Visiting La Push Washington… The Twilight Capital of the World

This last weekend we loaded up Beast with a load of camera gear, camping gear and friends and we headed to the Olympic Peninsula. Our target was La Push Washington. La Push is a tiny little fishing village at the dead end of a road in the Olympic Natianal Park. While there is NOTHING in La Push, it has recently been over taken by wild and crazy teenage fans of the now world famous Twilight movies and books. Fanatics are making the trip from all over the world to come visit nearby Forks, and La Push. While none of the movie was actually filmed in these small, tiny towns, the story took place there. And that has been enough for people to travel for days, and weeks to come see all the craze. However, Eldad and I had other things on our mind other than running around with all the star crazed teenagers wearing Twilight shirts. We had light on our mind. We wanted to try out our shutter fingers on the amazing beaches and rock formations that La Push has been originally known for. At 5 miles from the coast, the weather was looking to turn out for amazing photography. The sun was out, it was warm…. PERFECT. However, given mine and Eldad’s luck for great weather for ocean photography, once we got to the coast line, it was socked in with fog. It was just like the place hadn’t seen sun for months. How disappointing to drive all that way and end up with that!! Especially since 5 miles back it was a nice sunny day. My theory on landscape photography is to shoot with whatever elements mother nature decides to give me for that particular day, so we messed around for a few shots. About 6:30pm, we were just settling into camp and had the camera gear all packed up, when we noticed the fog slowly breaking and clearing. Sure enough it continued to open up and reveal the amazing sunset that was happening behind the curtain. We quickly unpacked our camera gear and made quick work of the dying sunlight. It was a mad scramble to shoot what we could with the small window of time we had. Here is only a couple of what I got. There is more photos soon to come from the trip – just been busy with other projects…

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DeRosa Photography is now on Facebook.  Click the link, become a fan and help promote my web presence. Within the next year I hope to expand my business solidly into Weddings, Portraiture and Commercial Architecture.  Thank you for your support.
Chad DeRosa Photography

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Black & Whites in the Valley of Fire

I wanted to share a couple of black and whites I recently took in The Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  The sky was a brillant blue and with the firey red rocks, it made for amazing black and white photography using the red filter effect.  This is always a treat when visiting Las Vegas.

-Enjoy

Sean and Kim Tie The Knot

I had the honor of co-shooting with Eldad Efendi at Sean and Kim Coombs’ wedding.  What a wonderful day for a wedding at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club in Bellingham Washington.  The lighting that day under the vibrantly green trees made for some awesome photography. Here are a few of what I got.

- Enjoy

Exxel Pacific – Mural Building

Last month I worked with Exxel Pacific General Contractors to photograph their newly finished Mural project built for Harbor Properties. Mural is a 130 unit residential building in West Seattle with 5,300 sq. feet of ground floor retail. To capture the uniqueness of the West Seattle neighborhood, Mural is a tribute to the 11 historical murals that celebrate the neighborhood’s heritage. Here are the photos that I took of the building. The photos are now being used for marketing and promotional uses by Exxel Pacific and Harbor Properties as well as The Fresh Bistro, a restaurant on the ground floor level of the building.

- Enjoy

California Bound…

Wednesday, 20th of March, 2009. The time clock buzzed straight up 4:30 pm and we put the show on the road. We hit The 5 Freeway southbound and down on exit 260 out of Ferndale, Wa at 4:45 pm. Our goal: hit Medford, Oregon before we hit the sack for the night. We put the pedal to the metal for 10 hours, 45 minutes, 680 miles, 1.5 tanks of 87 octane, and 2 Monsters. We ate asphalt for dinner in Washington, blew up Oregon, and had a nice desert of pavement pie about 100 miles into California. At 4 am, we hit a rest area near Lake Shasta, California for a couple of hours of shut eye. As of right now, 7:45 am, we are shreddin’ some California freeway headed for Long Beach, California.

As of Saturday morning, we will be setting foot on the soils of Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California for the start of the 2009 Lucas Oil Motocross Nationals. Media vest in hand, the mission begins: Motos and Photos… It’s been a long time waiting and wanting. With a little hard work and much determination, my dream comes true. This Saturday I pick up my credential for the season. For the season, the door is open to me. I have been granted the access, I have been granted the opportunity. Now the fun begins. Stay tuned…..

