Go Pro(fessional) with the GoPro!

Hey what’s up my homies! Since last post was on hockey, this one will be on photography (or things pertaining to photography). So recently, I’ve been getting ready for the ski season (which seems years away). Since I’ve gotten new equipment, I’m getting ready to make some sweet shots on the mountain. All I need for some solid mountain top shots is a tripod, and a small one too. With the excitement of snow coming, I want a complete set-up so I won’t miss a shot this season (meaning both photography and powder).Living in a ski town has quite a few perks. With all of these different professional skiers and snowboarders just cruising around the town and the ski resorts, it’s hard not to check out the gear they have. One piece of equipment that’s ubiquitous with slope style skiers and snowboarders is a GoPro. If you haven’t heard of one or haven’t seen one, I’ll sum up what it is in one word: outstanding. The invention of the miniature camera was an outstanding idea, and the inventor has made millions for it. There are 5 types of GoPro that have been made: the original GoPro Hero, the Hero 2, the Hero 3, the Hero 3+ and the Hero 4. The newest GoPro, the Hero 4, is one hell of a camera. It’s got an outstanding image quality, a touch screen, and much more. Not to mention all of that fits in the palm of your hand. There are hundreds of attachments you can use to help you film or photograph with the GoPro. They’re called ‘mounts’ and there are a variety of mounts you can use for a variety of different sports. Here are the names of a few mounts: Chest mount, helmet mount, head strap mount, pole mount, suction cup mount and many, many more. With this many types of mounts, it’s hard not to get the shot you want.

GoPro Hero 3 White Edition

I have a GoPro myself. I got it about two years ago, and it was one of the best decisions of my life (and one of my only good decisions too). It’s the GoPro Hero 3 White Edition, which is the lower edition out of the three Hero 3’s. I have multiple mounts, and I use them all a ton. I have bought myself the chest mount, the pole mount, the head strap mount, the helmet mount and a few others that came with the GoPro itself. I also have the LCD Touch BacPac that allows you to see what you have filmed right on the back of the GoPro. I’ve used my GoPro for an ample amount of different sports. I’ve used it for biking, skiing, hockey, trampoline and straight up photography. The more mounts you have, the better the shot you’ll get. So hopefully later on during the ski season, I’ll be able to show off what kind of pictures I’ve taken with the different mounts and my GoPro.

Hockey Skatin' on in

All children dread the month of August. We all know it's because of one thing: school. If you're a true hockey player, you'll be ecstatic for the 8th month of the year. This of course means hockey season starts! There's absolutely nothing greater than a start of a new season. You meet new teammates (which of course means making new friends), possibly meeting a new coach, learning new things and much more.

My favorite part of the new season is improving your game, both physically and mentally. As the year goes on, you improve your strength during dry land, practice and even in games. It's quite easy to see your improvements because with my team, we do testing during three parts of the season: the beginning, the middle and the end. It's an assortment of physical tests that include agility, endurance, and much more. So as the year goes on, it's inspiring to see how much you and other teammates have improved during the year. Not only does a hockey player develop physically, but he or she usually develops mentally as well. As easy as hockey seems, it's really not at all. There are multiple strategies  to hockey, and each and every one of them is quite challenging to accomplish. So as you get older, you must be able to play your position and be situationally aware at all times. You have to be able to be in the right place at the right time. So with the excitement of the beginning of the season, I'm quite excited to start improving on my game both mentally and physically.

So far the Utah Jr. Grizzlies have played in one tournament. It was in Colorado and it was called the Early Bird Tournament and it was hosted by the Arapahoe Warriors. We didn't place in the tournament and ended up going 1-3. For the first tournament, we truly weren't too bad. Our next tournament is in Boise, Idaho in less than 48 hours. We will be playing teams from across the West Coast and I'm quite excited to play.

So far my team has played seven games, four of which were tournament play. We have won four of our seven games. This year I currently have eight points, with two of them being goals and six being assists. For a right wing, this isn't bad for seven games, but I could do better. The highest point maker(s) so far this year has been Tomas Macunias and Zach Jerome with eleven points each. They're my line mates and we've created a total of thirty points in seven games. I hope my team does well this weekend. Hopefully I can help out as well.

Utah Jr. Grizzlies AA/AAA 2014-15 Season

Long Exposure to the Rescue!

Hey what's up homies! Today I'm gonna be talking about photography! Usually I'll switch off weeks between hockey and photography, so I decided the first week should be about photog! So I have a friend by the name of Bennett Barbosa and he's a great videographer and photographer! Go check out Barbosa Media Co. on Facebook to learn more. Barbosa Media Co. and I have teamed up together to become Next Level Media, a company that makes videos and also takes photos!

So this post is mainly about troubleshooting and experiences with long exposure shots. So far I have used long exposure twice. Both times using this technique has been with Bennett. The first time using long exposure was over the summer late at night. At first, our challenge was to get some star pictures (in the sky, not of me). We were using an LED light to light up an aspen tree to attract more light to get a better picture, and then we realized something. We could use the LED light to draw things while the camera was taking the picture! I know this sounds quite confusing, but a picture will explain it. While the long exposure was taking place, one of us would run and make a shape of some sort with the LED light. When the full picture was taken, we'd run back to the camera to check out the pic. A few of the pictures were wayyy sweet, while others looked like they were super photoshopped. The settings for this long exposure shot were: 6400 ISO, an aperture of around 2-3, and you also must focus on the spot where you will be creating the shape. Also, with long exposure shots, it's necessary to use a tripod, or else the photo will come out very blurry due to the fact that the camera takes a picture for seconds at a time. If the picture was taken properly, you may end up with a picture as great as this photo below. Before you start commenting mean things about how weird my face is, let's just focus on the background okay?

Taken with a Canon T3i

Another shot from the same night:

Also taken with a Canon T3i

Both of these were taken with the same camera with the same settings.

The second time I used long exposure was truly for night sky purposes (with one exception). The same settings were used except we shot the photos at an earlier time. 

Canon T3

Here's one of my favorite shots from the last shoot I did with Barbosa Media Co..

Canon T3 near the Jewish Temple

Another way long exposure is cool is by using it with highways and moving vehicles. When the photo is taken for a longer period of time, lights start to blur. So when car lights drive by, it creates sort of a streak of yellow and red light. The one that I have taken isn't the greatest, but it shows how you could get started with those types of shots.

Long Exposure with Canon T3 near the White Barn

So with all of these different ways that I've taught you to take long exposure shots, there's no reason I shouldn't be seeing multiple Instagram/Facebook/Twitter posts with exposure shots like these.