Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith

It is funny to see how much traffic my blog gets even though I haven’t updated here in several weeks.  This last month was my busiest yet, with over 3,000 clicks…

I’ve got a couple of new websites in the works, so please stay posted for links to upcoming projects.

Thanks for your support!

-Patrick

Freshman Blaire Luna delivers a pitch during the Longhorn's game against Navarro College on Thursday.

It seems like I can’t catch a break….Being a photographer in Austin right about now is pretty great.

Shot a University of Texas fall softball game tonight.  It was nice to step back and shoot something other than football for a change.

Kim Bruins prepares to take off from second base during a game against Navarro College on Thursday.

But again, it is late and I’ve got two assignments tomorrow that are going to take a majority of the day.  Should be fun shooting some swimming/diving at the University of Texas though.  Looking forward to that.

So…more softball images to come.  I accidently shot nearly 8 gigs in the 6 innings I shot.

I shot the Austin Aztex as they hosted Club de Futbol Monterrey in a post season match up at the Palace in Round Rock last night.  Pretty fun with a lot of action.  I’ve got so many shots it isn’t even funny.  I actually have to get back to editing….

More to come….(and I haven’t forgotten about the hockey shots either!)

The Rockdale cheer squad lines up for the national anthem in Rockdale.

The weather here in Austin is finally cooling down and I’ve been keeping busy photographing football, portraits and all the lunches I’ve been eating.    Here are a couple of shots from this week…  And don’t forget about the Austin Aztex hosting Club de Futbol Monterrey on the 7th in Round Rock.

Austin Locals: The King Sandwich at Avenue B Grocery, complete with a Peach Sweet Leaf Tea.

I’ll be honest….I am addicted to the sandwiches at Avenue B Grocery by my house in Hyde Park in Austin.  I ride by it a few times a week on my bike and I can’t help from stopping in and saying hello while grabbing a sandwich.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for a sandwich in the area…

I also rode my bike down to my favorite taco place on the planet…the Tamale House on Airport Blvd. near 51st.  I just happened to be behind a guy who ordered 6 tacos but didn’t have enough money to pay for them…So he walked out on his bill and I got his tacos for $3.  A grab bag!

Local Fare: El Cheapo tacos at the Tamale House on Airport Blvd. in Austin.

The Tamale House sign outside of the restaurant is a lighthouse for hungry travelers.

When not photographing my lunch, I’ve been trudging around on a football field…For the most recent and more images, keep an eye on the Austin American Statesman print edition (GO BUY A NEWSPAPER) or take a look online.

Cayleb Jones and Thomas Coffman celebrate Jones' touchdown reception in the second quarter during their game against Akins on Thursday.

Ben Bejil (#20) recovers a fumble from Austin High's Jacob to score Akins only touchdown in the first half.

Austin High's Cayleb Jones catches a pass over Scott Hall in the second quarter.

I also got back my first roll of film from my Rolleiflex 120 film camera this afternoon.  The photos dated back to the Texas Relays when I started the roll all the way back to just last week.  The film was expired and (accidently) left in the trunk of a rental car for two days in the California sun…At least that is the only explanation I can come up with for the results being all over the place…

A horse jockey stands on the weight scale for a 1 second portrait after winning a race in Santa Anita, California. Rolleiflex 75mm f5.6

Rocks on a beach somewhere in California. Rolleiflex 75mm f3.5

Whoops. Hank x2 and the Texas Relays

Austin goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo reacts after Portland's Stephen Keel scored a goal in the 85th minute during the Aztex v Timbers game in Austin on Monday.

Today has been a pretty interesting day…I started it off with my truck breaking down right in front of my house right before I had a photo assignment.  With the help of my girlfriend who had the day off, I was off to shoot the final game of the Round Rock Express.  It was nice shooting in the daytime and the game was soon over.  I’ll post some shots from the game tomorrow.

After the baseball game, I almost immediately went to my next assignment, the last home game of the Austin Aztex soccer match against the Portland Timbers.  It was a great game with a lot of action.  Pretty awesome seeing the guys play so well.  It was almost heart breaking seeing them lose with just minutes left.  They held their own against the number one ranked USL-1 team…I guess I shouldn’t have said the ‘last’ home game, as the Aztex will be hosting an exhibition game against Club de Futbol Monterrey in early October.

Portland’s Stephen Keel jumps into the arms of his teammate Mamadou Danso after scoring the go ahead goal in the 85th minute during their soccer match against the Austin Aztex on Monday.

