Craig Mitchelldyer's Blog

Portland Oregon Editorial Photographer

2007-05-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Portland Oregon Freelance Editorial Photographer Craig Mitchelldyer. Visit the New Blog!

MOVED!!!

2006-11-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

This blog has moved! I now have a new and improved blog located at http://blog.craigmitchelldyer.com

Please update your bookmark and let me know what you think of the new blog!

State Cross Country

2006-11-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday shooting the Oregon State High school Cross Country Championships. I shot it for 8 different newspapers around the state, including Klamath Falls, Bend, Ashland, the Oregonian, and a few weeklies. Overall, I filed 56 different photos to every corner of Oregon. Basically I was my own wire service for the day. I've updated my sports shooter page with some of my favs.

Donors

2006-11-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

This is a portrait I shot today for the Boston College Alumi Magazine. These two are donors/alums who own a vineyard in Dundee.

Cover 10/28

2006-11-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

Proofbook cover from last Saturday's wedding.

More Biz Portraits

2006-10-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

Another Day, Another Biz Portrait.

Soccer

2006-10-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

If there is one good thing about the sun setting at 5pm, its that the light at 4:30 is awesome. I shot this team photo as a feature for the Clackamas Review. I pretty much just let them line up however the wanted in the goal, a couple of them wanted to climb on it.....so, so I said, ok whatever the trees make for a nice background.

Banker Portraits

2006-10-30T18:11:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of Portraits I shot today at the headquarters of Umpqua Bank.

Fog + wedding = Nice Photos

2006-10-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wedding bright and early this morning. 9am to be exact. The fog was still ingering around, but the fog, combined with the falls leaves made for some really nice portraits!

Large Battery

2006-10-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today I shot a large battery. It is in a data center downtown and will be used for the companies website. It's funny some of the things I am hired to shoot sometimes. But this was fun and the client loved it, which is what is the most important thing.

Something New!

2006-10-22T01:55:00.000-07:00

This may not be all that interesting to non photographers out there, heck it may not be interesting to regular photographers, but I have added some major new functionality to my website. Thanks to PhotoShelter, I have integrated new galleries into my site and you can now purchase reprints using a credit card directly from www.craigmitchelldyer.com. The galleries also have a much cleaner look and feel and match my site much better than the old versions. The whole thing is seamless and even though the galleries are actually hosted on PhotoShelter, you can never even tell that you leave my site. It looks so slick! I love it! Look for more changes coming in the next few weeks. I will be adding new images to my portfolio pages and this blog will be moving to my main site as well, fully integrated with larger photos and easier navigation.

Ride with Pops

2006-10-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

So my brother is on his way to Russia now, but it was a nice 2 weeks while he was home. I don't think my brother and my pops and I have been in the same state/country at the same time in like 3 years, so we took full advantage and went for a nice long all day ride just the three of us. It was fun! Have fun in the motherland Kev! See ya in a year.

Wedding 10/7

2006-10-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Cover from the wedding I shot last weekend. I think the groom was my twin. His name was Craig, he was a big guy like me and his sense of humor and personality was a lot like me as well. Made for a fun time.....at the end of the night, he would not let me leave until I took a shot with him.....so....tequila it was! Congrats Craig and Sharol!

Fun with Fire

2006-10-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

I shot a photo a couple years ago of a pitcher holding a flaming baseball. Its hanging up in the studio and every senior who comes in comments on it. Once a year someone will want me to do something similar. This guy thought it was cool too and had his water polo ball with him, so I said, hey we can light that ball on fire too if you want....he was stoked. It was fun. Here's the frame.

I think this is cool

2006-10-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

I couple weeks ago I wrote about a cool photo I shot. Well, I can't tell you what it is or who I shot it for, but I am now allowed to have it in my portfolio, so here it is....Spent two days in the studio shooting this. It was very fun.

Other Side

2006-10-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is for the same story on Measure 48. This is the President of a college in Eugene. She is not publicly for or against the measure, but does say that it will effect the way small colleges like hers will be able to spend money.....

That time of year

2006-10-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is a portrait I shot today for a story about a ballot measure in Oregon this November. He co-authored it. Election time is fun, I tend to shoot a lot of ballot measure/campaign/election types of assignments.

Wedding 9/16

2006-09-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

I have not had a wedding to shoot in the last two weeks. Been a nice little break after shooting 10 or 11 a month the last 3 months! Here is the cover photos from the Rob and Holly's wedding on 9/16 at Gray Gables right here in Milwaukie.

