Some changes on the way!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a crazy past few weeks but things are finally settling down. We are currently hard at work one several items. First off NEW LOGO coming very soon. A special thanks goes out to Kari Perry and her website http://perrygraphics.moonfruit.com. I've been very happy with the look and feel. Hopefully you can give me some input on what you think. Second, a new home for RMP. Yes, Melissa and I have moved from the cramped quarters of our old apartment to a home in south Liberty. We can finally bring people over comfortably and make you truly feel at home with us.

There are other great new things coming but for me, I'm most excited for next year. The past few years have been a bit of a struggle as I tried to figure out who I was was as a photographer and before your mind starts to wonder about that statement, no I did not go on some crazy quest to discover who is Kyle Rivas. Far from it. I've more or less taught myself to stop stressing about what I'm doing and just let it happen in the moment. It is so funny how we over think things and how quickly it can overwhelm. Recently, I've taken a step back to truly see what I've done and I've got to say, I'm happy, BUT I'm far from satisfied. I'm still striving for the ultimate in you face shot in basketball and I'm looking at wedding photography done by others that I envy so much, figuring out ways I can achieve those results. How I shoot is always changing and thats a great thing. I love what I do! It pushes me to do the next best thing and I think that's pretty cool!

RMP good night!

I LOVE SOCCER!

Before you start to wonder, yes there was a penalty called on this one! Tonight was a fun shoot for me. I know of many photographers that complain about shooting soccer but I am far from one of them. In fact soccer is one of my favorite sports to shoot. The opportunities are endless to capture something unique, if you have the eye and the attitude for it. Much like volleyball or baseball, the action can change instantly and you have to have a quick eye and a very good feel for the sport to capture images like the one below. One thing I've taught myself over the past few years with sports photography is never ever ever be happy with the ordinary shot, the shot that happens 10, 20, 100 times a game. Instead strive to find something unique. I've been fortunate this year with soccer. I've got two new contest worthy images but I know it was because I didn't attempt the ordinary, I looked for the extraordinary. Granted I'm not the best by any means but it sure is fun trying to create the next great image! 

The referee

A man approached me just as I was putting the finishing touches on my camera setup before this weeks Jewell vs Park game. He seemed impressed on where we were putting the camera and asking questions about what type of pictures it would take. Of course, I had a few wireless transmitted on my laptop which I showed him. At that moment I asked him if he was a coach for Park. He responded, "No, no I'm just a referee for the women's game." Inside I laughed hysterically because I was talking to the very person that could get mad and tell me to take it down. Instead I proceeded to impress him with how sturdy it was and gave him my WJphoto.com business card. Goes to show, whether or not you know who you are talking to,  be nice and don't be afraid to strike up a conversation.

BOO!!!!! Happy Halloween!

With Halloween just a few day's away and a plate full of photography shoots coming up, I just couldn't wait to post a couple of recent spooky images I took at a haunted house this past weekend. Having never done any type of shoot like this before, it was quite the creative adventure. The women above creates a small but creepy Haunted House and was very much a character when we began taking photos. Let me know what you all think!

Shutter-1/500 Aperture 5.6ish and ISO 640

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Sneak Peek! Sneak Peek!

Hey guys! Here's a sneak peek of Matt & Biz's engagement shoot from Sunday. We had a lot of fun at Loose Park and Liberty Memorial and got a TON of great pictures... these are just some of my favorites. Keep your eyes peeled for more to come very soon! 

New favorite soccer image!

Most women's soccer games I shoot aren't very photogenic because most are not that physical. When Jewell took on Baker University, it was a complete opposite from the norm. At the time WJC was undefeated and Baker was fighting for footing in the HAAC. In the second half of this game I found myself shooting the most physical women's soccer game I had seen in several years. I also produced one of my new favorite image. Abby, pictured below was originally tripped up and was at one point walking on all four's trying to get back up when a Baker U girl almost literally ran back over her and then proceed to kick the ball. Obviously she hit Abby's head before the ball.

When I shoot games like these, I keep my eye in the camera almost the entire time unless I'm looking for the player which the pass is going to be made to. Having a good knowledge about the game, how it's played and a teams tactics, will greatly increase your ability to capture multiple publication worthy images. Anticipation is just as important in sports photography as clicking the shutter. I once heard a Sport Illustrated photographer talk about how he started studying players highlights and tendencies on ESPN for NCAA football games. He was looking at a wide receiver before the Rose Bowl and found that at the goal line, the receiver loved to leap over the pillion just as he entered the end-zone. The result, he situated a camera at the pillion look from the ground up and captured the image of the season and a huge spread in SI. Little things like that separate good photographers from great ones.

Crossing fingers!

SEP Action New's magazine has chosen the top twenty images to compete for this years cover and the image above has a fighting chance! Hopefully the image is strong enough to knock out the other candidates but we'll see. It's not my best image but it fit the 9x12 size qualifications. We shall see!

Lightning photographer has taken me now to Orrick Missouri. The past couple of weeks the skies have been lit up with a ton of lightning and for me opportunities. This time I branched out of the Jewell bubble and did some traveling and it turned out to be an entertaining evening. 

