Pear Trees Blossoming in Balboa Park

Every February the Pear Trees Blossom in Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. It only last about a week or two but it’s quite beautiful as Balboa Park is full of them.

Pear Trees Blossoming in Balboa Park

Pear Trees Blossoming in Balboa Park

Pear Trees Blossoming in Balboa Park

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B & W Gritty Golf Shots

Here are some images I took recently of a local San Diego Pro, Chad Bennett. We shot at Maderas Golf Club in Poway, CA which is in North San Diego County.

Most golf images you see in golf magazines whether it be article or ad are very conservative. While this has been the trend in golf for many years due to the demographic of the consumers, the tide is slowly turning. You are starting to see young golfers expressing themselves with bold colors and unique clothing. As a result you are starting to see the same trends in the pro shops and sports specialty stores with the golf merchandise.

That being said I think my style of photography fits the new style we are seeing in golf, so in trying to bring something different to the sport I created some gritty, edgy, black and white images.

I used a 3 speedlight set up in each image during late afternoon sun. The locations of the lights varied based on the location on the golf course and the direction of the sun. To achieve that “Advertising Look” I used the lights to sculpt my subject and create specific shadows.

JFennell Photography Golf Photo Shoot of Chad Bennett

JFennell Photography Golf Photo Shoot of Chad Bennett

JFennell Photography Golf Photo Shoot of Chad Bennett

JFennell Photography Golf Photo Shoot of Chad Bennett

JFennellPhoto.com

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Hurley Pro Surf Contest, Trestles, California

The Hurley Pro, ASP World Tour, Surf Contest at Trestles in Southern California is coming up in a couple of weeks. The week of September 18th.

I thought I would post a few photos I shot from last year, just to peak the anticipation a little.

Kelly Slater doing what he does best

"Davo" (Chris Davidson)

Dane Reynolds Launching. This is by far one of the biggest airs I've seen in person. The photo doesn't quite do it justice as seeing it in real life.

Adriano de Souza throwing out his tail.

Taj Burrow busting a backside air.

Surfer Julian Wilson on left.

Kelly Slater inside section air. I like how in this photo the guy on the jet ski in the back ground is snapping photos at the same time of the same thing but totally different angle.

Mick Fanning letting his fins loose.

Jordy Smith with a nice fan.

Taj Burrow getting ready for a frontside snap.

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Day 3 Motocross Photos

Here are some images from day 3 of from the workshop in Colorado Springs

Day 3 was Motocross. Some images are made using natural light while some were made using of camera lighting.

Using off camera lighting (ranger studio type lighting with battery pack) I was able to light the rider with the sun behind him.

Big Air (natural light)

Berm Shot using off camera flash.

Same berm as the shot above but a little later in the day, also using off camera flash to light the rider.

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Day 2 from Colorado Springs – Rock Climbing and BMX

Today is Day 2. I have some images from Rock Climbing and BMX.

7:30 am until 2am is not leaving much time for sleep but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.

“You can sleep when you’re dead”

Here are a few shots:

It's all about the details

Using a little slower shutter speed to get some motion blur

Rock Climbing in Garden of the Gods

Using a little remote flash to high light the BMX racer as the sun is setting.

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Skateboard Photo Shoot 1st Day of Workshop

I am in Colorado Springs this week at The Summit Series Sports Photography Workshop.
I will try to do a little post everyday but we’re working about 12-14 hours a day so it doesn’t leave a whole lot of time.
Most of this afternoon was spent at a local skatepark with a few local rippers.
The use of remote flashes and great clouds made for some interesting photographs.
All photos were made using 2 off camera remote flashes triggered by radio poppers.
Enjoy:

Shooting with the sun behind your subject is fun when using remote flashes.

BMX Portrait

Kickflip over the gap

Kickflip to boardslide

Tailslide - This kid Anthony was killing it.

Frontside Air with the Sun Burst in the background

The sun had pretty much set at this point and the sky looked great. Adds making a dramatic photograph

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A Little Macro Fun

The following are some macro shots I was playing around with. I was shooting and exploring trying to get some different lighting perspectives going with regards to macro photography. Most images were shot using an off camera flash attached with a ttl cord to add some unique lighting. I used that in conjunction with the location of the sun to try and get some fun and different lighting angles.

This particular flower I had the flash positioned all the way over on the far left and low to add some depth and shadows to really define the petals.

I like the converging lines on this one with the purple buds and the purple flowers in the background. Converging lines sometimes goes against the rules but let’s be honest it’s fun to break the rules. The late setting sun was falling nicely on the background. I used some off camera fill flash from the upper left to give the foreground buds some POP.

Most of the time fill flash is used to illuminate what is in front of the lens. On this particular day I was looking for different ideas and lighting that was not your standard “Macro”. With this thought process in mind I placed the flash on the ground behind and aiming up at this flower, which gave is some nice backlight and really made the cob webs stand out.

The low setting sun was almost directly behind this patch. Which really allowed the spiky/fuzzy (whatever they’re called) elements on the stems to stand out. Now in this situation using no flash would have resulted in a dark colorless shadows of the stems and flowers. With the ability to use flash as fill light it allowed the colors on the stems and flowers to really stand out as well as using the backlight to create the texture.

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Hawk Watch – Raptor Photo Shoot

I had the pleasure of photographing some beautiful raptors at an event called Hawk Watch. This is an event the Wildlife Research Institute puts on during a couple months of the year. It is located in the grasslands of Ramona California. They have everything from Golden Eagles, to Wintering Ferruginous Hawks, Red-Tailed Hawks, Prairie Falcons and Red-Shouldered Hawks. We even saw two juvenile Bald Eagles.

The idea behind this event that the Wildlife Research Institute puts on is to educate the public on the importance of the Ramona Grassland ecosystem to these raptors. They capture a few hawks in the morning so that they can band them (which for conservation efforts they do on a regular basis) after which they are released. The difference is they show the attendees the process of banding these birds and allow people to get an up close and personal look at these magnificent birds of prey.

These are some of the images I captured during this event

This is one of the beautiful Red Tailed Hawks that was banded and released. I like the way his slightly out of focus wing creates a backdrop for his face and body.

This Red Tailed Hawk was spreading its wings after being let out of its holding area before being tagged and released.

I love this portrait of this Red Tailed Hawk. It’s very rare you can get so up close and personal with these birds.

We traveled to the location where the Red-Shouldered Hawk was to be released. Approaching the hawk’s home with the biologist, the anticipation and excitement grew. I knew the release of this bird was going to happen fast and I needed to have all of my senses and tracking skills sharp. I would only have one shot to capture this beautiful raptor in flight. A little bit of skill and a little bit of luck resulted in the capture of the image above. Shortly after this photo was taken the bird returned to it’s mate.

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