ChimpersCage

Baseball in the spring seem tenuous at best. It's been raining all spring. Between my day job and all the weather, it has been pretty hard to get out to any baseball or softball games. Well, I finally made one on Saturday morning. The rain came early dumping about a quarter of an inch on the Twin Cities. The games originally scheduled for 10 am, got started around 11. I knew they would be late so I didn't even arrive at the field until about 10 minutes till 11. The games were at Normal Community West (NCWHS), a double header between the Green Wave of Mattoon and the Wildcats of Normal West. It was a bit of a treat in seeing a pitcher from West that normally doesn't pitch a lot. Blake Brown, a Missouri recruit was on the mound and pitched a wonderful 5 and 2/3's innings. He walked away with the win with some great hitting and base running of his own and a lot of team support. Now, the rain - I'm really glad we had that 1.4 inch. It wet the field down and with a 40 mi...

It's not a very pretty device, but it does get the light where you need it when taking a macro shot. For less than $40, a mere 1/10th of what you would spend on any type of macro light from a large manufacture, you could have this one. It's to simple a 5th grader could make one. Be sure to check it out if you like to make your own accessories and take macro shots. It's at http://www.alanlook.com/gear along with the other contraptions I've concocted. They aren't all pretty, but the do work and cost less than manufactured units. I don't generally talk about my dreams. I'm not a person that really takes a lot of stock in them. The other night I had a dream that ended up with me at a Taylor Swift concert. (Get your mind out of the gutter). Funny the evening started out with me at the Shirk Center shooting some kind of event. As I was leaving, I saw the Tri-Valley roller derby team on the track in Wilder Field. Strange, roller derby isn't a high school sport....

I'm speechless. the AP this morning reported that Football Hall of Famer John Madden is retiring from the broadcast booth. Sunday night football won't be the same. John is 73 and has a list of credentials too long to mention. Needless to say, he was one of the few broadcasters last season to really respect and listen to. John, we'll miss you but remember the chalk drawings and lessons you taught.

This morning I wast thumbing through the ever decreasing pages in the weekly newspaper I get and found an article about the Masters Golf Tournament that plays this weekend. It seems that all the players are complaining the course is too tough. Too tough? That should make it more challenging for them No more expecting to break par on every hole. I kind of like it. I occasionally take a heavy bag of 14 clubs to the manicured grass at some of the local places. What I do isn't considered golf, but it entertaining and does one good to get out in the open air away from the office and relax. It would really do wonders for those of us who shoot in the 90's or 100's to see the pro's look a little more human, have to reconsider their strategy from each tee, and really have to work for 4 rounds to take home that chump change. (yes, I expect many who read this figure I just don't know what I'm talking about. Let's compare to baseball. The long ball used to be...

In the past week, I've had the pleasure of covering the Illinois State Lady Redbirds play 2 home games in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Redbirds were honored to host both on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena. The first, a sweet 16 game against Marquette came down to the wire with Kristi Cirone sinking 2 free throws with 9 seconds left to put the Redbirds ahead by one point. A buzzer launched shot from the baseline missed, rimming out the game and season for the Golden Eagles. Following that Thursday night game was a Sunday 2:05 game against none other than the Hoosiers of Indiana. Wow, is about all I can say for that game. The 3600+ in attendance were rowdy and made as much noise as a crowd 3 times the size. Why didn't I put in my ear plugs, I'll never know. On the floor, the passion from each team to continue on to the final 4 was evident. It was a pretty bang up game with girls hitting the floor on almost every up and down. The officiating...

One question staff phtograpers always ask me is why I shoot both teams. Aren't you on assignment to shoot a particular team? Well, yes I am. But, being a freelancer and keeping your copyright - something that staff shooters can't do - means that there are always other opportunities to market your work. So, shooting one team can also mean shooting the defensive end. It can also mean an additional payday. Last Wednesday I arrived home to find the March 23rd March Madness edition of Sports Illustrated in my mailbox. This edition has a cover comprised of a photo of a player from each of the college teams that make it to the NCAA tournament. I immediately got out my magnifying glass and found 2 teams that I had shot. After looking at them and looking through my archive I realized that both those images were my shots. Wow! I've been inside Sports Illustrated with a few of my automotive images and also in SI for kids a few times, but never on the cover. So the first time on the co...

Well, the high school sports season is coming to a close for the season for me. Specializing in football, volleyball and basketball generally leaves me to special projects and household chores by the middle of March. Sure, I'll do an occasional softball or baseball game but the real busy season for me has concluded. Fertilizer, paint, and a circular saw are certainly in my near future. Most likely a wash mitt and a chamois as well. Thinking of special projects, I may just begin on one that I've wanted to do for a few years. I like to build things. If you look at my website - http://www.alanlook.com/ - you can see the floor mount and the flash bracket that I've made. I've also dabbled a bit with some flash diffusers and I'm also working on a bandalero style camera strap similar to the R strap by BlackRapids. Most of my creations stem from need. The one on my mind right now is far from needs based. Large format has always been too expensive of an endeavor for me to t...