Lakewood High Class of 2010 - Graduation

This is way over due, but I didn't want to just post some shots. Rather I wanted to speak from my heart about my son's graduation.

On June 17th, 2010 my son graduated from Lakewood High School, an event that I really didn't think was going to happen. It wasn't until a few weeks before graduation that I finally knew that the big day was actually going to happen. My son is a very intelligent kid, but then again I'm sure most parents would say that about their kids. In this case it's very true. My son and I have argued over the last 7 years about classes, grades, and homework. You name it and I'm sure we've argued about it, but what's important is that I believed in him and never gave up. I made sure that he truly knew that I would always be there for him and help him in any way I can. As a matter of fact I think it made us so much closer, more than just a dad and son.

So needless to say when it was real, when I knew that my son was going to walk on that stage and receive his high school diploma, I was very emotional and wasn't sure how that day was really going to effect me. Lakewood runs a program that allows those parents who volunteer their time throughout their child's high school career and accumulate enough points to go on stage with their child while they receive their diploma. Initially this was for only one parent, but we found out just prior to the start of graduation that both my wife and I would be given the opportunity to go on stage with our son. What a wonderful experience that was.

I initially thought that the day would be very emotional for me, but I have to say that I was running around like a little kid taking pictures of my son and his friends. It was the best experience having such a great opportunity to be so close to all the excitement and on the field with my son.

Now on with the pictures, which of course has to start with shots of my son.

These next three shots are of my son's girlfriend.

Now for some of his close firends.

2010 Special Olympics Summer Games

This is my third (second consecutive) time being a photographer for the Southern California Special Olympics Summer Games.

Every year in June the Special Olympics hold their Summer Games at Long Beach State University, so when I received an email from a Special Olympic Representative inquiring about me coming out to photograph the event, I was more than happy say yes.

This year I was given the assignment to cover Bocce Ball and Basketball. I'm not new to photographing and covering basketball, but Bocce Ball was a different story. Last year I took the challenge and covered golf, which wasn't getting much if any coverage during the Summer Games. I was very pleased with my results as were the people with the Special Olympics. Because of the quality shots I provided them of the golf venue, I was given the assignment to shoot Bocce Ball this year. I took the challenge head on going out there with the mind set that I was going to show the excitement and intensity in which these athlete's compete at.

Now to the "Games", which start with the parade of athletes. This consists of law enforcement officers and volunteers lining up with the athletes coming in onto the field between them.

This first shot means so much to me and is dedicated to the California Highway Patrol, who in the week prior to the Summer Games lost two of their officers (Note the black band on their badges and the badge of the LAPD officer to your right).

Here you see the athlete's walking between the law enforcement officers during the parade of athletes.

The color guard from the Long Beach Police Department.

Motor Officers from various Southern California departments lead the way for the torch.

Seconds away from the start of the Summer Games with the torch on it's way in.

"Bocce Ball"

The athlete with the ball was wheel chair bound. His team mate would help him slowly out of his wheel chair and help into the throwing area, at which time he would hold him up and keep him steady as he threw the ball. This here is what the summer games is about. There's no thought about this man's disability, only team work and the desire to compete.

Now we get to basketball. I moved between two courts back and forth to cover as many games as I could and get a good range of action shots from the various teams.

Long Beach Middle School Cross Country Championships

This last Saturday was our Middle School Cross Country Championships held at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. It was the perfect morning for some cross country action. It was overcast, which not only kept it cool for these athletes, but it kept my shadows to almost nothing.

There were six races consisting of a boys and girls race for the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The 6th grade girls started the first race at 8:00am and the 8th grade boys held the last race at 10:30am.

I was able to cover this event from three different locations. The first location was about 100 yrds from the start and gave me a shot of the athletes as they ran through a group of trees. The second location was just past the half-way point. I positioned myself so that I would have a straight shot of them as they ran from a foot bridge. The last shot was at the finish line.

The only down side I had was that I missed the last kids of each event as I had to give myself time to position myself for each leg of the race to give it the best coverage possible.

Now what is a race without a pace car, or in this case a pace bike.

The sixth grade girls winner



Sixth grade boys winner








Seventh grade girls winner








Seventh grade boys winner






Eighth grade girls winner



Eighth grade boys winner