Tag Archives: sports

Lance Armstrong, 2009 Tour of California

Lance Armstrong, 2009 Tour of California

Lance Armstrong, 2009 Tour of California. Sacramento, California. February 14, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lance Armstrong greeting the crowd at the team vehicle before the prologue stage of the 2009 Tour of California, Sacramento, California.

So begins my annual adventure in photographing professional bike racing as the Amgen Tour of California passes through the area. My sons and I went to Sacramento today to watch the prolog time trial, and this gave me a chance to try out my new camera and shoot some different subjects than what I usually shoot. We spent a couple hours before the race wandering around the course and visiting the team vehicles. I happened by the Astana Team area about an hour before Armstrong was to start his race, and I thought it might be about the right time to catch him starting to warm up – so I found a decent shooting location and waited. Here he had just emerged from the team vehicle – to the joy of hundreds of fans – and was signing autographs before getting on the training stand to warm up.

(Sort of ironic that my first photography with my new 5D II was shooting a sporting event! :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: lance, armstrong, astana, bicycle, bike, racing, team, race, stage, amgen, tour of california, portrait, hat, face, close up, sports, smile, sacramento, california, usa, sacramento, prolog, people, professional, livestrong

Giants vs. Rockies, ATT Park at Twilight

Giants v. Rockies, ATT Park at Twilight

Giants v. Rockies, ATT Park at Twilight. San Francisco, California. August 25, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Twilight photograph of ATT Park field, lights, and stands and the San Francisco Bay beyond from the upper deck during August 25, 2008 Giants versus Rockies game. Giants lost… again… sigh…

The view is beautiful from almost any point in this ball park, but especially from the upper deck seats – from which you can watch the twilight fade over San Francisco Bay. And that’s a good thing, because for Giants fans these days the view over the Bay is often much more appealing than the action on the field. A dog, garlic fries, and a beer help, too.

keywords: giants, rockies, att, park, baseball, national league, team, night, twilight, evening, field, stadium, stands, seats, fans, people, players, lights, sign, san francisco, bay, california, usa, waterfront, stock, sports, travel, scenic, urban, bay area

Windsurfing Photographs

Last March I was over on the coast near Davenport, California in the afternoon, and I wandered down to a beach where I’ve photographed in the past. I’d previously gone there to photograph birds and seascapes, but on this day it turned out that the dozens of windsurfers provided a more interesting subject.

I mention this because I’m finally finding time to go through the hundreds of frames I shot that day, and I’ve been posting them over in the Gallery – you can find a good number of them if you check out the recent updates page today, or you can go straight to the windsurfing page.

Into the Surf

Into the Surf
Into the Surf. Pacific Coast, California. March 8, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

In early March I headed out to the California coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz for an afternoon of random coastal shooting – I was probably thinking seascape, hoping for some interesting fog and clouds, but I stumbled across a large group of wind surfers just north of the coastal town of Davenport.

keywords: California, Ocean, Pacific, Seascape, Water, waves, Wind, windsurfing, Winter, sea, surf, spray, chop, swells, windsurfer, person, sports, stock, usa, outside, adventure, outdoor, board, mast