Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith

Moving to Wordpress

2009-02-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I am moving my blog to

www.patrickmeredith.wordpress.com

I would ask that you update your bookmarks and I hope you will make the transition with me.

Thanks! -Patrick Meredith

Baseball!

2009-02-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

Finally!!!!

University of Texas baseball photography by Austin photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com

Let me preface this by saying that I hate blogger and I don't understand why I can't get the layout functions to work like they should...

It seems like forever since I was sitting in a photo well, ducking line drives, chewing on sunflower seeds and fighting the Texas sun on a baseball field. .... .... .... Well ... ... ... The time has come!

I got my start in sports photography shooting baseball in Neosho, Missouri. I found myself in the dugout covering the baseball team for the college newspaper (which I happened to be photo editor of -small plug-).

Texas UIL State Tournament in Round Rock

I was still shooting film with a Nikon F4, a 70-300mm zoom lens and Tri-X 3200 that I developed in the college darkroom (which I also had a key to). I had a 500mm mirror lens that I used from time to time, but it was total junk...

Anyhow, I found myself fortunate enough to cover a number of local high school teams here in Austin, the University of Texas Longhorns baseball and softball teams, the Round Rock Express, the USA Olympic softball team and even some T-Ball on some weekends.
The University of Texas baseball and softball teams start their season in a couple weeks and this weekend, respectively.

Southwestern University in Georgetown

So I'm off to shoot the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational Softball Tournament here in Austin this weekend. Should be a fun time out in the nice 70 degree weather! Plus the softball complex has some nice photo positions, granted there aren't 5 TV crews clamming for space.

Texas UIL State Tournament

In order to kick off the '09 base/softball season, I took a quick look through some of my '08 assignments and thought I would post some here!

USA Olympic Softball - photos by Austin photographer Patrick Meredith

Here we go again...

2009-01-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

So it is 80 degrees here in Austin, Texas as I type this. It couldn't be more beautiful...

Having been a fan of Magnum (and a majority of the other photographers that have passed through the agency) since I picked up a camera, I was very excited when I heard Sebastiao Salgado's 'Workers' photography exhibit was coming to the Austin Museum of Modern Art late last year. I had totally forgotten about it until a taxi driver (who I was photographing) told me about the exhibit just yesterday.

Click HERE for more information about the showing.
photos by Austin photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com

Some of the photographs were simply amazing. Bizarre, beautiful, heartbreaking and thought provoking rolled into a single lump, if that makes sense. The glimpse into the working lives of the sulfur miners in Indonesia was just....amazing. By far the best $5 I've spent in a long time.

A view of one room of the AMOA, which is currently showing Sebastio Salgado's 'Workers' photographs

Salgado also has a book, titled Workers, that showcases the collection. The AMOA has this book, along with several other books showcasing Salgado's photographs, for you to browse through as well. You can find it on many major websites used for under $50. I'll be buying it once I have the chance.

I broke the rules taking these two photos...

So as I was leaving the exhibit, I noticed a large police presence traveling north on Congress Avenue, followed by an even larger group of people carrying signs and yelling for "Peace in the Middle East"...

So I made about 10 frames and kept riding my bike...

Protesters call for peace in Israeli and other Middle East countries during a demonstration in downtown Austin on Friday.

In other news, I've been shooting a lot of of stuff with an old 120 film camera I got for christmas from my dad. I have a couple of projects going with all these 120/127 cameras I've got laying around. Now all I have to do is develop the film. yikes. I'll just add that to the over 30 rolls of 35mm film I need to get on as well. Someday...Someday. :)

I may be attending another photography meeting tonight, so hopefully I'll have some more photos to show. I'm still working on some of the dancing photos from last week. Here is one more....

'more to come'

oh no

2009-01-18T07:39:00.001-08:00

photo by Austin photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com

I'll eventually upload some more photos here as I go through the take from last night...

"reporters should be barred from wars"

2009-01-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Straight from Joe the Plumber.

Read it and watch the video HERE

...Amazing

Some recent photos

2009-01-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

Josh ,a fellow Austin photog, brought out some big guns for a small photo shoot inside a little warehouse/parking garage in Austin last night.

Check out this rig! A 20x20 silk with six Alien Bees packing some heat...photos by Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith

James was nice enough to park his Mini underneath for the first test run...It looked so small underneath the silk...

After setting up the rig and positioning the lights, we all took turns shooting the cars from different angles, moving the lights around a bit. Josh, the knee pads guy (can't remember your name...Doh!) and myself stayed for a little over four hours...My feet were defiantly sore by the end of the night

Everyone, except Nutter in the background, chimps from Josh as he fires away.

