Anticipation - 2015 Gilbert American Little League

Youth Baseball - Gilbert Arizona

I was meeting with a client the other day and had a few minutes to kill. I noticed baseball games were being played at Crossroads Park (Gilbert, Arizona). I drove by and took a few pictures. 

The lighting was not ideal so I cranked the ISO to 10000 and shot these at f/2.8 at 1/1000 second. Later on at home I cropped, tinted, added a crosshatch filter, and boosted the contrast a little. I thought it captured little league baseball in many ways. This probably feels familiar to many of you no matter where you are living. 

Softball 2015 State Tournament - Desert Ridge vs Perry

Softball - Division I

I went to the first round State game at Perry High School. Perry just couldn't keep up with the bats of underdog Desert Ridge. A 11-0 win allows #19 Desert Ridge to move on to round two against #3 seed Xavier Prep in the 2015 AIA Division I Softball State Championship Tournament. 

I included a few pictures in this post. You can click HERE to see all the pictures from the game. 

You can click HERE to see all the pictures from the game. 

Thanks for stopping by. 
Dennis Webb (AzDew)
www.azdewphoto.com

Softball Pitchers Working It

Softball pitchers work hard! Here are two examples from recent games I've shot. Bailey Klitzke from Desert Ridge High School and Nicole Best from Scottsdale Community College. Amazing athletes! 

@GilbertHSTigers Softball Win 3-2 over Desert Ridge. http://t.co/8lRypUqjC6 #DesertRidgeSoftball #DesertRidge pic.twitter.com/ZPDGFY5cJK
— Dennis Webb (@AzDEW) April 14, 2015

@nicolethebest12 - Scottsdale wins twice vs MCC Saturday. Game pics at http://t.co/teDdAyztYI @ScottsdaleCC #gochokes pic.twitter.com/9Wpr0cJ1Bc
— Dennis Webb (@AzDEW) April 19, 2015

Phoenix Zoo - April 2015

I made a quick stop at the Phoenix Zoo today with a couple of my kids (I'm glad they still like to go). Beautiful 79 degree temperatures made it a great day to see the animals. Here are a few of our encounters. 

Basketball a Rough Sport...

High School Basketball can get rough even though it's sometimes called a "non-contact" sport. The fun part of shooting basketball is seeing those moments that happen so quick we don't always know it even happened. Here are a few moments from recent games around Gilbert, Arizona. 

Girls High School Soccer – 2014 Coyote Soccer Classic

Light Light Light

I recently shot the girls championship match of the 2014 Coyote SoccerClassic at Campo Verde High School. I chose attended the game because it was good teams (championship match), and it started at 4:00 with good light to shoot at higher shutter speeds. I was able to use my 70-200 f2.8 with a 1.4 extender for a little more reach. 

Typically High School soccer can be challenging because most games in the Phoenix Arizona area are played after dark. High school fields have challenging light at best and far from ideal. Tournaments generally have day games and therefore much better better light to shoot under.  

The Highland Hawks and Perry Puma girls provided great action as they battled it out for the trophy. Highland walked away with a 1-0 victory to win the Coyote Soccer Classic. Here is some of the action from that game. 

More pictures from this game can be found at www.azdewphoto.com. 

Scottsdale Volleyball - Slow Motion DSLR Video

I'm still experimenting with video from my DSLR. I like slow motion because I can see what is happening better in a fast sport like Volleyball. Anyway, here is a clip from the other night.

This video and more clips from the game are at http://www.azdewphoto.com/Sports/College/Scottsdale-Community-College-F/SCC-Volleyball-vs-CGCC

Dragonfly - Riparian Preserve - August 2014

A Dragonfly from the Riparian Preserve. I tried to ID this guy but couldn't find any examples of it on the web. So for now, it's just an Arizona dragonfly. 

It was getting dark and my ISO was set at 1250, aperture priority at f/7.1 and exposure bias was set +1.7 to adjust for the bright sky in the background. Exposure ended up being 1/1250 which helps for handholding at 400mm (Canon 70-200 and 2.0 Extender). With all that going on I managed to get this shot. 

After shooting Mr. Dragonfly about all that was left to see was the moon...

There was not much to take pictures of on this walk around the preserve. The good part is I managed to get a little exercise.