It has been a hot minute since I last updated (literally one of the hottest summers in history), but here we go.  As I mentioned on a previous update, I shot the Round Rock Express‘ last home game against Nashville Sounds a couple nights ago.  Pretty fun shooting some baseball again.  They are ending their season this weekend/Monday, so you should get out there and watch some baseball while you still can.

The action was pretty good, including a small collision with the pitcher and the catcher of the Sounds…

Despite having a couple of bad at bats, Reggie Abercrombie came through with 2 RBIs and a couple of nice catches near center field.

I also grabbed a bunch of detail shots (kind of like the one above) and some panoramas from just about every angle I could find…

A view from the stands at the Dell Diamond during a Round Rock Express baseball game in Round Rock.

I also shot the second to last home game of the Austin Aztex.  Pretty fun night as usual, but the lights kill me over at Nelson Field.  Thankfully they are moving to House Park (on Lamar/15th)  next season…The lights aren’t any better, but it is a short walk from my house.

Joining the Aztex again was Jamie Watson, who played in Austin last season.  The kid was the top scorer in the USL-2 with 12 goals and 6 assists.  He didn’t score any of the goals in the 1-0 win over Miami, but he took a couple of shots at the goal when he was put in towards the end of the game.

Eddie Johnson scored the sole goal, which was enough for the win…The first win in 10 games, dating back to early July.  Always good to see our   take the win.  The last game of the season is on the 7th.  If you haven’t been, it is a lot of fun.  Any why wait until next year when you can do it now?

I also shot my first ‘real’ high school football game on Friday, the Taco Shack Bowl.  I say ‘real’ as in Friday Night Lights.  It was a lot of fun being on the sidelines again and I can’t wait until the season gets into full swing…

Above is House Park on Lamar and 15th street, the new home of the Austin Aztex.  Check out that view!  You can see the Capitol Building from the stands too.  The stadium, which seats around 5,000 people, should be a better venue for the Aztex.  The sidelines aren’t big and there is no track running around the field, making it less dangerous for players and allowing the fans to sit almost on top of the action.  All they need to do is install some new lights and everyone (me) will be happy.

In other news, VOLLEYBALL HAS JUST BEGUN!!!!!  I’m very excited about this.  Volleyball has got to be one of the hardest sports to shoot.  Granted anyone can shoot a serve and the players standing around, but only really talented photographers can make great images at a game.  Most venues are dimly lit, the action is really fast and the ball can go in any direction.  In any event, it is one of my favorite sports to shoot, even though I’ve only shot 3 or 4 games.  Hopefully this season will change those numbers a bit and yield a couple images for me to post.  Here are two from last season that I enjoyed…..

And that is it for the moment.

Hank at Pedernales Falls near Johnson City, TX

Texas Longhorn pitcher Austin Wood (#44) celebrates with teammates after retiring a Boston College batter during the longest NCAA baseball game in history.

…the vault of last month that is.  Still finding photos I like stuck away in my harddrives as I backup data….more to come!

<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

So today marked the end of the Sports Shooter Academy here in Irvine, California. The day kicked off with a breakfast buffet and a couple of awards were given out to the students with the best portfolio of work, best single photo and work ethic during the workshop. I met some really cool people that I hope to work with in the future, shot 5 minutes of water polo (before being kicked out because I forgot my credential) and didn’t make a single interesting frame. Out of all of these photos I’ve posted here, I didn’t submit any of these into the nightly edits.

Nikon was one of sponsors of the event and Bill and Ron brought in ALL of the big/little guns in the Nikon lineup for people to try out/test. If you look at the FunPix over at SportsShooter, you can see me with a D3 and a 600mm f4 AFS VR with a 1.4 extender shooting some horse racing. The combo produced soft images, but the lens was perfect without the extender. I didn’t try it out with the 1.7 or the 2 though….I got my hands on just about all the latest and greatest glass (200 f2, 24-70, 200-400, 400 f2.8 AFS VR, 500 f4 etc) and I now I have to buy a 400mm AFSII with a 1.4 extender. That and a D3. I just have to sell a kidney.

Now for a few hours on the plane and a layover in Denver……yikes.  I’m pretty stoked to apply some of the stuff I learned to some of my next assignments this week.  We’ll see…..

PM

So I spent yesterday shooting horse racing in Santa Ana, California…It was my first time on the track and it was pretty cool.  Lots of very quick action, but I think the main story of the place is everything that happens outside of the race lines.  Very interesting people everywhere….

Michael Zackary, of Santa Ana, sits alone following the conclusion of the horse races at Santa Anita Race Track on Thursday. "Just down on my luck today," Zackary said.

Hopefully I can make a good image today.  Horse racing wasn’t so nice to me…

more to come