A Night at The Fights

At the Butte Civic Center in April of 2008.

The 24th Annual Wayne Estes Tournament

Slam Dunk Contest

Jared Smithson dunking as the judges look on.

Two-time defending champion Antonio Chavers

Utah State alum Myron Simms

Chavers again...

One Night in Hamilton...

More than two weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching the Anaconda High School girls' basketball team win the Class A State Championship in Hamilton, Montana.
The event was a spectacle to behold.
For 35 years, Anaconda had come up short in multiple bids in state tournaments for both basketball teams. This time around, the ball rolled in the Copperheads favor.

This was a shot from the semifinal game that Friday night against Havre. For the newspaper, I used a shot of a different player shooting the ball. Unfortunately, I lost the hard copy of the photo.


No community supports their team like Anaconda. Maybe Butte does, but there are only a couple places I could argue that. Here, Kirstin King shoots a free throw in the fourth quarter only moments before the game ended. If you look closely, you can see the seriousness of the crowd. Most of everyone visible looks attentive.

This was my signature shot, as I intended. At the actual event I didn't have an image software program to crop the photo like I'd like, so I had to explain how I wanted it to look.

The look on that one face in the middle of the photo pretty much says everything that needs to be said.


The consumate team player catches the team leader in huge hug after the game. It was fun watching the girls celebrate.


Here is a wide angle shot of the celebration. I love the reaction of the girl on the left with the streamers. If you can zoom in on this, you might spot a familiar face or two.


This was probably my personal favorite picture from the weekend. Some people thought that the girls weren't showing good etiquette after the game, but its better to be a poor winner than a poor loser in anyone's eyes.


Another emotional shot after the game. This gym was extremely difficult for sharp pictures for the lens I was using. Hopefully, an upgrade is on the way.


Here is the team holding up the plaque in front of the Anaconda side of the gym. Another good shot indeed.

I was planning on a St. Patrick's Day in Butte phlog, but decided against it after seeing the small size of the crowd Monday. There were some opportunities, I just didn't feel it would be worth it. So I exercised my Irish Rights instead.

If any of you know of any good photo opportunities in southwest Montana coming up, then leave a comment. I'll probably have some more phlogs from the National Folk Festival, Evel Days and other summer events coming up.

Thanks for staying tuned and remember to check out my past work if you haven't already.

Be at peace.
~SE~

Operation: Hockey Assignment

Living in Montana, I always considered myself half-american and half-canadian. As angry as that make some nationalistic types, if you think about the culture, environment and other tangibles here in Montana - it's very true.
So on Sunday, Dec. 16, I headed out on my first hockey assignment in three years, this time with camera in hand.
Hockey is a great sport to watch live. It's known as 'the fastest sport in the world.' I'd call it the fastest real sport in the world (I don't like racing). Watching it on TV isn't too bad either. My grandfather Keith used to watch it religiously at his house in Feeley (he was raised on Minnesota/Calgary border). At the Harp Pub, we used to watch Colorado Avalanche games on Fox Sports. I can't remember if it was before or after the strike.
After my recent purchase of EA Sports' NHL 08, I couldn't wait to watch some high school hockey.Here a player for the Butte Blues tries to round up the puck on the offensive end. Notice how Jackson Hole has its defenders lined up. The middle of the ice is a vulnerable spot for defenses.
Much of hockey games is kind of like watching a track meet. Especially if the teams are struggling to control the puck. Every time the puck gets knocked towards their goalie, the team will have multiple players retrieve it, and occasionaly an opposing player will try to disrupt the other team's offense. It's kind of like a full-court press in basketball.
The white player here was riding the boards and paid the price. Checking opposing players into the boards isn't about trying to get a big hit to look bad ass. It's a defensive strategy to try to get the puck away from the offensive player. For this Butte player, you can see it worked as the puck is sliding to the middle of the ice.
This happens all the time, but I haven't had a chance to talk about it. Referees always get in sports shots. It's always bound to happen. The only sport where you can halfway predict is baseball. If I had a good photo for every time a referee stuck his big butt in my lens...
The face-off. This is one of the more individualistic features of the sport. Two centers line up across from each other after a penalty or after the goalie holds the puck and swipe at the puck to try to get control. Similar to the concept of a jump ball in basketball.

