster.

http://www.haslamphotography.com/Sports/Lacrosse/UVUvsW - Westminster vs Utah Valley

Baseball and soccer are starting along with high school lacrosse.  Hopefully I won't wait so long before posting again.

Sundance 2010 – Park City

While I did not secure a press pass for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, I managed through Shutterstock to get access to two events. Friday night there was the GenArt 7 Fresh Faces of Film and Sunday night the “HIGH school” movie premiere party.

Friday night I first went up to shoot the US Snowboarding Grand Prix which was from 7:00pm until 9:30pm. Shawn White was there to qualify for the Olympic team. After watching the same participants last week at the Dew Tour, then again Friday night, I waited to see Shawn White for the first time live as he missed the Dew Tour and was the last to go. He was amazing and definitely stood out as being the number one snowboarder. His air on each hit was at least ten feet higher than the rest of the field and the tricks were ones no one else was even trying. His run was nearly perfect at 49.50. He came right over me on the first run and I missed him as he was higher than I expected.

The second run I was more prepared and was able to get some good shots and at the awards ceremonies as well.

 

While the snow was gently falling for snowboarding, it started to dump around 10:00pm, right in time for the GenArt party. The red carpet was under a balcony while the press was not covered. It was hard to get around town and everyone was coated in snow. Here are few photos from that event:

 

It was interesting for me to see the press and actors work the red carpet. Being the first red carpet I have covered, it was quite the learning experience on the process, priority to certain photographers, the tracking of names to caption correctly later and getting the actors to look into my camera. Knowing their name helped a lot to get their attention. While none of them were big names they made sure everyone in the press got their name and the correct spelling of their name.

Sunday was the “HIGH school” premiere party before the premiere as the movie started at 11:30pm. The red carpet itself was not impressive. This time the photo area was in a hallway not more then five feet wide. I got a lot of close-ups. There were no lights so they temporally installed a fluorescent light box with four tubes pointed at the background. It was an awful light almost like a flickering spot light. The color was always changing and the fall out was huge. The bigger the star the more they posed and slower moving they were. Slower moving was a good thing. They also made sure each photographer got a good image of them.

Winter Dew Tour

I was up at Snowbasin this past weekend as the Winter Dew Tour stopped by Utah.  The halfpipe, also called the Superpipe by the marketing group, is where I spent my time.  Click on each of the images below to be taken to the full gallery on my website:

Mens Snowboard:

Womens Snowboard:

Womens Ski:

My latest images for sale at
Shutterstock:

Help-Portrait - Wrap-up

Saturday turned out to a great day of helping 40 individuals/families get their picture taken.   Processing was finished last night and now off to the printer.  Thanks to Pixels Photo for the printing.   While we hoped for more participants, all the counselors from the Housing Authority said we had a great turn out.  Everyone measures success differently.   The counselors expect more to come out next year.  

This morning the organizers of Help Portrait released some numbers:

36,000 portraits given by 3,002 photographers and 4,422 volunteers in 511 locations in 41 countries.

Help-Portrait - CBS Evening News

The organizers of Help-Portrait posted on their twitter account today that the CBS Evening News will show a story about them Sunday, December 13.  Check out their website at http://www.help-portrait.com/. 

Pictureline is also sponsoring our group.  If you have never visited their stores, do so.  They are a great local company with two locations, one downtown and the other in Draper.

Help-Portrait - Dec 12, 2009

I am going to take part in the world wide Help-Portrait on December 12.   The group of photographers I am working with are teaming up with the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City.   We have a few sponsors, including Pixel's Photo and Frame who will provide the printing.  Hopefully we will be able to provide a photograph to over 60 families and individuals.  I'll definity post more after the event.