Caleb Simpson Photography

Organic Climber goes to Shelf Road

2009-09-09T22:25:00.003-05:00

Still been posting stuff on The OrganicClimber.com you guys should check it out. I was recently out at Shelf Road in Colorado and took some pretty sick photos. You can check them out on my latest post, but here are a couple to wet your whistle.

Although I haven't been shooting many assignments lately, I am considering getting back into some sports photography this fall, and possibly shoot some weddings in the spring. That is still TBD, but I will be sure to start posting stuff here again if I begin shooting. But for now I just shoot at my own leisure.

The Organic Climber

2009-06-01T08:33:00.003-05:00

Well, since I haven't really been posting here I figured I would point you to my new blog. The Organic Climber. I am giving it a go at creating sort of a catch all blog. I will be blogging about three of my passions: Climbing, RAW Foods, healthy living and sharing my photography within those posts at times. The new blog will be updated far more frequently than this one. I hope you enjoy the new blog.

Super Food Salad

2009-04-23T11:26:00.003-05:00

I will start off by saying I have some awesome images that I will eventually be posting here from the Wichita Mountains that I took a couple weekends ago. I can’t post them yet, but sometime in the near future they will see the light of day here on the Web site.

This however is not a photo related post at all. It’s food related! I have never done this before, but I have been considering starting a food related blog lately. Heck, I even want to start a climbing only blog, but alas, I don’t have that kind of time.

Anyway, back to food. Last night I was making my daily salad that I bring with me to work for lunch and ended up creating what I think is an amazing dressing. My mouth is watering as I type this, and I can’t wait to go eat it here in about 40 minutes.

The salad is simple: mixed baby greens, shredded carrots, red onions, tomatoes, green olives and raw candied almonds (another recent creation of mine). But the ingredients in the salad are not what’s important, in fact I think granny smith apples and raisins or craisins would go great in this salad. The dressing is actually what I think is so amazing.

The dressing is sort of mild and somewhat earthy tasting with a bit of sweetness to it, and yet it has a kick to it as well. Now, I know most people won’t have the ingredients for this dressing, so don’t go breaking the bank to get them. You may end up hating me later. But without further or do, here is the recipe.

The Dressing
Now, I don’t have any specific measurements, but the base ingredient is raw tahini, so you want to use a lot of this. Other than that, add ingredients to your liking based off the size of the salad; then stir until you get a nice thick paste like consistency.

- Raw Tahini
- Pumpkin Seed Oil (small amount)
- Olive Oil
- Apple cider vinegar (a very small amount)
- Fresh Lemmon Juice
- Agave Nectar
- Coconut Butter (small amount, and optional)

Since dressing will be a thick consistency you will have to stir/toss it well into the salad.

David Bazan

2009-04-02T12:07:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I saw David Bazan (formerly Pedro the Lion) play a house show at a friend of mine's house here in Denton. David played to a packed house of about 50+ people. The house tour is to promote his new album while remaining "low key" at the request of his record label.

Paddle, Pound and Pedal

2009-03-29T20:49:00.005-05:00

On a cold and windy Saturday morning I awoke at 5 a.m. to go photograph the Denton Parks & Recreation, Paddle Pound and Pedal Challenge. Being awake that early allowed me to be one of the few to witness snow furies for a couple hours. The furies pretty much stopped right as the race started. Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots of the race.

This racer lost a crank shaft and finished the race on foot.

The rules of the race are fairly simple. Teams of two race together in three stages, 3.5 mile canoe 2.5 mile run and 12 mile off road bike. The team that finishes in the least amount of time wins. There were many categories to enter and the top thee contestants from each category received an award.

Robbers Cave Oklahoma

2009-03-24T16:02:00.003-05:00

I spent last weekend in Oklahoma climbing the sandstone and ironite cliffs of Robbers Cave. These beautiful cliffs are composed of hard sandstone with ironite plates covering random sections of rock. It's some of the strangest rock I have seen, but it's gorgeous. Despite this being mostly a top rope crag I love going here. There is excellent bouldering and a hand full of routes you can lead that take good gear. Despite getting rained on most of Saturday the sun came out on Sunday and provided us with a gorgeous day!

The climb pictured here is The Vein (5.9). This route is one of my favorite climbs of all-time.

Portfolio progress

2009-03-16T20:32:00.008-05:00

Lately I have been working on my portfolio during whatever free time I can get, which honestly is not very much these days. It has been a slow process, but things are coming along. The updated portfolio will show case my photos at 800px wide, as opposed to 600px wide in my current portfolio. With a majority of the internet now on high speed connections there is no reason not to display my photos large format.

I will continue using SlideShowPro to display my photos, especially since there is a plugin for Light Room 2.0. For any photographer out there looking for a way to show off their photos SlideShowPro is an excellent and inexpensive way to display your work. Though there is a bit of a learning curve involved it is well worth the effort.

