Cloud of Green and GoldThe Mayfield student section celebrates their team at the beginning of the game.

Cruces Cheerleader Nisi gets ready for the player's run out at the beginning of the game.

Matthew RileyMayfield RB Matthew Riley rushes the ball for a gain in the first quarter of the game. Will MageeLas Cruces DB/RB punches it in for a touchdown. Lib CompA Mayfield cheerleader focusing in the annual lib comp event.

Lib CompCruces cheerleaders in Friday's lib comp against Mayfield.

Jorge FigueroaCruces punter/kicker Jorge Figueroa gets things started in the second half. Who has more spirit?The Cruces student section taunts with the Mayfield student section after scoring a touchdown.

Austin SalasCruces MLB Austin Salas stares down the Mayfield offense on a critical third and long. Relentless PursuitLas Cruces DB Will Magee chases down Mayfield QB Zach Ingram. Swarming DawgsThe Bulldawg defense attacks Mayfield RB Matthew Riley deep in Mayfield territory. Ricky ClarkWR Ricky Clark coasts into the endzone after a perfect pass from Marcos Lopez Tight CoverageBulldawg WR Israel Ramirez just misses the catch. Endzone SnatchMayfield MLB Angel Franco intercepts the ball intended for Israel Ramirez. Mayfield MatrixOn the final play of the game, Mayfield's Marcos Apodaca tries to avoid the down after an errant snap. CelebrationLas Cruces players celebrate the victory after a broken, last ditch effort from Mayfield. 2019 District Champs

2018 Bulldawg Football Youth Camp

The two schools continue the nations best rivalry for the 51st year.

2015 State Champs

The 2014-15 Centennial Hawks basketball dominated every team it faced during the season, including the two teams in the 6A Championship Game, Cleveland, and Clovis.

Lead by a talented group of players, including junior Cesar Molina and sophomore Joe Saterfield, the Hawks steamrolled its way through to the state championship title, handily defeating Gallup, 52-38 on March 14, 2015.

Bulldawg’s Vincent Delgadillo (82), escorted by Damian Aguirre (51), is chased down by Centennial’s Andres Chavez on the second half kick-off.

Centennial showed up to another cross-city football game and shocked many of the city’s football fans with a win over the formidable Las Cruces High Bulldawgs. This is the third victory over a 6A team this season, and while the first two victories were not entirely unexpected, the Hawks were able to match the Dawgs blow for blow in this memorable contest.

Here are the results of some exciting and fun photo sessions with Rebekah, a senior from Las Cruces High.

Our first session yielded some colorful and spontaneous shots in the vicinity of the local handball courts. As the evening began cooling down, Rebekah’s energy went through the roof, and it really showed in her shots.

For the second shoot, Rebekah was looking for something a little out of the ordinary. Her mom made some calls; lo and behold, I was shooting Rebekah with a ’55 Chevy pickup in front of the historic Rio Grande Theatre in downtown Las Cruces. Of all the props I’ve shot with, I have to admit this was the coolest! I’m still in awe how cool the experience was. Much thanks to the truck’s owners, Mr. & Mrs. Sammy Torres, for their patience and help with the shoot!

I’m lucky enough to have established a working relationship with many of the high school activities in the Las Cruces School District (especially volleyball, basketball, dance, and poms), so it’s cool to capture images of the kids over the course of several years doing the things they like. I had some fun tracking down Rebekah’s pom portraits from back in the day, I hope you enjoy them!

With the 2013 senior portrait season already underway, I can’t think of a better way to start than with Valerie.

We scheduled a couple of sessions and I have to say was amazing during both. For the location shots, we braved the 100+ degree June heat; Valerie wasn’t phased, but hauling around my setup can be a little tiring.

For those you who frequent high school football and basketball games, you might recognize Valerie–she was a cheerleader during the 2010-11 season and in the pom squad during the 2011-12 season. She’ll be on the pom squad again this year, so don’t be surprised if she shows up on my blog again!

As much as I blog about the derby girls, one might think they’re all I shoot. Since they’re so much fun and the results are so awesome, I’m kind of forced to write about them!

