Halloween 2007

This was the motley group that left my house in search of the sugar-filled delights that define Halloween. The group is comprised of my wife, my two sons, my nephew and my three nieces. We had pirates, a geisha, the scream character, a cheetah, a frog and the devil herself made an appearance.

I went out with the group to provide protection. I'm 6'3, 295 pounds, give or take a few, and tough as nails ... well at least tougher than twinkies. So, I thought my ominous presence would ward off any evil-doers. You know the kind I'm talking about - those pesky 5-year olds who run around without looking where they're going, smacking into your knees. Oh, then there are the 13-year olds who think they are funny with every prank they pull. Turns out the group didn't really need me. My wife has a pretty good handle on youngsters. She has way of imposing her will on them.

Anyway, it was a relatively uneventful Halloween. I remembered the excitement of knowing it was time to go trick-or-treating when I was much younger. Tonight, however, I think I was asleep on the couch when the announcement was made that the time had come. I'm definitely getting old.

I hope all five readers had a safe Halloween. Take care.

CR

Favorite time of year

Fall is finally here. I know it's technically been autumn for some time now, but we're finally getting a taste of fall weather. I went out to shoot a few outdoors photos yesterday, but I didn't have much time. I'll be heading up to a hunt camp that I lease with some friends near the Michigan line for a welcome vacation next week. Deer camp, as we call it, is quite a place. We hunt over more than 400 acres of farm ground that has woods, a lake, a canoeable stream and a huge swamp area - where the big boys go. I've had some great times up at deer camp just hanging out with the guys. It's really more a week-long party. The 7 and sevens will be flowing all week, and incidentally, so will the bloody marys.


Every day starts with a huge breakfast. Pancakes, sausages, bacon, omelets toast, you name it. We'll have enough food to feed a small army. After we finish the morning hunt, it's back to the tent for venison burgers, chips and salsa, and jaunts around the property on 4-wheelers. Just before we leave for the evening hunt, the camp chef, Dan, usually puts a huge pot of venison roast and vegetables in the oven for dinner. That is unless Tom is cooking one of his delicious smoked, injected venison quarters. After dinner, everyone eiither settles in to a game of Texas hold 'em or they start telling stories and cutting on each other. I think I pick up enough insult material during this one week to last me a year.

Everyone usually comes home from our vacation week needing to hit the gym due to all the food, but it's well worth it. We work hard, and we play hard. It's actually hard to relax during the week, so it's not much of a vaction in that sense. It would be hard to guess the number of miles I walk, but I can tell you walking through swamps isn't easy, let alone hauling a big buck out of there. Walking nearly the entire property busting through thick brush and tall grass during our pheasant hunts isn't exactly a walk in the park either, well, I guess it kind of is, but you know what mean.


My wife doesn't quite understand the attraction to spending a whole week up there, but that's OK. I don't quite understand walking around shopping centers for a whole day. We each have our own interests, and that's a good thing. What she does understand is that this week means a lot to me, and she makes concessions for me to go. Thank God for that, or I'd be the butt of all the jokes and insults for the whole week. I have to find a vacation for her to spend a week away. The problem is she wants to go to places like Jamaica, Italy or Hawaii, and It would be hard for me not to go with her to places like those. Maybe I should buy a train ticket to Chicago where she can do all the shopping she wants. That would work. I can do without going to Chi town, and I'm sure a lot of Cubs/Bears/Blackhawks fans are thinking the same thing right about now.

Anyway, I didn't write this post to stir up debate about the ethics of hunting. If any readers are opposed to it, you're entitled to your opinion, but please don't send them to me. I've heard all the arguments, and we'll just have to agree to disagree. You have your interests, and I have mine, and that's a good thing. this season, I'll be doing more hunting with my camera, and I'll post some photos when I get back. Take care and go check out the outdoors this fall. It really is the best time of the year.

Other Pics from the last week

Long time no read

Whoa, I guess I haven't written to the blog in some time. Same story, different week. I have been so busy at work, the blog has taken a back seat, unfortunately. I've been writing like a mad man for the newspaper. In fact, on Sunday alone I wrote three stories, copy edited and rewrote material written by a co-worker, helped make up a schedule of must-see games and toned a bunch of photos for my stories. It's been rough to say the least, but I've made some decent pictures.


The weeks have been full of football and volleyball. I generally cover a volleyball game or two during the week then up to four football games on the weekend. Last week, I shot volleyball on Wednesday, the Colts vs. Saints on Thursday, high school football on Friday and Saint Francis football on Saturday. There was even talk of picking up another game on Sunday, but the Bears were in San Diego. It's a good thing I love football. I'm hoping to cover a Colts road game or two. I thought I would like to go out to San Diego in November, but after the Chargers got blasted by New England, I'm not sure the game would be all that good. I can guarantee one thing, though, the light and weather in SoCal in November is incredible. It would be fun to go just for that reason.



These last two photos were shot in SoCal last November. I had a great time out there and would definitely go back. The thing about Southern California is that its a good place to visit, but it's good to get back home to Indiana.