Featured in this post are a few of my favorites so far. Although the Sammy Sosa photo isn't brilliant, it was a historic moment as he hit his 600th career home run against the Chicago Cubs at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The photo of Mike Hankins climbing The Baptism at Quartz Mountain in Oklahoma is one of my favorite photos. I just happened to be in the parking lot with a long lens when he began to solo the route.

While I really enjoy wedding and action sports photography my passion is for outdoor/adventure photography, specifically rock climbing. This has been the case ever sense I started rock climbing and opened up issues or Climbing Magazine and Rock & Ice. It may be a pipe dream, but it is something I will continue to shoot until the day I turn in my lenses, which will likely be never.

All of the images in this post are large format. Click the image in enlarge.

Ole Baldy

2009-03-11T09:37:00.003-05:00

This past weekend I spent the day climbing at Baldy Point, known to climbers as Quartz Mountain. Despite being overcast and windy up high on the rock it was a beautiful day of climbing. Our team of thee had the entire mound of granite to ourselves for the entire day. It was the first time I had experienced that. It was just an amazing experience to be able to sit at a belay and hear the wind howling and feeling it whip you around as my partner came up behind me. This was by far one of the best days of climbing I have ever had.

As my trend of posting climbing photos continues I may end up starting an Adventure Blog of sorts and discontinue this one. As of now I still plan on shooting sports and weddings. I am currently in the process of updating my portfolio and plan on posting some of those photos here as I progress. I also plan on updating the website. So be looking for a change there.

My long term goal is also to primarily focus on shooting climbing. This may even involve moving to Colorado, as has been my long time dream. It's hard to pursue such a narrowly focused form of photography in a predominantly flat state. Although opportunities do exist, they are just fewer, especially when another Texas photographer has the niche on climbing photography and an in with editors at major climbing rags.

So, for now I will just continue doing what I am doing and press forward. I also recently discovered a new website with a focus on extreme sports. Check out Wheels & Wax. Oh, and just a note on the panoramic shot. It would have worked out better, I found out latter, if I kept my lens in one place and rotated around that point rather than just shifting the camera across a plane. Next time I am out there I plan on getting another shot like this.

Afternoon Delight

2009-02-28T22:45:00.004-06:00

This afternoon I walked into my kitchen with camera in hand to photograph the progress of a RAW Food recipe I was working on. As I entered the kitchen, I noticed light beaming in through the doorway from the living room onto my bulk food jars, so instinct took over and I snapped a few frames. These are a couple of my favorites.

If there is one thing I like about the new house is it gets A LOT of sunlight through the windows, both in the morning and late afternoon. I think from here on out I will always live in a place with lots of natural light. There is just something about it that makes you feel good, it's soothing; plus, as a photographer I just love the way light creates shadows and illuminates subjects.

Solo

2009-02-23T23:49:00.003-06:00

Gary Ballard climbs Solo (5.8) at Enchanted Rock State Park.

Well, I must be honest, lately there has not been much content on my blog because I have not been shooting much these days. Part of it has been lack of inspiration, another part of it has been that it seems doors keep getting shut on me when it comes to pursuing my photography passion full time. I have shot many professional assignments and been published an many magazines and newspapers, (including ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Denton Record-Chronicle and numerous college sports annuals) but the pieces have yet to fall into place to turn this into a full time career.

At the ripe old age of 30 I am left trying to decide how much time do I want to invest in pursuing this? Should I continue pursuing it as a source of income or just purely for the art and enjoyment of it, which is what drew me to photography to begin with. The work that goes into running your own photography business is very taxing and performing those tasks on top of a full time job and being active in the lives of people around you takes even a higher toll.

I am sure I will remain involved in photography to some degree, but the question is, "how much, and how often." I am currently working on updating my portfolio and revamping my website CalebSimpson.com. I hope to have that up and running within the next few months. My first priority is to update my wedding portfolio for a contract client so I can start pulling in more jobs through them. Following that will be my sports, climbing and photojournalism portfolios. It will be a long process, but hopefully with the help of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom I will be able to finish quicker than with my old work flow process.

Two Passions

2008-12-28T19:52:00.003-06:00

Freelance work has been at a bit of a lull lately, but my New Years resolution is to start taking more assignments again. I am also looking to re-discover what exactly it is I want to be shooting. I should be able to start the year off with a few weddings and various athletic events. Along with that, I should be getting more climbing in - another one of my passions. I also have a trip to Yosemite planned as well, so I hope to come back with some beautiful pictures on a classic technical climbing route up Half Dome.

Here are a few images from a recent bouldering trip to my secret stash here in North Texas. It's a beautiful area located along the Brazos River. The day started off with howling winds, rain and ominous clouds, but we still went and before we arrived the clouds had parted and it ended up being a beautiful day.

