Liberty vs Tracy track on February 23, 2012 at Liberty.  This was the first meet of the 2012 season with lots of participants from both schools.  The weather, temperature wise was good, but wow, the wind was really blowing hard.  I'm sure this made it tough for all of the athletes but, as they say, the show must go on.

I was asked to shoot video for the 800 meter race, which I did, and posted it on our site.  This was my first attempt at shooting HD with my Canon 5d2 so it was a bit of a learning experience.  I used my monopod to hold the camera steady, but found that as I tracked the runners from a vantage point where I could see the entire track, it would jump and jerk more that I expected.  I will have a proper video head mounted to my stationary tripod during the next meet.  You can see the video and a few other photo's of the track meet by clicking this link http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Sports/Track/21665220_Ftq4HQ#!i=1728264066&k=VThFf6Z

Excelsior played O'Hara Park on the 22nd of February at Timber Point.  If you are looking for some intense sports, come watch these middle school basketball games.  These guys play hard from start to finish.

To see the entire batch of photo's click on this link http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Sports/ExcelsiorOHara-Basketball/21610276_jntN9g#!i=1723346986&k=8FrjgDM

Excelsior middle school played Adams on February 6, 2012.  Another tough game.  Both teams were aggressive and fought hard throughout the entire game.

On another note, I finally figured out how to best shoot an indoor basketball game.  Lighting in the gym is weak at best, requiring a flash for assistance. I'm not saying I perfected it, but I finally figured out the settings needed to give enough light to stop the action and not produce ghosts.  Flash photography definitely presents more challenges than shooting outdoors.  I'm anxious to try my new skills on the next game to see if it was just blind luck or I'm really getting the hang of it.  Please click on this link to see all the photos from the game http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Sports/ExcelsiorAdams-Basketball/21364827_TTxPBz#!i=1701934563&k=smw5bhS

Snow Creek (Paul's annual Birthday backpack trip)

Well, I got a little behind updating this blog, but February proved to be pretty darn busy.  Please forgive me.

The photo's in this blog are from our Yosemite Snow Creek backpack trip hosted by Paul (annual birthday hike). The top photo is where we set up base camp, with our tent nestled in the trees. It is at the top of the Snow Creek trail, just before the bridge that crosses over the creek at about 6,700 foot elevation.

The middle photo shows the outlet from Mirror Lake and was such a beautiful green reflection we couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture the moment.  Lastly, our bottom photo is the iconic Half Dome, which just happens to be the view as we come out of our tent in the morning. Absolutely breathtaking!  Not much snow this year, but it was cold (brrrr).


As we were sitting around the campfire this year, we realized this is our first trip with just the three of us, Paul, Christian, and Bill.  In addition, we began our hike from the backpackers parking lot just below Glacier Point at an uncustomary time of 10:00pm.  We took advantage of the 3/4 moon, which aided us during the treeless portion of the trail, and flipped on our headlamps as we hiked through the trees  We made it to our base camp just after 2:00am, a bit tired and cold, but found it all worthwhile when we woke up looking at Half Dome. You can see all the pictures from this trip, including a movie/slide show by visiting http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Family/Backpacking-Snow-Creek/21340760_BBsNCp#!i=1708715000&k=wVT6VX4 

Excelsior played Bristow yesterday at Timber Point which looked like an absolute landslide win for Bristow by half time.  Not sure what Excelsior's coach said to his team during the break but they came out with both barrels blasting.  Unfortunately for Excelsior it was a flash in the pan and at the end, Bristow had a pretty significant lead.  For the spectators, it was quite a show.  To see more photo's of the game please visit http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Sports/ExcelsiorBristow-Basketball/21264883_k56xd8#!i=1692981907&k=MhJwKxw  Hope you enjoy.

CYO Basketball - St Annes vs St Bonaventure

St Annes and St Bonaventure played a tough CYO basketball game last night at Clayton Valley High School.  It was pretty tight in the beginning, but St Annes began to pull away in the second half.  To see more action from the game you can click on the link below: http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Sports/St-Annes-20120129/21259510_7KZXW8#!i=1692507937&k=4zCgpsX

CYO Basketball - St Annes vs Immaculate Heart

On Sunday January 22, 2012 St Annes went head to head with Immaculate Heart at Deer Valley in the CYO basketball league.  All the players went full steam throughout the entire game and gave the spectators quite a show.  More photo's can been viewed at http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Sports/St-Annes-20120122/21259204_gL98KN#!i=1692483374&k=Fm8HdBC   Hope you enjoy!

Basketball - Excelsior at Edna Hill Middle School

Took some time to enjoy my grandson's basketball game on Thursday.  Excelsior at Edna Hill Middle School.  Looked like a tough battle through the first period  with the score very close but as the game progressed, Excelsior began to take control.  When the final buzzer sounded Excelsior stood as the victor.  Well played by both teams.  To see more pictures please click the following link
Basketball - Excelsior vs Edna Hill Middle School or go to www.motionphotographyonline.com.

The family all drove up to Tahoe Donner on Friday for Brandon's birthday weekend.  He will be become a teenager on Monday, which is a very special birthday.  We couldn't ask for better weather, however, when you go up to the mountains in mid-January to snow ski it would be nice to have some actual snow on the ground.  All was not lost though due to mankinds ingenuity to make artificial snow.  Not the best, but it worked out just fine. Saturday was spent on the slopes and Sunday was a day to hike and do a little window shopping in town. I was able to find time to snap a view pictures along the way.  The top photo is the Truckee River taken at a spot just off of Highway 89 between Squaw Valley and Truckee. The second shot shows the Truckee River as it passes through the actual town of Truckee heading toward Reno, Nevada.  The last photo is of Brandon, the birthday celebrant.  To see the rest of the photo's including shots from our hike to Martis Creek Lake, just outside of Truckee, please visit our website at www.motionphotographyonline.com and look in the "Family" gallery (password required).

We took a ride out to the San Francisco's Farmers Market this past Saturday.  After buying a few organic neccesities, we took a walk on the pier to people-watch but were given quite a show by the many seagulls at hand.  They were plentiful and many would perch themselves on the railings waiting patiently for someone to walk by and drop a morsel at which time they would spring into action and swoop in to get it before the unsuspecting victim had a chance to bend down and pick it up.

After lunch we took a scenic drive on the road just over the Golden Gate Bridge (north side) that takes you out to the ocean point.  This is a great road if you really want to see some of California's history dating back to WWII.  It begins as a two lane road but as you peak out at the top it narrows into a one lane, one way road, that takes you past many of the old pill boxes and bunkers that housed some of the anti-aircraft guns and canon's that where capable of sinking anything attempting to get through the mighty Golden Gate.  A great ride but I suggest you take this excursion on a weekday since there were ton's of people on this particular Saturday.  You can see more photo's from the day at http://www.motionphotographyonline.com/Travel/San-Francisco/18554653_pt9rB8#!i=1432753456&k=GbSTxDx or visit www.motionphotographyonline.com and click on galleries, then Travel (password is required).  Please email me at motionphotography@comcast.net if you are unable to view.  Hope you enjoy.