Civil War, 2010

This season is hard to believe. After beating Oregon State the Oregon Ducks are 12-0 and go the National Championship in Glendale, Arizona. Interestingly, what's good for the Ducks is good for me. On Thurs., I go to New York to cover LaMichael James at the Heisman trophy ceremony. Then, I'm off to Glendale to cover the Ducks from the time they arrive until the game is over...eight days total. Of course, I'll update this blog after that. Until then, here's a few of favorite images from the Civil War.

Oregon v. Arizona

This Oregon victory sealed the Pac-10 Championship and a guaranteed trip to the Rose Bowl, but that would be a let down if they don't go to the National Championship. Here's a few of my favorite images:

Oregon v. Washington, Nov. 26, 2010

Another game, another blowout. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Assignment: Basketball Player Emony Foreman

I had a chance to photograph Jefferson High School basketball player Emony Foreman for an international athletic shoe and apparel company. It was really refreshing to have full access, willing subjects, and an assistant.

Happy Hollyweird!

I spent a couple hours poking around Hollywood Blvd. Friday night. There were a number of huge halloween parties advertised so I thought I go down and do some night time street shooting. This is what I saw:

Oregon v. USC, Oct. 30, 2010 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Here are a few snaps from the game:

Portland Trail Blazers Season Preview

Here are some portrait's I shot on media day of the Portland Trail Blazers. The scenario is this: We set up our lights where the media relations staff tells us to. Then we wait for a player to show up, they stand on our mark, we tell them what kind of pose to do, we snap a dozen or so frames and they step out to the next station. The players generally hate doing this. Most of them are good sports and put a little energy into it. That makes it fun, but if they put out the vibe they don't want to be there, it's awkward and embarrassing. I just want it to end as quickly as possible. Here are a few images from the day:

Here's the the story on LaMarcus Aldridge by Jason Quick posted to OregonLive.com.

Portland Fashion Week, 2010

I spent a few hours on the first two nights documenting the scene at the Vigor Industrial Shipyards on Swan Island, in Portland, Ore. There was some awesome creative energy there not only from the designers and models but the other photographers as well. It was really interesting to see how a runway show comes together.

iPhone Snaps, 2010

A fellow pro photog is curating a gallery show of iPhone images and asked me to submit some photos. The only rule is that they show "Portland". This is what I'm going to submit. [smugmug url="http://thomasrboyd.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=14094605_yD85B&format=rss200" title="iPhone%20Snaps" description="2010" imagecount="100" start="1" num="100" thumbsize="Th" link="smugmug" captions="false" sort="true" window="false" smugmug="false" size="X3"]

Haley's Senior Portrait

In the last 20 years I've shot exactly two senior portraits. In both cases they were children of my first cousins. The first time was my cousin Donna's daughter Ashley. That was probably four years ago. Then a few weeks ago my cousin Ronda called. Her daughter Haley needed senior portraits. This would be the first time I met Haley. What a sweet kid! Senior portraits are kind of an unknown genre of photography for me. I don't know how to do the standard poses. This is probably a good thing because I think most of what I see out there I think looks stupid. I absolutely hate the classic senior girls pose that shows the girl on her stomach in the grass with her feet in the air and her chin cupped in hands. I won't do that.

But, I almost wish I knew some of the other poses because looking at the photos, I probably had too many with her hands on her hips. But, I thought she looked good like that. That comes from me only working to have one to three different images from an editorial shoot.

Here's a few of my favorites from the take.

Oregon State v. Arizona State, Oct. 2, 2010

I shot the Oregon State v. Arizona game. It started at 3:30 and the light was really difficult to deal with. But with difficult light comes opportunity. After the sun went down the sky was absolutely beautiful. There were some cloud formations I've never seen before. Here's a few snaps:

B.J. The Clown, Portland, Ore.

I followed B.J. The Clown around town for a day. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It's really great to see kids squeal with delight. It's joyful and just plain fun. I addition to the still photos I'm posting here, I also shot a video.

B.J. The Clown makes hard work look like kids stuff

Aperture 3 Video Tutorial: Advanced Creative Adjustments II

I've made another Aperture 3 tutorial video titled Advanced Creative Adjustments II. In it, I go through about a dozen images and show the creative decisions I make in post processing and how to execute those ideas with Aperture 3. It's been up a few weeks and is selling really well. It only costs $9.99.

Here's a link to the maccreate.com store.

