Football, Week 9/10

Okay, I finally updated the web galleries with the football games against Beaver Bobcats on Oct. 25 and the Senior Bowl on Nov. 1st.

The sales site has been updated and I will get a few pictures on the blog this weekend. I kind of FUBARed the order this week, not to mention I am a couple of weeks late on the update. Sorry.

Football, Week 8

Here are some pictures from the Potter & Raccoon football game against Burgettstown Lions. The sales site is updated as well as the web galleries with cheer, football and a few crowd shots. (I can't wait until I can consolidate all these pages into one place.....).

This was also my first of two back to back night games and I forgot how amazingly difficult it is to get good pictures at night.....UGH!

Mixed reaction


Light pocket


Glimmer girls


All smiles


Wrap it up


Ride 'em into the ground

Football at night

No pictures yet, but they will be coming soon.

We played our first night game and dang if I forgot how difficult it was to get great shots of a football player at night when you are shooting in a closet. The closet reference is to the amount of light that is available to take pictures. Even with a flash, it's nothing short of a miracle to get a decent shot. Normally I get 200-300 pictures in a midget game....but last Saturday I only got 65...yes, SIXTY FIVE pictures.....I can take that many pictures sitting in a car....ALONE!

UGH, the humanity.....[sic]!

On the contrary, for the Nuts & Bolts game....I took 400 pictures. But the light was beautiful. WOW! The game was a 4pm start and of course the fall season and the low light bathed everything is tremendous light for about :45 minutes. The pictures were exactly how I like it....massive contrast and deep colors......just wonderful.

I will have some pictures up in the next day or two.

A six year journey

Last Saturday was a milestone and the beginning of an end.

We arrived in Pennsylvania in the spring of 2003. A new town, a new state and a new chapter in our lives. My kids were just beginning their foray into the world and I did what all parents do, I got involved.

I signed my daughter up for cheerleading in the town's youth football club. That year was our first year being involved in an organized activity and it was an eye opening experience. So many activities, sights, sounds emotions and expectations.

Forward to last Saturday. My daughter has reached the end of her youth football cheerleader career. She is a "senior" since she is at the age where birthdays determine eligibility. Next year, she will be too old to participate. Difficult to think, that she is getting that old.

I was looking at the group picture and I got a little teary eyed. I know that next year, there will be a new group of incredibly proud and somewhat nostalgic parents looking at pictures of their senior....and wondering where the time went.

I am truly so happy and incredibly proud to be a parent of a P&R cheerleader and a part of the organization known as Potter and Raccoon Football. There are some people in that organization that put in so much time and effort to make the experience a magical moment. I thank them from the depths of my heart for these last two years that we have been a part of your lives and this organization.

Football, Week 6

The homecoming game for Potter & Raccoon was against the McGuffey Eagles. Here are some shots from the game.

Say cheese


Two beautiful smiles brighten the day


Pardon me


Under the watchful eye


Attitude


Catch?

Gallery has been updated

The gallery has been updated with pictures from the Potter and Raccoon Red Devils v. Avella Eagles football game and the 2nd Annual 2008 P&R Powderpuff Game.

The Powderpuff games has several entries, cheer (football players), football (midget v termite cheerleaders), crowd, and Parent v Player game.

The sales site will be updated late tonight.

Powderpuff game 2008

Potter and Raccoon's 2nd annual Powderpuff football/cheer game and Parents versus Players.
I will have more pictures on the gallery page tomorrow...well sometime Friday anyway.

Runs like a deer


Pyramid


dem boyz got moves!


Working it


Coach cheering on the cheerleaders


Nice catch


Run Joe, run


Where's the action

Football, Week 5

Potter & Raccoon versus Avella Eagles.
I will have more in the gallery Friday.

End zone catch?


Atlas, upside down


Not all good pictures are just on the sidelines or the field, have to remember the crowds too


Threading the needle


Ready!