Cool Surprise

2006-09-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last night was my birthday. The HOG (Harley Owners Group) was having a chapter dinner ride. Basically, 50 bikes all make a nice little ride out in the country and then end at a restaurant and eat. Its fun riding with lots of bikes....anyway, My brother, who has been in El Salvador for the last year, is being transferred to Russia now and was supposed to come home Saturday sometime and will be home for a couple weeks before being shipped to the Motherland....well, so i thought. Jenn and my Mom and Kevin all planned this cool little surprise on me. As the group was pulling up to a light, Kev pulls up right next to me on a bike! I was so surprised. Very cool. So he joined the ride and it was a sweet. Then we went on another long ride this morning before watching the Ducks destroy Arizona State. It's nice to have my baby bro back in town for a while. Welcome home Kev.

Sucks

2006-09-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

I shot some really cool photos the other day...but it sucks because I cannot show you the photos on my blog or tell you who I shot them for. It really sucks. But just know this...I shot some really cool photos for a really cool place last week.

2 Under 2

2006-09-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Been real busy the last couple weeks shooting in the studio. Lots and lots of kids....This is My Brother's friend Pat's wife and kids. The kids are 14 months and 3 months old. The kids are cute, the parents are crazy! I like this shot because it shows the chaos that they go through everyday with having 2 kids under 2! Yikes!

My Girls

2006-09-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

My two cute little neices and my daughter.

2

2006-09-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Wow. yesterday Jordyn turned two years old. Its really amazing to think that just two years ago, she was not even around, and now I cannot imagine life without her. What the heck did we used to do? I have no idea, but I do know that even when you have a long day, or a bad day or your grumpy, or something is bugging you....to her, your the best thing out there....those big eyes and a "Daddy" and nothing else even matters. Everyone always says "enjoy them while their young, they grow so fast" I never really took that seriously, until now, I look and BOOM, she's two. Where the heck did time go? I'll post a photo of her later...she's been helping me with a product shoot today so I have not shot a 2 year old photo of her yet...oops.

Wedding....sort of.

2006-09-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

So I got a call a couple weeks ago from somebody asking if I could shoot portraits of them at Skamania Lodge....no problem....well, come to find out, they got married at the courthouse and just wanted a few nice portraits of themselves to send to friends and family...so, we spent an hour walking around the lodge...here is one of my favs...but what made it even more fun, was that the "groomsmen" came along too:

I think I've got a problem brewing.....

2006-09-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

My neighbor brought her son into the studio the other day....Jordyn, who is never shy from the camera wanted me to take a photo with her and her little boyfriend, so I sat them next to each other....when she leans over to kiss him, he gives me a priceless look. I love this photo, but worry my little girl may be a bit too aggressive when it comes to the boys. :) I think I'll have to lock her up soon :).

09/09

2006-09-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Once again at the Resort at the Mountain in Welches. Congrats Kevin and Megan!

Friday Night Football

2006-09-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Summer is officially over. Football season is here! Yeah! This a shot of the Gladstone QB from last night. He ran for 212 yards, but never passed, or at least it seemed like he ran every play....check out the story here.

Timbers vs Atlanta

2006-09-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I've shot any sports, so when the Timbers called and wanted me to shoot the final game of the season, I was glad to.

Sunday's Wedding

2006-09-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

The Resort at the Mountain in Welches. Great spot. Oddly enough I will be shooting there again on Saturday. The brides Dad plays in a bagpipe band so they played the reception and it was pretty cool. My dumb car would not start afterwords though....lucky for me, it just needed a jump, but would not start again after turning it off....turns out it just needed a new battery......got a new battery and now I'm good to go.

Jordyn - Super Assistant II

2006-09-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

Jordyn went with me on a couple of engagement shoots last week. Here is a shot we took while waiting at a park....here she is at the Rose Garden

What I've been waiting for

2006-09-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today I got to do something I have been wanting to do more than anything else since I bought my Harley. I went on a ride with my Pops. Since he lives in Vegas...and his bike was stolen....we have not had the chance to ride together. But today I rented him a bike for his Birthday present and off we went. 5 hours, 150 miles and a few rounds of poker later (we may have made a small rest stop at the casino in La Center) we returned. It was awesome. Something I have been wanting to do for so long. I wish I could ride with Pops everyday! Thanks Pops! See you in Vegas in a few weeks.

Thanks Karl!

