Finally....

I finally updated my sportsshooter page with some track photos. Go look at it.

Wedding Photo of the Week

I shot two weddings this weekend and after going through the edits I have to say this is my favorite image. The Bride and Groom leaving while the guests pelt them with some kind of lavender rocks or pellets or something along those lines. The look on thier faces is happy but painful, but the kid on the right is what makes this for me....he is about to, from point blank range, throw these rocks as hard as he can in the face of the happy couple...gotta love kids!

Good Luck Pops!

My Pops won a satellite tourney and won an entry into the first event of this years World Series of Poker...the Casino Employees No Limit Hold Em event. Good Luck Pops! Go get your self a bracelet and remember to wear a Mitchelldyer Photography shirt at the final table so I can get some pub :)!

Memorial Day

My brother posted a reminder of what memorial day is really all about. I have not personally known anyone KIA, but Kev has lost many friends in combat and I have covered many funerals for fallen Soldiers and Marines, please take a moment today to remember those who have died for our country....as copied from Kevin's blog:

As Memorial Day comes and goes this year I would like to remind everyone to take a moment and reflect and remember military men and women, past and present, who have fought for our great country to make it free and what it is today. Remember our great-grandparents who fought in WWI, our grandparents who fought in WWII and Korea, our fathers and uncles who fought in Vietnam and the Gulf War, and our brothers, dads, sisters, moms, and all family currently serving in Afgahnistan and Iraq, and all around the world. Remember the blood that was shed and the tears that were cried. Remember the flag draped coffins and the broken hearts. Remember that it was not in vain. Remember all the men and women who paid the ultimate price and gave their lives so you can live the way you do today. Do not ever forget. I know I won't.
R.I.P. my brothers

~Cpl Andrew D. "Schwagg" Brownfield USMC- KIA March 18, 2004 - Akron, OH

~LCpl Elias Torres III USMC- KIA April 9, 2004 - Veribest, TX

~LCpl Brian P. Kelly USMC - KIA July 16, 2004 - Klamath Falls, OR

You are not Forgotten
- Sgt Kevin M Mitchelldyer USMC

Kevin made one so I can too

Kevin made a little quiz, so I copied him. Take my quiz too. Although I feel like an idiot because I missed two questions on his....including one about the number of siblings we have....not sure how I missed that one.

More from today....

Maybe I was on some kind of moody wedding photo bender today, but the light was right and the moments presented themselves, so why not. This was shot while walking from the "getting ready" area to the ceremony.

May 29, 2005 Wedding

So yesterday I received my copy of the Nikon - Joe McNally "Speed of Light" DVD. While the film is mainly to showcase the many different uses of the Nikon SB-800 Speedlight, it is also very useful to see how a master such as McNally, one of my favorite photographers, works on location using nothing but speedlights. The guy is amazing and all the different things you can do with little lights is amazing too. Anyway, so I watched the DVD before going to todays weding and used some of what I learned to light a portrait of the bride. This is a 3 light setup (only I am using Canon 550EX's instead of Nikon's) and I think it turned out pretty cool looking.

Tears of Joy

A bridesmaid wipes away a tear as the Bride and Groom say thier vows. From last nights wedding....sappy yes.

Hair Day

This is Jordyn hanging out in the front yard this morning....her hair is getting out of control, but Jenn refuses to cut it. I may have to take this into my own hands.....

WPJA Winner

The results are in from the Wedding Photojournalists Association first quarter 2005 contest. I took ninth in the ceremony category with this entry. Not bad, not good, but not bad either in an international contest, only one other Oregon photographer (Juan Carlos Torres) won anything in the contest. See the rest of the winners and some really nice stuff at the WPJA website.

The Sprinkler

So when its 90 degrees out and your 3 years old, what is better than running through the sprinkler with a friend....This is Baylee playing with my neighbor boy Jackson, they were running through the sprinklers having a good ol time, then they started holding hands while running through them and I thought that was about as cute as can be.