Here's an audio slideshow I edited

Brent Wojahn, Beth Nakamura and I shot the Portland Beavers last game. Actually, Beth shot several games leading up the final game so most of the photos are hers. She had some very nice images and totally nailed it when one of the players threw a cup of water in another players face. I walked around PGE Park all day and gathered audio. With the help of Judy Siviglia, I edited and put the photos over the audio. It was quite a process and a very long day. Kraig Scattarella just posted the timelapse we shot. Bruce set up two cameras, one on the roof of PGE Park and the other on the roof of The Oregonian building across from PGE Park. I set up a camera firing every five minutes from a stairwell at the Mac Club that was pointed at the scoreboard.

Portland Beavers radio announcer Rich Burk was generous enough to email us his radio clips from the game. His voice made very cool and I really appreciate him doing that.

Here it is:

Portland Beavers last game in PGE Park

Here's the slideshow:

Beavers play for the last time in PGE Park

Oregon Ducks 72, New Mexico 0

I've never shot a blowout like this. It was easy livin' as a photographer. We didn't have to run down to the other end of the field one single time. It was sunny and and 75 degrees. They fed us tacos in the press booth. It just couldn't have been an easier day. Here's the game story: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/09/oregon_football_well_wasnt_tha.html

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day:

More Than Just Fast

I had the pleasure of shooting both LaMichael James and Jacquizz Rodgers. They happen to the running backs for Oregon and Oregon State. They are two of the best running backs in the country. The photos ran side by side on our College Football preview section today. We also produced some short videos on the shoot. They seem to be a bit controversial. Beavers fans feel Jacquizz Rodgers was shorted in his video. I regret this may be true, but not intentionally. It just worked out that way. Read the comments below the video.

Read the comments here: http://blog.oregonlive.com/pac10/2010/09/go_behind_the_scenes_for_the_l.html Here are the story links: LaMichael James: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/09/college_football_preview_orego.html

Jacquizz Rodgers: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbeaversbeat/2010/09/college_football_preview_orego.html

The LaMichael James photo shoot: Behind the scenes

The Jacquizz Rodgers photo shoot: Behind the scenes

I Present to You: Matt and Kaley Goucher

I just took a quick look through some of the 2200 images I shot at Suttle Lake of Matt and Kaley's wedding yesterday. I will edit that down to around 700 images after that. This was a special wedding for me. I've known Kaley since she was a child. I've known her parents for a good long while as well. I knew a good many people at the wedding and it was total blast to shoot. I was a pleasure to meet her new husband, Matt. Best yet, it was a spectacular location at Suttle Lake Resort near Sisters, Ore.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Lady Gaga at the Rose Garden, Aug. 19, 2010

Last night I shot Lady Gaga at the Rose Garden. We were ushered in for two songs and escorted from the building. We were not allowed to shoot fans during the show, which is too bad, because they were totally into it and most of them were dressed up in some way. I'd like to say she had a good show or tell you something about it, but having only seen two songs, I just don't know.

Skater Paul Rodriguez at the Dew Tour in Portland, Ore.

I have to admit, I had never heard of Paul Rodriquez until I shot the Dew Tour. The only skater I'd heard of to that point was Shaun White and Tony Hawk. I know that's really lame, but I just don't follow the sport. I've never skated in my life. I found out right away this cat is famous in the skating world. A bus load of mostly women (girls?) and boys followed him through the crowd asking him for his autograph after he won. I followed him into the portable NBC Sports studio and shot him waiting for the live television interview. The producers herded the fans into the studio and prompted them cheer on command. The whole thing was surreal. One thing for sure though, what these guys do on a skateboard is nothing short of magical. They have courage and skill beyond my comprehension.

Pickathon, Happy Valley, Ore., Aug. 6, 7, 8, 2010

Not much happens in Happy Valley. Perhaps that's one of the things that makes it happy. However, the one thing that does happen, is the best American roots and indie music festivals on the face of the planet. It's called Pickathon. Let me tell you, I've shot countless concerts and music festivals ranging from U2 to Willie Nelson. I can tell you this is the most generous, most laid back, photo friendliest, musician friendly, kid friendly, beer loving, camping friendly event of any kind I've ever covered. There's a refreshing lack of rules even while there's hundreds of volunteers on hand to enforce the ones they do have. The volunteers really just try to be helpful. It's only about a half mile from my house. I can hear it from by deck. I rode my motorcycle down there and parked next the back stage. Best yet, all my favorite people are there. Photographers Tim Labarge, Torsten Kjellstrand, Jamie Francis, Tom Patterson, Faith Cathcart, Ian Malkasian, all cover it for PIckathon. With Tim LaBarge large and in charge, they do a great job. This year I covered it for The Oregonian. This is what I saw.