Demolition Derby Video

When my friend Ryan Horn asked me if I wanted to come watch him compete in a demolition derby I knew it was a great opportunity to do an interesting video. Horn has been doing derbys for years and is actually in the demolition derby video game Test Drive: Eve of Destruction. I followed him as he fixed up his car and later as he competed in the Arizona State Fair. If you ever get a chance to see a derby live, go. It's a blast.

Pat Shannahan

Hockey Fisticuffs

They never fight when I cover hockey. Last night was a nice exception. I ran down to the press room to transmit my images after the first period. My deadline was 8:30. After I got my initial images in I went out to see what more I could come up with before deadline. Shortly after I got back to my shooting position Phoenix Coyote Paul Bissonnette and Montreal Canadian Jay Leach decided to duke it out. I rattled off a few frames and headed back down to the press room to send them to the photo desk. I got the photo in with a few minutes to spare.

Click here to read the story about last night's game.

Pat Shannahan

www.patshannahan.com

@pshannahan on Twitter

Swimming

Shooting swimming can really be a challenge, especially if you are shooting the freestyle events. The nature of the stroke makes it hard to see the swimmers face. I made this image while covering the local high school state championship swim meet last weekend. It was made just as he was coming to the surface after diving in at the start. He ended up winning his race.

Pat Shannahan

www.patshannahan.com

@pshannahan on Twitter

5 Reasons to Hire a Photojournalist

I just read a really well written blog post by Andrea James about why it's a good idea to hire a photojournalist for a photo job. You can read her article here. The point I most agree with concerns a photojournalist's ability to capture moments. Being consistent in photography is like being consistent at playing a musical instrument. It requires daily practice. Newspaper photojournalist get daily practice at capturing moments. Who better to hire for a job when getting "the" moment is the main requirement.

Pat Shannahan
www.patshannahan.com
@pshannahan

Shots of shots

On Saturday I photographed people getting their seasonal flu and H1N1 flu shots. This family of five got everyone vaccinated. What drew me to them was their son sleeping in the cart next to them. He was knocked out till it was his turn to get vaccinated. I was surprised to see that it was a three hour wait to get a shot.


Pat Shannahan
@pshannahan

New 360-degree Interactive Panoramic Photos

What I love about 360-degree VR photography is that it lets you put people in places they might not otherwise experience. This week I did a panoramic photo of firefighters practicing taking a whole side of a car off with the Jaws of Life. They gave me a set of turnouts and a helmet to keep the shattered glass on the seat from cutting me. I wanted to shoot it from inside of the car because of the interesting point of view it provided. This was a really hard pano to stitch because I had to shoot it using a monopod rather than I tripod. Keeping the camera in one place was hard wit them pulling and moving the car. Also, this was shot while they were doing their drill. They are not posing.

Click here to see the interactive version.

This is the second time I have made a pano at night at a fair. This time I wanted the pano to start out looking up at lights. This pano is made up of seven frames. Each exposure was around six seconds. The long exposures pick up the movements of the rides and capture the mood of the fair at night.

Click here to see the interactive version.

Pat Shannahan

www.patshannahan.com

www.stepintoaz.com

@pshannahan

Photographing the San Diego Coast

San Diego Coast - Images by Pat Shannahan
I have always wanted to try making some long exposures at the ocean. On a recent trip to La Jolla and Coronado I had time to give it a try. The first frame is a 4 minute exposure made in La Jolla, CA, shortly after the sun went behind the horizon. The long exposure allows the waves to turn to a surreal myst. The second frame was made on Coronado Island. It's is a 2 minute exposure made shortly before the sun came up. All of the black and white photographs were shot using a Mamiya C330 medium format camera. The color image was shot on a Holga. 

Thanks for looking,

Pat Shannahan

www.patshannahan.com

www.stepintoaz.com