The next couple of weeks will be long. Not only will I be incredibly busy, but in two weeks I'm heading with my family for a much-needed vacation in South Carolina. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Glad to be home

It was a long weekend covering the race then heading off to the Indianapolis Colts' training camp. Considering it's late and I am all tapped out from writing, I'm just posting a couple of pics from the Colts' camp. Check out Reggie Hayes' stories about training camp and my photos at The News-Sentinel.com.

Stewart wins No.2

Check out The News-Sentinel and it's new community photo sharing site CU for more pics and coverage from race day at the Brickyard.

Clearing up Confusion

This is an example of what a reporter with a camera might carry while walking about covering an event such as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.






This, however, is what I carry for six to eight hours while walking around a two-and-a-half mile racetrack in 80-90 degree heat looking for different angles to cover an event such as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. I'm the size of a small NFL lineman, so that's not exactly a walk in the park.


***Note: everything pictured in this photo, except for the 400mm f/2.8 lens (I hope to have one soon) is 100% bought and paid for by ME.


After the race is all done, and I've run up and down pit road with this gear trying to get celebration photos of the winner so that I don't get outdone by the Associated Press, I go back to the media center and drink a few bottles of water because I've usually sweat out all the fluids in my body. Then I sit down and edit through more than 1000 images to get to the 10 or so I will submit to the paper. Next, I tone all of the select photos to make sure the color and size is correct. After that, I write captions for the images and finally transmit them back to The News-Sentinel.

Now my responsibilites include writing stories to go with the photos. **Note - not on race day; Reggie Hayes and Pete DiPrimio handle those duties.** I have to be knowledgable of the drivers' story lines and statistics. I have to think of questions that don't make me look more ignorant than I am to ask the drivers. I transcribe quotes to make sure I'm correct, that is if I was lucky enough to make it to the press conference in time. Thank goodness at events such as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard a lot of the quotes are tanscribed by track staff. But, if I'm not present I might not get the context of the conversation. Once this is all done, I write the story(s). That part takes me a lot more time than seasoned writers such as Hayes, DiPrimio, and Blake Sebring. Those guys can bang out a story. Finally, I read through the story to make sure it makes sense then send it off to The News-Sentinel.

This year I tried my hand at shooting video to go with the still photos, but with my other duties I just didn't have time to edit and process the raw footage.

I suppose that just about covers what I do in one day at the track.

Oh, then I get to hike with all that gear about a quarter mile or more out to my car in the media parking lot. Follow that up with a dinner stop and 2-hour drive ... if I'm going home.

Stats: 2 full-size digital SLR cameras (sometimes 3)
400mm f2.8 lens
300mm f2.8 lens
70-200mm f2.8 lens
16-35mm f2.8 lens
50mm f1.4 lens
1.4x teleconverter
Flash
Monopod
waist pack
Extra batteries and chargers
Flash cards
Audio recorder w/external microphone
Computer bag with laptop
point and shoot digital camera for web-sized video
a lot of other miscellaneous crap I probably don't really need


Total weight: around 40-65 pounds of gear
Total miles walked during one day: upwards of 5
Total hours: 14-20 depending on the day
Total meals: 2
Total restroom visits: 1 at the track and 1 at dinner

Amount of perceived appreciation for what it takes to cover a race such as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard: negligible

More Photos for Saturday at the Brickyard

News-Sentinel photos by Chad Ryan

Sorenson captures Brickyard Pole

Indianapolis
News-Sentinel photos and story by Chad Ryan


Reed Sorenson captured his first Nextel Cup Series pole position on Saturdya to become the youngest driver to win the pole for a major race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR rookie Juan Pablo Montoya will join him on the front row as the Chip Ganassi Racing teammates claimed the top two spots for Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Nextel Cup Series race.

Running second in the qualifying order, Sorenson posted the fast lap of 184.207 mph that held up as 47 other drivers tried to knock him off the top spot.

“This is a great place to get our first pole,” Sorenson said. “I’m pretty excited. I know it means a lot to Chip (Ganassi) and for everybody involved, and hopefully we can stay up there all day (Sunday). I think we’ve got a pretty good racecar.”

With David Stremme’s qualifying position, Ganassi placed his whole team in the top 12 spots.

“We showed up here today, and all our cars were quick,” Ganassi said. “We were working as a team, and it paid off.”

Rounding out the top five spots, Ryan Newman qualified third, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., took the fourth spot and Kasey Kahne drove into fifth. Earnhardt took the track first in the qualifying order and ran a lap speed of 183.419 mph. He had been running in the top five all day during practice, and fast lap during practice would’ve put him in the second position.

Other notables were Mark Martin at No. 13 and Tony Stewart at 14. Last year’s race winner, Jimmie Johnson qualified at 19 and Jeff Gordon came in 21st.

The 14th running of the Allstate 400 is set to start at 2:00 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast live on ESPN.

For more race coverage go to News-Sentinel.com and the new community photo sharing site CU















Juan Pablo Montoya, left, talks to J.J. Yeley on pit road during qualifications on Saturday for the 14th running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

More pics to come