A few weeks ago, I was able to take my wife on our honeymoon to complete the last three of four states she needed to visit before her next birthday.  We were able to package three states (Alaska, Oregon, and Washington) for the honeymoon trip which left New Mexico as the remaining state.  I thought this would be a pretty cool honeymoon as it would help her finish her goal and it would take me the farthest west that I have ever been.

Knowing that we were going to make this trip, I decided to start gathering the necessary photographic tools for our trip.  I started first with picking up an additional 16GB SanDisk CF Extreme III Memory Card, ThinkTank Pixel Pocket Rocket memory card case, and an extra Canon LP-E6 battery from Adorama.  These definitely came in handy later in the trip as I didn’t need to worry about having enough shots left and enough power to run my equipment in the “wilderness.”  I combined that with my Canon 5D Mark II camera and my Canon 580EX II flash with Gary Fong Lightsphere and Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce flash accessories and I was pretty much set.

This story is going to take three parts to cover and today we are going to cover Part I: Alaska.

We arrived into Anchorage, AK at about 10:00pm and the first thing I noticed is that it was still very bright outside (looked like 2pm EST).  We decided to grab some dinner and then we walked around as I took some photos.  It was very different to see people out playing soccer and just doing things you would normally do in an afternoon setting back on the East Coast.

We had a few days to visit Downtown Anchorage before we took the Alaska Railroad to Seward to take our day cruise.  The city has such character and every corner we visited had something unique and “foreign.”

We also had the chance to visit the Alaska Zoo and saw some amazing creatures up-close.

We then embarked on our four-hour train ride from Anchorage to Seward on the Alaska Railroad.  We were fortunate enough to be sitting in the last train cart and I was able to stand out the back and take photos without having to shoot behind dirty windows.  The train ride was absolutely beautiful.  We were able to see Bald Eagles in their natural habitat, black bears, and some amazing glaciers and mountain side waterfalls.

Once we arrived in Seward, we were immediately shuttled to our cruise ship where we would spend the next six hours in awe of nature’s beauty.  As we left the dock, we saw a sea otter just relaxing in the freezing ocean watching us as we passed by.  We then started our tour of the surrounding islands and saw sea lions, puffins (my new favorite bird), and starfish to name a few.

Nature was very alive that day.  So much so that we got to see a rare showing of marine mammal activity: humpback whales and orcas!  The humpbacks were in rare form as they decided to give us a show of their mighty fins and there acrobatic abilities to jump out of the water.  It was quite the show considering that we were literally 10 feet away from all the action.

After that amazing show, we went searching for more marine mammal activity and came across an orca family in search of salmon.  They did not have the same activity of the humpbacks but we got to see how they hunted and how crystal clear the water actually was.  The captain placed an underwater microphone and we got to hear how they communicated.  It was also need to see a straight dorsal fin instead of the curved ones you would see from captive orcas.

Now it was time to see some of Earth’s oldest formations: glaciers!  You see these kind of things on Discovery Channel but even HD does not do it justice.  As we approached the biggest glacier, the temperature drastically changed (it was normally 67 but it was like 45-50 as we got closer).  The glacier also seemed to get even bigger as we got closer (it was over 2 miles wide).  We stopped the boat for what looked like 10 feet away but was actually a football field away.  As we looked at the glacier, it started to “cap” (break apart) which was equally awesome and sad.

We returned from the cruise and went to find some great seafood.  In the process, we caught a charter boat coming back in and saw the fisherman go to action in cleaning and preparing the fish.  It was a pretty cool sight.

The city of Seward has a rich history with regards to fishing and you could definitely see it after walking the entire city that day.  We returned to Anchorage and had another day to explore.  From friends’ suggestions, we were able to squeeze every last minute of our first state.

Check back in later as I cover Part II of our trip, Washington.

Go Gators!

The UF Women’s Basketball team was selected to play in the WNIT Tournament.  The good thing about this tournament was that they had the chance to play one more game in front of their home crowd on their home court.  I was there to capture the action and definitely had a great experience once again on the sidelines of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.  The team was matched against last year’s tournament champion, University of South Florida.  South Florida normally plays Florida pretty tough.

The UF women played determined and the game was tight for most of the game.  Steffi Sorensen lead the team with 16 points and was electric during the game.  In the end, the Lady Gators defeated the USF Bulls 61-54 and they moved on to the second round of the tournament.

They would later find out that they faced the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL.  I was able to make it down for the 5 hour trip to Miami and was able to follow the team as they prepared for their second round matchup.

The BankUnited Center is an interesting arena.  It was built for the purpose of basketball on the campus of the University of Miami and is fairly new.  They have floor seating that allows fans to sit right in front of the action.  The lighting inside of the arena was amazing too and I had to really tone down some of the settings that I normally use for a basketball game.  The only downside to the whole arena was the seating situation for visiting photographers.  For the first half, there was really no seating and I had to sit in front of floor seats with fans in the seats.  The second half, I had an open baseline but I feel if Miami had dancers that would be their spot.  At the SEC tournament, there was clearly marked seating for photographers so this was a big change.

