Garden of the Gods

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (December 28, 2012) - After a light dusting of snow overnight, Curt and I headed out early to visit the Garden of the Gods. The light was nice, although the temperature was about 15 degrees. All shot with the Zeiss 21mm and a circular polarizer.

Happy Holidays

The Hazard's are a family that I met through Jessica's soccer team. As the holidays approached I kept hearing how they go crazy with their Christmas decorations. Last week I was invited to come by and check out the house. Robert, the architect of the whole thing, told me that  people have tried to photograph it but they always  turn out too dark or too light (blown out). Here are a few of my images shot with the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8.

CCAA Champions and Beyond

CARSON, CA (November 4, 2012) - I was able to cover the CCAA Division II Soccer Championships between UC San Diego vs. Sonoma State. The game was a 1-1 draw at the end of regulation and remained tied through double overtime. The game was decided in penalty kicks with the Tritons winning 4-2.

The Tritons post season hopes for an 8th National Championship is still alive by beating Seattle Pacific in the second round, Western Washington in the third round and the Colorado Mines in the quarterfinals in penalty kicks (6-5). The Tritons are in Evans, Georgia and are two games away from the National Championship.

Here's some selections from the CCAA title game.

MVP - Gabi Hernandez

Press releases from the UC San Diego website

Mid-Season Update

It's the middle of the fall soccer season and Jessica's team (Bubbles) finds themselves in first place. The girls are starting to gel as a team and are getting into a rhythm. In addition, their level of play is increasing dramatically. The following is a sequence off of a goal kick where Jessica trapped the ball, then made a perfect pass to the right wing (all in a fluid motion).

Go Toros!

The CSUDH men's soccer team improved their conference record to 6-4-0 today with a 4-2 win over Cal Poly. This was my first outing with the 5D Mark III and high level soccer. My concerns were focusing speed, frames per second (fps) and overall responsiveness. In addition, because I don't have a vertical shutter button, framing and tracking were a concern.

The good news is that the 61 point autofocus kicks ass. So by eliminating that variable, it came down to the speed/fps of the camera. It took a little getting use to, but once you get into a rhythm it's all a matter of timing.

To put the camera to a proper test, I shot 4+ frame sequences. Below are two of the sequences.

#2

Bubbles

That's right, Jessica's U14 soccer team is named Bubbles. This is the first year with a full size ball and a full size field. This is also the year where the game starts getting competitive. We have a great coach and a great group of talented players. Here's some images from Saturday's game. All shot with the Mark II/400mm f/2.8 classic combo :-).