2006-08-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Karl Maasdam is the man! After visiting with him last night I had a whole new look on shooting seniors. His photos are fantastic and when he told me he shoots them in the alleys and buildings under construction around his studio I was amazed. It made me look at the areas right around my own studio with a completely different eye and I discovered some great places to shoot right in my own backyard, places I drive by everyday, but never give a second glance. This wall is right across the street from my front door, but I never even though of using it as a backdrop until last night. I have some railroad tracks that the trains go by every 20 minutes, but never thought of shooting on them, a brick building with great light behind me, the list go on and on....Karl, you are the man! Sometimes seeing how other people see things helps so much in seeing things yourself.

Sunday

2006-08-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

4 of 4! Just finished Day 4 in a row.....I thought I would be dead after this week, but besides needing a bit more sleep, it was not bad at all, in fact, it was fun!

Saturday

2006-08-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

3 of 4! Lake Cliff B&B Hood River, OR. Great Venue. Drew and Christine were a blast and the wedding was totally fun.

WPJA Winner

2006-08-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Photojournalist Association announced the winners of the summer contest. This image placed 10th in the "Bloopers" category. I shot this back in June, the entire sequence is pretty good, even if it looks bad. No brides were hurt in the making of this photo, and she didn't even spill her drink on the way down, which was very impressive!

Friday

2006-08-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

Today's lesson: Wedding+Sunset+Beach=Great Photos. How could you NOT love a wedding with that takes place on the beach at sunset, with no shoes? I sure had some fun Friday night.

Thursday

2006-08-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Cover from Thursday's wedding. Since I am shooting 4 weddings this week, I am trying to finish the edit of one before shooting the next...so basically, when I got done last night I began the edit process, at 2am I went home and slept until Jordyn woke up (8:00am) then we came to the studio to finish up and I just got done at 3pm....now I am leaving to Cannon Beach for tonight's big shin dig! Yesterday's wedding was a blast. Once again it was at Garden Vineyards, which is now on my top 5 places to shoot a wedding at. The light is great the venue is great, etc, etc, etc. Jen and Sebastian live in Morocco and had their wedding here in Portland....of the 75 or so people there, only 8 actually lived in Portland, all the others flew in from London, Spain, Chile, Colorado, Canada, etc. It was cool to meet all these different people from all around the world who all had one thing in common....this couple....I had a lot of fun, congrats guys!

Another Weekend...Another 2 Weddings

2006-08-25T00:09:00.000-07:00

August is busy. Crazy Busy. I shot two weddings once again last week, here are the covers. Another couple of great weddings. Sunday's was at Garden Vineyards, a place I had never been to...great place...Saturday they had cupcakes instead of a cake and there was some sweet light hitting them so I spent a while shooting them and got some images I really like...shocking...the fat kid likes pictures of the cup cakes...I know, I know....I'd write more, but its midnight and I just got finished shooting another wedding and I am now editing it. This week I have weddings Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I think I may be dead come Monday. Stay tuned.....

Fun to be an assistant once and a while....

2006-08-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

Today I assisted Darren Carroll on a shoot for Sports Illustrated. Its fun to not have to actually shoot and to just help out, set stuff up, carry equipment around and watch another photographer, another really, really good photographer in this case, work. You always learn something new. or in the case of today, something old. We shot on old 4x5 cameras with Type 55 Film. Fun stuff. It's been forever (at least 4 or 5 years) since I've even looked at a roll of film and I've never shot with the 4x5's before, so it was great. Check out SI in a few weeks to see the results.

2 Weddings, 2 Days

2006-08-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I shot 2 really fun weddings. The first was at the Tiffany Center, and was originally supposed to be in March, but because of Hurricane Katrina (the Bride, Groom and all of the Grooms Family live in the New Orleans area) it was rescheduled for last weekend. It was a blast, great people, great fun, and oh yeah, the Bride has a twin sister, the Groom has a twin sister, and the mother of the Bride has a twin sister! Good times!

Then on Sunday I shot a much smaller wedding with Jay and Stacey. Jay is a character and we had a blast. The ceremony was at the art mueseum and then we rode the MAX light rail down to Kel's Irish Pub for the reception. riding the MAX with a newlywed couple sure made for some fun pictures!

Softball World Series

2006-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

All week long I have been shooting the Little League Softball World Series for the Kalamazoo Gazettte in Michigan....the team I am shooting is really, really good. They have not given up a run all week and yesterday threw a perfect game. Makes for boring photos, but great games. Tonight's game the light was awesome. Tomrrow night I'm shooting the title game and the light should be great again, I just hope the action is good too. There was a collision in the outfield tonight though:

Here is today's front page in Kalamazoo:

Holy Blog Update Batman!

