GO CATS!

The campus was full of people getting ready for the big game against the USC Trojans (we lost 17-10, but it was a close game throughout and a couple plays here or there could have made a big difference).

Pride of Arizona passes Old Main

More homecoming parade photos - here the Pride of Arizona Marching Band passes Old Main as they turn back onto the Mall. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Wilbur & Wilma

Wilbur & Wilma Wildcat ride near the front of the parade. This image was taken at 53mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Here comes the parade

This past Saturday was Homecoming at the UofA. Here comes the Pride of Arizona marching band leading the Homecoming parade onto campus. This image was taken at 263mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1250 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

4:52

While wandering campus, I took this picture (exactly 1 week before this post is published!). This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/4000 seconds at f/8, ISO 400, converted to sepia in Picasa.

Practice makes perfect

Wandering around campus on a Friday afternoon normally finds lots of activities, from skating to jogging to frisbee and tossing balls to dogs. This pair were practicing their skills near the science library. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

What's the point, you say?

Anyone who asks "what's the point" of this image has never leaned up against one of these plants..... I know my dad knows what the point is - and how it feels. ;) This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

Sunrise approaches

This view of the north end of Kitt Peak was taken well before sunrise and handheld with my 24mm lens. The telescopes visible here (or at least their domes) are, from left to right, the Spacewatch 0.9-m telescope, the Stewrd Observatory 90 inch Bok Telescope and the Kitt Peak 4-m Mayall Telescope. This image was taken with an exposure of 1/50 seconds at f/1.8, ISO 1600.

Just before sunrise

I love these long telephoto shots near sun{rise,set}. This shot looks northeast from Kitt Peak not long before sunrise. The haze in the atmosphere gives wonderful depth to the image which looks across several mountain ranges of southeast Arizona. This image was taken at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800.

The Moon

Been a while since I last posted a photo of the Moon. This was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. It's hard to do any better with this particular lens - I need a nice telescope. Despite the low resolution, you can see a lot of detail on this nearly last quarter phase moon. The bright rayed craters Kepler, Copernicus and Tycho are all visible, though Tycho's normally spectacular rays are a bit subdued in the late afternoon sunshine at that site. The bright crater Aristarchus is visible near the eastern limb (as we see it on the left - western limb if you were standing on the Moon) looking like a spotlight in the middle of the dark Mare surface around it. At the moment this was taken on Saturday night (10/18), it looks like the sun was just setting on Tranquility Base where Apollo 11 landed more than 39 years ago. Another Lunar day has gone by without new human bootprints on our nearest neighbor.

The LBT on Mount Graham

Last observing run, I took this image of the LBT (Large Binocular Telescope) on Mt. Graham from Kitt Peak. Look carefully near the center of the image and you'll see a square bump which is the humongous building (seen in images I took back in April of this year or September of last year from the VATT, as well as some fine images of it by my friend Dave on his blog). The building is about 113 miles away! You can see almost forever from Kitt Peak. Or at least all the way to Mt. Graham. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

The Pride of Arizona

The Pride of Arizona takes the field. Hmmm, lots of pretty girls out there! Frank should like this one. This image was taken at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Coach Stoops - 4th and 14

UofA coach Mike Stoops directs his special teams players on 4th down and 14 yards to go for Washington. It's often entertaining to watch the coach on the sidelines during plays. It's almost like he wants to jump onto the field and make a play. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Kickoff!

I always love catching the moment of contact, be it bat on ball in a baseball game or the kick of a football. Here, it was so windy that they used a holder to keep the ball from blowing over and the ball has just left the kickers foot. With the wind behind him, the ball sailed through the end zone. This image was taken at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Speaking of Celebrities...

Or is that "speaking of 'Davids'?" David Hasselhoff (star of the original Knightrider TV show and Ba[y/be]watch) has a daughter attending the UofA and he seems to like football. A minor ruckus drew my attention to this section of the "Zona Zoo" where Mr. Hasselhoff (aka: "The Hoff") was drawing fans like a cow pie draws flies. Everyone seemed to be having fun trying to get pictures and autographs and it looks like the Pom Line was no exception. A stadium video crew is at left and "The Hoff" is at the bottom of the stands just above the "A" placqard on the front of the stands in case you are one of the 3 people on the planet who don't know who "The Hoff" is....

Do you recognize this photog?

I have some pix from the UofA-Washington Huskie game last weekend that I didn't get a chance to post before going observing for the last week.

Before (and sometimes during) a game, I sometimes scan the sidelines looking at the equipment of some of the photographers down there and when I got to this one, my first thought was - "nice lens!". My second thought was - hey, I know that guy & he's one of my good buddies! Check out the link to my friend Dave's blog on the right to see some of his work.