The Lady Gators played a hard fought game and for the most part, the game was fairly tight.  During the second half, UM made there run and ultimately, took control of the game.  The Gators lost to the Canes, 64-77, and Miami eventually made it to the Championship game losing to California.

It was a long ride back to Gainesville but that gave me time to think of the opportunity that I was given and the memories that I was able to capture.  I am truly thankful for this opportunity and look forward to hopefully being able to capture more memories next season.  Go Gators!

I was once again presented with the opportunity to shoot for the UF Women’s Basketball team as they played in the 2010 SEC Women’s Basketball tournament held at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA.  This is such a huge opportunity for any sports photographer as you gain postseason tournament experience shooting with some of the best photographers from Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press, and SEC Sports.  Plus the SEC is their premier league when it comes women’s basketball and you can really catch some great games.

This time around I was prepared with the right equipment and I had a whole season of shooting under my belt.  I felt really prepared and knew coming in what shots I needed and what new shots I wanted to get.  I also had my workflow fairly perfected and that was crucial, as I was able to develop my photos pretty quickly so they could be posted right after the game.  This was a great opportunity to bring all my experience from the past regular season and apply to one of the bigger stages in women’s college basketball.

I arrived at the Gwinnett Center to pick up my media credentials and was greeted by some helpful SEC staff volunteers who took me on a tour of the facility and the media workroom.  I’ve only been to a few media workrooms in my short career but I have to say that the SEC really knows how to take care of their media staff.  There were separate work areas for newspaper media, photographers, and video editors.  In addition to the separate rooms, there was a huge room just for the hot pre-game meals that were served at the beginning of each session (a session consisted of two games).  There were also stacks of media guides from all of the SEC schools piled up against the wall of newspaper media area which I thought was pretty impressive.

I was able to get my laptop all setup and the gear all organized and then I headed to the floor.  As I was walking through the media row on the sideline I glanced at a few of the names reserving the seats.  There was the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, local Atlanta newspapers, and USA Today.  I was pretty impressed that they made these preparations for such big news organizations.  I made my way to the baseline to find that the AP and SEC Sports photographers already claimed the really good spots but I was able to grab a spot right next to the SEC Sports photographer who I remembered from last year’s SEC tournament.

I took a few pictures just to see how the lighting was and I immediately knew I was going to have a great day taking pictures.  I was pleased to find the lighting was amazing and bright and I had to tone down my settings that I’m used to at the O’Dome in Gainesville.  The great lighting in the arena allowed me to shoot at 1/1250 with only a 3200 ISO which meant that I was going to get some great clear low noise shots.  It was an hour before the game and the teams were out warming up and I was snapping away.  All shots were crystal clear and because I was shooting at such a fast shutter speed, I was able to get some great action shots.

Even though the end result of the game was not what I was looking towards, it was a good game and another great experience.  I was able to see how some of the other photographers framed their shots and also got to see some new equipment that I hadn’t yet seen.  The ability just to be on the baseline capturing this wonderful sport made for a great day.  I am truly thankful for the opportunity and hope to be able to continue with this kinds of experiences in the future.

You can see my entire set from the game here on my Flickr page.

UF's Steffi Sorensen (10) celebrates after saving a ball out of bounds.

I have been very fortunate over the past few months to have the opportunity to capture the moments (both good and bad) of the UF Women’s Basketball team as they work through their 2009-2010 basketball season.  Not only have I been able to shoot a sport that I absolutely love but I have been learning so much along the way.  I’ve also been able to see another side of the game of basketball and get really close to the action.

The photo above is absolutely one of my favorites for many reasons.  First, because I almost missed it.  I was concentrating on another part of the action as Steffi Sorensen was flying towards me on the baseline.  Your first natural reaction is to wince and protect your equipment and that reaction has happened many times resulting in missed shots.  For some reason, though, I was automatically focused the camera on the action and held down the trigger.  This amazing shot right here is the result of that reaction.  I am happy I was able to overcome the wince and protect reaction!

Another reason I absolutely love this photo is it’s just a simple shot but the amount of emotion contained within the photo is tremendous.  If you understand the idea of sport, then you can relate to the amount of emotion the player is showing in this photo.  I feel like this photo in itself conveys more than the standard 1000 words.  You definitely can feel pumped and ready to play.

It’s moment like these that make it really great to be a photographer!

The last few weeks have seen a huge improvement in the equipment that is in my Canon bookbag.  I’ve got a new body, new L series lenses, and faster high-capacity memory cards.  It’s definitely helped having this new equipment with my sports photography.  Pictures are clearer and brighter and the quality of pictures is amazing.

Here is what’s currently in my bookbag:

• Canon 5D Mark II body
• Canon Digital Rebel XTi body
• Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Lens
• Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens
• Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
• Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash
• Sandisk Extreme 16GB 60mb/s CF card
• Sandisk Extreme III 4GB 30mb/s CF card

Looking forward to expanding the equipment more.  I definitely will have to get a bigger bag as this one is maxed out.

Happy Shooting!