Point Reyes National Seashore
This weekend, I decided to do some driving around the Bay Area and headed up to Marin County to Point Reyes National Seashore and surrounding areas. The photo above of the Point Reyes shipwreck along the shore of Tomales Bay in Inverness, California is technically not within the NPS park boundaries, but nonetheless was my favorite part of the trip. I got lucky with a mostly cloudy morning with some sun shining through which created some nicely lit images. Unfortunately most of the places along the seashore that I wanted to visit were covered in dense fog, but I was happy to find a few nice images.
Remembering Yeardley Love
Today, May 8, at the 2010 NCAA Women’s Golf West Regionals at the Stanford Golf Course, the University of Virginia women’s team played with their balls marked with the number 1 and the name “Love” in honor of Yeardley Love, the UVA women’s lacrosse player who was allegedly murdered by UVA men’s lacrosse player George Huguley earlier this week. This image is of a par putt by Brittany Altomare on the 10th hole.
Sad Day in Charlottesville
Today’s news from Charlottesville is very sad indeed. Yeardley Love, a fourth-year on the #4 ranked UVA women’s lacrosse team was apparently murdered overnight. She is pictured above from a game March 2009. What makes this story even more shocking is that fellow Wahoo George Huguley has been arrested and charged with her murder. Hard to believe this happened at UVA.
George Huguely – Images by Jason O. Watson
Against the wall – Baltimore Orioles at Oakland A’s
The struggling Baltimore Orioles defeated the Oakland A’s 8-3 on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. The shot above is of Rajai Davis seriously leaping up the left-center field wall for a fly ball. While he didn’t make the catch, I was really pleased with the image. It’s somewhat rare to get an outfield play with such a clean background and I’m happy this turned out the way it did.
View entire gallery of photos from this game
20100418 – Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics (Major League Baseball) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Playoff Hockey… Almost…
Last night the Vancouver Canucks came to town to face the San Jose Sharks for the penultimate game of the NHL regular season. The Sharks ending up winning the top seed in the Western Conference. Once the Sharks were up 4-0 in the game, the gloves came off — literally. The third period brought lots of fights and penalties. At one point, the Sharks had six players in the penalty box and had only 3 skaters on the ice. It was clear that both teams are gearing up for the playoffs — lots of hard hitting. Good fun in the Shark Tank.
View complete photo gallery of this game
20100408 – Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks (NHL Hockey) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Charleston, South Carolina
I recently traveled back to the east coast to visit my family and spent some time in Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. I had been to Charleston just over two years prior, and was pleased to have two very nice days to revisit many of the areas I had previously photographed under better light. I’ve added over 70 new images to my Charleston gallery and a bunch to my Georgia gallery as well.
More photographs from Charleston, SC
USA: South Carolina – Charleston – Images by Jason Watson
NHL Hockey: St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks
I’m starting to have a lot of fun with this whole hockey thing. Last week, I shot the St. Louis Blues vs. San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. I shot at the Sharks Head ice-level photographer hole locations for the first and third periods and up top for the second. Fortunately, great things happened on my end during the third period as the Sharks tied the game up 1-1 to send it to overtime (the Blues were shooting on my end the first and third). I got very lucky with this particular image — the NHL/Sharks photographer was sitting next to me and shooting with the arena’s strobes — I some how managed to catch some of his light in this frame. Enough to pop the color and create a bit of a shadow, subtle but it definitely helps this frame. Usually when this happens, all or part of the image is completely washed out — less than 5% of the time it actually helps. This was one of those lucky times. The Sharks went on to win 2-1 in overtime on a Dany Heatley breakaway goal — to the other end of the ice.
More images from the game…
20100106 – St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks (NHL Hockey) – Images by Jason Watson
NFL: Washington Redskins at Oakland Raiders
December 13, 2009; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Justin Fargas (25) leaps over Washington Redskins defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin (96) for a touchdown during the second quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Washington defeated Oakland 34-13.
The first half of the Redskins/Raiders game was pretty enjoyable — the teams were evenly matched and the score was close. Then Oakland’s quarterback Bruce Gradkowski was knocked out the game for the entire second half with injuries to both knees. The Raiders brought in JaMarcus Russell who, despite throwing 10 for 16 for 80 some yards, was intercepted once, fumbled, and was sacked SIX TIMES in the second half. As such, the Redskins rolled.
This game was particularly fun because of the on and off rain showers that kept falling before and during the game. It would rain, and then the sun would come out (and I’d take some of the rain gear off) and then it would rain again, put the rain gear back on. So far, rain out here, compared to back in Virginia, is light and misty, which makes shooting tolerable. Regardless, the weather was MUCH BETTER than the 20 degrees and negative wind chill the last time I shot the Redskins last December at FedEx field.
