Women's Gymnastics

Recently I got the chance to photograph women's gymnastics at USAFA which was both really irritating and very rewarding. I did get some shots that I liked, but the lighting in the gym they compete in is a photographers worst nightmare! Thank goodness for the D700 which made it possible to still capture a few shots. Here are some of my favorites. (All photos copyright US Air Force Academy, J. Rachel Spencer 2010)

U.S. Air Force Academy, CO- Head Coach Doug Day helps correct junior Brittany Dutton’s body position as she practices vaulting before the meet against UC Davis 30 Jan 2010 in the Cadet Gymnasium. Air Force lost the meet 191.575 to 185.300 despite two event titles. Sophomore Jenna Dudley took the title in the floor exercise with a tally of 9.775, and Dutton took the vault title with a 9.625. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ J. Rachel Spencer)


U.S. Air Force Academy, CO- Junior Holland Davis vaults for the Falcons during Air Force’s meet against UC Davis 30 Jan 2010 in the Cadet Gymnasium. Air Force lost the meet 191.575 to 185.300 despite two event titles. Sophomore Jenna Dudley took the title in the floor exercise with a tally of 9.775, and junior Brittany Dutton took the vault title with a 9.625. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ J. Rachel Spencer)


U.S. Air Force Academy, CO- Senior Michelle Denise (left) is embraced by teammate Holland Davis, a junior, after competing on the uneven bars during Air Force’s meet against UC Davis 30 Jan 2010 in the Cadet Gymnasium. Air Force lost the meet 191.575 to 185.300 despite two event titles. Sophomore Jenna Dudley took the title in the floor exercise with a tally of 9.775, and junior Brittany Dutton took the vault title with a 9.625. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ J. Rachel Spencer)


U.S. Air Force Academy, CO- Sophomore Jenna Dudley holds a pose while competing on the uneven bars during Air Force’s meet against UC Davis 30 Jan 2010 in the Cadet Gymnasium. Air Force lost the meet 191.575 to 185.300 despite two event titles. Dudley took the title in the floor exercise with a tally of 9.775, and junior Brittany Dutton took the vault title with a 9.625. Dudley finished in the top five of every event and placed second in the all-around with a score of 38.425. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ J. Rachel Spencer)


U.S. Air Force Academy, CO- Sophomore Jenna Dudley does a backflip while competing on the balance beam during Air Force’s meet against UC Davis 30 Jan 2010 in the Cadet Gymnasium. Air Force lost the meet 191.575 to 185.300 despite two event titles. Dudley took the title in the floor exercise with a tally of 9.775, and junior Brittany Dutton took the vault title with a 9.625. Dudley finished in the top five of every event and placed second in the all-around with a score of 38.425. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ J. Rachel Spencer)


U.S. Air Force Academy, CO- Freshman Tara Harris holds a pose during her floor routine during Air Force’s meet against UC Davis 30 Jan 2010 in the Cadet Gymnasium. Air Force lost the meet 191.575 to 185.300 despite two event titles. Sophomore Jenna Dudley took the title in the floor exercise with a tally of 9.775, and junior Brittany Dutton took the vault title with a 9.625. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ J. Rachel Spencer)

Air Force Boxing vs. Army

When I got the assignment to photograph the Air Force Boxing match against Army on November 6, I hadn't heard a whole lot about the boxing team and with my perceptions of people in the Air Force versus people in the Army boxing seemed to be more in favor of Army. I was completely wrong! Our boxing team is one of the best in the country and Friday's match proved that. Here are some of my favorites from the night. Enjoy! All photos copyright USAFA Photos DenMar Services base photo lab J. Rachel Spencer 2009.

Falcon Football

This is a little slow going up but here are a few selects from the opening football game this season at Falcon Stadium! Enjoy! All photos property of USAFA Photos DenMar base photo lab 2009.

AFA Women's Soccer

There were a lot of sports events over Parents Weekend at the Academy, and I got the chance to run around to a lot of them. Here are a few from the woman's soccer match. All images copyright J. Rachel Spencer, USAFA base photo lab 2009.

Air Force Sports kick off

Here are a few pictures from the Air Force Academy Prep School football game Parent's weekend. All photos are copyright J. Rachel Spencer, United States Air Force Academy base photo lab 2009

the Glo

Every labor day weekend in Colorado Springs for the past 33 years the Colorado Balloon Classic ( http://www.balloonclassic.com/) is held in Memorial Park. It is the largest balloon event in the state and one of the largest in the country. It is so popular that parking around Memorial Park over the weekend is a nightmare, but it is well worth braving to watch either one of the mass ascensions in the early morning hours or coming out in the evening to catch the Glo.

This event marked the last day of my internship with the Gazette last summer and was one of my favorite things I had the chance to photograph during that internship. I only got to photograph the ascension last year and this year it was great to go back and photograph both an ascension and The Glo.

For those of you who haven't been to the Classic, the Glo is an event which happens two evenings when all the balloons are inflated but do not take off and then their pilots make them all glow on cue lighting up the balloons against the night sky. Here are some of my favorites from the Glo.

San Francisco Trip

About a month ago I expierenced what every person who works with photos dreads, one of my hard drives crashed. Or at least so I thought. Actually what happened was I didn't take very good care of it and the casing was shot, but the hard drive was ok. So several weeks and 30$ later with my hard drive installed in a new case I'm back up and running. Up until this point I knew backing up my files was important but the feeling of thinking all these photographs were lost was one of the worst feelings I've ever had. I'm thinking now I might invest in a Drobo or buying some server space that backs up in several locations. Does anyone have something like that they're happy with?

Anyway, in celebration of getting these files back, here are a few shots from a trip to San Francisco in March.


Riding on a trolley downtown

Surfers at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.