Today Paul and I headed out to the Tulsa Shock media day to photograph the players for the league and the team. It's always a little bit of a madhouse at these events with so much going on, so I thought I would post a little video to show you what it takes to make a successful media day shoot.
Enjoy the video and be sure to comment or email me if you have and questions. Also, be sure to catch the shock this year. They really stacked up a roster in the off season with Swoopes, Cambage, Pederson and more.
Summer Reading List
1. Hemingway's Guns
http://www.amazon.com/
I mean does this need anymore of an explanation? The stories of all of Hemingway's guns, how he acquired them and what he did with them. Brilliant idea for a book. I only hope it's decently written.
2. An Unfinished Life
http://www.amazon.com/
A novel by one of the few fiction writers I read. I really liked Where Rivers Change Directions and The Fruit of Stone. Thanks to Tim DuBois for the introduction.
http://www.amazon.com/Red-
The only novel written by one of my favorite non-fiction writers, Guy Del La Valdene. His non-fiction books on woodcock (Making Game) and bobwhite quail (For a Handful of Feathers) are both brilliantly written and wildly informative.
3. The Fragrance of Grass
http://www.amazon.com/
OK, scratch Red Stag. I found out while penning this post that La Valdene has released his final book on hunting. It took him ten years to write. This book is getting moved to the top of the list. If you like the outdoors, hunting, fishing or just plain fantastic writing, you need to check this guy out.
4. For Whom the Bell Tolls
http://www.amazon.com/Whom-
To revive my old tradition of reading a big heavy classic each summer. I plan to read it alongside #1. Although I should probably match the gun book with True at First Light, I am uninterested in posthumous publications after reading the last writings released by Edward Abbey's estate. Recently published books by long dead authors smell odd and leave a strange taste on the palette. Let me know if you know of an exception.
5. The Raw and the Cookedhttp://www.amazon.com/Raw-
A food book... of sorts, by Jim Harrison, who I know more closely from reading about him in non-fiction Thomas McGuane and Guy De La Valdene.
6. Ruffed Grouse Society 50th Anniversary Book
http://www.
OK, here's one that's a bit of self promotion, but I do plan to read. I was published as one of many authors in this collection of stories about hunting Ruffed Grouse. Despite the fact I am included... there is some stellar writing in here.
There are a lot of short stories and magazines (mostly catching up on The Pointing Dog Journal and The Ruffed Grouse Society) I will read as well, but this is the list of the big ones. Can't wait to see what you are reading this year. Send your list along if you have a moment.
Relax, have a cool drink and do some dog work this summer and we'll see you in the fall to make stories of our own.
Better get a ladder....
In fact, usually I try to get as low as possible, often on my knees using an angle finder to get what I want, but yesterday was a bit different.
When Liz Cambage came through the door... she ducked... and I scrambled to find a ladder. Knowing that the client wanted a photo of her wingspan for a website banner I knew we had to photograph her at her level, so everything, c-stands, camera, me and more went up. My assistant Paul found a stool to augment his height for stand in lighting and we went to work.
We had Liz for a little less than an hour. Despite being glued to her twitter feed, chatting away with new found fans, the 19 year old was awesome in the studio. Super nice, professional yet unpretentious and had the look down perfectly. If she's half as fun on the court, it's going to be a great season!
We had a full lighting setup on the cyc wall and using pocketwizards on multiple channels were able to switch quickly from a white backdrop to a black backdrop from the camera position without changing anything except turning off a set of lights remotely. It gave us two different looks with the push of a button without taking any extra time.
After we finished inside we went outside where the raw power and low flash duration of a fairly serious Speedotron setup allowed us to turn midday downtown Tulsa into dusk and stop the action of a moving WNBA center at the same time. A few images from the roof and Liz and her crew were on their way.
All images in this post are the property of NBAE/Getty Images. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Super Bowl Ad
Saint Francis Health Grades Ad from Shane Bevel on Vimeo.