Got a "W"

So after being rained out for two straight weeks, we finally got a game in last night. The Mitchelldyer Photography softball team rebounded from a crappy 9-2 first game loss where we couldn't hit to save our life and destroyed our opponent 24-5. Barce hit for the cycle, Doug had 2 triples and a home run and I was 3-4. Our defense was solid again too. DaMetz again made a sweet play at the plate, blocking the plate and taking a beating, he was all bloodied up. We had maybe only 1 or 2 errors. I think our team will not lose again.

One Step Closer.....

....to getting my Harley. Today I went with my pops to the Harley store to look at bikes. I think my bike of choice is now a Road King Custom. I like the big front end and the bike just looks damn cool. I say one step closer because while we were there today I bought a helmet. I need a helmet for the motorcycle safety course I am taking in a couple months to get my endorsement. It looks sweet too, a half shell with a skull and flames on it. Kevin would be proud. Anyway, soon enough I will have my bike and it will be sweet.

House Fire

So, I come home from shooting baseball yesterday and learn that my lovely wife, had lit a candle and had it on the counter next to a stack of mail, mother's day cards, etc...and that said pile of paper caught fire and was flaming all the way up the wall. Nice. I guess I can't leave her OR Jordyn home alone any more. Everything's fine, just a nice smoke smell for a while....

About Friggin Time

Kevin just updated his blog. About freaking time. There are about 5 new entries. Go read them.....start at April 27. Good stories from Marine boy....Kev, I'm a little worried, I'm seeing a theme here...does the government only pay you to get hamered every night or what?!?!??! Who is protecting our embassy?, certainly not you.......

State Track

Spent the weekend down in Eugene shooting State Track. I'll update my ss.com page soon, but here is one of my favs.....I was shooting Chelsea Russell of LaPine in the Pole Vault and was trying to get something different, so I tried panning and this shot worked out pretty good. I did not file it though because I had others of her that were more CYA (cover your ass) shots since she broke the state meet record and all and I did not think the paper would run this anyway........kind of wish I had filed it, but oh well.
This one:

Is from a remote camera I placed at ground level on the track to cover lanes 3-5 at the finish line so I could shoot some stuff away from the finish line, but still have a CYA from that angle This is from the 4x100 relay, Gresham upset Benson and I liked this shot best, from the remote anyway. I'll let you know when my Sports Shooter page is updated.

Poker at Chips

Played in a Poker tourney today at Chips Casino in LaCenter. 30 people, I took 3rd and won $240. Not bad for a $35 buy in. The best thing about it is that when the blinds were 100/200, I had only 200 chips left and was in the big blind. So I came back from a 200 all in to chip leader of the table in about 4 hands, to third place....I should have placed higher, but couldn't catch any cards in the final 3 and got blinded out.

Register-Guard

Here is how the Register-Guard played my golf photo today....now I'm really glad I sent a photo into them.

FOUR!

So I was supposed to go to Mt. St. Helens today, but because of the crappy weather, it got called off. No point in going to the Mountain to shoot photos of it if you cannot see it right? Anyway, so as luck would have it, I got a call from the Sports Editor at the paper in Medford needing a shooter to cover the state golf championships today. So I went out and shot some golf today. Golf is one of my favorite things to shoot, its quiet, peaceful, nice to get out and walk around, and nearly all the backgrounds are nice and clean.....above is my favorite shot of the day, this golfer had a tough time on #15, hitting his tee shot in to the rough behind a tree, so with one leg on the tree he attemots to shoot out of the rough, theball went about 2 feet, into more rough....finally after 3 tries he got it out of the rough and took a 10 on the par 4 hole. Ouch.

I was out to shoot Mike Barry of North Medford (above) for the Mail-Tribune He won by 1 shot but had no idea of the score and never jubed or anything, bummer...I also did some research on the event before going out and noticed that a team in Eugene was in the lead, so I made sure to shoot some Sheldon golfers and after they won, sent an iimage on spec to The Register-Guard....they are going to use it, so it just goes to show that doing some homework and a little extra work can pay off, and make clients happy that you go the extra mile to think of them.....next up state Track and Field in Eugene.

Portrait

Annie Neubrech, Director, Channel Programs, for Intermec poses in the company's Everett, Washington headquarters on May 16, 2005. She is surrounded by some of Intermec products, from left, PB42 bar code printer, CK61 mobile computer and a CK30 mobile computer.
This is a portrait I shot this morning in Seattle for CRN Magazine. I got a little tricky with the gels to make the shot look a little more interesting....

