Arizona Coyotes Prospects Camp July 2015

The Arizona Coyotes National Hockey League club started their prospects camp on 7 July 2015 at the Ice Den in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Coach Dave Tippett

I photographed the highlights of the first day.  It was what appeared to be a hard skating hour and a half.  This wasn’t a scrimmage.  They had set things they worked on, then the coaches broke them into smaller teams of three and two. 

Photographing inside with artificial light is always a challenge, but since I shoot in raw I knew I could adjust the white balance within Lightroom in post processing.  I also used Photoshop’s content aware fill to eliminate some distracting elements in a few of the photos. 

There was either net or glass surrounding the entire rink, which was also a challenge.  You may see some of the net in a few of the photos.  I photographed through the net and later through the glass. 

I used a Tamron 28-300mm “all purpose” lens on my Canon 5D Mark III.

Until My Next Adventure, 

(Spain, Italy/Sicily, Malta...)

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

Here are all the keeper photos!

Dbacks Game and Fireworks

Inside Chase Field from Section 117, done in HDR

What could be more American on July 4th than a baseball game, hot dogs, beer, and fireworks?  And so it was at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks as they entertained the Colorado Rockies.

The photo above was my view from section 117 before the game.  This is an HDR photo, or high dynamic range.  My Canon 5D Mark III (using a Tamron 28-300mm lens) has a setting that allows for three quick photos, exposure bracketed this time at -2, 0, and +2.  Then I combined them together in Lightroom to produce the finished product.  Not bad, considering I did this hand held and not on a tripod!

 

Patrick Corbin Starts First Time Since 2013!

It was Patrick Corbin's first start for the D'backs since 2013.  He had "Tommy John" surgery which is pretty major work on a throwing arm.  He pitched 5 solid innings and ended up with the eventual win.  

 

A.J. Pollock Strokes a Hit!

During Phoenix's hot summers, the roof of the stadium is closed.  So there is mixed lighting inside.  I was shooting at 1600 ISO (fairly light sensitive) hand held.  

Following the D'backs 7 to 3 win, they opened up the stadium roof so we could see the fireworks display.

 

Chase Field Roof is Opening!

The stadium lights were turned down.  I shot the fireworks with NO tripod, which isn't the right way to do it, but they won't allow such devices inside a stadium.  So I cranked up the ISO to 12,800, opened the aperture all the way, and hoped I'd get some useable shots.  

I think I had some nice shots!

Until My Next Adventure, 

(Spain, Italy/Sicily, Malta...)

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

Here are all the keeper photos!

Riding With the Verde Canyon Railroad

Only an hour and a half from Phoenix, Clarkdale is the home of the Verde Canyon Railroad.  It’s an old fashioned railroad trip that goes through the beautiful Verde Valley in Northern Arizona. 

I thought this would be a good four hour trip on the rails to thoroughly try out my new Tamron 28-300mm “travel lens.”  This lens is what they call an “all in one” zoom, perfect for traveling.  I put it on my Canon 5D Mark III.  It’s much easier to travel with an all in one like this that is lighter than Canon lenses and fits the range of zoom that I am liable to need. 

What was a bonus was to find out that the Liberty Wildlife people show off Sonora, the bald eagle on the first Saturday of the month.  Liberty Wildlife is based in Scottsdale and specializes in rehabilitation, education, and conservation.  Sonora hurt his wing when he was young around eight years ago and is trained to travel on the railroad and show off for the passengers. 

Now, anybody that knows me knows one of my interests is in photographing for non-profit organizations!  So this truly was a treat for me.  I plan on sharing my photos with Liberty once I post them. 

I am quite pleased with my new camera lens.  The Tamron performed quite nicely on my trip.  I’m also thrilled to have some photos to share with Liberty Wildlife!

Until My Next Adventure, 

(The June San Diego West Coast School!)

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

Here are all the keeper photos!

These photos are also on Flickr.  

