JAKE'S HOMETOWN

I got a call from the photo desk at the Miami Herald last week looking for a freelance photographer here in Michigan. The Miami Dolphins were drafting Jake Long from the University of Michigan and he is from Lapeer, Michigan. So they sent a reporter up to get a feel for Jake’s hometown and needed photos to go with the story. So I spent all day in Lapeer getting a feel for Jake and wear he grew up. I had not been there in quite some time. I first had the reporter hook me up with Jake’s best friend from high school who is now the schools head football coach. He was able to point me to a few other places. My best find was a hand made sign in town that said “sports cards”. So I went into Harry’s Sports Cards and he had a bunch of Jake Long “Rookie” cards and also a bunch of stories about Jake and his friends. The day went much better then I had hoped, you never know what will happen on these types of assignments, and I had fun making images to show Jake’s hometown. The story ran on Saturday but didn’t have any images online. I hope to get a few copies of the paper to send to people in Lapeer. They were real nice to me.

Downtown Lapeer

Dagwoods Deli where Jake's mom has worked for 21 years.

Harrys card shop.

Jakes best friend and head football coach at Lapeer East High, Jake.

SCOTT & CARA AT CRANBOOK

I spent a couple hours with Scott and Cara today, wedding is in July, at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where Scott went to high school. We shot around the art museum which is a popular area for photographers. Cara was a diver and gymnast in high school and college and gave me the idea for the jumping. They were fun to work with and I think it shows in the photos. Click photos for bigger view.

I think I like the above shot in black and white even more.


For you Strobists out there you can see the SB800 on a light stand in the un-cropped photo below. It just triggered it with an on camera flash pivoted to face the 800 and not the subject. The 800 was on 1/4 power about 6-8 feet in front of them and camera left.

How was the above shot lit, or not?

MORE CRAIGSLIST FUNNIES!

These just keep cracking me up!

Looking for talented photographers to shot pictures in the city (Detroit, MI)

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Dear All

Our young VIP is visiting Michigan in Mid May 2008. We are looking to hire 3-10 talented photographers to shot him in unique scenes in the city from 4pm till 7 pm (3 hours).

You must be talented, we want you to be quick and not to distract his visit, and preferably pictures from far, video professionals are welcome as well.

We want you to capture him in his car, walking, dinning, talking, looking a head, exactly how Hollywood photographers do with the celebrities, at the same time, please be professional, respectful and eager for great images.

Consider this as paid job interview, and we may hire you full time if we like your work or if you show us that you can join us in LA.

Be advised that we are this VIP office and all copyrights of the images you capture will belong to us ”Non-negotiable”.


Please e-mail for more information and we will direct you with the next steps.

Good luck


To bad they will find people to do it! A sucker born every minute!

THE RIGHT TOOLS

Baseball has never been a sport I like to watch or shoot much. It takes patience and I get impatient. But it’s much nicer when you have the right lens to shoot with. I was able to borrow a Canon 400 2.8 (yes I am lucky!) so with the 1.6 ratio on my Canon 40D that game me a little over a 600mm lens. These are not the greatest baseball shots but it was so nice to have the pitcher fill the frame, throw the background way out of focus and be able to shoot things I would normally just watch because I was so underlensed. I think I will run right out and buy one Monday morning, NOT! No way in hell could I afford the price tag and I just don’t shoot enough sports to justify the cost. But I wouldn’t turn down donations! LOL!

Ouch! Getting hit in the knee by a pitch must hurt!

This is cropped quite a bit but will hold up in the newspaper or the web. See the full frame below. But I would never even try to shoot center field normally. It was fun usung this lens.

MAX THE BUG

OXFORD – APRIL 15: John Bickel poses for a photo with a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle he restored at his State of Mind Customs shop April 15, 2008 in Oxford, Michigan. The car is one of the Black 1064 Beetles named Max featured in VW's new television commercials. (Photo by Bryan Mitchell/Special to the Detroit News) Read the story HERE in the News.

