Squid Bus

Two to Tango

2010-12-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo that ran on the cover of EGO, the entertainment section of El Observador de Utah. I loved shooting the couple demonstrating the Tango, out on the streets where it apparently originated. Makes me want to learn a few steps.

Wedding B-Roll

2010-12-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is the groom's father at a recent wedding. Some of you might know who this is. He's the famous video guy.

Get along little cowgirl.

2010-11-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to think of the best way to start re-posting to my blog but I don't really think there is a good, "Re-launch" strategy, other than to just start putting pictures up again.

Here is a favorite from a few months ago.

Happy Birthday Seuss

2010-03-03T15:10:00.001-08:00

I covered an assignment about a guy who reads books to kids at the Weber County Library and before he came on, this couple (unmarried) acted out the book, Green Eggs and Ham from Dr. Seuss. They were quite expressive and even though the kids were a little restless, I couldn't look away.

¡Bienvenidos El Observador!

2010-02-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

Last month I started working as the photographer/photo editor of a new Spanish language newspaper called El Observador, which publishes three days a week. It's been awesome to get back to shooting photos on a more regular basis and also to relearn a language I once felt fairly comfortable with. In four short weeks I have made some great new friends and been involved in some pretty good stories.

Here is our first cover and our first weekend cover. I hope you enjoy picking this up when you see it and I look forward to your input as I try and share photos more often on this blog. - Brian

Sundance

2010-01-29T14:24:00.000-08:00

The Sundance Film Festival can be both addicting and boring at the same time. Last year was my first year covering it and it got to be sort of addicting to find stars and shoot their photo as they wandered around on main street. Sort of like fishing, catch and release style.

It also has it's boring moments of sitting around in front of a well lit, heavily logoed backdrop waiting for the right talent to show up, smile, pose, then scurry away.

This was one of those moments.

Utah Inversion

2010-01-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

As I was driving into SLC this morning, I couldn't help but notice the distinct difference in air quality as I drove south. Ogden seemed to have cleared a little while SLC firmly remained in the grasp of the inversion. Here is a look at the valley from the avenues.

Late Powell

2009-12-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago I got a call from Waterski Magazine for a VERY quick trip to Lake Powell to shoot professional waterskier, Marcus Brown during a vacation with his in-laws. I left at 8:00 pm from SLC and arrived at the dock at 1:00 am, slept, met the boat at 7:00 am and was back on the road at 2:00 pm. It was spooky driving from I-70 to Bullfrog and not seeing a single car the whole way, with no moon in the sky.

Marcus was very patient as we tried to find glassy water (a slight breeze prevented that, even at Powell), and having to pass my spot over and over in the coldish end of season water.

I liked this photo because the sun must have hit the spray in a weird way to create the greenish hue. I'll post more later....

John Zaugg's First Marathon.

2009-12-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

I flew out to D.C. over a month ago to document a long time friend's first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon. It was a great course, very well organized and wall-to-wall people the entire race. I would consider it a success since the following day, he called and said he's planning on another one.

Enjoy the show.

BYU v. Florida State

2009-09-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of photos of the BYU v. Florida State game on Saturday. I had several others but these were the favorites of the mix. The bobbled pass was an amazing display of athletics and focus on the part of O'Neill Chambers of BYU. I got about 15 frames of this catch, a couple out of focus between the sharp ones. It seemed like forever until the play was over.

This photo is of Luke Ashworth of BYU who got hit pretty hard by Patrick Robinson of Florida State after hauling in a quick pass in the first half. It looked worse than it was. He was in the air both when he caught the ball, and when he was hit.

Ogden Fire

2009-08-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is a slide show of a huge fire in Ogden last Sunday. It's a week late and I am sure the building looks much different now. I feel terrible for the residents that lost everything in this disaster. Luckily, no one was injured but I heard some residents talk about how they had to leap from their second floor balcony to escape. Ogden fire fighters and police were very cordial and very helpful in helping the media gain access to some decent photos. I am grateful for that.

Fun With Pink Bunny Pajamas

2009-07-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

** CLICK ON THE PHOTO**

There was a big commotion at the Union Station in Ogden today as I photographed a couple of brave souls dressed in Pink Bunny Pajamas from Aunt Clara's Creations

Lance, Leeann, Sally and Shane were great sports and had fun drinking Mountain Dew, eating Cheetos, bowling, putting up Christmas lights, shooting their eyes out (yep, that's a real Red Ryder BB Gun), and all sorts of cheesyness.