Big three weeks coming up

I feel naked knowing I will be without my 300mm lens for several weeks. The repair center received the lens yesterday, but I am sure it will be a week or more before they get to it. Honestly, I expect the football season to be over before I get it back. If it is a low cost repair, and it comes back in a week or two, I will be pretty damn happy. The lens does need to be replaced, but I still need 83 more orders to do that.

This upcoming Wednesday I am shooting a special photo session with the four senior cheerleaders on my daughters cheer squad. I secured a special location to do the session, so I can't tell you....sshhhhhh. This year I wanted to give these girls a going away present of a group picture. Last year I gave the squad a yearbook this year just something different.

Tomorrow, I shoot a Nuts & Bolts football game (and unfortunately miss the Termite and Midget games) then rush off to a wedding where I am assisting/second shooting with Chris. Sunday is a Powder Puff game then the Parents v Players game right after.

Next weekend I am shooting the N&B game (and unfortunately miss the Termite and Midget games AGAIN ~ UGH!) then rushing off to shoot a wedding. I get to actually coach soccer that following Sunday....yeaaaaayyyyyy.

The week after, I shoot a N&B football game (and unfortunately miss the Termite and Midget games for the THIRD week in a row) then rush off to shoot.....no, not a wedding, it's the 100th Anniversary celebration of the Baden PA Volunteer Fire Department. That should be pretty cool. The firefighters are getting special rings and a few VIP's will be in attendance.

Missing THREE Termite and Midget games is gut wrenching. But in all honestly, I go where the money is. I have been hired to shoot a wedding, an anniversary and assist at a wedding. It's what I do.

Gallery has been updated

I put up three gallery pages. Cheer, Crowd and Football.

You can always leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Current events

Well, my 300mm lens is off to California to get an estimate for repair....I am pretty sure it won't be pretty.

This morning I got a call from a truly wonderful woman. Whom I shall not name....for now. I want to, but I won't. She had a photo order (1 of the 85 I need...LOL). It was for a football player that is going to be starting at his next game. We as an organization want to recognize his talents and that we appreciate his time spent with us over the summer. The funny part was when I said I would put something together and when did she need it....she said "tomorrow". Um, "sure".

Well, I got it done, sent to the printer and it was delivered late this afternoon. I hope he likes it.

Good luck #76, we're cheering you on!

Last night I was also able to secure a final date and delivery of a custom logo that is being designed for Potter and Raccoon football. Once the final version is delivered I will put it up here to see. It's pretty neat to be a part of the process of idea to initial design, version review first revision then final product. I want to give Lori D a big shout out for her time and talents.

I also realized that I forgot to put up the photo galleries on the gallery page....I am working on those tonight and will have them available within a few hours.

Football, Week 4

I managed to get the sales pictures up in under 24 hours. They were posted this afternoon. The blog is now and the web galleries will be tomorrow. Number of days is the same....but the number of hours spent editing is down to about 8 hours. Last week was 15+ and the week before was almost 20 hours, I think.......

I have made a few changes to what I do, how and when I do it. It has made a difference. I will try to do it again next week and we will see if I am on the right track on not spending so much time on the pictures, so I can go out and.....take more pictures.

Here are some shots from Potter and Raccoon week 4 against Fort Cherry.

Freight train to the end zone.


8 pack of happyness


I only had about a muinute to try and get a different look to this picture. It didn't work so I will try again next game.


Jump this way, dodge that way.....


The crowd goes wild


Fort Cherry pulls one out of the air


A Fort Cherry cheerleader defies gravity


Slipped through the fingers


You don't get a tall tower unless you have a STRONG BASE

A couple of crowd shots

Here are a few shots of the Potter and Raccoon crowd/parents.

Remember, if you get my attention, I will take your picture. :)

Nose bleed seats


Grandpa says take pictures of my boys!!! Who's gonna argue with him?