* Please check out my related blogs on "photo philanthropy" at 

http://thecogentcommunicator.blogspot.com/2015/04/relay-for-life-book-and-video-out.html  

http://thecogentcommunicator.blogspot.com/2015/04/relay-for-life-at-pvcc-friday-10-april.html 

http://thecogentcommunicator.blogspot.com/2015/03/photo-philanthropy-at-santa-fe.html 

http://crossroadsphotographicworkshops.com/blog/participant-spotlight-jim-patterson/ 

Cave Creek Balloon Festival May 2015

Falcon Field Fly By

The weather in the Phoenix area for late May was absolutely delicious, with a high barely reaching the 80s, a far cry from the previous five Cave Creek balloon festivals held in the middle of winter.  Now, this is the desert and sure it's warm, but the night in winter can be FREEZING!  

Lauren Riley Performs

This was the 6th annual balloon festival.  I took photos of the early fly-by from planes based at Falcon Field in Mesa, local country singer Lauren Riley, and the balloon glow.  

Lauren Riley Close Up

Photographing the performers on stage was difficult during the day as the backlighting pretty much washed out the details of the musicians.  As it got darker, my luck improved and I was able to use the stage lighting.  

And as it got dark, I had to use high ISO to capture the balloons as they were fired up by their owners.  

Balloon Light

For those interested, I used a Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 70-300mm lens.  Some of the photos were also treated with MacPhun's Noiseless Pro to eliminate noise that comes from photographing at a high ISO.  

Until My Next Adventure, 

(Sedona, With the Tamron Tailgate Tour)

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

Here are all the keeper photos from Flickr!

Relay for Life Book and Video Out

I'm done.  Finished.  The book is ready to be sold!  The photo video is uploaded to You Tube!  As a way of raising more money for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, I put together a book for sale at Blurb called "Hope: North Valley Relay for Life."  

It is made up of photos from 2011 to 2015 Relays held at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix.



The book is listed at $29.99 and $7 of that will go to the North Valley Relay for Life. 

Hope: North Valley Relay for Life by James Gordon Patterson | Make Your Own Book

   

I primarily edited the photos with Adobe Lightroom.  I imported some 60-plus photos into the Blurb bookmaking program called BookWright.  The book is being sold on Blurb.  I could have sold on the Apple site or Amazon, but costs would have run higher meaning less money going to the Relay for Life.  

I created the video using a program called FotoMagico.  It allowed me to lay down a music bed and narrate the video, too.  Then I uploaded to You Tube to share with you and the world.

This is all part of the "photo philanthropy" concept... giving back with a camera.  I hope to do more of this in the future.  

Until My Next Adventure, 

(Sedona, Environmental Portraits, with the Arizona Professional Photographers Association)

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

Relay for Life at PVCC Friday 10 April 2015

The Survivors Lap

It's time for another North Valley Relay for Life at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Arizona.  This is a benefit for the Cancer Society and my fourth year photographing the event.

Young Students Show Enthusiasm

This year, it did not go overnight like the other ones had done.  It started at 4pm and ended around midnight.  

This time around, I had a specific idea in mind.  I am going to put together the best of the last four Relays for Life at PVCC and publish a photo book that you can buy to benefit the relay for life.  Stay tuned on that as I'm still putting the book together.  I can tell you it will be on the Blurb site and hopefully we can sell it to you on the Amazon site, as well.

Shoshannah Raised Money with her Dolls

I had a shot list of things that I needed for the book.  Mostly, I wanted to do some wide angle photographs.










We had some excitement around 5pm.  Seems a dust devil hit were some booths were set up, throwing the tents and paperwork high into the air.  

Dust Devil Hits Without Warning!

Everything Thrown High in the Sky!

They had an interesting contest involving trying to tear apart a frozen tee-shirt and putting it on.  This guy tried so hard to get that frozen tee on!

Trying to Tear a Frozen Tee-Shirt Apart

Here are some other shots from the 2015 Relay for Life at PVCC...

My Attempt at "Art"

Bagpiper

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

* Look for my soon-to-be published photobook on the Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  Sales to benefit the Cancer Society!

Click HERE to see all the photos from the Relay for Life!