JamFest Pittsburgh

Here are a few pics form the JamFest Cheer/Dance competition last April. Our work flow for the events was:

Custom white balance.
Set ISO for about 1600 or 3200
Shutter was at 1/400th of a second, depending on where you were on the performance floor. Really bad light falloff along the edges, so we would sometimes drop the shutter speed to lower, but that would then produce blur...so it's a lose lose situation.
Everything was shot in JPG, medium or small....less than 2MB files was the goal.

After the 3 minute competition, we would pull the cards and put them into a card reader connected to a laptop. We would select the team name in the software then that program would download the images from the cards and put them up on an on-site server. I think the software also created low resolution images for display on the web pages that the parents/competitors would use to buy products.

Once the images were available (probably 3-10 minutes) they could be purchased in 8"x10" collages printed on Dye Sublimation printers at the event.

Viewing stations (35 laptops with the sales software and images/products to purchase)

Printer stations with technicians to create the products for sale.

From the crowds viewpoint. I was located on the floor, directly in front of the performance mat.

Award time and all the dancer and cheerleader from a particular session attending.

More from the awards session.

Ground level and up close with one of the cheer teams.

Steel City Regional Championships

I had the pleasure of attending the Cheer Ltd. Steel City Regional Championships today at Robert Morris University. I've only been to one other cheer competition and that was at Charleroi High School last year. The biggest difference between the two was I took pictures this time and boy is this an incredibly fast paced sport.

I have always had an appreciation for this sport. But I wasn't totally prepared to shoot all day. I was there to get pictures of Tiffany, my daughters former teammate at Potter & Raccoon. Today, I got there early since I figured it would be jam packed. When I arrived, I found out there wasn't an event photographer so I secured a good shooting location....well, a few thousand pictures later, some tears were shed, a few hearts broken, screams of joy and some true happiness accompanied the trophy's and medals.

I'll get a few pictures up on the blog tomorrow and the rest will be on the sales site by Tuesday afternoon or sooner.

To all the competitors....GREAT JOB!!!

Veteran's Day Parade in New Brighton

All the high school bands from New Brighton, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Ambridge, Aliquippa, Blackhawk, Center, Freedom, Hopewell, Monaca, Riverside, Rochester, South Side and Western Beaver....(I hope I didn't miss anyone). It was about an hour and a half long parade. There were tons of veterans and a few dignitaries. I can say one thing, Pennsylvanians turn out for their parades.

I started to head to the parade without my camera, but I figured I should grab it in case I saw something photogenic. Well, 800 pictures later, I have a few to show. The rest of what I feel are good will be on the sales web site in a few days.

Flying their colors


Stars and Stripes


Here's looking at you


In Step


Old Guard


Stand out


Sign of the times

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.

Fe Gallery 250 Years/250 Artists

Just got back from attending the grand opening of the Fe Gallery's 250 years/250 artists exhibition. It was my first inclusion in a gallery exhibition and I was in some pretty neat company. There are some incredibly talented artists in the Pittsburgh region.

We were there early since the gallery is pretty small and Lawrenceville isn't exactly the largest metropolis around. Parking would be at a premium we were told. So we got there at 7pm and the doors opened at 730. We hung out in the rain as the artists trickled in and passed by. Some you could tell were ARTISTS, others, not so much. Me.....we looked waaaayyy to vanilla to be hanging out with most of that crowd.

I try to think I am open as an artist. I believe anything (almost) can be art. But some of the stuff I saw was really really cool.

I looked at the mock up of the catalog that is being printed. They were accepting pre-orders as well. For $35.00, it's going to be WELL WORTH IT. Many artists submitted different works for the approval process, the catalog submission and the exhibition. I was one of the artists that used the same image for all three. Not sure if that was the right thing to do, but it's what happened.

Here are some pictures from the night.
Waiting out the rain


Grand Opening


My picture is top left as you look at it (can't tell, but that's it)


The crowd 10 minutes after the doors opened (from the back looking to the front)


Thirty minutes after the doors opened (from near the front looking back)


My favorite of the night, This was a candle (no flame) and the motor turned a bunch of cards with pictures of a flame. So damn ingenious.


Title: "Candle Flip Book" by Wade Kramm

First official football game

Six hours, three games, over a hundred cheerleaders and football players and 1469 images later, my first football game is over. Yes, ONE THOUSAND FOURTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY NINE. That actually isn't my record for an event. I think a dance recital a few years ago I shot 1800 images. I could have shot more, but after 5 or six hours, things start to slow down. Mentally and physically. (BTW ~ Sports Illustrated photographers shot more than 300,000 at the Olympics).

I shot the scrimmage game last week with a player roster. But I forgot it yesterday. I felt lost with no direction. Even though I have worked the 4 years prior to this without a roster, once I started to use one, it was kind of a secure feeling. I shoot with a roster to make sure I don't keep taking pictures of the same players every game. It's easy getting pictures of the receivers, running backs and quarter backs as well as the safety's and defensive backs. But the center, nose guard, inside linebackers....not so much. Some players only play special teams like kick off and returns. It's my job as a professional to get the great plays and the obscure players. And for me to do that, I work with a roster.

It took two hours to get the pictures from the memory cards to the computer. I rename them on the import so I can put them into the right folder when I edit. SO all the midget football players are in the midget football folder. Nuts and Blots cheer, in their own, coaches and crowds, in their own as well.

It will take a two and half days to edit them and put them up on the sales web site. I also have to select 10 images from each team for the gallery. There are three football and three cheer teams for 30 for cheer and 30 for football. Then I have to narrow that down to 5 of each for the blog. Sounds fun huh?!

