Crossing Shot - Thunderbirds at Luke AFB – 3/14/14

This is one of those moments where everything came together.  Some things happen so fast that to capture them there is a HUGE degree of luck involved. This is the result of one of those moments with a heavy dose of luck. 

I spent a Friday afternoon at Luke Air Force Base with coworkers. It was Friends and Family day. It’s also a day the Thunderbirds do a run through of their show before the official air show on Saturday and Sunday. 

I knew there would be an opportunity or two to capture a crossing shot during the show. I setup the camera the best I could to give me a fighting chance to capture this moment in time. I set aperture at f/8 for good sharpness and ISO at 1250 so I would get a fast shutter speed. The camera set it at 1/8000. 

The announcer pointed out the planes that were approaching from opposite ends of the runway. I picked the one on the left to pan with as they approached. That way I would at least have one plane in the picture and focused. I kept the camera on the first plane and watched out of the corner of my eye for the other one as it closed quickly. I fired off a shot that I thought was early and this was the result. Not too early this time! I could try for the rest of my life and never get one timed this good. These planes are moving along at a pretty good clip and are only together like this for a fraction of a second. 

The camera was good to me yesterday! 

This was one of my other attempts at this... as you can see I was a little late. 

"Senior Night"

Last night at Gilbert High School’s basketball game was Senior Night. It was a night to honor those playing their last regular season home game as a Gilbert Tiger. The Gilbert Student Section @GHSGoons @GilbertBball chose for their Theme: Senior Citizens, and here is what it looked like @GilbertHigh. 

High School fun...

Gilbert High School Cheerleaders

Made a quick GIF of a Gilbert Cheerleader during a timeout. This was lastnight's Gilbert vs Desert Vista basketball game. She makes it look easy. 

More cheer pictures here... http://www.azdewphoto.com

"Hole in the Rock" Phoenix AZ

My daughter Paige and I went for a drive Saturday morning. One of the places we stopped was “Hole in the Rock” at Papago Park in Phoenix Arizona. It’s a place that we used to take our five kids when they were younger. It’s a very easy hike for youngsters. They all have great memories of “exploring” these cool places. While we sat up on the rock, Paige commented how much bigger this little rock formation was 10 or 15 years ago. I'm sure it was much bigger when she was 4 years old. Perspective tends to change as we mature.

Here is a picture of "Hole in the Rock" taken from the base of the formation.

Below is a picture taken from inside the hole looking across the valley. The Phoenix Zoo parking lot is in the center of the picture and the Zoo is left of that. 

On a photography note, the original file for this picture is very large 24148x5259. It's compiled from a group of 10 or so images stitched together with Photoshop’s Photomerge feature. Its simple and easy to use and the final image is practically seamless with lots of detail. 

A better view of this image is on my flickr account. 

All in all it was a fun day with my daughter! 

Dobson Soccer Classic - Basha Girls Soccer 1-0 over Campo Verde Girls

This afternoon on the last day of the year, I went to the Championship game of the 2013 Dobson Soccer Classic. Basha High School's girls soccer team took home the trophy with a 1-0 victory over Campo Verde. 

Day games are much easier to photograph with the long lenses because you have decent light. Most high school fields are poorly lit. So at night you need at least f/2.8 to get a decent shutter speed. At day games I can put on the 2.0x extender and shoot f/7.1 or f/8 with fast shutter speeds. Anyway, here are some of the images from the game. 

You can see more images at http://www.azdewphoto.com/Sports/High-School/Soccer-/2013-2014-Girls-Soccer-Campo

You can see more images from this game at azdewphoto.com. 

Gilbert AZ – Crossroads Park - Color in Motion Fun Run 5K

Over the past couple of years I have noticed some great pictures of 5K color runs. “Races” where runners are more worried more about being covered in color then they are about running. Volunteers with huge supplies of brightly colored powder share color liberally with the runners as they pass by. It actually looks like being a volunteer would be as much fun as running in the race!

A few weeks ago I noticed there was 5K run and fund-raiser (I Love Lucy Project) put on by Color in Motion and scheduled for Gilbert, Arizona. When I clicked on the map I found it was going to be at Crossroads Park. That’s my neighborhood! I put a reminder on my phone (and it worked). When the reminder went off Saturday morning I stopped what I was doing (really important stuff) grabbed my camera and walked over to see what was happening.

I arrived as many of the participants were crossing the finish line. The organizers had a stage setup with music playing. I was a natural gathering location where more color packets were passed out to the crowd to do with as they please. It was a grand finale with energy and a good dose of color for everyone. They were all having a great time. It was pretty much head to toe color for the crowd. 
 
I managed to keep my distance and watched the wind direction enough to keep my camera fairly clean. Dust, even if it’s organic, safe, cool, bright, colors, is not a cameras friend.

I posted all my random pictures at www.azdewphoto.com and a few examples of the “fun” and color here.

These and many more pictures are posted at www.azdewphoto.com. 

Campo Verde at Mesquite Division II Football Playoff Game

Campo Verde @ Mesquite Division II football playoff game was quite a game to watch. Campo Verde battled back after being down 17-0 at halftime. The game was tied several times in the 4th quarter. After this picture was taken with 2:49 left in the game both teams would kick a field goal to tie the game again with the last one coming with 6 seconds left. The game went into overtime. Campo got the ball but Mesquite intercepted and scored on their allotted 4 plays from the 10 yard line to win the game. Exciting game! http://www.azdewphoto.com/Sports/High-School/Football/

Mesquite plays Chaparral in the semifinals on Friday. 

Pictures from the Campo Verde, Mesquite game are online at www.azdewphoto.com. 

Campo Verde High School's Girls Volleyball wins over Tucson - Going to State Championship Game

Campo Verde High School's Girls Volleyball wins against Tucson High School 3-0. Campo Verde will move on the the 2013 AIA Girls Volleyball Division II State Championship game against Sunnyslope High School On Nov 12th 2013.

There are many more pictures from the game at http://www.azdewphoto.com/Sports/High-School/Girls-Volleyball/Campo-Verde-Girls-Volleyball/2013-Campo-Verde-vs-Tucson