ShutterSpeed

Let me preface this entry by saying that anyone who doesn’t give thanks to and/or think about the original Matrix on a daily basis is a fool. Period. There is no excuse for not doing so. It is your mind’s right for giving you the ability to do things like, well, live and breathe.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen the aforementioned film, go out, buy — not rent — buy it and watch it seven or eight times… I’ll wait… good. Great film, huh?

Now you know the scene when you think Neo is about to smoke one of those suited fools on top of the building only to find out that the guy has the kind of agility and quickness that make Barry Sanders and Fred Astaire look like Barry Manilow and Fred Flinstone as he dodges bullets? If not, here is a picture:

Well, that’s just dandy and drool inducing. And since this is precisely the scene that kept me on the couch in my parents’ basement for the better part of a decade eating Rasin Bran and living out my prime, I decided to pay homage to it with a Prep Athlete of the week photo.

My subject, Kyle “Did he just do that?” Grott. His ability to make opposing defensive backs look like my dad on ice skates was good enough reason for me to want to make him look Matrixesque.

The above photo is the final version. To read more on how the shot was made and how my assistant’s foot speed  played a crucial role, read on by clicking “continue reading” below.

Thanks for looking.

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A pretty cool chance to shoot a group of tough guys. Finally, I’m in like company… of course I’m kidding. Their Under Armour could beat me senseless.

We shot these behind the Black Dragon Dojo for the pure and simple reason that I was too sweaty indoors. Luckily, the brick wall we shot in front of made for a nice touch of color, texture and tough. Generally, I’m not a brick wall shooter (not that there is anything wrong with it). It’s just never been my thing — I like skies and fields of lilies more.

Each of the models had enough badddd in them to make these work really well. Even T.J. (the guy in white who smiled the whole time) went into kill mode. I believe the rage was mostly directed at me. When I asked for their best tough look, they gave me pretty average toughness. When I said act tough like you’re going directly at me for a kill, they actually made me wet myself a little.

Thanks for looking.

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Usually, I work on a tight deadline. That’s the lay of the land (or insert some other adage expressing the stresses of having a job).

Anyway, working with American Legion Post 6 has always been fun and they usually put my back to the wall. If they play at night, I’m forced to shoot, edit, transmit, drink a root beer and eat an all-beef frank before deadline. For this particular shoot, however, I had all afternoon… as in, all afternoon before the team left for the northwest regional in Medford, Ore., later that day.

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This is the finished product in all it's glory. We were able to avoid all the distractions and poses that helped the other shots lack in goodness. In my opinion, this was more difficult than training for six hours a day. Just ask Stacy.

Stacy Farman is more man than me… but only in the figurative sense, of course. She has completed an astonishing 30-plus triathlons since 2006 when she finished her first event. Since 2006, I’ve ran 11 miles, walked 13 and swam 100 meters (the current carried me 94). As for bicycling, not since the early 90s when my Schwinn’s brakes blew out.

Anyway, Farman’s badness aside, I shot a portrait of her. It was a difficult 15 minutes dealing with bad skies, wires, buildings, bushes and grease on my favorite pink(ish) shirt.

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LCCC bull rider Justin Thomas poses for a portrait on Happy Jack Road. Moments later he was struck by a Mack Truck, which subsequently exploded.

Recently, I hung out with and shot LCCC bull rider Justin Thomas on Happy Jack Road. The hanging out entailed making sure the speeding traffic did not strike him during the photo op. He was, however, grazed by a semi, but he’s a bull rider, so it exploded and he walked away unscathed.

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