BAD United Derby Double Header
I am a roller derby photographer and my 2016 season started last Saturday. I usually photograph at The Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California where light imitates art … or art imitates cupcakes. I forget. I posted one gallery of the two evening bouts here. Bay Area Derby created two “united teams” to compete against Sacramento’s Sacred City Derby Girls and the Santa Cruz Derby […]
2015 BAD Derby Champs
Last week I met sports journalist Justine Gubar. She wrote the book “Fanaticus, Mischief and Madness in the Modern Sports Fan.” The book is about crazy fans. Last night I watched the Major League Baseball playoffs. Toronto fans threw beer cans and other debris onto to the field after being upset with an umpire’s call (but mostly the fans hit […]
Derby, Dads, Dodgers and Demons
This post might turn out like my dinner tonight. I grilled a cheese sandwich with turkey, garden tomatoes and avocado. The sprouted bread fell apart, the crust became hard and the inside became mushy and cheesy. It tasted good, but I would not serve it to friends. While I rushed my dinner, I have spent several days trying to write this blog post. I have […]
BAD International Pi Day
The Bay Area Derby Girls opened the 2015 regular season on International Pi Day. Berkeley won the first bout against San Francisco (photo gallery here), and Oakland defeated Richmond in the second bout. (photos here.) Four people competed in a pie eating contest, which the audience won. The derby and sunset were grand, as was the marching band. […]
Bay Area Derby Girls 2014 Championship
Last Saturday, the B.A.D. Girls held their 2014 women’s flat track roller derby regular season championship. Roller derby has become a popular sport throughout the world. B.A.D. is one of the top leagues in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, or WFTDA. The WFTDA lists leagues on their website. I am an official photographer for […]
It is Official – The Derby Double
I first published this blog post on Saturday July 19, 2014, one week after the Bay Area Derby Girls regular season double header at The Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California. The bouts decided which teams will skate for the regular season title on August 23, 2014. You can see the entire photo gallery here. I chose photos that […]
Bout Saturday Night – Wrecking Belles v San Francisco ShEvil Dead
Today, April 29, is my childhood friend Steve’s birthday. We met in second grade. Today is also Uma Thurman’s birthday. If you read my post about Bout 1, you realized that I quoted Mia Wallace, Uma Thurman’s Pulp Fiction character. I am not sure if I am old or if I have a good memory. Pulp Fiction was […]
Keep Calm and March On – Season Openers
On Saturday March 1, I attended two season openers. One was a campaign and the other was a sporting event. There is probably a cheap joke here, but neither event felt cheap. In the morning, I attended Libby Schaaf’s “Libby for Mayor Oakland Campaign Kickoff.” (I took a few hundred pictures; here is the edited […]
Epic Gold – Best BAD Photos from 2013 Derby Season
When I review my photos at the end of each year, I am always surprised. How did I get so lucky? Yesterday I recalled meeting track legend Tommie Smith. Today I am overwhelmed that I photograph women’s flat track roller derby for the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls. HERE IS THE 2013 GALLERY. The league has […]
Geek on Light and Fiona Apple Sauce – Derby Photography Recipe
A Bay Area teacher friend drove to Brooks Institute this week for The Teachers’ Workshop. When I worked for Brooks, veteran high school photography teachers often shared stories about Brooks’ summer workshops in Santa Barbara. Teachers enjoyed meeting other high school teachers and the Brooks instructors. A few teachers recalled sailing with the founder Ernie Brooks off […]
A Tale of Two Mayors and a Shadow Photographer
Earlier this month, the Bay Area Derby Girls All-Star team hosted the roller derby club from Montreal. The Golden Girls defeated The New Skids on the Block 217-122 at the Oakland Convention Center. During half-time, Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan proclaimed May 11, 2013 as “Bay Area Derby Girls Day” for the entire city. I have known […]
Rock My Derby
On Saturday, March 2, 2013, I became an official derby photographer when I photographed The B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls’ first bout of 2013 between the San Francisco ShEvil Dead and the Richmond Wrecking Belles at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California. I have photographed several other bouts, but last time I was way too serious.
Bay Area Derby Girls Advance to Nationals
Since the top two teams at the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association West Region Tournament automatically advance to the national tournament in Atlanta, the third place game between the Bay Area Derby Girls and the Rose City Rollers was probably the most dramatic of the tournament. The bout was especially exciting since the BAD Girls hosted this year’s West […]