We even had an unexpected model show up in her wedding dress, which I'm sure made her bridal shoot even more memorable. Enjoy!

Wet Willard

2009-07-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Had some fun at Willard Bay the other day. This thing called "The Molecule" was the biggest hit. It warmed the reluctant E-Man up to the cold water, after lots of coaxing.

The engineer in the photo has finely tuned the trajectory of the mass of H2O to reach the apex of its tangent from the surface of the water at the exact point as to impact the unsuspecting target with maximum force and volume.

Gutter Scooter

2009-06-24T21:54:00.000-07:00

I shot some kids riding their scooters in the gutter. Summer boredom is here in full force. Hey, sounds like a project, to document bored summer kids. Hmmmm.... How uninteresting.....

Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back - Slideshow

2009-06-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at embedding a slide show into a blog. It is a few photos of the Wasatch Back Relay last weekend. If you haven't heard of it, it's a crazy party where teams of 6 or 12, collectively run 188 miles, from Logan to Park City, over several steep mountain passes, with no sleep, lasting 17-32 hours and all with (mostly) smiles on their faces.

After a few attempts at getting the size of this thing right, it seems to have worked...Enjoy!

Start Building an Ark

2009-06-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed, it hasn't really stopped raining in Utah for a few weeks or so and I thought it was relevant that I post this photo. Does it sort of feel like this? At least it's postponing the heat of summer a little longer.

Back on the Blog Wagon

2009-05-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, this blog was started as a means to motivate myself to get outside my comfort zone and shoot a decent photo every day for a full year. The last time I posted was about three months shy of that mark, which came and went on February 23rd.

It was a difficult challenge to shoot a good photo everyday for a year.

During that same time, I was also working on another project of publishing a book about the city in which I live. It's a documentary portrait project about Ogden, Utah which started out kind of small, and has since mushroomed into this huge art project with all kinds of community support.

Earlier today, I picked up the posters I will be hanging in shops all around town advertising the book. I just received a call from a company handling the customs clearance since the books, which have been on a boat from Hong Kong for a week, arrive in California on Friday. I just finished cutting 35 frames which will display some of the photos at the Union Station on June 5th at a book release party.

A short year and a half ago, I never would have imagined this would be possible. Back then, a book wasn't even on the radar, not even close. My wife and I had batted around an idea about a "print on demand" book from our time in China but nothing like this.

Yet here it is, just weeks away from arriving on my front door and who would have thought this was possible. Not me.

It certainly hasn't been a one man show. I had a bunch of help from a whole host of people. Early on, it came from the folks at Union Station who allowed me some time to shoot at their place. As I started shooting photos, there began to be an enthusiasm and the people I photographed began offering more and more suggestions as to who else should be included in the book.

I got a bunch of help from The Union Grill staff who sent people over from lunch and were very generous with their time and delicious food.

Keith Johnson, a friend and fellow photographer who understood the scope of the effort, was an enormous help in his countless hours of editing photos and offering constructive criticism and generous praise. And Mike Terry who produced a sweet marketing video (which I have yet to do anything with,(sorry Mike), I'll be posting it later this week).

I certainly couldn't have done it without the generous individuals who offered to sponsor the project. If anything came as a complete shock to me, it was the generosity of the sponsors allowing me to raise nearly $12,000 to help cover printing costs. That blew me away, and I can't thank those people enough.

Steve Conlin has been a huge support by providing advise and publicity, and for getting the attention of community leaders who have also been a big support.

And most recently, Simon, who has offered his time and expertise to help make a bazillion frames which will end up costing less than a tenth of what it would have.

I know this is starting to sound like the Oscars and will even more so when I include my dad in the list, who has also been a big contributor with his time and resources.

So there it is. A blog post about the "I AM OGDEN" book. That is probably the main reason I have been such a slacker blogger the last several months.

I hope you enjoy reading and I will attempt to keep this a little more current.

BN

Thanksgiving Swing

2008-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to catch this photo of the world's prettiest seven-year-old. She rushed out to this swing after turkey dinner and I'm so glad I had my camera.

Turkey Bowl '08

2008-12-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons I like shooting this so much is the fact that besides the rough play and ample opportunity for great action, there are no helmets to hide the expressions of the players. It's not too often that you can catch a meaningful expression behind helmets during a "real" game. It's gotten worse lately since players have added that plastic shield over their eyes.

