This morning I went over to PGE Park to shoot some portraits of a couple of guys for the next program cover and inside feature articles. I have shot portraits of players for these things for over 5 years now and generally I do some kind of dramatic sky, big lights, low angle, 16mm kind of photo that I like, but today I wanted to break out of that little box I so often find myself in. So, I went to the park with only an 85, a 70-200 and a reflector. Left all the lights, grids, boxes and wide angle lenses at the studio. I also did not want to shoot anywhere near the pitch. So instead, I shot one in the stadium seats and our cover boy outside of the stadium.

It’s amazing what one little reflector can do. It’s 107 in Portland today, so there was no shortage of sunshine to bounce light off of. Since these photos will be used in the team magazine, I made sure to leave room for the designers to add the mast head and type, etc on each photo.

I like how they turned out. It’s good to challenge yourself to shoot in other ways when you feel trapped in a creative box. Next time you go shoot, leave your favorite lens at home and limit yourself to one you don’t use very often and see what you come up with.

UPDATE: There have been some requests to purchase prints from this game, go to this gallery and you can buy prints, digital files, etc.

Last night the Portland Timbers soccer team played the Seattle Sounders of the MLS in a US Open Cup match. It was an exciting matchup because the Sounders used to be in the same league as Portland before jumping to the MLS this year and the two teams, and their fans, hate each other. And by hate, I mean that Timbers fans cannot even say the word “Seattle” or “Sounders”. The atmosphere was amazing. A possible preview of what is to come when the Timbers join the MLS is 2011. PGE Park was sold out for the first time since the team began play in 2001. Fans were lined up for 2 blocks around the stadium for standing room only tickets 2 hours before kickoff. I found this guy wandering around on Morrison St. I cropped up on purpose. His awesome suit showed a bit more than we all wanted to see, but his love for the Timbers shows through. I will admit, I was not the biggest soccer fan, but you should go and give it a shot, it really is fun. Be sure to sit in section 107, that’s where the true fans and all the crazy’s hang out. Good times to be had there for sure. Click on an image below to see some of my photos from the game. The image of the fans with the flags was shot by my intern Liz. Nice job Liz.