WSU Clock Tower

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

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)

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

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

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

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

Bonneville Seabase

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

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

Face Toy

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

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

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

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?

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

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!!

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

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??

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

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

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

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.