A Night of Basketball at Huntington Beach, CA

So I flew back to Cali for a few meetings and a few shoots as well.  I hate traveling with all the gear.  It really sux and by the time I’m shooting the back is killing me….Well whatever and the show must go on.

I talked to Branden who happens to be one of the greatest athletic models I have ever worked with.  He has a sharp look to him and can jump over my head.  He has game….football, basketball whatever….no problem.  Thats why I had to call him for this very important shoot. (branden website) My new wonderful agent Katherine wanted to see some studio style sports images.  And since I dont have access to a gym or pro court I tough it might work well to shoot at night.  Drop everything else out other than the subject and whatever I wanted to keep.  So it was fun switching things up a bit and shooting at night vs. sunset or a magic hour of some sort.  Here are a few of my favs from the shoot

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Running the Docks


This creation I was really looking forward to!!!  I knew going to the French Polynesia Islands would help me create some really cool images.  I was able to take many plate shots so I could photoshop at a later date, and it was even relaxing taking the images.  It’s really easy to shoot in flip-flops I found out.  Normally it’s steel toe boots, and rugged pants, but not this trip.  It was a real treat shooting these most beautiful islands, both above water, and under as well.  I still have plenty of images to put together but here is the first of them all.  It shows a young women running down a dock on Bora-Bora Island in the French Polynesia.  You can see thatched hut roofs behind her, with the huts just sitting on the water.  Its mid to early morning and a beautiful day on this tropical island, a perfect day for a quick workout.

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***Composite***

Running at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs

Running at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
Ever since I moved back to Colorado…I have been wanting to shoot at Garden of the Gods.  Its way south of Denver….maybe an hour and half, but it seemed so far away.  Anyway I had some pressure to get back out and shot some sportrature, so this was at the top of my list.  I went out and scouted the location a day before the shoot, and was blown away by these amazing rock formations.  It was breathtaking to say the least.  I drove every road in the park, and looked at every view point on the map.  I drove around, hiked a few trails, and then went up.  Straight up  in fact,…..walked off the road and went up the side of the mountain….and there it was…a great spot to shoot at!!!!  This was one of the only locations from the positions I wanted to shoot at, that worked for my needs.  Most of the land around Garden of the Gods has thick scrubs and its difficult to see through them, so this was truly one of the only clear spots.

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Call time for everyone to meet up in Denver was 3:30 am.  And to me, thats way too early, but to get the shot that’s the time we needed to leave.  So once we hit the road, we arrived at Garden of the Gods at around 5:00am.  We had to hike up the mountain in the dark, which is always fun.  Hard to see anything, freezing cold, but we made it.  I set up fast, and got a minute or two to relax before the sun came up.  Once it started to hit the rock formations, everything came together and worked out fine.

Shot details: f/6.3; 1/125 sec; ISO 400; 5616×3744 Pixels 
Focal Length 34mm; EF17-40mm f/4L USM
Camera Details: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

This was the first time I used some of my new Hoodman gear.  It was great!!!!  I ended up using the HoodLoupe 3.0 Glare Free LCD viewing loop.  For the first time in a long time, I had no trouble viewing the images on the camera.  This little tool made a big difference, and will be used by me, for most every shoot.  This was a big surprise that it worked so well, and made my life a little easier.  Which we all need on photoshoots……so a big hit in my eyes!!!

Another piece of equipment used for the first time was the RAW 675X UDMA 6 Hoodman 8 GB CompactFlash Professional 500,00 Cycle Cards.   Hoodman sent out a tons of these cards, and it was used for the first time.  So I guess I have only 499,999 more formats on that card…..which will take me sometime to get to….but I’m on my way.   I have nothing but great things to say about the cards….and that only seems right.  They were fast in the camera, and my download of 8 gigs took no time at all.  These little guys are getting so fast.  I will be testing out some of the equipment soon,  then posting the results as they come in.

Behind the Scenes!!!!!!

I will be posting a behind  the scenes from this photoshoot.  It was an early morning….3:30am call time, and we did a cool video to go along with this shoot.  I should be posting it soon, within the next week.  The video was completed by Deanna Washington Photography located in Georgia.  Link to her site. Its around 3 minutes long and shows what goes into my shoots : )

Model: Kari White- What a pleasure it was working with her.  Nothing was impossible….and I look forward to working with Kari again!!!

Colorado Mountain Majesties

Through the trails and up the mountain, it was a long haul to the top of Lake Dorothy. Leaving in the afternoon with a backpack filled with climbing gear, we made it to the peak of the Colorado Mountain – just in time to shoot the blue skies before sunset.

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Wow, talk about incredible views. The setting was so elegantly drizzled with snow, adding a touch of glow to my photographs. It was truly magnificent.

For this shoot I wanted to capture that moment of glory for a champion. The model I worked with not only had the look but also was able to effortlessly embody my vision – a powerful yet majestic adventurer out to climb incredible heights.

The hike was fabulous and the shoot turned out stunning. Hiking andshooting, what a successful day!

Unfortunately, this will most likely be my last hike for the fall season. It always seems as though the mud seasons take too long, but this hike reminded me, that winter is coming and coming soon.

I love the change of seasons and look forward to photographing a fresh scene with new challenges. After the holidays I hope to go back to this amazing location to shoot the snow hidden mountains – most likely on a snowboard.


Stay tuned!

 

Yoga at Red Rocks, Colorado

This image shows a woman doing a yoga pose on a rock near Red Rocks State Park near Morrison, Colorado.  It was a cool winter day and snow is covering most of the rocks

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Basketball Eclipse

Basketball Eclipse

April 15, 2009 By Joe Morahan

Basketball Eclipse

This has to be my favorite shot from the shoot. I would have to agree that it might not be the strongest shot I took, but the odds of this shot seemed like 1 in a million. What happened is when Branden was shooting around while I was switching cards, I noticed the basketball pass through the sun, which gave me the idea to try to create a eclipse of the sun with a basketball. We set him in the correct position, and I had him toss up a few shots and I held down the shutter taking as many images at a time as I could. Quickly we realized that an inch to high or to low, the angle of the shot, as well as the camera position all were variables to the shot. Another thing, the sun is constantly moving, especially toward late afternoon as it just drops from the sky. Anyway we kept trying and finally one shot, and one only made a perfect eclipse of the sun. There is no photoshop used in the image, other than color/contrast and dust. A real Eclipse.

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Shot details: f/13; 1/2500 sec; ISO 100

Focal Length 78mm; EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

Camera Details: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

Branden is one hell of a sports model. Nothing is impossible and a real pleasure to work with. I rarely say anything, but he had to have been one of the greatest people I have ever worked with.
Here is a link to Branden’s website: www.brandennicholson.com

Slick Stop-Hockey

This is another industrial/scientific sports photography concept that I have worked on.  This shot shows a hockey player coming in and doing hockey stop.  The speed in which the skater was traveling was great creating a spray effect of the shaved ice off the rink.  The shot was 1/250 of a second, but I had the indoor lights turned off and used a Profoto B2 Location Kit to get the super fast light.  The flash duration was not timed for this shoot because I had to keep changing the light power, but I would have to guess 1/2000 of a sec.  The fast flash duration help stop the high-speed action in its tracks and can offer some cool shots of ordinarily events.

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Filed Under: Action, Hockey Stop