2006-08-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

My Little Brother actually updated his blog! Go Read about his adventures.....you know , That Marine sure has it rough......ok maybe not, he has got to have the easiest job in the Corps, what a life he lives. Lets see, he was stationed in Germany, travels all over Europe, then he gets sent to El Salvador, travels all over Central America, next up Russia....I can only assume he wont be working much there either....Hey Kev, when do you actually work?...oh right, its classified. See ya in Russia, I swear I'm going to get over there this time.

Chair Dance

2006-08-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is something I'd never seen before. I've never shot a Jewish Wedding before and it was cool to see all the traditions, etc. I shot this Sunday, this wedding was fun, they had a 30 piece Brazilian marching band come into the reception and they played for 30 minutes straight, it was very cool.

One heck of a tantrum

2006-08-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Being the father of a 2 year old, I have seen my fair share of good tantrums! But this little ring bearer threw a really good one during the ceremony on Saturday.

One Tank One Trip

2006-08-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Shot a peice for the Seattle PI travel section Thursday. They are doing a series of articles called "One Tank, One Trip" places you can visit from Seattle for just the cost of a tank of gas.....this is at the Portland Japanese Gardens. What a cool place. I must admit as far as landscape and travel photographers go, I suck, bad. The peice comes out in the next week I beleive and from what I am told will have a bunch of photos from this assignment. I also went on a walking tour of Old Town China Town.

7/29

2006-07-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

I shot a great wedding at David Hill Winery today. The couple was cool, the wedding was fun and as a bonus, it was only like 72 and breezy instead of 110 and humid like last weekend! This was the first time I've shot out there, great place, can't wait to go back. The clouds were out all day, the sun broke out during the ceremony for a minute or two and then right before dinner, which is when I shot this. I told them that if the sun came out we would have to run down to the vineyard real quick for some nice photos, and when it did, he picked up his bride and went down the hill, I snapped this and was a happy camper....

Flashbacks

2006-07-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

I shot this shot for a Theatre Company who is putting on a show next month called "flashbacks" a show about a group of musicians, one from each decade (50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's). This photo will be used in promo materials and in the program.

Take my Picture!

2006-07-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Jordyn is in the studio and brings and camera to me, then points to herself, saying "daaddy" as if to say, "Daddy take my picture"..so who am I to say no.

Almost 2!

2006-07-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is Jordyn at the park the other day.

Back to Blogging

2006-07-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm back to blogging! After having the blog offline for nearly a month, I never realized how many people actually read this thing, so, I guess you could say back by popular demand....and yes, I'll continue posting shots of Jordyn. Apparently a lot of people like to see her photos too.

This is a photo I shot last week.

Dancing in the good light

2006-07-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is from the wedding I shot last night. Some nice light was peeking through the trees while they were dancing, I just had to wait for her to dance into it. Glad she did.

Been a While.....

2006-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've updated. Sorry about that. Things got a little crazy around here all of a sudden. I shot two weddings last weekend (the first one is above), then between shooting a few corporate jobs and assisting Tim Park on an all day long commercial shoot, then having my car break down to the tune of $1500 (and a week and a half in the shop) it's been crazy! So, update for the week: Our softball team sucks now. We got hammered last night. we are now 4-3-1 with 2 games left. The most exciting thing to happen in a while happened Friday at the above wedding.....I was shooting the father/daughter dance and looked at my Alien Bee light in the back of the room and it had caught fire and was smoking! YIKES! I ran over and made sure my assistant was getting it the heck out of there and she did, I continued to shoot the dance, then put up another light and no one, no guests, vendors or most important of all, the bride and groom even noticed....gave me quite a scare though. The next post may be delayed also and now we are going to take a week off to go to the beach for the 4th. See Ya!

Where are they now

2006-06-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

I shot this portrait yesterday for the Seattle PI. They are doing a series of "Where are they now" stories. This guy won 21 games for the Seattle Rainiers in 1952, and before that, threw a perfect game for the Salem A ball club. I love baseball, and I wish I could hang out with Vern here all day and talk baseball, he had some great stories and he even taught me how to throw a slider.