Interior of the Mini. I had never seen the inside of one of these cars and it was pretty cool!

After the Mini, we shot a BMW that wasn't much bigger than the Cooper. I should have pulled my truck underneath to get a nice photo of that big dent on my tail gate..

I also had the opportunity to shoot a portrait of a nice fellow over at Reagen High School here in Austin. The kid, a sophomore, is seven inches taller than me and can dunk. I don't think ANYONE at my high school could dunk...

I used a simple four light setup for this shot. One light in a silver umbrella directly right of me as key, one to his left that was snooted and pointed towards his shoulder, one to his right that was aimed at his shoulder/the ball and one up really high on a stand, snooted, pointing at the basket.
I got just a bit of spill on the background and killed it off with a slight levels adjust in post. An easy fix, but even easier if I had just flagged one of the flashes a bit better.

Till next time!
PM

Good news!

2009-01-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Not only have I been shooting some very cool assignments this week, I am also getting together tonight with some local photogs for a small 'strobist' shoot.

But the best news of all?
I got accepted into the SportsShooter VI Academy being held in California in April! Sweet!

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/2150

(that's all)

2008 Favorites

2009-01-02T08:41:00.001-08:00

2008 marked the year when I started my freelance photo career and in that time I have photographed thousands of people, the NFL, every college and high school sport and traveled over 14,000 miles going to assignments across Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri.
I've battled flat tires, extreme heat. bad directions, late clients, pouring rain, poor cell service, terrible stadium hot dogs and weird hours.
2008 also marked my two year anniversary with my girlfriend, I got Hank, I turned a quarter of a century, and a bunch of other memorable stuff that no one else cares about.

I hope 2009 is just as good....

With that, here are a couple of my favorite shots from this past year. I gave a back story to some of the photos on my sportsshooter page @ www.sportsshooter.com/meredith/2008

I'm going to buy Soundslides next week and start my multimedia stuff!

Best of luck to everyone in '09!

Missouri, Miami, Seattle, Fredericksburg, Austin

2008-12-30T11:09:00.000-08:00

Sarah takes the wheel as Mitch looks over the ticket she just got on the way to Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas....63mph in a 50. Do you know why I pulled you over? (photos by Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com )

I think I've spent more time in a car this last week than I have the entire year...........Some photos from our trip to Missouri/Oklahoma and to Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas.

Mitch looks over the park from some giant boulders we climbed up on Enchanted Rock.

Mitch jumps from one boulder to the next. Nothing like a big gap and a 30 foot drop...

We scrambled up the side of some steep rocks to get to the highest point on a set of rocks only to get to the top and see people using ropes to climb up. Looks like so much fun.

We went into the 'cave' at Enchanted Rock and it wasn't that exciting. There was some cool light shafts that could yield some interesting shots if you were there at the right time...

Hank loves the hell out of his Christmas present. Brazos got one as well...

Christmas lights in Johnson City, Texas

If only I was a giant...squish!

A photo from my seat on the plane on the return flight from Seattle to Denver a couple weeks ago. Mt. Rainer out there....So nice. I put my website address in there because I posted this photo on my Flickr account, where my photos always get stolen. I took everything off that people may want to steal...I think anyhow..

Naked man with sword pleads not guilty!

2008-12-09T11:44:00.001-08:00

So I was cruising the Statesman online before checking the weather and saw THIS STORY that I photographed while working at the Williamson County Sun.
The photos were never published and the editor didn't think the story warranted any photo coverage.

Here is one photo that I took from the incident and HERE is where I blogged about it in August.

David Thistle lays face down covered by his shirt after being apprehended by Williamson County Sheriffs after he stripped naked and wielded a sword inside the county courthouse in January.

Back in Austin!

2008-12-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

Amelia and I just got back from Washington last night after spending a few days up there with her family. I can't wait to go back and photograph the mountains...I had to hold my breath and photograph them from a moving car...but that is pretty easy when her family lives right underneath them...more to come
As a matter of fact, one of her brothers, Brady, lives so close them that I shot this with a Nikon 85mm @ f4 in monochrome mode while driving to his house. The rain gave way to some fog, covering most of the hills...Everyone there says it is an everyday experience and thought it was funny I was so interested in it. Coming from Austin, it is a 180 degree change. Driving in last night all I kept thinking was, "Man, this town is boring..." ha!