Hey Folks, check it out. This is a great ad with my photos put together by Flying Colors Media here is Tulsa. Not sure when it will run again, but it ran locally during the Super Bowl this year!
Have a great day and stay warm out there!
Words
To justify these adventures I have taken to self assignments for publication. This is one from last year. A piece I sold to the Ruffed Grouse Society for their 50th anniversary literary piece. I have to say that I share paper with some of my favorite outdoors writers here so it's a pretty neat place to be. You can purchase the entire magazine here: http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/shoppingcart/magento/featured/rgs-50th-anniversary-publication.html of you can see just my article here: http://shanebevelphoto.com/BirdDogsAndCracklins.pdf
The Gents are in Town
The Centenary vs Oral Roberts game at the Mabee Center each year always reminds me of my first visit to Tulsa. I was working on a story for the Shreveport, La. newspaper and had traveled on the road with the Centenary Gents to Tulsa. Seems a lifetime ago. Here’s a couple images from tonight’s game.
Ladies Home Journal/Baja Racer 2010
I had a nice photo published this month in Ladies Home Journal of Osage County's super star Ree Drummond, also known as the Pioneer Woman. It's not the first time that I have photographed Ree, I shot her a while back for the L.A. Times and I have done some work for her personally as well. But this time was memorable.
Some of you Ree followers may have seen this blog on her site a while back: The Pioneer Woman. Unfortunately the two photographers were me and my assistant Paul McEntire. Fortunately we were ok! The truck got replaced, the shoot went on and the county even dismissed the silly ticket they gave me for losing control on a gravel road full of washboards and loose gravel from a motor grader.
Photo by Paul McEntire
It's been a few months (and 7k miles on a new truck) since we made the return trip to shoot the Drummonds. Needless to say they are some of my favorite people this side of the Red River. Ree is always a blast to photograph and I hope that I can show you some more of the work we did that morning soon!
PS.... for the record, I don't have photos of the Blue Snuggie... and if I did... I'd never tell.
Dancefloor Diva
The Best Laid Plans
The thing about remote cameras is that they are awesome. The other thing about remote cameras is that they are.... well.... remote. Meaning you cannot access them during the game for the most part. So you have to get everything right the first time. I have a checklist in my head of settings I need to change on the camera and the remote equipment. I have threatened (usually after some type of screwup) many times to write it down and carry it in my remote bag, but it has yet to actually happen.
But like all things technical, there are bound to be new issues. You would think after more than a decade of shooting sports I would have a grasp on all the issues that I face, all the little things that could go wrong. But tonight as I setup to shoot the Sparks vs Shock game at the BOK Center, I came across a completely new issue. As Tim and I set up the overhead remote for some kickin' basket action we hung the 300mm 2.8 from the upper catwalk of the arena. This is where the problem started. The heat and humidity that Tulsa is experiencing seems to be concentrated at the top of the arena! The upper catwalk is placed just a few feet above the air conditioning outlets for the building. Meaning that it's like being in the attic of your house! The minute we crossed the last few steps onto the upper deck the 300mm (6 lbs of aluminum and glass) immediately fogged up. The problem is that a lens like this is not like your eyeglasses, it takes more than just a few minutes to warm up and unfog. With limited time, we guessed at the focusing and headed back downstairs.
After the first half we went back up and made some adjustments, refocused the camera and checked the take from the first half. Unfortunately it was just as I had feared.
The lens remained fogged for the entire first half of the game. Luckily the Shock were shooting at that end the second half and I made some nice frames, so all was not lost.
Big thanks to Tim Berry for helping out tonight. It's always a must for me to have a second set of hands when hanging things out over the catwalk for games. Sure, I could do it myself... but with so much else to go wrong... why take the risk!?
All Images in this post are by Shane Bevel/NBAE/Getty Images and used by permission of the NBA and Tulsa Shock.