AJ's wedding

2006-06-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

My best friend Aaron got married in San Jose over the weekend. It was a great wedding. Megan is perfect for him and its great to see him so happy. I did not shoot it, I was a groomsmen, but I did shoot a few photos here and there in our downtime. This was shot during the photos that there hired photographers were shooting. Of course they missed this moment, which I think shows both their personalities so well :). It's always fun to see how other photographers work. These guys made to realize everything NOT to do at a wedding. They were horrible. On camera flash for everything, tripping all over themselves, seemed to have no idea or organization of what the heck was going on, and got in the way of everything. They actually went on stage during the ceremony! They also stood, then sat, then stood in the FRONT ROW! it was horrible. Then they ordered drinks at the reception, and shot horrible on camera flash photos all night long. I wish I would have shot this so they would have some good photos....here are a few I did shoot. I didn't shoot the reception though...I may have had too much to drink :).

Aaron played football at UO, so Todd, another groomsmen, made this sign for Aaron to tap on the way out the door to the altar.

Aaron and Megan walking up the aisle after the ceremony (good job on the photo Jenn!)

I took this photo after the "real" photographers were done:

AJ crying his eyes out when seeing Megan in her dress for the first time.

I look good in a tux I must say (I think my wife even shot better photos than the hired hands)

Google Builds

2006-06-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Spent the day in The Dalles shooting a feature on the town and new Google Data centers that are being built. Google is hush hush about it, but this will be one of their main data centers...in little old The Dalles. I got there at sunrise and shot some nice photos of the buildings from a bluff, the shot some photos around town, then searched for features all day long, then got in a plane and took some aerial shots, which is always fun. Googles buildings are the two huge white buildings in the bottom of the frame, and the city of The Dalles is behind them. Here is a story about it from the NYT.

4-2

2006-06-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

We lost by 8. We sucked. That's all I've got to say.

Testimonial

2006-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

This shot is for a catalog that sells office supplies, time cards, etc. She is giving a testimonial about how great the time tickets are for her company, Fred's RV World in Sandy.

Vegas

2006-06-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Spent the last 3 days in Vegas for my buddy Aaron's bachelor party. I went in on Thursday night, a day before all the rest of the guys got there so I could hang out with my Dad. We pulled an all nighter at the Poker room at the Wynn. We got there like midnight and the next thing I knew, we had played poker all night long and it was 11am. It was fun! Then we got a nice free breakfast buffet, Pops went home to sleep and I went to the Hard Rock to meet up with Tiffany Brown, the Las Vegas Sun's newest photographer, who used to be in Corvallis. We had a great time talking shop, getting some food and then we took a nice little self guided tour around the sweet sweet hard rock pool. Man, that thing is awesome. I mean, there are blackjack tables IN THE POOL. I don't thinnk it gets any better than that. Here is a photo Tiffany shot at the pool. I can' wait to go back to that place. After that I went and checked into our Suite at the Venetian and crashed for a few hours before all my buddy's got there. Then we got some food, gambled a bit more and then Mike and I pulled another all nighter playing poker at the Venetian. Started around 3am and next thing we knew, it was 11:30am. Needless to say, I slept 5 hours since Thursday and I was a little tired when I got home at 3:30 this morning after my flight was delayed going back to Portland. Viva Las Vegas!

4-1

2006-06-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Another solid game. The Mitchelldyer Photography softball team is now 4-1. We have won 4 in a row and it doesn't look like we can be stopped! Our defense is so good its silly. We do not give up any unearned runs. I have not hit for crap the last two games though, going 2-9.....garbage. I'm going to drop myself in the batting order. Next game, Next Wed!

Wedding 6/3/06

2006-06-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is the cover from the wedding I shot Saturday. It was a fun one. The bride is from the Netherlands, so all of her family and lot of her friends flew out for the big shin dig. Her brother is a musician over there and he played the reception and ROCKED! He was so good, I did not want to leave! The weather held up and I had a great time. It's so fun when shooting a wedding and the bride/groom/guests feel like personal friends! Congrats guys!

My Poor Dog

2006-06-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

My dog Lexi was playing at the park yesterday and stepped on something that ripped her middle toe nail right off her hind paw. It was bleeding all over the place, so we had to take her to a 24 hour animal hospital to get it fixed. They had to put her out and remove the toe nail. Ouch. Poor thing. Then, to make matters worse, she also had a bit of a skin infection on her rear end from an allergic reaction to something, so they shaved her butt and cut out the infection. Now she has a cast on her hind foot and a shaved ass. She looks like hell. Limping aorund on three legs, doped up on pain killers with no hair on her butt. I feel so bad for her. It's tough to see her like this. Hopefully she will be better real quick.

