Show Time

The setup here in Chicago went very well. The AV Vendor that provided the gear was really good and the equipment was all pretty new and in excellent shape.
The biggest problem we had was one of the back up projectors was dimmer and flickry (is that a word?) Rob replaced the lamp and that problem was fixed.

I have a digital console on this gig, it is the Yamaha LS9. The more I get to work with this board, the more I like it!
6 wireless microphones and 128 conference microphones spread throughout the room are the inputs, and I am using 9 of the 16 mixes for outputs. We are recording this meeting and sending audio to a audio teleconference. I get to use my JK Audio Innkeeper telephone interface, which is working in stellar form I might add. We are also sending audio feeds to the ePharma group and they are recording the event as well.

All and all, it is a cool gig, a little bit intricate with all the feeds going back and forth, and it is going well.
Here are before and after pictures of the room we are set up in.

Chicago... well... Rosemont Illinois

Last night I did something I have been looking forward to for a while.
I got to wander around Boston and shoot photos with Evan Andrews, Allen Price and Mike Steighner.
We had no real agenda, and it was really more about us all hanging out than it was actually capturing a million dollar image.



We stopped at a fountain and shot pictures of the kids running around in it... we were enjoying watching all that so much, that we pretty much blew the great lighting of the sky when it gets deep blue and by the time we went to continue shooting photos, it was pretty much just black. However, it was still a lot of fun!

Here are a couple of shots from last night.





Today I hopped on a plane and am now in Chicago at an airport hotel right by O'hare Airport.
The hotel is very hip and cool with it's architecture and furnishings, but it is totally a business hotel, so it is pretty boring out here.
This is a shot of the bathroom in my hotel room... I know.. kinda weird to be posting the bathroom.. but it is a cool bathroom.. as far as hotel bathrooms go.



Tomorrow morning we start our setup at 7:30 am and it most likely will be a very long day.
I am very happy to be out on the road working though and I won't be complaining... at least about that!

Show in Boston

The alarm went off at 3:00 am and I headed to the airport for a 6:00 am flight to Boston. I was pretty stoked to be back on the road working.
I did not however, need to have my luggage stuck in Chicago while I was in Boston, but United got it to me pretty swiftly all things considered.
A great dinner with some of the boys at the hotel restaurant called Turners. It was nice to hang out and laugh with some really great guys and then off to a lovely nights sleep in a heavenly bed here at the Westin Copley.

This morning we met in the ballroom around 9:00 am and watched an empty ballroom transform into a meeting set with lights, video and audio flown to the ceiling on lighting trusses.
The day has gone by pretty fast. we set up 20 laptops in the foyer of the ballroom and networked them all with an Apple Airport extreme wireless router.
Today's call will end at 5:00 pm sharp and we will go out and about and shoot some photos, have a great dinner somewhere and then another good nights sleep in the Westin's heavenly beds.
Tomorrow I fly off to Chicago to work on a show at the Intercontinental O'hare for a couple of days and then head back here to Boston for the last day of the show and the strike.
Life is good!

Opening night at the Folsom Pro Rodeo

Tonight's adventure was trying to shoot a good image at the Rodeo.
Without being able to get close.... the sun super bright and then totally gone... it was a challenge at best.
Then the old dude that kept telling me that I wasn't allowed to use my camera because it looked too commercial, everyone else is allowed to use their camera's but spend a couple of bucks on equipment, and all of a sudden you are a problem.
The frosting on his stupid cake was when he told me that I should go up to the top of the bleachers and shoot from there..."where he couldn't see me" was his quote. I pretty much ignored him, and then when he harassed me again, I just told him that it was ridiculous. He then told me to go up to the top of the bleachers or "the cops will throw you out" I looked him right in the eye and told him that it was fine with me, and the cops could throw me out.

He apparently went and tattled on me... and the cops came and told me that I was pissing someone off... I replied that I knew that... and it was ridiculous. The cop turned and walked away and said... it was ridiculous. So, I went to another part of the stands and continued shooting.
I pretty much plan to keep shooting for the next two nights and hopefully I will be able to avoid old grouchy.

So, here is my first offering. Shooting sports in low light presents a huge... HUGE learning curve... but I will keep trying.

My flicker site is here

The Slideshow of the rodeo is here

My favorite shot of the night is probably a toss up between these two.



and this one

The Running of the Steer

Every year in Folsom just before the Folsom Pro Rodeo, they have a cattle drive right down Sutter St. First they have a mile long foot race where they require teams of 5 people to be linked together with some kind of rope and they call this the Bullipede race.
Then a little bit of festivities with all sorts of groups on Horses followed by one of California's only surviving cattle drives.
It sounds a bit bigger than it is.... but nonetheless... it is pretty cool.
I decided to try and get the best photo of this experience that I could, and stood out in the middle of Sutter St. with my camera and hid behind a tree. Disregarding the warnings that the Folsom Pro Rodeo claimed no liability as to my safety, I felt pretty confident and cool about not being trapped on the sidelines with the crowd.



The Wells Fargo Stage Coach rolled down the street and it was a cool site to see.



Then the announcement came that the Cattle were on their way! I started to shoot and then realized that a photographer from the local newspaper had snuck up behind me and was using my tree to protect himself from getting gored. That was ridiculous! This was my tree! As the Cattle got closer... like within 2 feet of me, I was just trying not to get stuck by these huge beasts... then the cattle drive was over and I was left standing there.. camera in hand.. wondering what happened.
It was a bit scary, and I am disappointed in myself for missing the shot... getting distracted with worry about my personal safety rather than hunkering down and getting the photo at all costs, but hey... live and learn.. next time I will show up on the 11:00 O'clock news... but I will get the shot!
Anyway.. here are the images I captured.