VOLLEYBALL

2008-11-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't shot anything but sports in some time now. I need to get out and shoot something else....I had another car shoot scheduled with some fellow Austin shooters, but I had to cancel because of an assignment conflict. You can see some photos a fellow Strobist_Austin shooter got HERE. And speak of the devil....Just as I was typing this, I got two non-sports assignments for tomorrow!

Caldwell's Kim Crnkovic (#17) goes for the kill as teammate Callee Norman gets set during the Hornets 3A semifinal loss to Lucas Lovejoy on Friday in San Marcos.

I've shot more volleyball than I care to talk about the last couple of days. I've only shot four games these last three days, but that is four times as many as I have ever shot. You can see more on my SportsShooter site

I also shot my first game for the University of Texas last night. It was my second Longhorn volleyball game and it was a lot better than my first. You can see images from that on my SS site as well.

All-American outside hitter Juliann Faucette reacts after the #4 Texas Longhorns closed their second game over Kansas on Saturday.

More to come

High School football...

2008-11-16T17:36:00.001-08:00

It has been a somewhat busy time for myself taking photos here in Austin. I've got a couple projects underway and have been shooting football regularly for a couple publications here in central Texas.
As it happens to go, I didn't have an assignment to shoot Austin High's bi-district playoff game on Saturday, but I really wanted to see if the kids could keep it together for the win over Reagen at House Park.

After halftime, I climbed to the top of the press box to shoot the action from above. The sun was pretty great towards the end of the game, casting some long shadows around. It was pretty tough getting to the top of the box...The stadium was built in 1938 and I don't think the ladder has been changed since then either.

The only problem with shooting from above was the fact that I couldn't always get the face in the shot. This could have been cool....An 'almost'

Austin High ended up losing the game 20-24. It has to be tough to walk off the field for the last time as a senior, knowing you won't be playing again next season...Jay Janner, who works for the Austin American Statesman, shot some good photos of the kids outside of the locker room after I took this...Check out his blog titled "City Limits" in the upper right corner...

I wish all the games I shot were in the daylight like the ones above, but I've been shooting Thursday and Friday nights as well. Here are a few photos that I enjoyed from the last few games...

Llano vs. Bowie - Just out of reach

Liberty Hill vs. Westlake - Not enough

Christopher Koepnick, a sophmore at Bowie High School, prepares the flags as other members of the Bowie AFJ ROTC ready themselves before the start of the Bowie Bulldogs class 5A bi-district playoff against San Antonio Madison.

Bowie vs. Llano - Season end

Butter fingers

Celebration

Cheerabration

And check this out. The picture isn't great or worth printing...But what is worth noting is that I was in the opposite endzone shooting with a Nikon D300 with a Nikon 300mm 2.8 when I shot this. That is over 120 yards away...How about that for some resolution? I'm still amazed by this new technology nearly every time I pick up this camera.
And I'm over 50,000 shutter clicks on this D300. I got it 372 days ago! That is roughly 130 frames a day!

New photos

2008-11-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

I shot the Texas vs. Baylor game here in Austin on Saturday. See more of the photos at www.sportsshooter.com/meredith

ninth street jam photos

2008-11-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this by saying that I didn't really edit these photos except cropping some... Pretty much straight from camera. woooo. In no particular order....

Amelia put my dog in a pumpkin suit.

I found a photo of myself...

2008-11-04T08:02:00.001-08:00

sunflare
Originally uploaded by eschipul

...on flickr! woooooo

preview

2008-11-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

I've got several hundred photos from the ninth street jam and these are just a few from my first 30 second pass. More to come on Monday or Tuesday.

triple crown best trick contest

Long jump/worst wreck winner (some dude jumped right in my way when he collided with everyone...So I've got photos of some asshole standing right in front of me and about 3 other people taking photos/video) To the guy wearing the purple empire shirt. Love it

High air on the small jump

oodle noodle

9th Street

2008-10-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

9th street is on point for the Halloween Jam on the 1st. I shot a couple of (terrible) panos out there this afternoon. The street section is looking wild...

It should be a fun afternoon with a few hundred bmxers/hobos (if last year was any indication) having a good time.

Click on 'em for larger views.

You can check out some more info @ http://www.ninthstreetbmx.com/

Whoops

2008-10-23T12:20:00.001-07:00

Been a while since I updated...A lot has been going on. Restaurants, people, football, football and more football. Drove to Houston and saw the Texans play. And photographed them as well. I will update again at some point. I'm off to ride bikes now! Check out my newest photos from the NFL @ www.sportsshooter.com/meredith

Ahman Green (#30) celebrates his first quarter touchdown during the Houston Texans vs. Detroit Lions football game on Sunday afternoon October 19, 2008 at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Texans defeated the Lions 28-21.
Photo by Austin photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com

Last day of the Pump Track

2008-10-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

The construction crews kept creeping closer and closer to the dry riverbed running beside the trails over the course of a few months. Finally, on Monday, the crews moved in and started digging up the pump track to lay a pipe six feet in the ground directly through the middle of everything.
I wouldn't hesitate to say hundreds of people came out on the last two days to hang out and enjoy a cool October day in the woods and pump around a couple more times....
I snapped a couple quick photos, but I was more interested in trying to wreck my bike in some dirt mounds in the woods....