3-1

2006-05-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight we knocked off the last unbeaten team in the league and now are in first place with a 3-1 record. I thought we'd get rained out, but the weather held off and we played great. What was even better is that my Dad is in town from Vegas and he played with us too, and pretty good I might add, he had a really nice catch in the outfield and managed to get his old behind around the bases a few times too. I wish he lived here still so he could play with us every week. Nice job Pops!

Jordyn - Super Assistant

2006-05-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

Jordyn came along to PGE Park with me this morning to try out for the team while I shot mugs of some new players.

After she was told she is too short to play soccer professionally, she went with plan b, which was to assist her dad.

She made an excellent stand in, much better looking than any of the Timbers players! It's crazy, but this post was just 1 year ago...she could only crawl around, my how time flies!

3A Baseball Semi Final

2006-05-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

Shot Marist vs Sherwood 3A baseball semi final today for the Register-Guard in Eugene. Good game. Marist was up 1-0 in the 6th when an error with 2 outs allowed 2 runs to score. Sherwood held on to win, as Marist had the tying run in scoring position, but they struck out to end the game. The second picture above, was theone and only run scored until the 6th and would have been a great photo of the play of the game....but that sure changed quickly.

State Track

2006-05-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

Spent Friday and Saturday in Eugene covering the State Track and Field meet. Its always my favorite event of the year. Hayward Field in Eugene is a great venue. I shoot it for 4-5 different papers around the state. It was sunny and showers on friday and Saturday we just got drenched, but it was still fun. The top photo was the last event of the meet, the 4x400 relay. Henley (left) and Marist were tield going into the event, with the winner winning the team event as well. It was a dramatic finish as Henley's runner dives across the finish line, but it was not enough and Marist wins...I'm so pissed at myself for screwing up this shot. I shot it horizontal and too tight, cutting off her hands. I'm such an idiot. Oh well. Next time I will know to shoot it lose or better yet vertical. You live you learn. the paper in Klamath Falls ran it as the lead though, so that is good. I put more photos from the event on my sports shooter page, click on the link above or to the right.

1st Dance

2006-05-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

2 images I really like from yesterday's wedding both came during the first dance.

Tennis

2006-05-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Shot this today at the 4A girls state tennis tournament. It is really hard to shoot tennis. Sure, its easy to get a publishable photo, but its hard to get a great photo. I think this is an ok photo. The light and background are nice, but the action is not the best and I shot it a bit too tight (cutting off her fingers).

2-1

2006-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our softball team won a close one 11-10 last night. I would never have thought we could win a close game, seems we always give up a run or two every inning, but we held them scoreless for the last 2 innings and came away with the victory. Our team is starting to look pretty good, we have a solid defense and our hitting is not too shabby either.

Jordyn on the Beach

2006-05-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach for a few days over Mother's Day weekend. This is Jordyn having fun in the sand.

Election Night

2006-05-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Dan Saltzman celebrates his victory in the City Council race with his sister Julie Leuvrey (right) and mother, Marjorie Saltzman (left) at Billy Reeds in NE Portland on Tuesday May 16, 2006.

Last night was election night. I was sent to cover incumbant city counsler Dan Saltzman for the Portland Tribune. I love to cover politics, even though the photos on election nights are not always great. Lots of media and people all surrounding one guy who is trying to stare at a TV. At 8pm sharp, right when the polls closed, he was declared a winner, he smiled a bit, his mom and sister were happy and the party was over.....

So long Freddy

2006-05-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

I shot this photo Beavers centerfielder Freddy Guzman ready for action as Pitcher MIke Thompson throws a pitch in the game Tuesday night. I was mostly just playing around with the little tiny bit of light left on the field and it turned out pretty good. It was going to be used somewhere in a program or online or somewhere for a feature about Freddy.....but the Padres traded him to Texas yesterday, so now it will only be published here. Guzman was one of my favorite guys too. Nice guy, and a good player. He had 269 stolen bases with the Beavers and it was always nice to know he was going to steal whenever he got on. He played a bit at the end of the 2004 season for the Padres and I'm pretty sure he will be in Texas' lineup before the end of the season.

Prep Softball

2006-05-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Shot a prep softball game today. I've shot at this field a few times now and keep waiting for the right play/moment and light to shoot from the high angle I found. This is not bad, but I will keep trying until I get all the elements together for a really nice photo!

1-1

2006-05-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

Softball game today. We won 15-3 and are now 1-1. Our defense was solid. I was 3-4, in fact, most of our lineup was 3-4 or better.

Wedding 05.06.06

2006-05-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Funny little moment at a wedding I shot last weekend. They were walking to the car, she was holding up her dress to not get it dirty....I almost missed this, glad I was paying attention :)

Timbers Opener

2006-05-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Shot the home opener for the Portland Timbers last night.

