OC Photographics

Desert Storm 2013 Photos Lake Havasu

Daren — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:26:46 +0000

Desert Storm 2013 Poker Run and Shoot Out in Lake Havasu AZ. Big boats, big horsepower, and speed on the water make this one of the events I look forward to year after year. This year we were part of the RiverDavesPlace media team, and with his flotilla of photographers across Lake Havasu I know the event was covered in full. We set up a few miles before the first card stop to catch the boats as they screamed by. After all the boats made the first card stop we headed towards the Channel to capture the partying and other random Desert Storm activities. After a few hours in the channel we headed up river to Pirates Cove getting some great photos of the boats going through the Topock Gorge. This area always makes for some great photo opps. Being so narrow the boats come really close and with the colors and lighting in the gorge you can’t go wrong making this part of your Desert Storm weekend.
On Saturday we headed out in front of the island and set up for front row action of the Shoot Out. This year was perfect. Little to no wind and great participation of boats made for a great 2013 shootout.
I know the event just past but, I am already counting the days to Desert Storm 2014. There is so much going on there so if you find yourself in the area next year, and haven’t been before, make sure you get in town Wednesday so you can do the Street Party on Thursday and stick around until Saturday for the Shootout. If you can’t get on a boat for the shoot out, the Island offers a good view of the action.

Here are just a few of the photos I took from the weekend, but many more can be found at the link below.

Full gallery should be up at below address by 5.5.13

www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

2013 Parker Water Ski Race Photos

Daren — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:11:00 +0000

On 3/9/13 the 2013 Water Ski Racing season kicked off in Parker Arizona. This race is always one of the best venues for spectators, skiers, photographers, and I was there for both days of racing action.
This year was one of the cooler races over the past few years, with low temperatures, wind kicking up, and grey skies which made challenging conditions for skiers, drivers, and even for taking photos. The racing format for the weekend really catered to the skiers. Running sprints in the morning and marathons in the afternoon gave the skiers the opportunity to ski as many races as they could. For me this format is great, giving me time to move around to different spots along the river to get great photos of the water ski racing action.
If you ever want to check out a race or participate in one, this is a great venue to get into the sport or just sit back at Blue Water Resort and watch the action just feet off the shores of the Colorado River. Some of the winners for the weekend were: Todd Haig – Men’s Open, Dawn Wallace – Women’sF2, Marshall Cole – Mini Marathon, and Trevor Wendt.
The next race is at Lake Havasu 4/20/13, the same week as the Lake Havasu Boat Show. So if you are in the come down to the shoreline right behind the show and check out the action. I will be heading out to cover the Water Ski Race, Boat Show, and sticking around for Desert Storm 2013. Once again I will be part of the RiverDavesPlace media team and taking photos of Desert Storm Poker Run and all the events that go along with it. We will be all over the lake so look for us and the RDP and OCphotographics banners. Watch for that story and photos soon.

Full Gallery of the Water ski race can be found here at the address below.

www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

Enjoy

2012 Parker Thanksgiving Regatta Photos

Daren — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:10:24 +0000

As usual for the past 3 years I spent four days in Parker AZ for Thanksgiving weekend. Anytime I can make it to Parker is good, but for four days of boating, skiing and the Parker Thanksgiving Regatta, makes it one of my favorite trips of the year. We got up early Thanksgiving morning to great weather and some glassy water that made for some great skiing and photography.
Friday morning we were up early as well, but this time we were heading down to Bluewater to watch and take photos of the 2012 Parker Thanksgiving Regatta. This was the 66th annual regatta, and as always it draws a great group of racers, boats, and spectators. It was a full schedule of racing with 11 classes of boats that included K Racing Runabouts, Super Sports, Cracker Boxes, Grand National, Comp Jets, COR, Stocks, Hydros, and SST 45s. I think I managed to get multiple photos of each boat both days, before my camera crashed on me, so it gave me a chance to sit back and watch the race.
If you have never been to the Thanksgiving Regatta, it packed full of racing action and Bluewater is a great venue right on the water as boats go screaming by just feet off shore. You can see the entire course from the cantina so during the race there isn’t a time when you can’t see the boats.