This shoot started with me chasing a storm that had just passed over Liberty and was tracking south. What I didn't realize that the storm was dying and reforming along the Missouri river bed. As I traveled south and then east (don't have a clue what road I was on) I happened to drive by the power plant as a bolt dropped in  the background. I quickly hopped out of the car and captured a few images hopping that another nearby storm would hold off. Fortunately I didn't have to wait long before capturing a series of lightning strikes a few miles in the background. 

The railroad image is one that I wish I could have stuck around longer for. This was a right place at the right time moment. I had driven through Orrick and found myself on a set of railroad tracks looking over an endless sea of corn fields with three storms all paralleling me. I shot for about ten minutes and then a train came through. With a twenty second expose I shot about 20 feet away and on the final shot you can see a small trail of the train and the barricades coming down. Very fun night! Let me know what you think of the images. 

SUCCESS!

FINALLY, is the best way I can explain this shot. This lightning got the adrenaline running again. For the past couple of years I've been trying to get a shot with lightning streaking over Jewell Hall. Well in an earlier post I mentioned finding a great vantage point but the only problem was the windows had recently been screwed shut. Luckily it was nothing that a screw driver couldn't fix. Turns out this spot was probably the greatest lightning vantage point ever. It came fully equipped with multiple windows, nice breeze and a couch to relax on while I shot. With that said, I'm really excited for this shot to complete a series of seasonal images from this spot. Let me know what you think!

Tech Specs:
MK IV- Shutter 8 seconds, Aperture f/10, ISO 250, Kelvin 3800
Pocket Wizards Transmitter
Bogen Magic Arm and Clamp

Faces

Friday night football is finally in full gear and I can't be any happier. When shooting football, most people struggle with getting close to the action, exposing properly (without blurriness), and capturing moments that generally happen many times a game (like the quarterback rolling out for a pass). I can say these things because I also struggled heavily with these issues at one point or the other when I was starting. 

It's taken awhile but now those items come naturally which allows me to focus on capture unique images instead of hoping a unique image happens. A major focus for me this football season is faces. Capturing emotion that lasts an instant is a tough thing to do. Football poses an even greater challenge with the helmet. The helmet narrows your window of opportunity while making it difficult to expose properly. When shooting, try shooting as tight at you can. One tip that a newspaper photographer gave me when I started was zoom in to the max of the lens and then put tape on your zoom control. You may get less images but in time you will get more impactful moments. Moments that you don't see day in and day out. If you get in tight enough, you may be able to truly see the emotion and conflict in the game. That will help you tell the story whether they won or lost. 

#5

A screen away from a perfect shot. Ok before photographers pass judgement on how good or bad this image is, hear is some backstory on this image.

I've been dreaming about getting a good lightning shot of Jewell Hall for year's now. The problem is, I don't want to get struck by lightning and there is no place to shoot and hide my camera and I. Well, I finally figure out a way to satisfy both problems or so I thought. Last year I stumbled onto a great angle of Jewell Hall on the second floor of our library. It gives you a great  view of the building with minimal tree foliage. Over the summer my problem has been that the library closed at 5pm. Now that students are back, the library was open later and a great storm was approaching, I thought nothing could go wrong. Nothing at all, until I tried to open the window and our facilities folks HAD DRILLED IT SHUT!

I spent 40 minutes in a frantic state trying to get one window open. It wasn't happening tonight, until, I check the women's restroom window. I kid you not. The one window they hadn't closed and the one spot and I could barely get my camera up into was in the women's restroom. I started shooting immediately and no more than 30 seconds of shoot I popped off a shot with a huge lightning strike. So large that it blew out most of the photo. Then, after about 20 minutes of almost no lightning, I just happen to hit the shutter and the shot above happened. I was elated until found out what I was fearing. The angle that I had to shoot at couldn't kill the screen in front of me. O well. I still think it was worth the hassle and I may be able to salvage it later. This will be one of my few Photoshop projects, that's for sure!

#4

Getting stung by a wasp just before a photo shoot  hurts a lot! That's what I learned the other day as I was taking this photo for the William Jewell football team. On another note, I had a few extra helpers and was able to cut the team photos down to 45 minutes instead of the normal 2 hours. 


Congrats to our newest bride and groom Jen and Joey!! We're really looking forward to your engagement shoot on Saturday on the campus! Looks like it's going to be a busy weekend with the engagement shoot, meeting a bride and groom on Saturday, and Friday night football starting tomorrow night. 

#3

Nothing specifically focused happened today, although I did finish editing our latest wedding, Britnay & Jason  (http://www.rivasmediaphotography.com/p623425559). We're also in the progress of setting up engagement photos with Jen & Joey for this weekend which should be a great shoot! Congrats on your new engagement guys! 


Today's picture actually comes from  Jewell orientation shoot/activity fair on the Quad....

#2

So Jewell's definitely in full swing and today was the busiest day that I've had since graduation day last year. My pic for today is actually one that I took Saturday night during the storm. Gano chapel with lightening.. probably one of my favorites. Tomorrow watch for a photo from tonight that I think is going to end up being a portfolio choice....

Post 1

So we've decided to start a blog. Hopefully we'll be able to keep this updated on a somewhat daily basis with new photos and stories and whatnot. I woke up really excited to go do photos today, which is a good thing since I've done three shoots already: Orientation at Jewell, a freelance shoot in Smithville for the Tribune, and now a birthday party for RMP. Hopefully we'll get pictures up this evening.......