0-1

2006-05-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

We lost. 18-14. We gaveup 12 runs with 2 outs in the top of the 5th. Get rid of just half those of we win. The team we played finished 9-1 last year and we played great defense until the 5th. LE injured himslef on the first play of the game, I hope its not too bad.....Chip had a frozen rope put out throw from center field to me at third and our offense looked decent....next game, next Wed. Stay tuned.

Leftovers

2006-05-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Couple more images from Monday....

On a side note....tonight is the opening night for the Mitchelldyer Photography Softball team. We picked up free agent LE Baskow from the Portland Tribune, who claims to have game. I will let you know how we do.

Leaving Lake Tahoe....

2006-05-02T19:14:00.000-07:00

Today was my final day of shooting here in Tahoe. I'm tired from working a couple of 14 hour days back to back and ready to be home to my wife and kid (who has been sick since I left and I feel so bad for her......). This frame was by accident. I overheard a couple of kids saying they were going to go play volleyball and thought it would make a nice photo to go with the rest of the package, so I went too. Man, they have it rough. Snowboard in the AM, beach volleyball in the PM, Tahoe is such a cool place.

And yes, this photo is not that great...turns out beaqch volleyball is not something students in Tahoe excel at!

Lake Tahoe

2006-05-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

I am currently in Lake Tahoe doing a PR shoot for a college here in Incline Village on the north side of the lake. It is really nice here. My job is basically to drive around and take nice photos of the lake and students enjoying the lake, the buildings at the school, etc.

More shots from this evening....

Kids at the school enjoing the sun:

Pocket PhoJo

2006-04-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

I have been demo'ing software for my pocket PC called PhoJo. It has got to be the best thing since sliced bread. I no longer need to bring a heavy bulky pain in neck to use while shooting laptop to any event where I file on deadline. The way it works is this:

1) shoot photos
2) put CF card into palm PC
3) load thumbnails, which even if there are 400 images on your CF card, they load in about 5 seconds
4) you can crop, caption, adjust levels, etc all in the software and it takes just a few clicks
5) transmit. You can use either the built in WiFi of the pocket PC or, the best part, if you are not around WiFi, you can use bluetooth to connect the PDA to your cell phone and send images either by e-mail or FTP that way. That was the best option for me...with bluetooth, the phone never has to come out of my pocket to get online!

I used this at a baseball game yesterday and it literally took just the middle of an inning to edit, crop and transmit 4 photos from my shooting position in the dugout. I never even had to put my cameras down!

4/22 Wedding

2006-04-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots from a the wedding I shot last weekend.....the church was really cool.

Beavers Game

2006-04-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rough day......ok maybe not. I had to shoot a Beavers afternoon game, in the nice 70 degree weather with good light and some great action. I was focusing mainly on getting shots for baseball cards for the team and when there was a play at the plate in the first inning, I knew I was going to have a fun day.

Long day.....

2006-04-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day. it started with a shoot for the Portland Timbers soccer team. I went down to the park at 9:30am to setup for mugs shots for the media guide and program, then shot random "action" shots of new players as they practiced, then when practice was over shot the mugs and a few portraits that will be used for the program and media guide covers. This was my favorite shot. Yes, it looks like all the other low to the ground using the sky as a background shots I have done for PGE park in the past, but they want to stick with that "theme" and I think they look pretty cool. The park sucks for anything else to use as a background too, but I'm going to try some new angles on other portraits later this season to make them not look so "the same". This is Michael Nsien, he played in the MLS last year and from what I hear will be a great player for the Timbers this season.

After PGE Park, I had enough time to go to my office, check e-mail and then go home for 5 minutes to say hi to Jenn and Jordyn, then I headed over to Putnam high school to shoot a feature on the 2 sets of twins that compete on the team. Here is a portrait of the 4 of them:

I also shot some action, all 4 of them compete in the high jump and long jump, how's that for confusing when trying to get ID's! The high jump pit was in a perfect spot though, behind it was a grass hill that make the background perfect and the late afternoon light made it a fun event to shoot!

Shoot from today

2006-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

This are a couple frames from a shoot I did in the studio today. This little guy has an agent and everything and I shot these photos so that talent scouts can find him.

Portrait

2006-04-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Shot this portrait this morning for a magazine in Germany call Focus. I guess they are like the German version of Newsweek...anyway this lady has a new internet company that uses maps to connect people. This is shot in her office.