You can see all the Thanksgiving Regatta photos I took at the following link:

www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

2012 Parker Enduro Photos

Daren — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:48:23 +0000

I woke up early 3.26.12 to make the drive to Parker Arizona for the 2012 Parker Enduro. We made it to Parker just a little after noon on Friday, and made our way to the race pits to check out all the boats that would be racing this year. I have been taking photos of this great race for the past 5 years and always look forward to the event. This year I and about 12 others were part of the riverdavesplace.com media team and had our work cut out for us; some doing video, editing and a few still photographers.
As always we looked for places along the river that offered the best view to get photos of all the racing action. We found four different locations to shoot from on race day; some in turns, long stretches and some elevated to get photos into the boat and of the driver.
Saturday morning race day! Set up at our first spot to get photos of the start of the 2012 Parker Enduro and all the boats as they passed. We knew it was close to race time, which was confirmed once we heard the roar of the boats, and they came out of the turn and into sight. First boat to fly by was team Nordic 373 piloted by Steve Davis and from that point on it was constant shooting. About 45 min later the last class was let go, and all boats were on the 6 mile course along the Colorado River. We shot from the first location for about two hours, not to mention a great view from that location, but the sounds of the boats off the canyon walls is that of pure horsepower. I would have to say the boat we always knew was coming at least a minute before we would see it would be boat #77 of team Teague Custom Marine, the sound of pure power as it raced up the river.
Our final location to take photos was the turn at BlueWater Casino which offered some close up shots as the drivers came out of the turn and straight at shore. As the race came close to end and we saw the Checker flag drop for the overall winners of the 2012 Parker Enduro, Team War Canoe which consisted of Steve Nolind, Scott Nolind, and Tony Scarlata crowning them “The 2012 Kings of the River”
If you want to see some close up and constant racing action at a great venue, make it to Parker next year for the 2013 Enduro, I know I plan on being there again.

See full race gallery with 1,00o plus photos here: http://darenvanryte.photoreflect.com/store/store.aspx

2012 IGSA NorAm Finals – Photos

Daren — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:46:41 +0000

Saturday afternoon I was searching for a new longboard, and of course I see other skateboarding links and videos while looking for my new board and had to visit a few. On one of the links I saw that the IGSA NorAm Finals were going on at Bonelli Regional Park, so I planned to be there Sunday morning to check out, and take photos of Downhill Skateboard action. Classes running for the day included Open DH Skateboarding, Open Street Luge, Classic Luge, Jr. Downhill Skateboarding, Downhill Inline Skating, and Gravity Bike.
I tried to find the best place along the course to take photos from, but the sun wasn’t working with me in the areas I planned on shooting from. I set up a few places along O-Tang Corner both coming into the turn and out of the turn and managed to get some nice action photos.
The course made for some tight side by side racing action and plenty for the spectators to watch. Here is a list of the winners of each class. Open DH Skateboarding – A.J. Haiby, Open Street Luge – Christian Conaway, Classic Luge – Christian Conaway, Jr I Downhill Skateboarding – Ethan Vinograd, Jr II Downhill Skateboarding – Danial Luna, Gravity Bike – Mike McIntyre, Downhill Inline Skating – Scott Peer.
I wish I would have been at the event Saturday as well, but I know I will be watching for more IGSA NorAm Downhill Skateboard events in the future. I will post my gallery with all the Downhill Photos no later than 10.12.12 and can be found at the address below.

www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

San Diego Bayfair 2012 Photos

Daren — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:55:28 +0000

After all the waiting and counting of days it finally came, Bayfair 2012! Time to head to Mission Bay in San Diego for what is one of the best boat racing events So Cal has to offer. I left Orange County early Saturday morning to meet up with Scott, aka stryderphoto.com, to get our credentials before any of the race action started. We made our way into the drag boat pits on Crown Point. With credentials in hand and the smell of Nitromethane in the air, the day was off to a great start.