Wedding Photo of the Week

Every Bride should smash the cake into the Groom's face....notice the cake peices falling throught he air as he grabs her hand to prevent any further smashing. Good Stuff.

Ichiro is good!

In case you did not already know. Ichiro, is good. Damn good. I would say he is the best all around player in baseball. He can run, hit like a maniac, has a rifle for an arm and makes amazing play after amazing play. I shot the Mariners/Red Sox game today for US PRESSWIRE. Every good shot I had was of Ichiro. Stealing, running, hitting, you name it. This sequence was an example of Ichiro's amazing skills. He was on first and Randy Winn hit a double to right center, Ichiro goes from first to home, the throw came in a little bit up the first base line, so Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelle had to dive back to the plate to make the tag and block it. Ichiro was sliding feet first when he notcied his soon to be mis fortune, stopped his slide, popped up and leaped over Mirabelle, grabbing the plate with his hand. He was called out on the play, the umpire later said the tag was made on Ichiro's ankle before he touched the plate, but it was quite a site. He looked safe to me, but oh well. The wire liked the sequence a lot too and sent it to SI for consideration in the magazine. I hope so. That would be sweet. Earlier in the game, Ichiro made a nice running catch in fould territory reaching into the stands to get the ball:

Best player in baseball I tell you....anyway, the game was good, the Mariners won 5-4. They had the roof closed until the first pitch, then opened it up until the rain came back in the 3rd inning, so I got 3 innings of daylight basball...not too bad.

On the Road Again.....

The next week is going to be long and longer. Tomorrow I am shooting a wedding in Salem, Then Sunday its off to Seattle to cover the Mariners, then I'll stay overnight in Seattle and shoot a portrait for CRN Magazine Monday Morning. Tuesday its off to Mt. St. Helens for Getty for features on the Mt. to go along with stories on the 25th Anniversary of the 1980 eruption (which is Wed), Wednesday and Thursday I'll be home, then Friday and Saturday down to Eugene to cover the State Track and Field meet for various different newspapers. At least I should have lots of good stuff to post to this blog in the coming days. Stay tuned.........

Pamplin Media getting bigger

My former employer, Community Newspapers, has been a part of Pamplin Media for quite some time....Pamplin also owns the Portland Tribune....well just announced today, Pamplin Media is placing all of its entities under one roof, here in Milwaukie. Interesting stuff. I like the idea a lot. Every since the Tribune bought CNI i thought it would be a good idea for all the papers to be together and share staff, stories, etc. Now it looks as if that might finally happen. I hope so. With combined photo staffs, the papers could be much more effiecient with assignment coverage, work hours, assigning to photographers strenghts, etc...(example some shoot sports better than others, some are much beter at features, etc). This is a good thing and I wish all of my former collegues well in this exciting time.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! Today my Mom is 46! Damn Mom, your getting up there! Here is a photo for you of your 2 grandkids and your granddog. Love Ya!

8 Months!

Jordyn is about to be 8 months old. Damn. she is getting old. It seems like it has gone by way too fast.

Beach Trip

last weekend we packed everything up and went to the beach for a couple days. It was a blast. A much needed vacation. We stayed at a cool little hotel right on the beach and of course Lexi had a blast.

It was Jordyn's first time to the beach and she had fun too. Even ate some sand.

. Our hotel room window looked right out onto the beach and you could see people outside having a blast and it was funny because lexi kept jumping up on the window to see outside.

On Sunday Jenn and Jordyn went shopping at the outlet mall and I went to the Casino to play Poker. I actually came back with $40 more than I went in with. Can't wait for our next trip.

Great Play

This was one of the best plays I have ever seen a pitcher make. The ball was hit up the first base side, he ran off the mound and grabbed the ball in front of the firstbaseman, then raced to the bag and dove head first to get to the base before the runner could. It was really something to see. His name is Clay Hensley, a pitcher for the Beavers....he made 3 other good defensive plays tonight too. I can see him winning a gold glove in the bigs one day.