Favorite shots of 2011
by James on Jan.18, 2012, under Minor League Baseball
2011 was a pretty full season of shooting for me. In addition to covering 16 games (down a bit from 2010), I also took trips to Yosemite in June and Lassen/Crater Lake/Crescent City/Eureka in September, plus I went on my first cruise in March. You can see those over on my site if you like, but for this I wanted to pick out some of my favorite shots from the baseball season. I did the same thing for 2010 so I figured it’d be good to carry on as a tradition.
The Lassen/Crater Lake/Coast/Redwoods Trip, Day 4
by James on Sep.28, 2011, under Trips
It was a long drive back home from Eureka (about 320 miles) but I spent a couple hours in Avenue of the Giants. Could’ve spent a bit more but I wanted to get home at a decent hour, which ended up being after 6 PM.
Lots of nice scenery along with that forest smell. Most of what I put up for this one is just from Founders Grove, which has a short trail that takes you around a lot of large trees, both standing and fallen.
As I was leaving that area I noticed a marker designating the level of a flood from December of 1964 a little past the Dyerville Bridge. Around Weott, I saw another marker that had to be at least 50 feet high. The Avenue of the Giants runs along the Eel River most of the way and it was nowhere near street level so I looked things up when I got home and found info on the Christmas Flood of 1964. Damn.
In addition to all the photos, you can also see some videos I shot here on YouTube. There are about 15.
Here’s Day 4:
The Lassen/Crater Lake/Coast/Redwoods Trip, Day 3
by James on Sep.28, 2011, under Trips
Not as much driving this time, which was nice. Grants Pass to Crescent City to Eureka, about 180 miles. There were definitely some nice views along Hwy. 199, too.
I spent about two hours in Crescent City then took a more scenic route through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park as an alternative to a portion of Hwy. 101 at the suggestion of someone I chatted with for a few minutes during lunch. Good stuff in there, but I’m saving most of the tree stuff for Avenue of the Giants from the last day, just past Fortuna.
Here’s Day 3:
The Lassen/Crater Lake/Coast/Redwoods Trip, Day 2
by James on Sep.28, 2011, under Trips
A few more than the first day, just because.
Weather was awesome, about mid 60s and sunny. In fact, the weather for the entire trip was about like that. I remember it being more hazy at Crater Lake when I went the first time. It stayed pretty clear until later in the afternoon when a little smoke from some fires in the distance started gathering. By that time I’d been there about five hours and got most of what I wanted to.
The layout of Rim Village was a little different than I remembered it being but that could be my memory being faulty. I ended up stopping at a few of the same places I did before, such as views for Phantom Ship and Pinnacles, but I was able to look at things differently or take a little more time to walk around instead of just getting the exact same stuff as before.
Including the roughly 30 mile drive around the rim of the lake, I drove about 210 miles this time to get from Klamath Falls to the lake, then on to Grants Pass for the night.
Here’s Day 2:
The Lassen/Crater Lake/Coast/Redwoods Trip, Day 1
by James on Sep.28, 2011, under Trips
Last week I went driving and saw a lot of places, most of them for the first time. I’d been to Crater Lake once before back in 2003 but I wanted to go there again and use some better camera equipment. From there, it became a matter of building the trip, deciding where to go and which ways to get there.
I ended up with a four-day trip that took me through Lassen Volcanic National Park, then Crater Lake followed by a drive out to the northern California Coast to go through places like Crescent City and Eureka along with seeing a lot of redwood forests. In all, I drove about 1160 miles and 66% of that was along roads and highways I’d never been on before. Well worth the journey.
Here’s Day 1:
311 at Shoreline Amphitheatre, 8/23/11
by James on Aug.24, 2011, under Concerts
Yesterday I drove a couple hours down to Mountain View to catch 311 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Even though my brother got me into them around the time of Grassroots, I didn’t see my first show until 2005. This was my sixth, counting a 311 Day and the Caribbean Cruise this past March, where I saw them twice in addition to catching the simulcast of their third show.