DeRosa Photography Hits The Las Vegas Supercross

This last weekend I made a trip down to Las Vegas for the final round of the 2009 Monster Energy Supercross Series.  It was an amazing weekend and experience.  It was my first opportunity to shoot a Supercross Event with press credentials.  I would like to put out a special thank you to Brian Robinette and his family for being great hosts for the weekend.  Thanks for showing me the ropes of shooting at an event. 

Here are a few of my favorites from this weekend in Las Vegas.   For a full gallery of this weekends event, CLICK HERE.

Enjoy-

Preparing for Battle

The pits of a Monster Energy Supercross race are closed to the public at 6 pm to allow the riders and teams to prepare for the night’s main events.  I myself had never been a part of the pits after 6 pm.  At Round 17 of the 2009 Monster Enery Supercross Series in Las Vegas, Nevada, I had the privilege of a media credentials for the event. I had all access to anywhere I wanted to go.  I wanted to see for myself what really went on behind the scenes of a Supercross event “after hours”. 

  

After the heat races and last chance qualifiers were all finished up, I decided to head for the pits during the intermission while all eyes were on the halftime Freestyle MX show.  I expected to get down to the pits and find a buzz of people surrounding the team trailers as the most hyped up main event of Supercross history was about to go down.

  

On the contrary, the place was like a dark ghost town.  There was a strong, erie wind blowing through the pits and the dust created by the wind formed crazy halos around the very few lights that existed down there.  Leftover newspapers and garbage from the day’s pit party tumbled across the trampled grass.  Dust devils swirled around and I swear a tumble weed went blowing by me.  I was virtually the only one walking around.  I questioned myself if I was supposed to be there.  Truly an erie feeling when not more than 300 yards away there is a stadium filled with more than 30,00 screaming fans waiting to see the battle go down between James Stewart and Chad Reed for the championship.

  

In front of each team’s trailer there was limited movement.  The teams gear and pit area had been 75% torn down and packed away for the night.  The bikes just seemed to chill in front of each trailer patiently waiting to be put to work.  Riders were locked up tight and cozy in their motor homes mentally preparing.  Only the lone mechanics were out putting a wrench on each individual nut and bolt and tidying up any loose ends on the bikes before the riders put them to battle. 

DeRosa Photography goes Twitter…

Twitter me this… Twitter me that…  Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. It seems to be the new craze in keeping connected with the world.  Take myspace.com combined with facebook.com, simplify things and eliminate all the b.s. and you have Twitter.  Put in simple terms, its a timeline of text messages, allowing one to “follow” someone in realtime as they post updates of where they are and what they are doing.  While it’s extremely simple, it does seem to be spreading like wildfire.  I find it especially interesting following people who are traveling and are in the photography industry.

In the next 5 weeks I will be traveling to several places around the west coast shooting photography.  I am scheduled for the final round of Supercross in Las Vegas for this weekend.  The last two weeks in May, I am scheduled to be at the first 2 rounds of the Motocross Nationals in southern California.  I have set up a twitter and will be updating any followers of mine with photos, race day coverage and any interesting adventures along my travels.  So if you are interested in “following” along on the trip, check out Twitter.

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Endurocross at Hannegan Speedway

Endurocross… Ever heard of it?  Take all the crazy tough, hardest obstacles that you come across on an enduro course, put it together on a supercross style track in front of a crowd of people, and you’ve got… Endurocross.  Enormous Logs, huge chunks of concrete debris, walls of tires, mud holes and gates full of motocross riders make up a night of Endurocross racing.  While a typical enduro race goes down deep in the woods or far out in the desert making it hard for spectators to enjoy, Endurocross racing is engineered to bring enduro racing into the laps of the spectators.  Racers in Endurocross don’t just ride to the finish line… they crash, bang, flip and fight their way through what looks to be an impassable course.  It’s spreading like wild fire throughout the motocross industry and Mr. Mike Hurlbert and his team of organizers are bringing this sport home to Hannegan Speedway.  With 10 rounds of Endurocross competition set for this years schedule of racing it’s sure to be a huge hit with racers as well as spectators.  CLICK HERE FOR EVENT SCHEDULE AND INFORMATION.