VW ads with Max the Beetle restored in the Oxford garage:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSjwLmepdtk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOrBl6yN-Wo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f99NqyLfStw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkUnVvXvjLs

DETROIT DERBY GIRLS PART3

Ok so the story ran, GO HERE, so her are some more derby girls photos like I promised. Slideshow.




The Devils Night Dames jammer #2.8 Racer McCaseHer, right, tries to find a way through the pack to score points during a bout against the Detroit Pistoffs April 12, 2008 at the Masonic Temple in downtown Detroit. A roller derby jammer is the only offensive, scoring skater on the floor at one time.

Detroit Pistoffs blocker #6 Elle McFearsome, center, tries to propel her jammer #12 RUDE Awakening, left, to the front of the pack during their bout against the Devils Night Dames.




Detroit Pistoffs captain #33 1/3 Cookie Rumble, right, hugs Devils Night Dames Summers Eve-L after a close bout the Pistoffs won

Detroit Pistoffs star jammer Effin Money signs autographs for some young fans after a bout against the Devils Night Dames.


Katherine Rocha, 30, of Clawson works on a sliding drill during open tryouts for the Detroit Derby Girls April 14, 2008 at the Riverside Skating Arena in Livonia.


Diana "Dirty D" Ward, 27, of Royal Oak does a skating drill around cones during open tryouts for the Detroit Derby Girls.

Detroit Derby Girls roller derby open tryouts - Fran Yee, 31, of Troy listens to last minute instructions before open tryouts for the Detroit Derby Girls.

MORE DERBY GIRLS

I was at open tryouts for the Detroit Derby Girls tonight to get more photos to go with the story the Detroit News is working on. Should be in the paper on Wednesday and online at detnews.com
I'll post some more derby girls photos after that. This one is kind of cool with available light, strobes with dragging the shutter but to much motion blur to send to the paper.

CRAIGSLIST FUNNIES

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/aus/558260167.html

DETROIT DERBY GIRLS

I photographed the Detroit Derby Girls for the Detroit News last night. Fun to watch and lots of photo possibilities. The light was real bad and I probably should have strobed more but decided to use more available light at high ISO to keep the rough and moody feel the place had. I should post on the subject, strobe vs available, soon. The why I do or don't sometimes. Anyway to you strobists out their fellow strobist Andy Tanguay has done some real cool strobist portraits of the teams. GO HERE. Colin J also has some nice derby girl images. I will post more photos from the bout this week after the story runs in the paper Wed or Thurs.

TAKE A WALK

COOL ONLINE PHOTO BOOK!

PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Hey Everyone I've added some images to my newspaper portfolio. I hope to do a even more complete update in the next month after I get taxes and a couple wedding books done!
Go to my main page bryanmitchell.com and click the portfolio link.

GIVING BACK - PLEASE HELP ME GIVE BACK!

BRYAN IS ONCE AGAIN HELPING OUT THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MICHIGAN WITH THE WISH-A-MILE 300 MILE (WAM300) BIKE RIDE TO RAISE MONEY IN ORDER TO GRANT WISHES TO CHILDREN WHO NEED IT.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

This will be my third year riding in and photographing WAM for Make-A-Wish. You can see my images here at this photo gallery:
GO HERE FOR GALLERY!

Some people think it’s crazy to just ride a bike 300 miles let alone carrying cameras and photographing it along the way, but its not. I think the real superstars are the volunteers who take care of us riders for three days, because we would be riding anyway. And also the families of the wish kids, what courage and strength!
This will be my toughest WAM yet as after 10 years of racing mountain bikes I decided to stop racing and unfortunately let myself get horribly out of shape. I have a lot of work to do but I always remember it’s for the kids! Thanks for stopping by and donate as much as you can even if it’s just giving up a Starbucks for a day or two.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MAKE-A-WISH HERE.

AGAIN DONATE HERE, PLEASE!