This is John Falls gaining yardage while losing his shorts to Chris Quintana.

Turkey Bowl '08

2008-12-01T08:05:00.001-08:00

Every year, some guys I know get together and toss around a pigskin the morning of Thanksgiving. It's common, lots of people do it. I like playing football but I always feel that the photos I get are much better than any contribution I can make on the field. This is one of those times.

Pizza/Bowling

2008-12-01T07:59:00.001-08:00

One of my children won this free trip to the Salomon Center for a night of pizza and bowling. This is one of our friends riding a cheep 25 cent carousel. Woo Hoo!

WSU Clock Tower

2008-11-30T16:02:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, Weber State has undergone some huge changes in the last few years and this week, one of the projects was rededicated. The clock tower and plaza surrounding it were remodeled and made to look beautiful again.

This is WSU president Ann Millner and the iconic tower.

The campus looks awesome and everything looks shiny and new. Now if they could just make that clock tell time, everything would be perfect.

BYU Utah Lesson

2008-11-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

The day after covering the BYU Utah game, I made a slight error that I won't soon make again. My error wouldn't have been too costly if it weren't for the help of my three-year-old son.

I was working on a bunch of folders I had downloaded as .zip files and when I opened them, there was the original .zip and the file it contained. Needless to say, there was a bunch of clutter on my desktop. When I dragged everything to the trash, the BYU Utah Folder was also dragged. No big deal, right? the next time I would look for them, I would just drag it back out.

Unfortunately, in my son's zeal to be just like dad, he was messing around with the mouse and in doing so, emptied the trash. Ouch. Over 1700 photos of the biggest game of the year were gonzo.

Luckily, I realized what had happened early on and didn't re-write anything on the computer. I ran a data rescue program which I thought worked pretty well, it seemed I had all my photos back.

While going through them, I found that most of the files that had been recovered were corrupt, leaving me with images like the one you see above. But despite the loss of 1200 photos, most of the images I moved into a "finals" folder were spared. Whew!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! (actually Friday)

2008-11-30T15:07:00.000-08:00

Here is Ron the monster truck driver from Maverick crushing the BYU/Utah cars. It was a huge spectacle while it lasted. Lots of noise and flying pieces of glass. Almost makes me want to get one. I wonder how that kind of machine would fare on the red rocks of Moab.

Rivalry Week

2008-11-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

I got a call to cover a story about Maverick executives and their unconventional marketing and promotion strategies. This guy is bashing in the side of a blue car representing BYU at a 1280 AM, "The Zone" remote. Maverick brought along a monster truck to take care of business after the cars had been beat up with sledge hammers. Don't worry BYU, there were guys bashing in the red cars too.

Bonneville Skybase

2008-11-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Also at this location, there is a small hangar which houses a flying parachute. You can rent a ride with Lew Ershler, a FAA certified flight instructor for views of the Oquirrhs. I was a little nervous about this part of the day but after some brave participants when before me, I gave it a whirl. Besides, what could happen anyway? If your engine fails, at least you're already strapped to a parachute.

Bonneville Seabase II

2008-11-28T14:07:00.001-08:00

Here is another shot from Bonneville Seabase. A reverse version of bobbing for apples.

Bonneville Seabase

2008-11-28T13:54:00.000-08:00

At the end of October, I covered a story on Bonneville Seabase, a series of warm springs turned into a scuba diving destination in the middle of the Utah desert. There are tropical fish and a couple nurse sharks in the green waters, along with some fast moving Crevalle jacks and tons of little minnows. I didn't want to post the photos until the story ran but you can now find it HERE.

I initially thought the story would go along with the Halloween events scheduled for the weekend, like "reverse" bobbing for apples and an underwater pumpkin carving contest. here is the pumpkin carving.

Discovery Gateway

2008-11-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

Random shot from a recent trip to Discovery Gateway. These kids seemed to LOVE stuffing balls in these vacuum powered tubes.

Face Toy

2008-11-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a quirky shot of a toy we picked up within the past few birthday parties. Not sure if I could identify the kid under the plastic rods but if you can, let me know.

Fireside

2008-11-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot from a LDS Fireside which took place at Weber State featuring Elder Boyd K. Packer. I don't really love the podium shots, or "talking head" photos so here is one of the choir director leading the Choraliares, a Ogden Institute group.