Night Light

2008-12-14T14:02:00.003-06:00

One of the first things that drew me to photography was incredible night photography shots. I have always wanted to get a photo of the historic Courthouse in downtown Denton with the moon glowing in the background. This past Friday evening was the brightest, fullest moon in 15 years so I finally jumped at the opportunity to get the photograph. Overall I am pleased with what I came away with.

Another photo I have always wanted to create is a shot of the Dallas skyline. This past Saturday night provided just such an opportunity. The annual Texas Mountaineers Christmas party is held at one of our members house near downtown. So atop of his three story condo I was able to create this beautiful image. I am bummed that reunion tower does not appear in the shot though. The iconic building is now blocked by another building from this particular angle. But again, I am pleased with the results. (click on the image for a larger version of the images)

North Texas Gems

2008-10-24T18:24:00.004-05:00

It's rare you find real rock in North Texas. Climbing gyms abound, but quality rock is extremely hard to find. This past weekend my friend Zack and I found two different stashes. Bellow are some bouldering pictures of Zack along the Nolan River. During our exploration we found the infamous Chisholm Wall (a.k.a. The Burn) where the first 5.13d in Texas was established. We also saw lots of other cliff lines with some potential. If we get the motivation we may end up looking into establishing some true climbing here in North Texas.

Tolkien would be proud

2008-09-29T20:14:00.004-05:00

This past weekend I finally made the journey out to Monster Rock near Austin Texas for a day of marvelous climbing. Here Neil Higa, Austin Local climbs Torture-iffic (5.11c/d), a long 16 clip traverse across the hardest face at Monster Rock.

Neil reacts to getting his finger snapped by the second quick draw on the route.

Tushar Agarwal climbs Crawling Chaos (5.10a) on the Tolkien Wall.

Tushar Agarwal climbs Crawling Chaos (5.10a) on the Tolkien Wall.

This climbing destination is a gym in the Texas Hill Country. The owner is currently working on buttering up his neighbors who also have cliff lines, into opening up their property for climbing as well. It would be cool to see more climbing open up around here. Hoping my dream of moving here will come true soon as well (but I would settle for Colorado or the North West as well).

Football is back

2008-08-25T20:24:00.004-05:00

After a long hiatus of a photo-less photo blog I bring you photos! I was called last week to photograph the Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans preseason game at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Here are a few of my favorites.

Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber (24) scores a touchdown during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

Aug 21, 2008; Irving,TX , USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber (24) stiff arms Houston Texans corner back Fred Bennett (32) during the 1st quarter against the Houston Texans at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

Aug 21, 2008; Irving,TX , USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (12) during the first quarter against the Houston Texans at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

This weekend I will be climbing in Arkansas again this weekend. Hopefully I come back with some beautiful images. Hoping the rain holds out and the temperatures stay down.

Not much...

2008-08-03T14:16:00.003-05:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. I have not been too busy lately with photography assignments, thus I have not had loads of photos to post, although I have a backup of work I never even posted. Since I decided to take the business down a notch and am hoping to devote some time to updating my portfolio. Perhaps I will post some photos here during that process.

I also have a couple climbing trips coming up as well, so hopefully I will be able to photograph some of those trips and come out with some stunning images. One of those trips will definitely be to Arkansas, and I am hoping to make a second leg of that trip to Colorado. Things have yet to be determined on that front though, so we shall see.

One thing I am looking to do though is pursue more outdoor photography. I definitely want to capture people in outdoor environments though. I'm not talking landscape, although that will be a part of it, but I want to start documenting climbers; not just at the crag but at the campground and on the road. I am not sure yet what will become of this, but I do hope it goes somewhere.

Memorial Day at HCR

2008-05-27T21:04:00.004-05:00

I spent Memorial Day weekend at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch climbing with some friends from the Texas Mountaineers. Despite getting rained on, we still managed to get in a lot of climbing. Arkansas is by far one of my favorite places to climb. I just wish I had more time to take photos while I was out.

I have been so busy with the new job I haven't had time to post photos from the past two weddings I photographed, and I have two more coming up in the next month. Hopefully I will find some time to get the upcoming weddings online. I have yet to even edit any of the images from the past two weddings. Sense I shoot most of my weddings on contract I don't have to worry about the post production, which allows me time for other things.

I have also been tossing the idea around in my head about giving up wedding photography and pursuing other photographic avenues. Climbing photography is definitely a passion of mine, but with rising gas prices it will be hard to get out enough to do that, much less establish myself enough to make decent money. So for now, I think I will just lighten my load and figure out what exactly it is I want to do.

Classic!