The shoot was for the Crossroads City Derby Sucias; the all-star travel team consisting of skaters from the respective home teams (Reguladies, Spitfire Sallies and the Rink Rash Revolutionaries).

We decided on some location shots around Las Cruces, and met up at the West End Art Depot to get started. The building provided some nice grungy looking backdrops to contrast the beautiful skaters. On the train track, next to the building and gifted by the photo background gods, were a couple of tank cars with colorful graffiti that were left overnight. After getting the required shots, including one of Puncher Villa tied to the train track, we headed over to the colorful handball court on Picacho Avenue.

These were easily my favorite shots; from the individuals to the group shot with the team on their backs (thanks to Goldie Blocks for the killer idea), the artwork on the wall provided a great backdrop. From a photo geek perspective, I tried to shoot wide, from 10mm to 24mm to get as much artwork in as possible. I ended up having to strobe the back part of the wall with a Profoto Magnum reflector separately to get some even lighting across the wall.

The best part for?  My beautiful wife joining me for the shoot, where she assisted me and got the “derby girl experience” first hand.

Thanks to Robbie and Andre for flagging, gripping and holding to stuff for me.

Team Photo

Venomous DeMilo Puncher Villa "Wholesome" Foursome Puncher Villa, Hell Paseo

2012 Mayfield Softball - Seniors2012 Mayfield Softball - Seniors

I think my favorite things in photography is the uncertainty about a gig; not knowing what to expect, and if needed, thinking on your feet, making the best of a less-than-perfect situation and walking away feeling good about it.

In pretty much that situation, I walked away feeling good about the photo shoot I had with the Mayfield softball teams, and the great bunch of young ladies I had met.

The shoot, initially scheduled at their practice field, was rumored to be at the Field of Dreams. After everyone had made the 200 yd walk across the parking lot to the FOD, it was finally determined that the pictures would be taken at the less scenic practice field. We then waited another 30 minutes trying to gain access to the field. With the shoot finally starting at 4:45 (an hour late), and the sun setting at roughly 5:50 and 34 girls to shoot, I had to work fast!

34 girls might not sound like too many, but I had to get group shots, team shots, and a variety of poses for the team poster. Since girls tend to be a bit more picky about their appearance, and like to try different poses, I plan on longer sessions. If it were 34 boys, I would have been done in 20 minutes.

Long after the varsity team had left, a group of junior varsity/freshman players hung around to try some extra shots, which turned out to be some of my favorites. Since the juice in my battery pack was low, I went to a single light, and put the girls to work by having them position my reflector. By the time we were done, it was dark and me and my battery were spent.

Gear-wise, I used a Profoto portable battery pack, powering two studio strobes to balance out the full daylight. For modifiers, I used a beauty dish as the main, and a softbox as a fill. The nice thing about shooting in daylight is the sun makes a fantastic hair light. To lessen the depth of field, I used a diffusion filter when it was brighter, but abandoned the idea and made the decision to work out the distracting backgrounds elements in post.

I’ve since had a chance to shoot the Lady Trojans in action against against Eldorado and at the Southern New Mexico Softball Invite, and they’re fun to watch; it will be an interesting season in District 3-5A. Good luck Lady Trojans!

The Junior Varsity team getting it doneThe Junior Varsity team getting it done The player/pose was masked out for the posterThe player/pose was masked out for the poster

The show consisted of a ballet-based version of Alice in Wonderland featuring the younger dancers of the Academy, while the second half of the show featured the older dancers in a more traditional ballet. There was also a solo performance by the instructor, Verónica Orta.

With a low light performance like this, my inclination is to go with a fixed focal length lens, but with my location right in front of the stage and the action happening so quickly across the entire stage, it made more sense to rely on my zooms: the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm. The lighting on the subjects was bright enough that I could open up the aperture to 3.2 to 4.0 to get a sharper image and still freeze the action.

The biggest challenge in my mind that makes performance dance difficult to photograph is finding the perfect moment to capture the dancer’s expression, energy and movement. It’s inspiring to see the results of their devotion and hard work.

Bumblebees Birds Alice Tweedledee and Tweedledum Alice and the Butterfly