Anderson Cooper in SLC

2008-11-28T12:41:00.000-08:00

Anderson Cooper is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, author and television personality. He currently works as the primary anchor of the CNN news show "Anderson Cooper 360°." He came and did a speech up near the U and I was told to shoot for ten minutes, max, and go back to the office. I maybe got three creative shots I liked in that time. This is my favorite.

Point and Waits

2008-11-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

I think it's ironic that these small little digital cameras are called point and shoots. Seems the more appropriate titles should be, "point and wait a few seconds after the moment has past and shoots."

Another Birthday?

2008-11-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

Birthday's are nice and when you're a kid, they are something you look forward to for months. Well, E-man was lucky enough to have THREE birthday parties this year, and on different days. Here is a shot from one of those parties. Nothing like swinging at a piñata in the form of an eyeball.

More Ballet

2008-11-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

You know, fifteen years ago if you would have asked me to attend a ballet, I would have turned you down cold. No way was I going to a ballet. Those things they wear to dance in made me way too uncomfortable.

Well a lot has changed in the last decade, mainly the fact that I have done a bunch of photos for the Ballet West Academy and Imagine Ballet Theatre. The guys I have worked with at both places have been friendly and respectful and have been very good clients to work with. Now I don't really mind going to the ballet, occasionally, to fill my "culture" quota for the year. I guess it's irony in action.

Not everything has changed, however, some of those outfits they wear still make me feel uncomfortable.

These photos are of Macall, Jennifer and Jessica at Imagine Ballet Theatre following a performance at the Egyptian. We took my daughter and she LOVED it. That certainly made the ballet more enjoyable as well.

Heeerrreee's Keith!!

2008-11-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

This is Keith Stubbs, a DJ, Comic and Business Owner in Ogden. He DJ's on 101.5 The Eagle in Salt Lake, he owns Wise Guys comedy club on 25th Street in Ogden and he does a lot for the city of Ogden. Keith wanted some updated material (what comic doesn't) for his website, KeithStubbs.com

E-Man at Six

2008-11-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

We had several parties for the E-Man and this is one of them held at the grandparents house. Gotta love the tight shot of kids stuffing their faces with cake.

Guess What This Is??

2008-11-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

I'll buy you lunch if you can guess what's going on in this picture. Why don't you type your caption as a comment and the comment containing the most truth wins.

(those in the photo are excluded from competition)

By the way, I really liked the rich color saturation and the natural light in this image. The content and reaction on the faces doesn't hurt either.

BYU Missed Shots

2008-11-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple outtakes from the game. This is from the same play in which Austin Collie ran a 61 yard pass into the endzone for a touchdown. I caught the catch and a few steps of the run until I was luckily able to zero in on the ref. I wonder what kind of watch that is.

Collie ran right towards me and I was thinking,"Wow, I can get some sweet reaction photos of him screaming and cheering with teammates." Once again I was even more fortunate to have caught the brand name of Trent Nelson's hat. Don't worry, the next frame has Collie in focus with teammates, just a very UN jubilant reaction.

BYU vs SDSU III

2008-11-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

I really liked the peak action in this image and I think it works over all. However the composition seems to be a little bit cluttered. Still, I am happy I caught the action.

BYU vs SDSU II

2008-11-17T22:44:00.000-08:00

Here is Dennis Pitta getting upended by a defender early in the game. I wish I had been on the other side to catch the expression on Pitta's face but the body language looked ok too.

BYU vs SDSU I

2008-11-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my picks from the BYU vs. Sand Diego State game. This shot I thought I had missed because the two players had jumped up and out of my frame. This was as they were coming back down.

ELECTION '08

2008-11-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

This is reporter Aaron Faulk. I don't think he had just cast his ballot.

I was lucky enough to work the night of the elections and I made some interesting observations from that night. I hesitate to get too detailed about what I observed but I will say that some things took me off guard.

Observation Number One: The folks who ordered the pizza for the newsroom are very astute when it comes to good taste. No 'cheese and sauce over cardboard' for election night. It was awesome.

Observation Number Two: You can never judge a book by it's cover. Meaning, some folks who I had thought were one way, politically, were extremely opposite what they appeared.

Observation Number Three: I need to preface this last observation by saying that this was just merely an 'observation.' I don't mean to judge anyone of any persuasion on this issue, it just took me off guard.