2008-05-05T22:16:00.004-05:00

These past couple weeks have been extremely busy. I started a new full time gig, and continue to photograph on the side. I was able to spend this last weekend climbing in the Wichita Mountains. Pictured here is Phillip Snow, my roommate, on The Dihedral, a Wichita Mountains classic. This place has become my favorite climbing destination.

I also have a wedding I recently shot that I plan on posting photos from soon. There is a chance I may be covering some Dallas Stars playoffs, and Texas Rangers baseball in the next few weeks as well. I am especially looking forward to covering hockey since it is a sport I have yet to have the opportunity to photograph.

There are also more climbing trips on the horizon as well. I will likely be spending Memorial Day weekend in Arkansas, another one of my favorite climbing destinations. So, keep checking back, more content is sure to appear. Forgive me for my lack of recent posts. Life has been hectic lately, but in a good way.

Spring is in swing

2008-04-13T15:33:00.004-05:00

Well, the wedding season is in full swing. I don't have a whole lot of bookings this season since I am making some career and life changes, but I do have a few more on the books. These images are from a Catholic Vietnamese wedding that I shot in Arlington a couple weekends ago. It was one of the most interesting weddings I have shot yet. So, here are a couple of my favorites from the day.

I also managed to squeeze a day trip in to the Wichita Mountains yesterday as well. The climber pictures is on 5.9 Frosted Flakes at Echo Dome. I think I may have also had a first ascent on a route here too (meaning I was the first to climb it, and thus get to grade and name the route).

I always have a great time climbing out at the Wichita's, but never shoot enough photos. This photo was taken with my G9. I opted to leave the big dSLR in the car this time since we didn't get to go to the original destination I hoped to get some photos in. I was fairly pleased with the quality of the images this time, although I do feel the camera lacks sharpness. I guess it just has to do with the size of the sensor; they are tiny compared to my dSLR.

Return from Red Rocks

2008-04-02T21:27:00.003-05:00

I have been back from the 2008 Red Rocks Rendezvous for a few days now, but I am just now getting the chance to go through some photos. Funny thing is, I thought I was shooting a lot, but after dumping photos I realized I didn't take as near as many pictures as I thought.

Anyway, here are a couple photos of climber Susánica Tam at Canibal Crag in Calico Basin. Both photos were taken during the photo clinic offered by the Rendezvous. While, I did not learn anything that I considered extremely valuable, I did learn a modified system to haul up a fixed rope that is more efficient than what I currently use.

The 2008 Red Rocks Rendezvous was also my first ever climbing festival to attend. Although I didn't get as much climbing in as I wanted, I had lots of fun. It was great getting to meet other climbers, attend clinics and talk to vendors. The Climbing Community is full of great people and I am glad I'm a part of it.

Red Rocks

2008-03-26T08:35:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I leave for a long weekend of climbing and photography in Red Rocks, Nevada. I am super excited. I will be taking a photography clinic on Saturday, and from what I hear there will be famous climbers there for us to shoot. I am hoping to learn more efficient ways to set up anchors to shoot climbing, as the time it takes to set up is what usually keeps me from taking the time to shoot. I hope this weekend will change that.

Check out more about the festival here. I arrive early as well so I will get a full day of climbing in before the festival starts. I'm pumped, and this will be my first time climbing in the desert, heck, it will be my first time to actually visit the desert as well!

Climbing has so many gray areas

2008-03-19T08:56:00.004-05:00

This past weekend the Texas Mountaineers had it's bi-annual beginner climb in the Wichita Mountains. This was the largest group of new climbers the group has ever had. We are excited to have so many new members. Here are a few photos from the climb, presented in black and white for a change of pace.

In other news, I have a couple weddings coming up in April so I will be posting photos from those sometime in the following two weeks. I will be climbing and shooting at Red Rocks next week so I should come back with some great photos form that trip, so be sure to check back.

Golden hour

2008-03-13T16:17:00.004-05:00

I spent about an hour yesterday during the "golden hour" photographing tennis for Denton Parks & Recreation. The photos will be used for promotional use in their catalogs, fliers, website, and other promotional materials.

Enchanted Rock

2008-02-28T17:43:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I was out at Enchanted Rock. I didn't take as near as many pictures as I had planned, but that is usually how it goes. On top of not getting to photograph as much as I would have liked I blew the toes out of both of my climbing shoes. Hopefully a re-soul will bring them back to good health. Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Making a book

2008-02-19T10:48:00.004-06:00

A fairly new passion of mine is rock climbing. Anybody who knows me or reads this blog will know that; and it won't take long upon meeting me to know that either. Being a photographer I almost always bring my camera with me to the crag to capture my adventures. Some days I take more photos than others, but I don't think I have taken a trip where I haven't taken at least a couple of photos.

With that said, I think I have decided to make a book. Although I have only been climbing a couple years I think it is something I would really enjoy putting together. The only downside is that I lost a lot of photos in a recent hard drive crash, so I may have to wait another couple years before I actually have enough to put a decent book together. Plus I have some cool trips coming up, such as Joshua Tree and Red Rocks. I am sure to come back from there with some amazing pictures.

Speaking of Red Rocks I will be at the 2008 Red Rocks Rendezvous. I will actually be taking the photography clinic they are offering while I am there. Although I have already learned a lot about anchor set ups for shooting photos I am pretty sure there are techniques I am unaware of and could greatly benefit from. So, I look forward to taking the class, and hopefully coming home with some awesome photos.

The above photos (one of my favorite photos) is Scott Chapman on Alamo Arete (5.11b) at Paradise on the Brazos near Graham, Texas. The crag is now closed though. It's a bummer because it was the best sport climbing crag close to my home, I was able to make it under two hours, now the closest sport crag is over three hours away. From the photo you would never guess the climb was in Texas. The background is actually a creek that feeds into the Brazos River.

BODYPUMP

2008-02-15T15:27:00.003-06:00

I spent about an hour yesterday evening photographing a group fitness class for Denton Parks & Recreation called BODYPUMP. The class looked pretty intense. It was a combination of aerobics and weight lifting. It actually looked like something a rock climber like myself could benefit from.

I like the energy and intensity of this photo. You can tell the participants are really working hard and are focused.

Working in a cluttered gym like this I shot most of the photos with a 50mm 1.8, but since I was bouncing strobes off the ceiling at full power I had to shoot at about f/2.2. But, sense it was a prime lens the depth of field was still nice and shallow.

It has been an interesting challenge shooting these recreational activities inside dark gyms. Next week I will be shooting youth basketball in yet another dark gym. So, shooting climbing shots outdoors next weekend will be a welcomed change from having to light dungeons in order to get usable photos.

Anyway, more to come.

From Elk Slabs to Mount Scott

2008-02-11T20:17:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was spent climbing in the Wichita Mountains. Every time I go climb my goal is to build up my stock library of climbing photos, that is of course the secondary goal, the primary goal being to enjoy the outdoors and climb.

This first photo was taken on our second day of climbing with my Canon 1D Mark II. The image makes the route look way more exposed than it actually is. But, sense the 1D is such a large camera and difficult to lug around during climbing trips I decided to take a few images with my G9 and put it to the test.

This image is Carl, my climbing partner for the day, flaking the rope before our first climb. The image was sharp and the colors as you can see are beautiful.

This image could have been better, but my flash went off and lit up the rock one the outside of the box canyon (left of frame). I snapped a few more frames after turning off the flash, but this was the only one I got of Carl looking up the canyon wall.

This image was testing out the macro capability of the camera. The image is tac sharp on the far right side of the frame, but the depth of field was extremely shallow at f/2.8, thus the left side of the frame was not tac sharp, but still a usable image for sure. I love the colors in this image.

I am fairly pleased with the colors the camera produces but the focus on the camera is either off, or I need to figure out how to use the camera correctly. I plan on experimenting more with it before I send it off to Canon, but for an all purpose, carry everywhere with me camera it is not to bad.

Rec. League Volleyball

2008-02-05T10:02:00.000-06:00

I recently photographed a recreational league volleyball game for Denton Parks & Recreation. The purpose of the photos is to help promote the rec league volleyball games held at two different locations on the same night. The department is trying to build up a collection of stock photos for multiple programs so they can better promote what they have to offer to people in the community. Tomorrow I will be shooting a youth basketball program.

For the photographers wanting to know how:
To shoot this game I had to use strobes. Since I only own two 8oo watt Alien Bee's I decided to cross light the court and bounce the light off the ceiling. By doing this I was able to get fairly even light at 1/250th and 4/4.0 at ISO 400. Initially I tried using my sports reflectors but the light fall was to shallow and was only lighting the far sides of the court, so I opted for my 7" reflectors to toss plenty of light into the ceiling.

The down side of the cross lighting is that I could only shoot in a direction opposite of my lights. So, I was limited to which side I could shoot the net from, but I could shoot both sides at ground level in the middle half of the court easily. It was the most effective way available to shoot the game. I didn't take an ambient light reading, but I am sure it would not have been bright enough to freeze action.

Bellow is a photo of one of my light stands in the corner of the gym. I took the photo from just in front of my other light. So, you get an idea of how my setup was. Both strobes pointed up into the ceiling to the opposing side of the court.

View of one strobe on a light stand pointed into the ceiling across court. The light stands were about 10-12ft high.

This wide angle view gives you a better idea of the light coverage I got by cross lighting. Not bad eh?

As you may have noticed work has been pretty slow lately. I was talking to another photographer friend yesterday who has also had a slow start to the year. Normally he will work on about eight big shoots a month, so far he has only worked two all year. Hopefully this is not a sign of a sliding economy. I have a few weddings booked this spring, but my first one is not until March. So, things will likely stay a bit slow until then.

I am also looking at making some career changes as well. I have also been considering moving to Colorado, or maybe even Utah or Oregon. Hopefully this year will have some exciting changes in store. If anything exciting does happen I will be sure to share it here.

Corey Rich - King Lines

2008-01-08T08:22:00.000-06:00

As a photographer or any artist, it's important to keep yourself inspired. There are numerous photographers I look to for inspiration. One of those being Corey Rich. Corey was recently featured on the Apple Pro website for his mixed media project with Josh Lowell (with Big Up Productions).

The images and video both are amazing. The focus of the project was on Climber Chris Sharma and his deep-water solo project in Spain. Not only are the videos inspiring, but it's cool to read about the project and their work flow. I am always looking to improve my work flow so articles like this are easy to enjoy. I have not purchased the King Lines video yet but plan on doing so and look forward to seeing it.

So check it out on the Apple Pro website.

2008 Cotton Bowl Classic

2008-01-04T19:45:00.000-06:00

Missouri Tigers prepare to take the field against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic at The Cotton Bowl.

Missouri Tigers tail back Tony Temple (22) scores a touchdown during the first quarter of the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic against the Arkansas Razorbacks at The Cotton Bowl.

Missouri Tigers tail back Tony Temple (22) is tackled in the end zone for a touchdown by Arkansas Razorback corner back Jerell Norton (27) during the third quarter of the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic against the Arkansas Razorbacks at The Cotton Bowl.

Photographed the Cotton Bowl Classic for the fourth year in a row on New Year's day. To see more images please visit my SportsShooter.com profile.

Slam dunks and layups

2007-12-29T11:51:00.001-06:00

Dec. 19, 2007; Denton, TX, USA; Oklahoma State Cowgirls guard Andrea Riley (10) shoots a lay up against the North Texas Mean Green during the second half at the Super Pit. Oklahoma State defeated North Texas 77-55. Mandatory Credit: Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

Dec. 17, 2007; Denton, TX, USA; North Texas Mean Green guard Adam McCoy (5) goes up for a slam dunk during the second half against Southern Jaguars at the Super Pit. Mandatory Credit: Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

Things have been a bit slow because of the Holidays lately, but hopefully work picks up again soon. As of now I don't have a lot of assignments on the books since I thought I was moving to Colorado. I am still working on getting up there though, so perhaps it is better that work is slow.

I will be photographing the Cotton Bowl on New Year's day though. This will be my fourth year in a row covering the big game. It's always nice covering the larger bowl games like this because they give you lots of free food and a nice media gift. This year it was a nice zip-up Columbia fleece. I have plenty of outdoor clothes so I am not sure I will use it, but if nothing else I will donate it to a homeless shelter or give it to a friend.

Anyway, I hope to post some photos with the G9 soon, so be looking for that.

Self Portrait

2007-12-27T23:26:00.000-06:00

So, after much debating I opted to purchase the G9 because of the large file size. It also allows me to use my Speedlite flash units. The above self portrait was taken with one of my 550ex flashes bounced off the celling. I haven't done extensive tests yet, but I have already seen a few things I don't like. If I get some time maybe I will post a mini review of sorts. But seeing as how I haven't even had the chance to post pics from basketball games the past couple weeks that may not happen. But for now, I am happy to have a smaller camera I can carry around with me.

Going consumer

2007-12-21T10:42:00.000-06:00

For the longest time I have wanted a compact consumer model digital camera. Mainly because I want to take pictures in my every day life, but don't want to lug around a large 5 lb camera every day. I have decided I will be purchasing one in the near future as a Christmas gift to myself. I am currently debating over two models.

Canon Powershot G9
This camera is currently my number one pick because it allows me full creative control, has a hot shoe mount. The only downside I really see is that the lens is 35mm at it's widest.

Canon Powershot SD870
The nice thing about this camera is it's a lot more compact and the lens is 28mm at it's widest. I love shooting wide angle, so this one seems idea, but I am not sure I can get over the lack of full creative control the G9 offers.

So, if you have a suggestion for which model might be best let me know. Or, if you have experience with one of them please share.

I also plan on posting a few images from two recent basketball games I shot. This season has been slower than normal and the winter is going to be fairly slow to. I lost a couple wedding assignments because I thought the job in Colorado was a slam dunk, but as it turns out they hired somebody else. So, I will remain here in Texas until an opportunity to move presents itself.

Snow drifts and teddy bears

2007-12-08T21:08:00.001-06:00

I am currently sitting in a hotel in Colorado Springs as snow piles up outside my window. It has been snowing non-stopped since late last night. There has to be at least five inches of snow on the ground by now, if not more.