20091213 – Washington Redskins at Oakland Raiders (NFL Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
NCAA Football – Notre Dame at Stanford
Stanford’s Toby Gerhart is the real deal. So is Notre Dame’s Golden Tate. Last night Gerhart and his Cardinal defeated the Fighting Irish 45-38 at Stanford Stadium in what was a photographer’s (and fan’s) treat. There were amazing touchdown catches, bone crushing rushes (mostly from Gerhart who seemed to often carry the entire ND defense on his back while moving the ball forward), several lead changes, a gutsy 4th and 4 call to even the score late in the fourth quarter, and a game winning touchdown drive. Stanford’s fans rushed the field afterwards which made covering the ensuing melee a bit interesting. Now I see why most coaches have a bubble of police surrounding them after the game — not true for this game. Charlie Weis, who may have coached his last game at Notre Dame, had his own personal bubble of assistants helping to clear the way as he searched for Jim Harbaugh. A great game to end the regular college football season.
Photo gallery from the game
20091128 – Notre Dame at Stanford (NCAA Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Coach Al Groh
Today, my alma mater, the University of Virginia, dismissed Al Groh as the football coach after a 3-9 season. As a sports photographer, I’ve covered Coach Groh over the last five years — compiling a wide range of images. There are many who have been calling for this change, particularly after loses to Duke, William and Mary, and Southern Mississippi. It seems, for me, that for all the bad losses, there was an equal number of great games — the Thursday night victory over then #3 Florida State in 2005, the 2007 season where the Cavaliers won 5 games by 2 points or less, and victories over PItt and West Virginia in the Tire Bowl and Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. I was particularly impressed with how Coach Groh handled his final postgame press conference — an appropriately reflective tribute for how the Cavaliers were coached over the last nine years.
Al Groh – Images by Jason O. Watson>Photographs of Al Groh
A good football game in the WAC
I was assigned to shoot the Idaho Vandals at the San Jose State Spartans on October 10th. US Presswire wanted me to shoot Nathan Enderle, Idaho’s quarterback (pictured above). This turned out to be a great game with several lead changes and the it wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter. It was also a good opportunity to shoot some stock of players that don’t usually get as much exposure as other BCS conference teams. One of the things I recall was the the light really died off quickly from late afternoon to night and Spartan Stadium is a pretty dark place to shoot at night. The sidelines were pretty tight space-wise behind the benches and I was prevented from moving behind SJSU’s bench by the security guards. I had to walk all the way around, behind the much friendlier Idaho bench to get from one end zone to the other. I was also asked four different times for my credentials while on the field, despite that it was hanging around my neck for the world to see. The field security was pretty odd, but everyone was super nice including the SID staff up in the press box. Idaho won the game 29-25.
More photos from Idaho at San Jose State
20091010 – Idaho at San Jose State (NCAA Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
San Jose Sharks NHL Home Opener vs the Columbus Blue Jackets
The San Jose Sharks hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on October 8th. This was my first NHL game shooting, and the first since I watched the NY Islanders play the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nassau Coliseum over a decade ago. I was impressed with the crowd – it was the home opener for the Sharks and the 17,000+ fans were certainly very much into the game. This game pretty much had a little bit of everything – lots of goals (the Sharks won 6-3), a hat trick by Dany Heatly, a couple of good fights in the second period, and a penalty shot (where Heatley netted his third).
I shot the entire game from above in one of the video booths, almost entirely with my 400mm f/2.8L. The Sharks are reconfiguring their ice level photo sports, and There were only three holes to shoot from and they were quickly taken by other shooters. All in all, very fast paced and a lot of fun to shoot.
More images from the Blue Jackets at Sharks game
20091008 – Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks (NHL Hockey) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Washington at Stanford – NCAA Football
In my short time shooting PAC10 and WAC football, I’ve noticed a couple of key differences from the ACC, Big East, etc. The first, the weather — it’s almost always 70 degrees and awesome outside in Palo Alto. Second, there’s a ton of offense — or put another way, there often is lot less defense (i.e. no 7-5 UVa v UNC games). This second observation roughly held true as Stanford upset the Huskies 34-14 in front of the home crowd. Washington entered the game ranked nationally in the polls after defeating then #3 USC the week prior. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck (pictured above scoring a touchdown on a boot leg) and running back Toby Gerhart (below) dominated the game for the Cardinal. The recently renovated Stanford Stadium is a great place to shoot — especially with the stadium only a mile from my apartment 
More images from Washington at Stanford
20090926 – Washington at Stanford (NCAA Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics – Major League Baseball
The above image is of Oakland Athletics infielder Daric Barton (10) sliding into home plate during the second inning against against the Texas Rangers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 22, 2009. This was my first major league game — after shooting several years of NCAA baseball, it was nice to cover a late season MLB game. The A’s dominated this one, and won 9-1 — pretty much eliminating the Ranger’s hopes of a wild card playoff birth.