I noticed, and was quite surprised at the boisterous reaction in the newsroom as election results began coming in, from people on BOTH sides, and especially when the winner was announced. Now granted, this wasn't exactly a 'public' display for the world to see, it's likely those reactions would never make their way into print. And I think some of the ruckus could have been directed at what America had accomplished as a country in electing an African American president. However, regardless of who you support, Obama or McCain, BYU or Utah, Pro or Anti Voucher, Weber State or Idaho State, Raptors or Owlz, Banks or Credit Unions I think we as journalists should be very private about our personal opinions.

I remember one of the very first sporting events I ever covered at Weber State. I caught myself cheering in the press area during a key moment in the game and the reporter respectfully leaned over and told me that it wasn't appropriate to show a side, one way or the other. I talked with the adviser later that week where I learned more about the role of our profession. Since then I have been very careful to keep my opinions private. Of course sporting events are much less meaningful than political issues but most of us know not to cheer while covering a game. Political issues mean more and can have a more serious polarizing effect. Personally, I try and stay away from those discussions, and have turned down political friends in O-Town who have asked if we would put a sign in the yard.

I know it may seem hypocritical that I occasionally wear around a Utah Jazz hat. Just try and catch me wearing it while covering a game.

Wheelchair Basketball III

2008-11-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

This was one of the opening inbound passes. Nice thing about shooting a game like this is that the ref will basically let you go where you want, get as close as you want and no one really cares. Of course, there was no pre-game meal or nachos at halftime either.... unless you count that bag of popcorn I bought on the way out for 50 cents.

Wheelchair Basketball II

2008-11-17T20:36:00.001-08:00

I couldn't help shooting a motion blur shot.

Wheelchair Basketball I

2008-11-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

I was able to cover a pretty cool event which pits some able bodied athletes from Hill Air Force Base against those who are confined to a wheelchair, only the able bodied guys had to sit in wheelchairs also. It was hilarious watching the HAFB guys stumble around, shoot far short of the hoop and fall out of their chairs. In this photo, a HAFB team member gets a little help from one of the Wheelin' Wildcats.

Halloween Faces

2008-11-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a little collection of all the kids faces that passed by us during Halloween. We first dragged Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman and Princess Leia to the neighborhood "Trunk or Treat," but that wasn't enough. We then followed them all past every street within walking distance until Buzz was spent and wouldn't move another muscle unless I carried him. It rained lightly as we headed home where the Mommy Monster promptly paid the kids $10 each for their bags of candy, which has now become piñata filler for one of the upcoming birthday parties.

Mr. Sports Shooter

2008-11-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

This is Scott Winterton. And this is a pose you will find him and many other photographers in more often since newspapers are testing the waters of video content for their websites. This was not a hard photo to capture since he was reviewing one of his videos and seemed frozen in this position for a while.

Aside from producing videos for DeseretNews.com, Mr. Winterton is one of the most amazing sports photographers around, especially this football season. Like BYU and Utah, he has definitely brought his "A" game this season. Every time I feel like I have a good shooting day, I will start looking over his shoulder at his final takes and realize the reasons he is at every big game. You can view his images at DeseretNews.com or check out his blog address in the Quick Trick Blog Stack here------>

Weber State Football II

2008-11-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

This photo looks a little more dramatic than it really is. The ball had already bounced once. Although, I was still happy to get the shot.

Weber State is rolling up the charts this year and they are currently ranked number 8 in their division polls, which means they are definitely in the playoffs. Now that's something you don't hear very often; the words "Weber State Football" and "Playoffs." I hope it becomes a common practice. Mac truly is back.

Weber State Football I

2008-11-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

As I was going through my October archives, I realized I had missed a few for this blog. Here is a couple of my favorites from the Weber State game against the University of Northern Colorado.

BYU UNLV II

2008-11-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Here is another of my favorites from the UNLV game. It's kind of like where's Waldo. Can you find the guy in the pink shirt? Easy. How 'bout the guy on his cell phone? No? Well, what about the girl with the red bracelet?