Back from Vegas

2006-04-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

We just returned from the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Convention and Trade Show in Vegas. It was pretty good. The trade show was huge and took 2 days to see all of it....but the best part was Vegas, of course. Man I love that place. Yesterday morning I played in a $60 buy in poker tournament, won it, and got $1250! Then we went to the palms, and won $200 in blackjack then later on I shot some craps and won another $100. al in all the trip got paid for and we profited a bunch and had a nice dinner and Jenn got to do some shopping :).

Opening Day

2006-04-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

Opening Day! Baseball season is finally here. This post is a bit late, but last week was the opener for the Beavers. I probably will not shoot as many games as I have in the past, but I will enjoy everyday I do spend at the Park.

Saturday Wedding

2006-04-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

Couple of images I like from Saturday's wedding....

I like how this little girl fell asleep and everyone just kept on dancing.

Actual Work

2006-04-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ok, so I did some real work today too. I shot a prep softball game for the Clackamas Review. I saw a sweet spot in the football stands that was almost directly over second base. I was pouring rain and I could see a break in the clouds and kept hoping for the sun to pop through so I could have some sweet light, maybe a rainbow, etc. but all it did was pour. I did shoot this shot of a fly ball to first.

I also shot an adorable little girl in the studio today. For this shot, I was shooting with the lights and then thought it would look cool with a real shallow Depth of Field, so I opened up to 1.8 and just used the modeling lights.

More Zoe

2006-04-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

What? You don't take a 300 2.8 into the front yard, kneel down and shoot photos of your dog, who isn't even half the size of the lens hood? I wonder why the neighbors were looking at me strange.......

Beavers Media Day

2006-04-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today was Portland Beavers Media Day. I go to the park and shoot mugs of all the players that will used in the program and on the scoreboard, etc....as well as some portraits for some ads, or program covers or what not. Here are a couple that I liked.

Kids...

2006-04-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Zoe and Jordyn watch TV at the studio.

Newest Family Member

2006-04-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Introducing the newest member of the Mitchelldyer clan. This is our new puppy, Zoe. She is a Lhasa Apso.
Jordyn loves her:

NW Shootout

2006-04-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Shot the NW Shootout today for the East Oregonian. I only had to shoot 2 players, so it was qucik and easy. This was the third frame I shot.

Storm is coming in....

2006-04-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

Weird weather day today. Sunny, then pouring, then sunny, then pouring, then super sunny....Shot a wedding in all of that, this is a shot of the newlyweds walking out on the golf course after a storm passed by. That's a scary looking cloud huh? But, the sun was right behind it and made for some nice light.

Repeat Customers....

2006-03-28T15:15:00.000-08:00

Lately something very cool has been happening. People whose wedding's I shot in the past, are now coming into the studio and having me shoot their children too. This is fun because normally, I see a bride and groom on the wedding day, then never see them again, and its cool that they like my work enough to come back for more, and I love little kids so that's fun too. I've shot a few different babies this month now of former wedding couples. Above is the cute little 8 month old of a couple whose wedding I shot in 2004.
This is another shot from today...it was kid day at the studio :):

Eng Session

2006-03-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

Photo from an engagement session I shot Sunday.

Peony Tree's

2006-03-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a shoot for "Dig" Magazine of these two guys, who are peony tree growers. The shoot is for an article about the trees and their business. The father (in the foreground) is a well respected peony tree grower and his son (background) now runs the business. This shoot was supposed to take place at the Portland Japanese Garden, but when we arrived at the location, they only had 2 really sad looking trees that would not show in a photo at all, so as a last ditch effort, we went to the Chinese Garden, hoping someone would be there and let us in to shoot. No one was, but luckily out front was a large good looking Peony tree (in between the two of them) that would work for the photo. Its not the best portrait in the world, but it will work.

Google changes something....

2006-03-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

For some reason, yesterday I noticed that google had changed something and my site dropped off the face of Google's earth....this is bad, very bad. But it was not just me. Nearly every photographer who came up in a search of "Portland Oregon Photographer" or something similar, also dropped off the face of the earth. So if you are a photographer reading this, check your page-rank and search rank in google right now and get to fixing the problem. I'll be spending the rest of the week I am sure working on Search Engine Optimization for my site. I've ben reading about a google algorithm change for quite some time and it looks as if they have implemented it. No worries. I'm ready. My site just needs a few tweaks here and there and will be right back up there soon.

Happy St Patricks Day

2006-03-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

Jordyn and her boyfriend Mikey got matching shirts to celebrate the occasion.