Aerial Photography

I took photos for the Benton County Sheriff Foundation's Chili Cook-Off yesterday at the Benton County fairgrounds. I had a good time and enjoyed some good food. I had an opportunity to go up in a small, open cabin helicopter that they were offering rides in for donations. I have my pilot's license but I've only flown in closed cabin, fixed wing aircraft. So, this was a new experience for me. It was great for taking photos because I didn't have to shoot through any extra glass or plastic that could cloud up or distort the image. I'll post more shots here and on Flikr later in the week, but here's a shot I took of Oregon State University's Reser stadium. This was just a day after they upset the Wisconsin Badgers at home, 10-7.

 

Keynote

In this year's da Vinci Day's theme of transformation, OSU women's basketball coach, Scott Rueck, gave a very uplifting keynote speech. I was there at LaSells Stewart Center on Friday night to cover the event. Coach Rueck started with a blank canvas and a row of paints on the stage. He used them as a metaphor for building OSU's basketball program, almost from the ground up, when he came to OSU a couple of years ago. Adding elements to his painting and relating them to the foundations of his team, the message broadened beyond basketball to life in general. We are all artists in a sense and we must decide what goes on our canvas, he said. When he finished his painting, the story of how he defied expectations and built a winning team was complete. How he got there, and and the lessons he learned and brought with him was truly inspiring... and I'm not a basketball fan. It was a pleasure to meet him and he was kind enough to pose for me with the finished painting after the speech.