BYU UNLV I

2008-11-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

I went to another BYU game this week and got a few nice photos but a colleague of mine, Scott Winterton, kicked my butt. He got some amazing photos during that game, many of which were the same shots I got, but from a much better angle, with tighter crop, cleaner backgrounds...etc. You can check out his blog at the right from the Quick Trick Blog Stack ------>

This photo actually ran in today's Deseret News for a feature on Fui Vakapuna

Union Station

2008-11-05T08:15:00.001-08:00

I know it seems like I post a ton of photos of kids on this forum. This blog was set up to help me get out of a creative slump and on days when I don't deliberately get out and shoot stuff, I tend to revert back to pic's of kids. This photo, however, I was hired to shoot for a Union Station commercial which is scheduled to air on KBYU's PBS Kids. If you haven't been to Union Station and your kids like trains, this is the place to come. And if you live in SLC, it's just a quick 50 minute ride on FrontRunner to the Ogden Station. You have tons of trains to climb around on, a great restaurant called Union Grille, and boat loads of shopping on the adjacent 25th Street. (I know, I sound like a commercial, sorry)

Imagine Ballet

2008-11-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

One of the best kept secrets in O-Town is that you are able to get some first class ballet tickets but some very entertaining dancers at a reasonable price. All that is thanks to the hard work and thankless dedication of one, Raymond Van Mason of the Imagine Ballet Dance Theatre. They are having a performance this weekend on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8 that your shouldn't miss. I just shot a dress rehearsal and I felt like I should pay for a ticket.

This is Jessica performing one of the pieces.

Early Halloween/Brithday

2008-11-05T07:50:00.001-08:00

This is what you might refer to as a birthday gala. Every time one of our good friends puts on a birthday party for one of her children, it's not just a party, it's an event, specifically aimed at making sure the children are happy. This was one of those times. And not only was this one aimed at the children, but there was a seven course meal also waiting for the grown-ups. It was amazing. (of course, photos of the adults stuffing their faces isn't nearly as cute as kids and birthday cake)

Kindergarten Award

2008-11-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

We got a letter from E's school awhile back stating that he had won some award at his school and that we were invited to attend a little ceremony/assembly. We arrived and were informed that he had won some good character award for helping out other kids, cleaning up tables and other random stuff. Nice job little man.

Cowboy Jim

2008-11-05T00:02:00.001-08:00

This is a portrait I shot of Jim Koertge, owner of the Prairie Schooner steak house in Ogden, some of the best steak in the business. He is active in Ogden and has a lot to do with the success of the Ogden Pioneer Days.

Vinyl Records Coming Back

2008-11-04T23:58:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to cover a story about the increase in interest in the old vinyl records your parents used to listen to. We went to Randy's Records for a $1 per record sale. They had some great music playing and I put together a slide show with audio. You can give a listen here.. It made me wish I still had that old turntable I used to store in my house with nothing to play on it.

Car Jacking

2008-11-04T23:42:00.000-08:00

Today I was sent out on a car jacking case in which three people stole a car, dropped off the driver of the car, were followed by police and ended here in West Valley. The driver was defiant and must have presented a threat to police and he was killed. You can see the shattered window in the white car on the left. The other two cooperated with police and were taken away. Moral? It's best to cooperate with police.

Utah Baskeball

2008-11-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo I was able to shoot because a friend of mine was out of town. He would normally shoot this but was off covering a BYU football game or something. It's kind of a static photo but I liked the contrast of their red uniforms and the deep blue sky.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-04T23:16:00.001-08:00

Only about 24 hours from the last photo, the snow was gone and we were off to pick up some pumpkins for the purpose of mutilating beyond recognition. After getting them home, we decided that wasn't a good idea and we would just paint them instead. What's the point of cutting them all to pieces anyway?

First Snow of the Year

2008-11-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

If you remember back on October 12, the snow hit hard and fast and where we live, it dropped about 7 inches on the ground. We quickly made use of the new white stuff and built this snow person. The princess wanted it to be a snow woman and E wanted it to be a snow man. The monkey didn't care. The snow person didn't last long and tipped over before dinner, along with tons of heavily laden branches in the neighborhood.

Wedding Weekend III

2008-11-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

Last from Wedding Weekend. This is a fellow photographer, Nate Caulford who shoots a bunch for US Figureskating and has plans to start up a studio specializing in children and babies.

BYU vs. New Mexico II

2008-11-04T22:40:00.001-08:00

Here is my favorite shot from the BYU vs. New Mexico game. Good action, ball in the air, decent expression, bodies flying... I love shooting football.

BYU vs. New Mexico I

2008-11-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

I got to cover the BYU vs. New Mexico game this weekend also. (October 11) This is a photo of Austin Collie making a big run for around 50 yards early in the game. Cougs won it.

Wedding Weekend II

2008-11-04T22:20:00.000-08:00

Another from the wedding weekend. Not all weddings can produce this type of photo but these kids were great, and not bad jumpers either.

