As the boys of winter returned to the ice for the first time, I kept the 70-200mm f/4 firmly in the bag this time. Fortunately, sitting in row 2 off the glass, I can live without it. I do have to offer up a big thanks to the Coyotes for opening camp up to the public and for free, no less.

Nice to see the familiar faces from last year as well as the new additions and some of the rookies from last week who made it to the big camp. Some of the drills were very interesting to watch and the scrimmage was fairly revealing as well.

As always, click on the photos to see more.

The Coyotes opened up rookie camp at Jobing.com Arena to the public free of charge, so I decided to head over and grab a few shots for the old portfolio. I was happily snapping away from the 3rd row back from the glass with my 70-200mm f/4 when a nice gentleman from arena security sat down next to me and politely asked me if these were just for personal use. I said that they were (you’ll notice these aren’t available for purchase) and he asked nicely if I could switch to a smaller lens, as the arena has a “lenses must be shorter than 6 inches” policy. So I said “no problem,” thanked him, and slapped the 24-105mm f/4 on there instead. You can click the photos below to see more.

An evening out at the 1/4mi at Firebird International Raceway is always a good time. Quite the variety of cars showed up for this one, click the photos below to see more.

No, not the guys who launch rockets, the National Auto Sport Association. Much like the SCCA, they sanction racing at every level, from grassroots amateur to pro, and I’m fortunate that the Arizona chapter is both highly active and has several good tracks to pick from in the area. Access for photography at Firebird is pretty much unparalleled when it comes to NASA events, which makes for different angles and opportunities to get very close to the action. You just have to keep your head on a swivel and remember to not turn your back on the cars. Here’s some photos from their April 2011 date at Firebird. You can click on the photos to see more from this session.