If you have never been to Bayfair it is definitely worth checking out. Not only is it packed full of boat racing action, but you can walk the pits, check out the boats, and talk to the drivers and teams between their races. If you need a break from the action you can grab something to eat from a wide choice of vendors, or you can check out some of the live entertainment at the venue. This year they had over 20 bands performing over the three day event with music for everybody’s taste from Reggae and Hip Hop to Dance Hall and Punk Rock. This year was also the first year that the concert venue was free to the public.

After we checked out the entire venue it was time to do what we do at Bayfair, and that would be taking photos of all the racing action. For the past three years we have been covering the event for Riverdavesplace.com where we post the race photos from the weekend as well as here on my site. This year was packed full of constant racing action with races at both Ski Beach and Crown Point where they were running the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series as well as the Cracker Box races. Taking photos of the drag boats isn’t the easiest since they are moving at break-neck speeds like the Top Fuel Hydro, Problem Child, did with a speed of 253.46 mph and running the Liquid Quarter Mile in 3.368 seconds. The start of the TFH drag boats make for great photos with a huge roost as the boats launch off the start line and scream by with the sound of pure horsepower rattling the spectators as they fly by. At the end of the week it was Speed Sport Special taking the win in the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Series TFH class. The Crackerbox is one of my favorite racing events to photograph with the boats in the air more than on the water, and I have said it more than once, “It takes a special breed to race Crackerbox”. This class puts two people in one 15.5 foot V8 powered boat, the driver and a rider. Along with the other boats in the class it makes for truly insane and entertaining racing.

Just a short walk or bike ride over the bridge to Ski Beach is where the Air National Guard Hydroplane Series H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes were racing. These turbine-powered boats are capable of speeds over 200mph and put on a great show with their roosts shooting high into the air as they go into and out of turns. With water conditions at a prime, this made for some fast side by side racing action, but in the end it was the rookie driver, Jimmy Shane, getting the win at 2012 Bayfair. Some of the other boat classes racing at Ski Beach were the K Boats, Super Stock, Pro Stock, Comp Jet and the SST-45s. With all this going on at Ski Beach between the H1 Unlimited races, it made for a full day of racing and plenty of action for the spectators on the beach.

As always, Bayfair 2012 was full of action and offered up the best racing action for me to photograph, and I’m already looking forward to next year. I want to give a huge thanks to Dave at riverdavesplace.com for getting us set up to cover the event, and to Gregg Mansfield for making sure we had everything we needed once we got to the venue. All my photos from Bayfair will be posted by 9.20.12 and can be seen here at the address below:

www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

2012 Marine Stadium Sprint Boat Racing Photos

Daren — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Early Saturday morning at Marine Stadium in Long beach a thick marine layer filled the sky, and glassy conditions on the water made for a peaceful and quiet morning, but that was all about to change!! An announcement fills the silent morning air, “Boats, the water is yours for warm up”, and the quiet morning is now thundering with high horsepower as the drivers get some time on the water before the races start. If you have never been to the Sprint Boat Races at Marine Stadium you are missing out on some up close racing action on this small, tight course. I was there along with Scott Shanklin (Stryderphoto) to capture photos of the racing action this great event has to offer. This event offers racing from beginner up to the big boys running all out. The boats and classes that raced both Saturday and Sunday were AX Hydroplane, A Stock Hydroplane, Classic Outboard Runabout (COR), Comp Jet, SST-45 – APBA, Grand National- APBA, Super Stock, Pro Stock, K Racing Runabout, and Crackerbox. I set up on the outside of turn four to capture photos of the boats and action as they came out of the turn and ran just off the shore.
One of my favorite classes to shoot is the Crackerbox class. This class puts two people, the driver and a rider, in one 15.5 foot V8 powered boat. These boats are fast, squirrelly and take a special breed to even get in one much less race all out with the other teams in the class. Some of my favorite photos are of the Crackerbox class since they are airborne as much, if not more than, as they are on the water. The team to win the Crackerbox class for the weekend was Scott Schatz and Jeff Hansen boat P-9 from Corona, CA. Here are a few of the other winning classes; K Boat racing class was Brian Twamley Boat 401-K of La Habra, CA, Pro Stock class was Ade Bloomfield Boat 55 of Hot Sulphur Springs, CO, Super Stock Class was Ty Newton Boat 80, of Mesa, AZ, Grand National – APBA National Championships was Joey Cucci Boat 24 from Lake Havasu City, AZ, SST- 45 – APBA North American Championships was R.J. West, Boat 93 from Manteca, CA, and A Stock Hydroplane class was Nicole Knudson Boat 29C of Chino, CA taking the checker flag and the win for the weekend.
Congratulations to all race teams on the weekend, and thanks for coming out and putting on the show for us spectators and photographers. I know I am looking forward to the next few races and plan on making it to San Diego in September for Bayfair, and for sure to Parker AZ in October for the 2012 Parker Enduro – Blue Water Resort & Casino ’300′ Enduro. If all works out I will be in Parker for 5 days and make it to the 2012 Parker Thanksgiving Regatta in November which is always a great race, so watch for photos of these upcoming races.
A full 800 plus photo gallery of the Marine Stadium Sprint Boat Races will be available by 8/15/12 and can be found here:

www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

2012 Nike US Open of Surfing Photos

Daren — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:37:42 +0000

Sunday morning August 5th, I made my way to Huntington Beach for the final day of the 2012 Nike US Open of Surfing. I knew I would need to get an early start if I wanted to get a good spot to capture the best action and surfing photos possible. I made it to Huntington Beach at 6:45am and started the walk to the pier. As I approached the pier I could see the crowd and the photographers already lined up. As I was walking on the pier and looking for somewhere to squeeze in, a group of 4 people left the pier rail, I jumped in to the perfect spot just in time to catch the first heat of the day which included Filipe Toledo and Miguel Pupo both from Brazil. The sky was still pretty grey so I didn’t take too many photos of this heat. However, heat two was coming up and it was the one I wanted to see more than any other all weekend. Heat two was Kelly Slater vs Dane Reynolds, and I knew this heat would offer up some great photos with Slater’s surfing and Dane’s aerial assaults. I wish the surf would have been a little more consistent in this heat and offered more for Slater and Dane to work with.
The Women’s heats offered up some great photos of Courtney Conlogue, Malia Manuel, Lakey Peterson, Sage Erickson, Sally Fitzgibbons, and Coco Ho. As the heats for the women came to an end it was Lakey Peterson taking the win and the title of the 2012 US Open of Surf Women’s Champion.
By mid day most of the heats were done and the men’s final was coming up quick, but still had a round or two before we knew who would be in the final. After a few heats of long periods between sets, the final was here and Julian Wilson would be surfing against Miguel Pupo. This was a great final with both surfers offering up some great photo ops as they destroyed the waves and launched various airs. At the end of it all, it was Julian Wilson taking the victory and the title of 2012 US Open of Surf Men’s Champion.
I have a few photos posted here in the blog, and will be adding more to the Recent Events page as well as 1,000 plus photos to my gallery at www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com in the next day or two.

2012 Catalina Water Ski Racing – Photos

Daren — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 23:57:00 +0000

Saturday July 21st at 9:07 am Long Beach awoke to the sound of horsepower as boats and skiers started the legendary 62 mile round trip race known as the Catalina Water Ski Race. The race starts just south of the Queen Mary in Long Beach and runs to Catalina and back, 62 miles of open ocean racing at its best. I was there along with Scott Shanklin of stryderphoto.com to take photos of the race and all the events that go along with it. We had the media credentials needed to get the best photos possible. I was on the start boat, and Scott was going to be on the finish boat, but due to …..ahh let’s say “Lens” issues, Scott passed on the finish boat, and threw on a wide lens and shot the shore activities during the race.