The purpose of the visit was to figure out if I am going to move here or not. As of now things are looking very positive. I should know by the middle of next week whether or not I will be making my new home here or not.

This little guy was a stowaway in my bag. My roommate stashed him away in my shoe before I left. My roommate is not only a fan of Kansas but for some reason believes the state itself is the greatest ever, so I thought I would let his bear experience the greatness of fresh Colorado snow.

The rest of the photos are a few pics I took out at Garden of the Gods. I had never seen the place covered in snow before, it was quite a sight.

Mean again

2007-11-27T19:21:00.000-06:00

Last weekend the North Texas Mean Green got their second win of the season. The game wasn't super exciting, in fact it wasn't very pleasant at all. It was cold and rainy. The cold I can handle just fine, but the rain is another story. Try photographing a game in the rain while keeping your gear dry. It's not easy. I did manage a few decent images though.

I typically wouldn't crop the last two photos the way I did for news usage, but I really like negative space, so thought I would post a more "creative" crop. In one sense I think it is better because it shows how far away the runners are from the pack.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defensive back (2) Marcus Minor tackles North Texas Mean Green quarterback (15) Giovanni Vizza during the first quarter at Fouts Field. - Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

Western Kentuck Hilltoppers running back (1) Tyrell Hayden runs for a touchdown against North Texas Mean Green during the first quarter at Fouts Field. - Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

North Texas Mean Green running back (20) Jamario Thomas on a touchdown run against Western Kentucky Hilltoppers during the fourth quarter at Fouts Field. North Texas defeated Western Kentucky 27-26. - Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

Baldy Peak

2007-11-20T19:31:00.000-06:00

I spent last weekend with the Texas Mountaineers at Quartz Mountain, where I gained my first multi pitch trad experience. We climbed six pitches total that day, reaching a summit twice. The intention of the trip wasn't to get photos, but I always make an effort get bring it out at least a little bit. I often get so into the climbing that I don't take enough photos, but my plans for the second day didn't work out as planned so I ended up on the ground shooting several photos. The trip was great and the weather was amazing. So, here are a few photos from the trip, a few of them will be going into my stock collection.

A view of the night sky from the parking lot of our campground. I attempted to get some longer exposures, but I walked away from the camera since I was using a remote, but the signal was lost shortly after walking away so this is the best star trail shot I got.

Quartz Mountain as seen from the road approaching the climbing area. The peak is also known as Baldy Peak and randomly juts out of the ground in the middle of flat farm land in Oklahoma. It's an amazing site to see from the top of the peak.

This is a couple in our group climbing Snakes Head (5.5x). This was the third pitch of the climb, we also climbed this line. It was a fairly easy climb, and a lot of fun. There was very little protection on this route, but as a second I didn't have to worry about it much.

This is what I am calling the crux of the entire three pitch line. It is more of a mental game than anything. You had to leap across to the boulder to scramble up some more slab to the rappel anchors.

Mike (who's last name I forget) free solos Desire (5.10b). What is even more amazing is Mike doesn't have fingers on his left hand. He also down climbed every route he sent, except for the one pictures here, because of the bulge he climbed down a route to the left.

I think this route is Amazon Woman, it goes at around 5.10. I think this pair of climbers is also with the Texas Mountaineers.

Self portrait from the summit of Baldy Peak.

Although my intention for this blog is to display professional work along with a few personal work posts (like this one), I may end up writing a trip report from this adventure and post it here. I have yet to write a trip report about any of my climbing adventures, but seeing as how this was a completely new and different experience, I just might share it with the world!

I bet that hurt

2007-11-14T09:03:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I shot the North Texas vs Navy game at Fouts Field in Denton, Texas. The game was high scoring, which wore me out because I was constantly running up and down the sideline. After I went through my images for a second time I discovered this jewel. Can you say "ouch".

I was pushing this photo to Sports Illustrated for a two page spread, but unfortunately it likely won't get picked up because the photo doesn't really fit the format for the spread. Hopefully the image will still get picked up elsewhere.

North Texas Mean Green defensive back (13) Kartey Agbottah and (35) Antoine Bush bring down Navy Midshipmen slot back (7) Reggie Campbell during the the second quarter at Fouts Field. Navy defeated North Texas 74-62.
Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

This weekend I will be headed out to Quartz Mountain in Oklahoma. I will be roped up most of the day learning trad, but hopefully I will come away with some good images too. The Leonid Meteor Shower is also this weekend, so being away from the city lights should provide me an opportunity to get some good photos of that.

The PhotoShelter Collection is live

2007-11-12T22:36:00.000-06:00

It's official, the PhotoShelter Collection went live today. I have been working on submitting images over the past couple weeks, but unfortunately have not submitted nearly as many as most contributers, but will be working on getting more up over time.