Here’s the setlist from last night:
1 – Beautiful Disaster
2 – Prisoner
3 – All Mixed Up
4 – Sunset In July
5 – Do You Right
6 – Freeze Time
7 – Rock On
8 – Nix Hex
9 – Plain
10 – Applied Science
11 – You Wouldn’t Believe
12 – Gap
13 – Wild Nights
14 – Amber
15 – No Control
16 – The Continuous Life
BASS SOLO
17 – Nutsymtom
18 – Weightless
19 – Beyond The Gray Sky
20 – Don’t Stay Home
21 – Creatures (For A While)
Encore
22 – Who’s Got The Herb?
23 – Mindspin
24 – Down
A few real rarities in there like No Control, The Continuous Life and Mindspin. It’s the second time I’ve seen Gap and they haven’t played it a whole lot since 2008 so that one’s always a treat. It was nice to hear a few of the new songs from Universal Pulse live, too. I had a great spot, about on par with the location I was in for the indoor show on the cruise. Thanks to getting in on the presale I was just five rows from the stage, probably about twenty feet away. It’s not General Admission at Shoreline except for the lawn, so it was nice to be able to get up and move around and know I still had a seat there for me when 311 took the stage. Hey, it was close enough to catch one of the drum heads SA Martinez threw out at the end of the show!
311 is a big touring band, exemplified by playing roughly 50-70 shows per year for over a decade, including over 100 in 2000. They never disappoint and always put on a show that not only looks great, it sounds great as well. One of the things I appreciate – and it might be underrated – is they’ve been together for about 20 years now with no changes. Some bands out there, including Oasis and The Smashing Pumpkins, have had different guitarists and drummers over time, but not 311.
It shows, both on stage and off. These guys just love playing music together and there’s a certain unity to it (that was used intentionally) that makes it so much better. Nick Hexum brings the vocals along with some guitar, SA Martinez complements with more of a rap style and harmonizes nicely with Hexum’s own abilities, Tim Mahoney and P-Nut add in their excellent talents with the guitar and bass, and Chad Sexton’s precise drum skills help complete the whole. I’ve always been a fan of how they incorporate numerous musical styles to create something very original.
As anyone who has looked at my site knows, I love shooting baseball and nature. Concert photography is one of those things that’s a little tougher to do and one reason is the lighting. Without spotlights on people, it’d be even harder than it can be without good professional equipment. Just going as a fan without credentials, I also have to leave the Nikon D3 and the good lenses at home. That’s why I was happy to get some pretty nice shots from a non-DSLR Nikon P500. I’ll probably be putting more photos up on my own site later on but here are 20 of my favorites.
The big Yosemite pics post, Day 3
by James on Jun.10, 2011, under Trips
I ended up saving the easiest day of walking for last, the most coming in the first stop to Mirror Lake. Along the way I had my first bear sighting “in the wild” as a brown one ambled out of the woods about 40-50 yards up ahead, nearly splitting the distance between another group of people and I. They clapped and made some noise, it paused to look around, then kept going into the forest on the other side of the road. The only other times I’d seen bears had been when they were in captivity, so with the safety net gone you stop and realize how careful you have to be.
I messed around with some shots of water at high shutter speeds before moving on to Yosemite Falls, then I went back to Curry Village for a bite to eat before hopping in the car to stop by a few more places prior to heading home.
Even getting three full days of wandering and shooting compared to two last time, it still felt like there was more I could have done. That’s just how much there is to see around Yosemite. Glacier Point was closed briefly on Monday but it was open the next two days, and there was still a lot of snow up there. The mild spring has led to a lot of later snowmelt, and Tioga Pass is still heavily snowed in. That’s a trip I could take some other time later in the season for other views. Last set of pics follow.
The big Yosemite pics post, Day 2
by James on Jun.10, 2011, under Trips
Most of the second day was spent in the Vernal Fall area. Back in 2005 I only went as far as to take some photos from a large boulder that offers a nice open view of the waterfall but since I had more time (a full extra day) I wanted to go to the top. I started this hike around 10:00 and I wouldn’t get back to the valley floor until about 2:30.
The total elevation gain was about a thousand feet, going from 4,000 to 5,000. Around half of that is in the last 0.3 of about a 1.5 mile hike up thanks to over 600 granite steps, some of which are very steep. I’m thinking even for someone who’s in excellent shape, that’s a tough climb. For me? Yeah, I had to rest a few times. The waterfall spray along the Mist Trail was refreshing and I was glad I thought to get some waterproof hiking shoes and a poncho before going.