If you call my name, I will take your picture


It's better to just smil, I'm not going away

Sales gallery loaded

FINALLY, it took 15-18 hours (some time was multi-tasking) but the images have been blogged, galleried and sold....well, actually they are ready to be bought. I just used "sold" because it was the only word I could think of that ended in a "D".

Football, Week 3

It's week three and my fourth football game of the season. (Fourth because we had a scrimmage). I'm not sure why, but my body is sore and tired after shooting 7 hours of football. It was tough to carry my camera bag back to the car Sunday evening.

We played the Cornell Raiders Sunday afternoon on their field. It was grassy field that could have been mowed, but I am guessing that because of all our recent rain, that wasn't able to happen. At least theirs is green, whereas ours...is a pale shade of mostly brown. But the rain did give it some color, so it's really not all that bad any more. Their field was also very, very wet but not enough to get good mud shots or splashes of water. The light in that field is really wonderful, most likely because of the heavy overcast and clouds at game time. I was amazed when I started to see the pictures show up on my computer screen. The colors were beautiful.

I ended up shooting a tad more than 1800 pictures over three games. I will end up with a lot more sales photos than normal just because of the sheer number of images I shot. Those 1800 images will be narrowed down to 30 for the web galleries, 6 for the pictures of the week and about the same for this blog.

I had a difficult time picking blog pictures this week. Again, the number of images I took made for more to pick from. But I wanted to pick pictures that brought the emotion of the day. It's easy to pick the best action, or something different. This week, the blog picks are all about feeling.

Enjoy week 3. A few more pictures will be in the web galleries and even more on the sales site later this week.


If this doesn't make you stand up an cheer, nothing will


Outta my way, coming through


Cheer is an attitude


Four on one, Potter keeps the ball


Sending some good mojo towards the field


Potter runs the ball, gets stopped


Cornell Cheer Air Time


Cornell's quarterback sends it down range

Football, Week 2

It was strange, not totally unexpected, but strange. As a photographer, we often get confused with TV/news videographers. We will also get asked if we saw the play or foul, catch/drop/pass etc. Today, I got it all. I have several people ask if I got the holding, pushing and face mask. One also asked if I got a picture of the first down, because he knew it was short. I was also asked what news station my pictures would be on. It's all part of the game. It gives me an opportunity to talk to people where I normally might not be able to.

This year, I am shooting football in a different way than I have in the past. I am working off of a player roster. This allows me to cover as many players as possible, rather than the few that touch the ball. Unfortunately, I don't get to ask for players to get to play, if I don't have them. So every game, my challenge is to read the jersey numbers, glance at my roster, see who has ticks in their column and find a different player. It's really tough to do this for 6 hours (three games). For cheerleaders, it's even tougher since they don't have numbers. I have to try and memorize their positions on the sidelines AND in their halftime routines.

Over the years, I always try to bring more out of myself. Last year, my pictures started to get pretty darn good. I also realized parents buy stuff (images) that I would normally pass up as not being up to my standard. I look at it technically, parents look at it as their child. Lesson learned.

Again, I stepped it up this year by using a roster. I am also paying attention to the backgrounds so much more than in prior years. I am always background aware, but this year, Potter & Raccoon have sponsors, and I am trying to incorporate action images with the sponsors banner in the backgrounds. Then we can provide the sponsors with images they can display. So far, it's not been productive. I will have to change a few things, but eventually, I will prevail. It's what separates the amateurs from the professionals.

Saturday's Potter and Raccoon football game against SouthSide Rams resulted in 1107 pictures, and reduced with a first edit to 802. Those 802 don't include crowd shots, referees or anything like that. Football and cheerleaders only in the 802. Of those, I picked 402 to be put on up the sales site. About 1/3 this time through. Not bad. I am also tracking the numbers in an Excel spreadsheet. Just to satisfy my curiosity more than anything.

Here are some shots from the game.

UMMMM, HOLDING?!?


Make that kick, make that kick


The watchful eye of the ref


Arrrrrggghhhhhhh


Different perspective


Stiff arm


Cheer list