Shortly after the Qwest shoot with Tony Peña in Phoenix I returned to Arizona for the Mt. West Conference Men's Golf tournament. Despite my heavy travel schedule, I was actually looking forward to this assignment since the Mt. West puts me up in a nice place and the days aren't too long compared to some of the other assignments that I shoot for them (Baseball, Basketball and Outdoor Track).
I arrived in Tucson on the first day of the tournament without a hitch. My flight left Denver on time (DIA is the best airport on the planet) and once I arrived, I was able to get my super sweet rental classic Chevy Impala from my trusty friends at Thrifty and was on my way. I swear, I think I get an Impala about two-thirds of the time when I am on the road. I will admit, the Impala has gotten better over the years and the ol' 'Sir, we have an Impala for you' has less sting now than it did 4 years ago. Still though, I try to weasel my way into a convertible, or just about anything BUT an Impala whenever I step up to the rental car counter. No Mustangs though...they're just trouble for me. Just ask the Texas Highway Patrol, they know me well.
Anywhoooo, I got to the hotel and checked in and to my surprise, God (or the suits at Omni) actually listened to my prayers from the previous year! The Omni Tucson National Golf Resort and Spa last year was nice, but in dire need of a makeover. When I checked in this year, I was told I would be staying in a brand new room. Excellent! AND, it had a nice balcony that overlooked the driving range and golf course! HOORAY!!! (accompanied by a backflip, of course!) When I got to my room, I realized it was the exact same room from the year before, but much nicer, but still with some of the old furniture...I guess you can't get EVERYTHING your way. However, it was such a drastic improvement that I was totally content with my accommodations. Plus, the pool was totally redesigned and I spent some time that afternoon reading my book next to it before heading to dinner with the Mt. West folks that evening.
This year, they started the tee times at 7am. Let's stop and think about this for a second. At first glance, I thought this was going to be awful. Getting up at 5:45 or so to get ready only to go out and turn into a french fry for the day didn't look so sweet on paper. But after the first day wrapped up around 3pm, I quickly transmitted my photos, checked my e-mail and attended to some biz, then headed for the pool with a beer in hand and a smile on my face! I chilled out there for a couple hours before cleaning up and heading to dinner again with Javan and Carrie, two of my favorites from the MWC.
The second day wasn't much different, just with less pool time since there was an awards ceremony following the tournament. CSU came from nowhere to win the MWC title and represented Colorado, full force. I hope you like the images that I've posted below. They're just a random selection that I liked. It's hard to shoot golf on a desert course since there isn't a lot of color, but I managed to find the little there is and incorporate it into my images.
Lastly, one little tidbit of advice....NEVER EVER, AND I MEAN EVER, FLY US AIRWAYS. If you want the story, call me...I could write an entry longer than War and Peace about how they screwed up my flight home, but I'll refrain. Hopefully one of these days United will use their peanut sized brain and cut ties with them.
Sorry to end it on a sour note with my US Airways mini-rant, but consider yourself warned and please do enjoy the pics!
TB
I liked the layering that I got in this photo with the trees....
I arrived in Tucson on the first day of the tournament without a hitch. My flight left Denver on time (DIA is the best airport on the planet) and once I arrived, I was able to get my super sweet rental classic Chevy Impala from my trusty friends at Thrifty and was on my way. I swear, I think I get an Impala about two-thirds of the time when I am on the road. I will admit, the Impala has gotten better over the years and the ol' 'Sir, we have an Impala for you' has less sting now than it did 4 years ago. Still though, I try to weasel my way into a convertible, or just about anything BUT an Impala whenever I step up to the rental car counter. No Mustangs though...they're just trouble for me. Just ask the Texas Highway Patrol, they know me well.
Anywhoooo, I got to the hotel and checked in and to my surprise, God (or the suits at Omni) actually listened to my prayers from the previous year! The Omni Tucson National Golf Resort and Spa last year was nice, but in dire need of a makeover. When I checked in this year, I was told I would be staying in a brand new room. Excellent! AND, it had a nice balcony that overlooked the driving range and golf course! HOORAY!!! (accompanied by a backflip, of course!) When I got to my room, I realized it was the exact same room from the year before, but much nicer, but still with some of the old furniture...I guess you can't get EVERYTHING your way. However, it was such a drastic improvement that I was totally content with my accommodations. Plus, the pool was totally redesigned and I spent some time that afternoon reading my book next to it before heading to dinner with the Mt. West folks that evening.
This year, they started the tee times at 7am. Let's stop and think about this for a second. At first glance, I thought this was going to be awful. Getting up at 5:45 or so to get ready only to go out and turn into a french fry for the day didn't look so sweet on paper. But after the first day wrapped up around 3pm, I quickly transmitted my photos, checked my e-mail and attended to some biz, then headed for the pool with a beer in hand and a smile on my face! I chilled out there for a couple hours before cleaning up and heading to dinner again with Javan and Carrie, two of my favorites from the MWC.
The second day wasn't much different, just with less pool time since there was an awards ceremony following the tournament. CSU came from nowhere to win the MWC title and represented Colorado, full force. I hope you like the images that I've posted below. They're just a random selection that I liked. It's hard to shoot golf on a desert course since there isn't a lot of color, but I managed to find the little there is and incorporate it into my images.
Lastly, one little tidbit of advice....NEVER EVER, AND I MEAN EVER, FLY US AIRWAYS. If you want the story, call me...I could write an entry longer than War and Peace about how they screwed up my flight home, but I'll refrain. Hopefully one of these days United will use their peanut sized brain and cut ties with them.
Sorry to end it on a sour note with my US Airways mini-rant, but consider yourself warned and please do enjoy the pics!
TB
I liked the layering that I got in this photo with the trees....
I always try to shoot through trees and bushes when shooting golf. It provides a nice layering effect, plus an intimate feeling like you're spying on the golfer after they've hit a crummy shot...
The early morning tee times brought with them long, cross-fairway shadows on the holes that ran North-South...
There wasn't much color on this desert course, but these yellow trees were in a few places and really lent themselves to making nice pictures...
He must be drawing a smiley face on his ball...
Backgrounds, backgrounds, backgrounds...the key to good golf photos is clean backgrounds...
You can always get good emotions and reactions in golf on close putts...
1 comment:
Cool pics... cool job! How did you get started?
Bestgolf63@aol.com
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