Once I reached the top I was rewarded for the effort with a spectacular view. I also wasn’t the only one taking a break. After spending a little time there and checking out the Silver Apron that consists of runoff from Nevada Fall further up (which I’d also like to get closer to someday), I headed back down. Carefully, I might add. I’d also bring more water next time instead of two small bottles, even with there being a fountain at the Vernal Fall bridge.
I was going to go get some photos at the Tunnel View spot and head up to Glacier Point but darker clouds started to move in pretty quickly so I went back and settled in for dinner and more photo editing. Before long it rained, so I decided the last day would be the one where I took care of some quicker stops along with Glacier Point before heading back home.
The big Yosemite pics post, Day 1
by James on Jun.10, 2011, under Trips
I spent a few days in Yosemite this week, ending up hiking about 12 miles over 3 days, posting about 175 photos, and about 11 minutes worth of video. It was great to get away from things for a few days.
First things first. Here are a couple links:
All the photos: Yosemite, June 6-8, 2011
You can find 15 videos here, adding up to about 11 minutes: YouTube Channel
A lot of the photos show how strong the water currents and waterfalls themselves are, but I think having sound and motion adds to the overall effect.
I left Monday morning and got to my first destination, Hetch Hetchy, around 1:30. It was my first time there and I wanted to check out Wapama Falls, which is a 5-mile round-trip hike from O’Shaughnessy Dam. The forecast called for rain in the region but fortunately it just stayed overcast.
The hike is classified as moderate but for someone like me who doesn’t do a lot of hiking at all, I took a few short breaks along the way. Getting to Wapama Falls involved a walk down some granite steps, but they’d be nowhere near as steep as the ones the next day. The end result of seeing the waterfall and the small bridges that crossed the rocks was pretty sweet.
Is this thing on?
by James on May.16, 2011, under Minor League Baseball, World Baseball Classic
Guess it’s been a little while since I touched this. It’s not for lack of things to talk about, as I’ve been keeping myself busy with work (my actual job) and play (all the photography). I also have a habit of using Twitter and Facebook to drop a link to each new gallery as I finish them and forget to go here and do it as well.
Rather than linking to every gallery I’ve created in the first month or so of the latest minor league season, the easiest thing to do would be to link to the Triple-A and Single-A galleries:
Triple-A (7 galleries so far)
Single-A (3 galleries so far)
Last week I shot a couple day games and I’ll be doing the same next week. It’s good to get out there and just speed up the settings to see just how well I can freeze the action compared to needing to tone it down a bit at night. This year one of the things I’m trying to do more of is get fewer stationary hitter shots and work more on baseballs being hit and especially plays made in the field. That’s the tougher part since you don’t know where a ball’s going to be hit, if it even does get hit in a particular at bat.
Here and there I’m also trying to go back through all my old stuff, things that used to be on the first site I had before it went down, and put it back up on the current one. That’s kind of an “in the background” project and I doubt I’ll spend a whole lot of time on it because as I start going back to 2006 or so, it’s difficult to remember who each person was in the photos. The first thing I put back up was the 2006 World Baseball Classic and I’ve also got stuff from Spring Training that year to get to sometime. It’s kind of interesting to go back and look at what I was using then vs. now and how much the quality and timing of the shots has come along. Even some of the little editing tricks improve here and there.
I’m probably going to be staying pretty close to home this year for various reasons, so the majority of what I’m shooting will be in Sacramento and Stockton. One of these days it’d be nice to get up to Oregon and Washington for some Northwest League games, and sometime in the next few years I’d love to travel to Alaska and do some photography up there – both baseball and nature.
One other thing: today Last of the Ninth hit the 100k mark for photos viewed. I’ve been using the site since April of 2008 (this was the first gallery and I shudder a little when I look at a couple of the editing things I did in that one), so that milestone was reached in just over three years. That’s a good number of photos looked at each year and based on everything that’s up there now there’s been an average of about 14 views per photo. Many have zero, but there are about 75 with 100 or more – though I still don’t know how this one of K.C. Herren has over 300, nearly 100 more than the second-most viewed. In fact, the top three on the site were from the same gallery of a game in Bakersfield. I guess a lot of Texas Rangers fans ended up going to see those pics.
Whatever the case, thanks for looking whether you’ve only seen a few or a few thousand.