20090922 – Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics (Major League Baseball) – Images by Jason O. Watson
San Jose State at Stanford – NCAA Football
The nice thing about early season evening / twilight games is that there are often a few select spots in the stadium where late afternoon sunlight sneaks through the stands and on to the field. This image, taken on September 19, 2009, of Stanford fullback Owen Marecic (48) being tackled by San Jose State Spartans linebacker Travis Jones (14) and defensive end Carl Ihenacho (95), is one such example. The light here doesn’t even hit the field, but is just enough to highlight Marecic. Pretty cool. Here’s another example with Antonio Appleby from the 2007 season when Virginia played at NC State:
In the Stanford / San Jose State game, I was pretty impressed with how Stanford handled the Spartans. Definitely a different crowd atmosphere than what I’m normally used to. Stanford’s band has certainly taken the eclectic pep band genre to a new level and the students, while fully into the game, seemed a little more civilized and polite than the alcohol-fueled student sections at certain ACC and SEC schools. Regardless, Stanford won easily, 42-17.
20090919 – San Jose State at Stanford (NCAA Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
Boise State at Fresno State – NCAA Football
The #10 ranked Boise State Broncos came to Fresno State for a Friday night NCAA football game under the lights. This was my first game since moving west, and I drove the three hours from the Bay Area for this game. Really glad I wore shorts because it was over 100 degrees at kick off (6pm). Fresno State really loves their Bulldogs and it was a lot of fun to shoot this one as there was absolutely no defense on either side of the ball (Boise St. won 51-34). There were multiple 60+ yard touchdown runs on both sides and lots of pyrotechnics whenever Fresno St. scored. Cool stuff.
Gallery of images from this game
20090918 – Boise State at Fresno State (NCAA Football) – Images by Jason O. Watson
A day at the races – Infineon Raceway – Sonoma, CA
A co-worker of mine generously gave me her ticket to today’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. This was my first Indy Car race and I had an absolute blast! This unique 12 turn track is a photographer’s paradise… all of my images were taken from general access areas and I did not have credentials (which would’ve gotten me further down along the wall and a few other places around the complex). Got to the track early enough to watch the various pre-race races. In the development race before the Grand Prix, there was a massive crash in turn 2 (7 cars, 4 of which had to be towed). There was a radio broadcast deck over looking the uphill part of the turn and I parked it here for the beginning of the race. Lucky enough, there was a crash in the first lap. This actually helped pole sitter and eventual race winner Dario Franchitti hold the lead for the entire race.
The races and great weather (clear skies with upper 70s) combined to make an excellent day. Definitely need to head back to Sonoma next time NASCAR and IRL come to town.
Gallery of Photos from Indy Grand Prix at Sonoma
20090823 – Indy Grand Prix at Infineon Raceway Sonoma California – Images by Jason O. Watson
Alcatraz Island
Saturday I went to Alcatraz Island (and later Angel Island) with Shannon and hundreds of other tourists on board the ferry from Pier 33 in San Francisco. It was an early morning but an unusually clear and moderately warm day in the Bay Area. I’ve always enjoyed visiting and photographing National Parks and this trip was no exception — the NPS does an exceptional job of presenting the story of the origins of the island as a Civil War military installation, military prison, federal prison, Indian occupied island, and park. 82 year old former Alcatraz guard Frank Heaney was on the dock and gave a brief talk on his experiences working on the island. For me, it was pretty cool to be able to experience and listen to a bit of living history. The self guided walking tour up to the prison was very interesting – as was the audio tour that described the various areas and history of the facility. A great introduction to San Francisco – I learned a lot!
Gallery of Photos from Alcatraz
USA: California: Alcatraz Island – Images by Jason O. Watson
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Shannon took me to Monterey over the weekend and we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Really cool place – seemed larger than Baltimore – the big difference between the two, IMHO was that Baltimore seems more focused on the diversity of their exhibits where Monterey’s mission is clearly education based. Both are amazing places that are among my favorites places to go… Cannery Row, etc was also fun… was surprised at the quasi-manufactured tourist look/feel of the surrounding shops, etc. Regardless, it’s very nice to be shooting again after a hiatus from moving to California. Used a polarizer on a 16-35mm f/2.8L to cut through the serious glare on the glass… noise ninja helped some with the high iso needed in the dark rooms. Also learned that nearby Castroville is the artichoke center of the world… the entire town smells like artichokes and even the garbage cans have artichoke logos on them. Random trivia.
More images from Monterey Bay Aquarium
USA: California: Monterey Bay Aquarium – Images by Jason O. Watson
Sherlock arrives on the West Coast
After two trips (one by air, one by land) across the country, Sherlock and I finally made it out to California. I took him to Poplar Beach / Bluff Top Coastal Park, near Half Moon Bay, yesterday for a couple of hours. Sherlock met his first California Sea Lion — I guess it was a little different than the white tailed deer he’s used to chasing through the woods behind Redfields in Charlottesville, but the over effect was the same — Mr. Sea Lion was pissed, made a lot of noise and went back into the ocean. The fishermen in the background thought it was good entertainment. This was Sherlock’s first trip to the ocean since a trip to OBX several years ago, and his first sight of the Pacific. More photos previous trips are in the slideshow below…
In other news, I’m settling into the new job and am very much enjoying the change of scenery. Missing Charlottesville, but it helps that I’m in an amazing place working with and surrounded by top-notch folks. It may take a little while to re-establish regular photoblog updates, but I plan on doing so as soon as possible.
Sherlock and the Beach – Images by Jason O. Watson