Josh kept standing on the landing of the newest jump when people were jumping. So funny. I don't think he meant to...He almost got plowed here...

Some old stuff

2008-10-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

I've had the opportunity to shoot a number of football games, practices and portraits over the last few months, but I haven't really uploaded much of anything here. Until now. Here is a small glimpse of what I've been doing every Thursday/Friday night.

If you've been following high school football in Texas, then you know who this Lake Travis quarterback is. He is already signed up to play at the University of Texas. Photos by Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com

I posted the frame before this one a while ago but upon closer inspection, I found this frame, which captures the peak action of the toss. I'm a fan of this picture. I really like the hands shooting up from the bottom of the frame.

House Park in Austin has some terrible light. When I say terrible, I mean ok. I have been to worse (think Liberty Hill or Granger) but it could be better. They just put in new turf but left the same lights that have been up since the 60's....

Since it is in downtown Austin, there are some pretty cool views to be had at House Park. The Frost Tower making an appearance.

Before the start of the Georgetown vs. Stony Point game. It was kind of cool seeing the GT guys play again. I hadn't seen any of the coaches or parents since leaving my position at the GT newspaper. I'm surprised at how many people said hello and recognized me.

The lights at Dragon Stadium aren't shabby.

Stony Point kids take it one notch above all the others. Always lots of paint, signs and noise makers.

One of the few games that actually started with some day light left. A.C. Bible Stadium in Leander has some great light in between the 25 yard lines, but the end zones are black holes.

Georgetown almost knocked off Stony Point, but had a hard time against their defense.

I've had 4 name busts since 2003. I can tell you every picture and what was happening in each one. I can even remember editing them. No more.

I also got some extension tubes for some macro work. It is pretty cool what just one will do to my 60mm macro lens. These ants were TINY! I think two of them could have fit on a grain of rice.

Friday Night Lights

2008-10-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

I had a blast shooting high school football last night. The D300 continues to impress me (even after nearly a year of service) with the high ISO capabilities. I can only imagine what the D3 looks like. I'm just happy to take photos in situations where I couldn't before. A couple from the Hutto vs. Lake Travis game in Hutto last night.

D2H, 17-35mm exposed for the sky

More to come...

This is happening now...

2008-10-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

James Nechtway
www.xdrtb.org

Thursday Night Football

2008-10-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

I had a blast shooting some high school football last night over in House Park in Austin. Although it took me 10 minutes (literally) to convince the guy at the door I wasn't a terrorist bent on destroying the stadium (literally), I got inside. I guess I need to shave...

Anyhow, I've been running into Jim Redman from MaxPreps a lot these days. Seems we almost have the same schedule on Friday nights. Jim is a super nice guy and always lets me complain to him about how bad the light is. At least he nods his head. 8)

I was running late last night as the game started at 7, 30 minutes earlier than it usually does. I usually try to get there at least an hour/45 minutes early to get my rosters, set up and take some photos in the nice afternoon light. I got there with 30 minutes to kickoff last night and had to spend 10 minutes at the door...I felt so rushed. I've got a photo in my head I want to get and I didn't have the time to nab it this time. There was a Chevy Prep Ticket photog that showed up at 7:30, mumbling he forgot Thursday games started early.

You can check out complete coverage from the game (with 14 more photos) over at www.statesman.com in the High School Football section.
Photo by Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com

I've got a game in Hutto tonight as well. I've got my fingers crossed! Now to the pump track for some bicycle action....

dogs dogs dogs

2008-10-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

I met up with Jamie and his roommate at Auditorium Shores in downtown Austin this morning for some dog park action. I went in with three tennis balls for the dogs to play with and came out covered in mud with one tennis ball. Strange how that always seem to happen. This is what my dogs do....

(Photos by Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith www.meredith-photo.com)

shake shake shake

Brazos is such a dork

Blink!

Brazos and Hank fighting for the ball. Brazos was actually swimming!

Brazos is a jerk

Dirty dog

Dancing with the s..dogs?

Brazos fetched in the water!

Mike Tyson?