Super Wide
Fly Your Flag
Unfortunately we are still at war and although I wish that my cousin's death three years ago had been the last, it was not. Cpl. Ray Michael Bevel (above) was killed at the peak of the violence in April 2007. Today, icasualties.org reports that 4400 U.S. men and women have been killed in Iraq and another 1085 in Afghanistan.
I hope that none of you ever experience the sorrow my family felt and continues to feel. Now is not the time to discuss how or why. Now is simply a time to remember. Below is a repost from 2007.
The small plane stands out in the vastness of the blue West Texas sky. As the scream of the turbines dies, a somber silence blankets the air, only the uncontrollable sobbing cries of a grieving mother can be heard over the constant wind, buffeting through the bunched groups of family and friends.
An eternity passes before the door opens with a crack and six soldiers carried a seventh across the blazing white tarmac. The family touches the flag-draped casket as it glides into the hearse.
Along the open highway roughnecks, ranchers and oil men all stop. Some get out of their trucks, hold their hats against their chest and stand at attention as the procession rolls past. Later, in town, eight thousand people stand along the road in total silence as the war-battered body of a young man passes into the city limits for the last time. School children are bussed to the short route to stand with flags and learn what it means to be a patriot.
As a father grieves quietly, the body of Cpl. Ray Michael Bevel makes it's final sojourn.
A Day at the Derby
While the ponies were running that 1.25 last weekend over at a little track called Churchill Downs, me and a producer were out at Will Rogers Downs making the best of the on again off again rainy weather and shooting one of my favorite subjects. Here are a few of my favorites.
Big Fun in a Little Town
After a couple months of some pretty heavy commercial photography I had started to really miss my roots. Luckily the folks at USA Today always come up with something great. This time they sent me to Barnsdall, Okla to tell their 1.9 million readers about Coach Joe Gilbert. He's been there for 50+ years and has coached 204 varsity seasons! It's nice to shoot photos of folks with such great faces.
You can see the full audio slideshow here: http://tinyurl.com/2fnjusb
New toy
Just a fun random photo from the new camera. The detail this camera can capture is really unbelievable. Look forward to using it on assignment for USA Today in the morning!I Like To Win Bets
But when I told him the idea was to shoot him riding a bike through the store... he said he'd bet me $20 it wouldn't happen. I told him he maybe didn't quite understand the power of "Hi, I'm going to make your photo for the 1.9 million readers of USA Today, you know what would be fun?"
Fast forward a few days. Me, the media relations woman, my assistant and Doug McMillon are in the Bentonville, AR WalMart. I explained the situation and Doug looked me in the eye and deadpanned "So, what are you going to spend your $20 on?"
It turned out not to be my favorite photos, but the editors at USAT liked it enough to use it online. (the print version hits stands in the morning)
It's always the editorial goal to shoot executives in a way that doesn't look "executive" but it's really nice when you have a subject that is so willing to go along. Doug dodged shoppers, talked to the manager about customer complaints and rode the beach cruiser through the aisles of the store all at the same time. He gave us 45 minutes and we shot three setups with multiple lights and a few looks. Here are the three setups. Enjoy!
P.S. Pay up Dad. Shane needs a new pair of shoes.
Okie Photogs
Firepower
My Helicopter Has Arrived!
Just a short little video of some of the sights and sounds of a recent fun-as-heck shoot for an upcoming St. Francis ad. Helicopters, radios and flour.... good recipe for good photos.
Single Photo Assignment (kinda)
When the editor there called me and asked me to do it, I knew there was only one moment that would really capture the iconic nature of Opening day at the new stellar Oneok Field in downtown Tulsa.
To over come the massive shade cast by the grandstands and not over expose downtown and the sky, I used a technique called HDR. I won't go into the technical aspect of the photo here, but I will say that the final image is well over 100mb and is the result of combining dozens of separate images taken using a special tripod head.
I thought the result was great and actually plan to have it printed full scale for sale in the Tulsa Mayfest Invitational Gallery.
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