This was Sunday's winning photo. Another good example of how defensive players line up, particularly when the puck is behind the net. A Butte player is fighting in the middle for a possible one-timer.
This is a good example of why the sport is called the fastest in the world. It's surely the fastest on ice. Subjects tend to blur with my camera lens. Sometimes it looks interesting, other times it ruins shots. It's all about the exposure and the light. Notice the reflection of the Butte players in the glass. Obviously, this wasn't a really intense defensive moment for them.
This was my runner-up pic from Sunday. This Butte player took a shot and the goalie knocked it wide of the net. You can see the puck floating near the back of the net. The player with the shiny hockey stick and the blurry helmet on the middle defender ruined this shot. The defender with the shiny body stick is doing a body check, a common tactic used by defensemen.

When all was said and done, the Blues lost in overtime 5-4. I was really hoping for a shootout, even though I couldn't have had a very good angle.

I'd like to encourage anyone semi-interested to check out some hockey at the Butte Community Ice Center. Living in a place where it's cold in the winter, you should show some interest in this sport. It's not that difficult to understand and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

I'll be posting a more in-depth report on the Butte Daredevils the next time I get to shoot them. So, stay tuned. It's the closest you can get without actually being in the Civic Center.

The new and the old

The Dumas Brothel - a Butte relic
The Brothel is open at random times. I ride by there on my bike rides somedays and the door is open.
There are a few old bridges like this around Butte.
This is a photo from the firecracker celebration on Chinese New Year in front of the Mai Wai museum.
Butte has a modest dragon, but it's better than none at all.
No one allowed to crash here anymore. There are a ton of killer homes in this neighborhood with a lot of potential in photography.
The vandals wrote some single line prose on a brick building in the same neighborhood. The cops may be dirty, but at least they don't spray paint "4:20" on the walls of schools. Our tax money is so well spent sometimes...

Scenes from Anaconda and Butte

Jim and Mick the Russian hang out on one of their last nights in town.



Jim sings Willie Nelson off of a lap top.


The south wall of The Harp and Thistle Pub


A night shot of Butte's legendary M and M. I'll probably get an early morning shot on here soon.


One of the few photographic moments from my time at An Ri Ra. The Dillon fiddlers:

The Walkerville Diaries

One man's garbage is another artist's treasure... Or something like that.

Walkerville is filled with artist's treasure, not that all of it come from actual garbage.
On a typical day, one of my few with no work, I headed up the Butte hill to Walkerville. I used to live in Centerville back in the day.

First stop - The Alice Pit
My old neighborhood where I grew up had some smaller pits than this. They were all filled with garbage (tires, mufflers, nudie mags). This used to be a pit for open pit mining.
A homely viewing stand for the Alice Pit. The Berkeley Pit gets all the glory.

Along with mining relics, dogs and the Irish, Butte is also a 'truck' town. On my trip I spotted dozens of neglected trucks.
These next two apparently still run, so maybe they all aren't so neglected.



The Old Wood Truck - this is one of my favorite captures of the day. I like the cropped version.
Reminiscent of a Company Childhood - my childhood neighborhood backyard was a stone's throw from the railroad tracks. I hadn't seen one of these black and yellow BA&P signs in a very long time. A lot of empty space, but I love this photo, probably my favorite on the day. For personal reasons of course.
I heard strange noises from this shack. Hopefully whatever is in there is all right.
This neat little tunnel on the Copperway walk keeps walkers safe. Upon approaching I noticed a horde of grasshoppers spreading out of my path. It reminded me of a comment my friend Brian made the other day about people who go to Triple S to buy mass bee killer. His comment: Do these people even know what bees do???

Self portrait - I've never officially done one of these.

The sun found its way through the cloud as I walked out of the overhang on my way back to the car.

Here is the Copperway sign on the trail. Notice how the grass is exactly as green as in the logo.

Well, almost.

The way the clouds affect sunlight and shadow in Butte is truly unique. Especially in shots with headframes. WARNING: Several generic photos of gallus frames follow, but there is more good stuff after that.





My neighbor's dogs - I'm still searching for that elusive Butte Special shot. These bastards still bark at me and they've lived next to me for seven months. The malmute-looking one isn't too bad. The other uglier one used to jump on the neighbor's garage and sit there watching the neighborhood. I just wish they wouldn't bark so much.


Justice - these neat statues in Uptown Butte look neat when I get psychedelic on them.
This photo will go nice with the other blacknwhite photo I have from Evel Days. How about Butte, America?

I wasn't sure if I should call this "The End of an Era" or simply "The Beginning." You know the end of that trail is the beginning depending on which side you start from.