I headed out Friday the 20th to cover the pre-race events taking photos of boats and race teams as they did final prep on the boats and their race gear, as well as mingle with old friends as well as meeting new ones such as my son’s race team. This year was my son’s first attempt at the Catalina Water Ski Race, and with the help of Riverdavesplace.com (some great members from the forum kicking in for sponsorship), boat, driver, and observer, we had a great team and great support for “Team Riverdavesplace” which consisted of Driver: Frank Randel, Skier: JT Van Ryte, Observer: Nick Randel and Navigator/Boat Owner: Paul Gooding.

The race started in perfect weather conditions Saturday, and although the weather was perfect the conditions on the water were not so perfect. Rough and confused seas made for a tough race on both skiers and boats. We started the Small Boats and then made our way to the break wall to catch the Big Boats as they made their way to open ocean. Shooting from the Start Boat worked out great allowing me to get photos of the small boats and skiers at their start, and then time to move out to the breakwater and get plenty of photos of the skiers and big boats as
they passed. After all the boats passed we moved into the finish line area to pass out the checkered flags to the overall winners as well as winners of each class, this was right up front and the best place to get photos of the winning teams’ emotions and joys of winning the Catalina Ski Race as the flags were passed to them.

This year’s overall winners were: Men’s Open – Peter Proctor with a time of 50min and 56.11sec and Women’s Open: Erin Saunders with a time of 1hour 03min 04.72sec. As far as my son’s first Catalina Ski Race goes, he made it to the island, pass the turn, and fell on his return to Long Beach. He was too wiped out to start again, but plans on racing again next year.

500 plus photos of the Catalina Water Ski Race can be found here: www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com

“Team Riverdavesplace” sponsors:
River, Tom Bulger, Mike Brown, Jim McEwen, Dylan White, Tony Ayala, Don Wilborn, Carl Petersen

Desert Storm 2012 Photos Lake Havasu

Daren — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:54:56 +0000

Well it’s been here and gone, the 2012 Desert Storm Poker Run and Shoot Out in Lake Havasu AZ . We couldn’t have asked for better weather, it made perfect conditions for taking photos of all the Desert Storm events we would be taking for Riverdavesplace.com as part of the RDP photo team.

We left Orange County on Wednesday night and arrived in Lake Havasu around 1:30am which was fine since we didn’t have to be up to early on Thursday. We made our way to the Street Party around noon on Thursday and took a ton of photos of boats, cars and all the other things that were on display McCulloch Blvd. We stuck around till 10:00 when the street closed, and headed out for dinner and reviewed or photos from the day.

Friday was the big day, the Desert Storm Poker Run. We launched the boat at 6am and made our way to Pilot Rock to get some great action photos of the boats as they made their way to the first card stop of the Poker Run at the opposite end of the lake. I am pretty sure I got a photo or two of every boat / team that was in the event. After all the boats were back and heading to lunch break, we made our way to Pirate Cove located at Park Moabi, and got some great photos of the boats that were in the Poker Run as they were going through the Topock Gorge on their way to Pirates Cove as well, the red canyon walls and the calm water made for great photos.

Saturday was the Desert Storm Shoot Out, and again we were on the water early to get the best spot possible to get photos of the boats at their top speed. You won’t see many photos of the shoot out because it was a pretty big letdown, not many boats and just not worth sitting and taking photos of, so we cruised the lake and took photos of boats parked in the London Bridge canal, or out on the lake. It was a great trip and came back with over 1,800 photos from the 2012 Desert Storm, and already looking forward to next year’s event.

On this blog are just a few of over 1,700 photos I took of Desert Storm 2012. For a full gallery of all the photos of the event go to: