Midsummer Classic

Reno Mayor, Bob Cashell.

I was at Aces Ballpark this morning for a press conference announcing the 2013 Triple-A All-Star Game in Reno. Although rumored for a while, this made it official.

The game—the 26th annual—is scheduled for July 10, 2013. And although it's a ways away, I'm pretty stoked.

This is actually my second All-Star experience. Third if you can't Little League. In 2007 I worked as an editor for MLB.com at the midsummer classic in San Francisco. I got to shoot a few assignments (1, 2)  but nothing really at the park.

In addition to the game, the Aces will host the Triple-A Home Run Derby on July 8 and a weekend FanFest.

Here are a few photos from this morning. Typical press conference stuff but nonetheless, exciting news.

Pacific Coast League President, Branch Rickey.

Aces President and Managing Partner, Stuart Katzoff.

Rickey, left, and International League President, Randy Mobley.

RSCVA President and CEO, Chris Baum

Rickey.

From left, Stuart Katzoff, Herb Simon, Mayor Cashell and Jerry Katzoff outside Aces Ballpark.

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Labor(ious)

Sec. Solis, left and Dr. Biden.

Thursday was a rich, full day in Reno. 

But I wasn't out breaking news. Instead, I was hired by the Department of Labor to photograph Secretary Hilda Solis. 

Solis accompanied Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden to Reno; the Vice President spoke at Galena high school while his wife and Secretary Solis held a roundtable discussion at Renown Health.

The day however, was delayed. High winds forced Air Force Two to land in Fallon, Nev. and the motorcade had to shuttle the dignitaries in.

In addition to the discussion, the Secretary and Dr. Biden were scheduled to tour some of the facilities and watch nurses demonstrate a training exercise but the advance team cancelled for lack of time.

In spite of the delays, schedule changes and limited access, I still made few nice dailies I want to share.

And thank you to the folks at Renown for lunch; and for babysitting us media-type folks all-day. We can be a whiney crew and the snacks helped.

"John Doe" simulation doll.

Left, Dr. Maria Sheehan, Truckee Meadows Community College President with Solis and Biden.

Dr. Biden shares a laugh with some recently hired nurses.

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Eleven in 11.

I love lists. To do lists, top ten lists, Nixon's enemies list. I use them, read them and enjoy them often.

This is a list. Sort of.

It's my top ten—actually 11—favorite images from last year.

Criteria: These aren't my best photos from the past year—they might be but who's to say—just the ones I really like.

Most are from assignments and clients I've worked with for years like Burning Man, and the Aces and Wells Fargo. Some images are corporate, some sports, some personal—all are mine and shot primarily but not exclusively with my beat up D300's.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do:

Above: From my seventh Burn. I like the juxtaposition here. It's about art and love in an utterly absurd surrounding. I mean it's a pirate ship on Lake Lahontan. Don't see that everyday.

Below: In the clubhouse with Brett Butler after the Aces clinched the team's first playoff berth. This was my first champagne celebration. I wore a trash bag over my head/camera/being. My gear escaped unharmed. I got a little sticky.

Above: I snagged this tender moment shooting for Wells Fargo at the Great Reno Balloon Races.

Above: Ash Meadows national wildlife refuge in Southern Nevada. On one of my many drives south, through the desert, I was delighted to discover this oasis outside Las Vegas.

Above: Reno River Festival. Capa said it best.

Below: Mule Days. Probably not my best frame from Bishop this year, but for sure one of my favorites. Who doesn't love a blonde on a mule drinking a can of Coors Light. It's practically a platinum country song. Toby? Jason? Garth?

Above: Hitting on a bride on her wedding day in her WEDDING dress. Stay classy Reno. Sidenote, I'm shooting more weddings and loving them. It's fish in a barrel photography. Everybody looks nice, is happy, the light is great. It's a visual storyteller's dream.

Above: My locks of love donation.

Above: Here's some collateral I shot for Ad2 Reno. The idea was to create "sexy" invitations for the club's website launch party. This was fun to conceptualize and shoot. Glad I didn't have to model. That's @beccawik picking her nose. And @phinneaus picking...something else.

Above: Speaking of sexy, here's a photo of Silver Peak brewmaster Brandon Wright and his assistant Joe for Celebrator magazine. Not exactly my Walter Iooss moment but...fun.

Above: Picon punch at Louis Basque Corner.

Below*:  Bulette—my kitten and love. I joined instagr.am at the end of 2010 and although I still prefer my 300, 2.8, I like the convenience of a camera in my pocket and the look of the X-Pro II filter. Follow me at @calvertphoto.

*This is actually #12. But that messes with whole, 11 in 11 concept. So let's call this one, 11b.

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D-League Showcase

2012 NBA D-League Showcase - Images by David Calvert

Last week, the Reno Bighorns hosted the NBA's eighth annual D-League Showcase, downtown at the Reno Events Center. For four days—four games a day—fans and scouts (mostly scouts) watched the (second) best basketball the NBA has to offer.

It's not quite the PCL, but the Development League is the closest thing David Stern has to Triple-A. Although many of the 16 teams have assigned NBA players (like Hassan Whiteside and Tyler Honeycutt of the Sacramento Kings playing with the Reno Bighorns) the majority are unaffiliated and seeking NBA call-ups (and contracts).

Although not the NBA, the basketball is fast, high scoring and better than anything played at 15000 N. Virginia St. 

Headlined by players like Antoine Walker and Luke Babbitt of the Idaho Stampede, Gerald Green of the Los Angeles Defenders, and Curtis Stinson of the Iowa Energy, the league is composed of many well known college and former pro players—some on their way up, others coming down.

Alongside the NBA's Jack Arent, team photographer with the Golden State Warriors, I shot all but one of the 16 games for NBA Entertainment. I missed the noon-tip Tuesday to cover a visit by some of the Idaho players to Billinghurst Middle School.

Although I enjoyed shooting with Jack and meeting league staff, I have to say, I was excited to leave the arena Thursday night. Fifteen games is a lot of basketball.

I've included some of my favorites in the above slideshow. The rest are online at Getty Images.

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Home of the brave...little toaster

Now this was a fun assignment.

A few weeks ago I got a call from Bloomberg to photograph a toaster. Not your typical assignment, I know, but this wan't your typical toaster. 

The bagel burner in question belonged to Nita Tune of Gardnerville, Nev. And, get this, it toasts a National Rifle Association (NRA) logo onto the bread. 

Tune won the appliance at an NRA fundraiser in California.

After laughing with my editor, I bought a loaf of fresh bread and drove south. Tune welcomed me into her kitchen where—for about an hour—we made toast.

Here's a few I liked.

The story ran on Dec. 28.

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Jailbreak

Nevada State Prison, parts of which date back to the 1860s, is being shut down early next week. I photographed the facility a few year's ago for the New York Times. I wasn't able to show prisoners—which made the assignment much more difficult—but it was cool to walk the grounds (with a guard).

A two-man cell.

The prison is home to Nevada's execution chamber (above) and license plate factory.
For the time being, both will remain.

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Hootchy Kootchy Holiday

Just a few photos from a very fun, and now seasonally irrelevant story I shot a few weeks ago. The images are from Dec. 10 during the Hootchy Kootchy Holiday Burlesque show at Studio on 4th in Downtown Reno.

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