Wedding Weekend I

2008-11-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Shot a bunch of stuff this weekend, including a bridal portrait and two last minute weddings. It's nice to be busy enough to worry about your charged batteries and whether or not you have enough memory.

Di$neyland Re$ort II

2008-11-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

Here are the youngsters at the happiest place on earth. Don't they look happy?

Di$neyland Re$ort

2008-11-04T22:13:00.000-08:00

More from our vacation in SoCal. This is the famous tea cup ride at Di$neyland.

Laguna VI

2008-10-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Once again, this image is probably quite common on the streets of Laguna but I liked the colors and the composition of this photo.

Laguna III

2008-10-31T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some kids on a shiny park bench after have been beaten up by the high tide. We headed to our favorite So. Cal eatery, Ruby's Diner, for some shakes, fries and turkey burgers.

Laguna II

2008-10-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is another photo from Laguna Beach. This pack of cyclists locked up traffic on the PCH for a couple miles.

Laguna I

2008-10-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

Following the marathon, we zipped on down to one of our favorite spots, Laguna Beach. I'm sure to those who live here, a guy riding his skateboard to the beach with his surfboard in hand is a common site. I thought it was unique.

St. George Marathon

2008-10-31T14:17:00.001-07:00

This is the finish line of the St. George Marathon. My wife admittedly has trouble getting the action shots at the finish line of races. I appreciated the motion blur in this one since it LOOKS like I'm going real fast.

Snow v. Hurricane II

2008-10-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

Here is another photo from the Snow v. Hurricane game and this guy in the green was amazing. His name is Adam Timo and he plays quarterback, running back, punter and kicker. If he could throw the ball high enough, I'm sure he could play QB and receiver on the same play. Trouble is, he had a bull's eye on his back the whole game and Hurricane defeated Snow despite this one man wonder.

Snow v. Hurricane

2008-10-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

I went down for the St. George Marathon and to prepare, I decided to eat some pasta, drink lots of water, stretch my legs and shoot a football game. A natural choice. The last time I tried this technique prior to a marathon, I slept in and missed the first five miles of the race. (which I went back and made up at the end) But this time, I left the game early, got enough sleep and made it to the bus with time to spare.

Anthony the Traceur - October 1

2008-10-31T13:55:00.001-07:00

So I was introduced to a guy who identifies himself as a Traceur. My wife posted an entry on her blog about this very thing. A traceur is a title for someone who actively participates in Parkour, (and I mean ACTIVELY) which is a sport of urban running, climbing and flipping. This Anthony the Traceur made some very nice pictures for me. Here is a link to watch this art form in action.

Halloween Early

2008-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

This is an RN at McKay Dee who's job it is to train other nurses. She dresses like this to make the training classes more memorable. This was shot Sept 30 but since it's Halloween today, and I'm a month behind, what the heck.

Another Wedding Photo

2008-10-31T13:31:00.001-07:00

Here is a second photo from that wedding.

Cake Eaters

2008-10-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite events at weddings is the whole, cut-the-cake-and-shove-it-in-each-other's-face photo. I know what they say, "that's how you will treat each other through the whole marriage." Whatever. My wife and I were very respectful during this ritual at our wedding. Some couples are like that, and some have a full on cake wrestling match. The messier they are the better the photos.

On a side note, I LOVED the design of this wedding cake. Very fresh and original. Nice choice.

Stein Erickson - Take III

2008-10-18T23:26:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick experiment using Lex and flowing water as a subject. This was commissioned by Stevo who wanted to see the water blur.

The topic, shutter speed.

If you know any of the basics of photography, you will understand how a camera shutter works. The photo on the right was shot at 1/15th of a second at f/22. The one on the right was 1/4000th of a second at f/2.8.

Stein Erickson - Take II

2008-10-18T23:25:00.001-07:00

More swimming from a safer, less watery position.

Stein Erickson - Take I

2008-10-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

We spent some time with some friends at the Stein Erickson Lodge in Park City. Luckily, it was beautiful weather and great for swimming, which seemed like all we did.

Field Trip to the Farm

2008-10-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

I took a field trip today with my daughter to a place in Logan called the American West Heritage Center, also known as the Jensen Farm. It's a living farm where they use mostly all the same type of equipment and techniques they did back around the year 1916. It was a bit of a wake up call thinking about how many things we take advantage of these days.

Before refrigerators, they used to cut ice out of a pond in the winter and store it deep in the ground in the summer to keep it from melting. Every week, like the milk man would do, an ice wagon would drive around and deliver chunks of ice you could use in the ice box. What a huge difference 100 years makes.

Of course, my favorite photo of this event wasn't anything from the farm but the ride up. There were several classes on the trip and this is one of the teachers, Mrs. Benson

Elementary School

2008-10-18T22:48:00.000-07:00

I don't remember much about my days as an elementary school student but I do remember that we always had the flag displayed for the Pledge of Allegiance. Well apparently, this classroom hasn't yet installed a flag pole/bracket. I thought it made an unusual photo.

Grandma's Toys

2008-10-18T22:45:00.000-07:00

My wife has really missed seeing an occasional post of one of the kids on this blog the last few weeks. This is an image that made me proud since one of the little guys seems to be into using a hammer. Maybe if I train him well, he can do the house repairs instead of me.

Logan Mascot

2008-10-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Logan mascot getting knuckles from a fan. This guy (grizzly bear) was voted Mascot of the Year this year. Nice work Grizz.

Logan Football

2008-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Finally another post. This is from the first football I've covered this year. It's Logan vs. Highland, Id.

From the Archives - Chariot Racing Story

2008-09-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

This is the team and the horse after a day at the races. To me, this seemed like a whole lot of work involving several people, just for a quick race which probably lasted less than a minute. However to them, this was something they prepare for all year. It was exciting to watch and be a part of this culture of cutter racing that seems to culminate here in Utah. The National Championships AND the World Championships are held here, although most of the teams are from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and other western states. I covered these races several times since this first story and will hopefully have the chance to follow another team someday.

From the Archives - Chariot Racing Story

2008-09-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

The quick minute or so of actual competition.

From the Archives - Chariot Racing Story

2008-09-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

This is the main caretaker who is responsible for the horses. I thought this was a nice moment between the two of them.

From the Archives - Chariot Racing Story

2008-09-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Here they are tapping the horses legs for protection.

From the Archives - Chariot Racing Story

2008-09-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Here are five images from my first attempt at a photo story. It's about this team of cutter horse racers who were preparing to compete at the races at the Davis County Fairgrounds. Enjoy.

From the Archives - Utah Jazz at Weber State

2008-09-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, the Utah Jazz would play at least one pre-season game at Weber State and the three photogs at the Signpost would usually fight over who got to shoot the game. In this case, I must have abused my photo editor's authority and assigned it to myself. I know, I know, that NEVER happens, and I felt terrible...but anyhooo, here is a photo from that game.

From the Archives - Tennis Courts

2008-09-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

This was for a story on a proposed plan to put a bubble over the outdoor tennis courts, or to enclose them in a permanent structure. Because of the unpredictable spring weather, it would give the tennis team a longer season to train, rather than practicing on nets on the hardwood floors of the gym. The tennis courts are still uncovered so apparently, the proposal didn't fly.

From the Archives - Lind Lecture

2008-09-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Weber State used to have this huge pendulum at the Lind Lecture Hall, a science building. Here is a 'wild art' of that pendulum.

From the Archives - More Basketball

2008-09-29T20:46:00.001-07:00

Here is another photo of basketball from earlier in the season.

From the Archives - Basketball

2008-09-29T20:30:00.001-07:00

Here is one of the first decent sports photos I can remember. This is the year that Weber State went to the NCAA tournament in Tallahassee where they defeated Michigan State and almost beat Georgetown. It was a last second alley-oop thrown by Allen Iverson to another Hoya which ended one of Weber's closest chances to reach the sweet 16. As I was watching this clip on YouTube, I realized how much of a rookie I really was. There was a ton of great images here that I didn't get. The best shot I can remember from this game was the bench as they watched Reuben Nemhard miss the 1 and 1 which would have given Weber the lead, and could have put them up by 2. It was my first time covering a huge game like that and I learned a ton from the experience but I would love to have a second shot at it.

From the Archives - Babies in College

2008-09-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Signpost was doing a story on students who chose to bring their children to school. I talked about challenges facing parents in college etc. This was an OK photo but I sure wish I had shown some faces.

From the Archives - Busses

2008-09-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

I am finding that the longer you go on a "Daily Blog" without posting, the fewer hits you get and the more daunting the task is to catch up. I have been extremely wrapped up in a personal project and haven't taken the time to find a photo a day. So, I am pulling from the archives.

The following posts are from the very first time I started archiving images digitally and come from my time at the Weber State Signpost. This first one was a 'wild art' of a ton of elementary kids visiting the school.