After that, I have products to create. In the below post, I have my poster example. It's been receive well and the first winner of the poster raffle for Potter and Raccoon is Vincent Dutcher. I'll see what I have on hand for his player, and highlight him in the next few games so I can get enough images to create a poster. I am donating one poster for each home game.

On game review, I feel that I am capturing good action shots. But my timing is fractionally off. I have not put my mind into ANTICIPATION mode. Where I click the shutter button BEFORE the peak action happens. The ultimate goal for an image is action, face, number and ball in every shot. Or face number and action in a defensive moment. I seem to be getting it just as the action starts to come down. You don't see it, but I know that's what is happening. Little details are hat I focus on. Still, I feel that my game is on at the start of the season and not four games into the season. That tells me I am working almost at the professional level. Now I just need the pay check to go with it.

Here are just a few shots from Sunday's games. More will be in the gallery later in the week.
Pittsburgh Steeler #76 Chris Hoke greets our Nuts & Bolt players before their first game.


Cheerleader showin' some moves


P&R Cheerleaders greeting the MidWestern Panther Cheerleaders


The 2009 Cheer Captain keeping an eye out


Groovin'


A P&R Red Devil player Slowing down #20 of the MidWestern Panthers


P&R's #58 getting the wrong end of a stick


P&R #15 dropping back


Making a catch


Good things come in threes


Nuts & Bolt Cheerleader tells who they are


Pittsbirgh Steeler #76, Chris Hoke watches the coin toss prio to the game between Potter & Raccon Red Devils and the MidWestern Panthers


Got his eye on something, or someone


Termite Cheerleaders


#99 is the winner of the Sport Poster for week 1


The Termite line up


Termite player #7 goes for a touchdown

Heading to the fair

We set up the booth today at the Hookstown Fair then walked around talking photo strategies. With all the food trailers, rides and colorful surroundings, it's seriously a sensory overload/target rich environment for a photographer like me. PEOPLE and big activities.

I am estimating, that I could shoot 2-4 thousand images in a day if my batteries would hold out. BUT, I know that won't happen. Because of the massive amount of mixed light (inside the buildings, under shade for animal stalls/barns, large tents, etc) I will continually be checking my LCD on my camera to make sure the exposures are right. So I figure if I can get about 1,200-1,500 shots tomorrow, I'll be happy. Of course I will post some of them late Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon. I am pretty sure there won't be any WiFi at the fair.

That's a negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full

Fall is an incredibly busy time in my life. Three sports and school all hitting within weeks of each other. I think my schedule has an opening the second week of NOVEMBER.

This is what I live for. This is what puts fire in my blood and makes me feel alive.

It seems that everywhere I turn something is happening. So much that I feel like Maverick in Top Gun and I am being told "negative, the pattern is full."

Yesterday I picked up my prints for Fe Gallery and my portrait promo. They're 12x18 prints and came out FANTASTIC. Damn, I was excited to see those in print. Normally, I don't print much, but these images that size were just stunning.

I'll head to Fe Gallery Friday morning and hang out downtown Pittsburgh until a meeting Friday night at the Beehive in the South Side. I am meeting with Lori D a makeup artist. It's really strange, the last MUA I met with, moved to Miami a few months after the meeting. Lori wants to head to LA/So Cal...maybe I am good luck for those that want to move on and up. Either that or I repel people so much the move out of state....

Next week I will be working a couple of days at the Hookstown Fair. I haven't been to a fair for several years, and being able to shoot pictures at an event that is so colorful, with so many people and constant blur of action, just has me jazzed. A few items on the board are a senior photo shoot, a fashion show of some sort and maybe a few portrait shoots. Of course the myriad of personalities will put me into sensory overload.

This weekend is also a regatta in the town across the river from us. I don't remember it last year, so I will have to head down to check it out.

So many things going on. I should have lots of images to post over the next few weeks and I changed the main page of the web site. I had been putting up quotes as I find them on the 'Net. Now I put up some code to load quotes automatically every time the page loads. Check it out beginning Sunday when I do the next update on the site.

Time to buzz the tower.

KeHS Golf Outing at Sun Willows

EDIT: Many more images in this gallery.

I had the opportunity to shoot some golfers over the weekend. NO, no GOPHERS, GOLFERS....

I have never taken golf pictures, and to be honest, it's TOUGH. I was able to work with a golf cart, but that makes it a fast(er) paced game, and not much easier to shoot. We had lefties and righties. So shooting from the Tee I either missed or made the shots based on where I set up. The light (sun and shadows) changes all the time based on what hole you are it too. For the most part, backgrounds were good (trees and grass) but there are also other golfers, houses, carts, etc.

There were 5 in the group and in my opinion, there were pretty well matched too.

I shot just under 500 pictures. Narrowed it to 146 that I liked. Then from there, I picked about 15 that I thought were blog worthy. Those images that told the story. From there, I have to pick about 5 to post. But in this case, I have only been able to narrow it down to 12......this is when the editing process gets tough. Not sure if I can get down to 5 so here are the 12.

The swing


Chip shot


Body English


It's in the hole


Out of the beach


Group effort


It's all about the ball


The "look"


Reading a lie


Refreshments


Personality


The group


EDIT: Many more images in this gallery.

Pittsburgh 250 Catalog submission

I was really hoping for a flurry of comments on the image selection, but only one person actually made a suggestion. THANK YOU!

This is the image that is being submitted to Fe Gallery and the Pittsburgh 250 artist catalog.

Merry Go Round

Two more images to ponder

This top image gets some of the most comments in my printed portfolio. The second image gets a lot of comments too but I only have it online..... I might have to change that.

What do you all think? I can really still use some comments on the images I already submitted and these two. See this post for the 5 images I submitted to be SELECTED. I need to pick t least ONE image in a few days. This first image will be the one printed in a 250 page catalog.