I am mainly focusing on getting some of my climbing images up. You can see my archive by clicking here. You can also view the main page and search images here.

I still have a lot of images that have been approved that are not up yet; I have to get keywords placed in the image and photo releases uploaded.

This pas weekend I photographed the North Texas vs Navy game at Fouts Field. It was a historic game because is on the record as highest scoring game in regulation play. I have some great photos to post as well, but have not had time to resize them for the web. Hopefully I will get to that later this week.

Reimer's Ranch

2007-11-05T10:32:00.000-06:00

The weather was perfect for a day of rock climbing at Reimer's Ranch near Austin, Texas. The temperature was in the low-mid 80's, but did not even get that high until late in the day. We climbed in the shade most of the time too, so we barely broke a sweat.

I was frustrated with the whole day though. To start off I lead an easy 5.8 route but failed at my red point attempt because I was out of it mentally and I had my camera strapped to my back. I had planned on shooting another climber coming up the route. Once I topped out I realized there was not a single tree close to the cliff for me to set up an anchor and shoot from. On top of that other climbers started showing up and wanted to get on the route, so a good part of our morning was wasted because my failed attempt to set up an anchor to photograph a climb.

In addition to the failed attempt at getting a beautiful shot on one of the tallest walls at the crag I climbed like crap the entire day. I didn't climb a single route clean and even struggled to climb routes on top rope that I had lead in the past. I guess every climber has those "mental" days where there mind is just not in the right place.

I did however get to shoot one climber on Liposuction (5.12). The route is one of the first routes on the right when approaching the crag. It starts on an overhanging cave formation and then climbs huge jugs and tufas to the top. The light was fairly decent but I wish it had been more direct on the climber. I was pleased with the shoot of the climb overall though.

Granite Gripper 2007

2007-11-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

Since it's Friday and I am heading off to the crag for a weekend of climbing after work I thought I would post some photos from The Granite Gripper a few weeks ago. I hope you enjoy them.

I will be climbing and shooting at Reimer's Ranch near Austin. Though I am a Texas climber I have only made it out there one other time. The climbing was great, but we spent most of our time on one wall (Dead Cats Wall). I hope to explore more of what the crag has to offer tomorrow. If all goes well we will be doing some deep water solo climbing in Lake Travis on Sunday morning.

Not so mean

2007-10-30T19:34:00.000-05:00

Before I feel in love with climbing I considered myself a college football fan. Today it just doesn't interest me as much, but I still love photographing the sport. Last weekend I covered the North Texas Mean Green game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders for US Presswire. Middle Tennessee State defeated North Texas 48-28. Below are a few of my favorites from the game.

I am also pleased to announced I have signed on as a contributing photographer with T ">he Photoshelter Collection. I have already have several images selected and hope to get many more up before the November 5 launch date.

The Photoshelter Collection

2007-10-24T19:07:00.000-05:00

I am still a bit distraught I lost so much work in my hard drive crash. I had my first does of reality when submitting a photo to the new Photoshelter Collection. I had an awesome image of my friend Ben climbing a 5.8 crack out at the Wichita Mountains, but the photo could not be accepted because the file size was to small. I had the best images saved on my main hard drive as a JPG, but the RAW files where on the drive that crashed. I was however able to up the resolution and achieve a usable file size, but that will have to wait until my second submission, hopefully at lest some of my images make the first cut so I can continue to submit images.

For those that don't know, Photoshelter is making a valiant attempt to compete with Getty Images. They are starting what is called "The Photoshelter Collection". They are basically similar to penny stock agencies such as iStockPhoto, but they do not allow you to price an image under $50. The photographer also retains their copyright and submits on a nonexclusive basis. The percentage paid out to the photographer is also higher than any other stock agency out there.

This is an excellent opportunity for photographers to make extra income off the photos they already own. The only thing that sucks for me is that I have lost a ton of work I could have submitted. I am in the process of contacting past clients though about getting copies of the work I did for them, but I still can not recover the personal work I had worked so hard on.

Anyway, below is a photo of me photographing a trad climber on the route Orange Peel at The Granite Gripper at Enchanted Rock. My friend Alx Eller from the Texas Mountaineers took the photo.

Another "new" blog is born

2007-10-24T08:38:00.000-05:00

Over the years I have been known to create new blogs, destroy said blog and then re-open another blog under another name. I currently have three blogs. One I never post on. I have decided to consolidate them all into one shinny new blog. Well at least it will be shinny and new for now.

I decided on the blogger format because of the security. When using Movable Type there would always be hackers that posted comments advertising salacious material. I got tired of deleting them, worrying about patches. I eventually had to turn commenting off totally.

So, you can begin looking for my posts on this site. I loath the domain though, who would have thought there was another CalebSimpson with a blogger account? You can view old blog posts at CalebSimpson.com, well at least I own that domain!