Thanksgiving at El Dorado Park

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I spent the day with family and enjoyed some great company with some awesome food.

The day before and after Thanksgiving I went out to El Dorado Park to simply enjoy the evening and see what I can find. Although the pickings were slim, I did get a few shots, so enjoy and thanks for stopping by.

Lakewood Varsity Football vs San Clemente

Lakewood's season is officially over and although we didn't make it past the first round of CIF playoffs or win the Moore League, it was a great season. Lakewood over came a new football program with an almost complete new coaching staff. Even with these obstacles Lakewood played with heart and took second in the Moore League behind Poly, but that is a different story.

The first round found Lakewood matched against the San Clemente Tritons on their field and although the two teams were evenly matched, San Clemente was victorious. I'm sad to see the season over and look forward to being on the field with them next year.

So enjoy my last shots of the season showcasing Lakewood's action.

Bolsa Chica Wet Lands

Well football season is starting to wind down and although I truely love shooting football, I am ready for the season to be over. I miss getting out to shoot other things simply for my enjoyment, such as my wildlife. I don't get home until very late after a game under the lights and then have to do some quick edits so I can send various shots to a local paper and to the football teams website and when Saturday morning comes along I'm not much in the mood to get up early for some wildlife shots.

This last week Lakewood had a bye which gave me the opportunity to get out early Saturday morning. The sky was overcast with very dark rain clouds, but I headed out anyways to see what I could find, if anything simply to get out and enjoy the fresh chill morning air.

After hanging out for a couple of hours I only managed to get some pelicans that were feeding nearby and some snowy egrets. So I hope you enjoy the shots as much as I enjoyed being out there shooting.

Lakewood Varsity Football vs Millikan

Last game of the season finds Lakewood at home during their Senior Appreciation Night against Millikan.

Although Millikan has has a very rough season with no wins they have kept their heads up and played with heart. Lakewood took out a lot of their starters early in the game, if not to give others the opportunity for some field time, but to save them for their first playoff game in two weeks.

Again I decided to leave my flash set up at home. I set my Canon Mark IIn to manual with an ISO of 3200, f/2.8, and a shutter of 1/320. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't get great action shots with a shutter of 1/320. Take a look at the below shots and you be the judge. Considering what my limitations are and what I had to work with I'm very pleased with what I ended up this game. Bottom line, you can either pack up early and call it a night, or you can stay and shoot and learn from it. I choose to stay and shoot, which is the only way to improve.

Prior to game time they lined up all of the seniors on the field and I took quick shots of all of them. These two I felt made nice b&w sportraits. The two shots following these are from our half time show and of the drill team.

Lakewood Freshmen Football vs Millikan

This marks the last game of the season for both the freshmen and JV teams. To even things out I decided to cover the freshmen game at home.

Ok, for those who follow my posts will know that I favor and will almost always use my 300 f/2.8 lens for my sports shooting, but there are times when the action just gets too close. Before you think that I am going to break down and use another lens your wrong. I have no problems bringing the action in tighter and showing some detail. In the below shot you'll see just that. When the team gets withing the 20 yard line I will position myself at the end zone upright, putting me right in the middle of the field. This way I can get action coming directly at me or to the sides. Now if a pass is made to the corner of the end zone then I will usually attempt to shoot horizontal and get the upper portion of the player and outreached arms, which you see below. For me - I think it works, but you be the judge.