Web Gallery updates

I guess I've been neglecting the web gallery....I hadn't posted any soccer pics or the latest fashion shoot(s). So check out the ABE U12 Soccer pics for the season (2 more games to go) and the Basement Fashion shoot with Tiffany and Amanda as well as the small gallery of my daughter and her friend in their dresses.

Main Site or right to the Gallery Page (The gallery links for Paige & Alaysha and Tiff & Amanda are under Model/Muse and ABE Soccer is under Sports....Soccer 2009.

ABE Soccer v Slippery Rock

This was another really good game. Somewhat physical, but fair. ABE scored first and we ended up wining this game too. Of course, I was talking and didn't get a picture of my son scoring his goal, but at least I saw it.

Only two more games this season. I really wish we had 12 games, but I would settle for 10 per season.

ABE Soccer v LC United

Wow, was this a physical game. LC United had some really good players. We won this one, but it was hard fought.

ABE Soccer v Prospect

This was the soccer game played May 3rd. I have the prior three games set to update every other day from today. Yeah, I kind of fell off the current events train.

ABE Soccer v New Brighton

This was a weird game. When the season was about to begin, we received word that my son's team didn't have a coach. Well, I wasn't about to coach again (long story, not good experiences) so I scrambled to find another team for him to play on. ABE stepped up and had a roster spot open for their travel team. We did all the paperwork and he had a team to play on. Well....New Brightoon did get a coach, which I was actually happy about. I was a bit bummed to think that all those boys might not get to play....anyway, we played my son's former team...and his current school classmates. He actually played his position against one of his best friends.

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.

ABE Soccer wk1

Soccer is back in season. Here are a few shots form the game against Mars (score was tied 3-3).

Cheer Ltd. at Robert Morris University

UPDATE: Pictures have been uploaded to the sales web site. DO NOT BUY FROM THE SALES WEB SITE. EMAIL me with the photo ID located under each image. In this period of change, I am selling the edited .jpg file, NOT PRINTS and this is an interim band-aid. Thank you.
brent (at) thenextlevelphoto (dot) com


Here are a few pictures from the competition last Sunday. I took over 2,200 pictures, narrowed them to less than half, maybe more like a third. Then I had to cull them down to about 60 then again down to these six. They are not my best work. But I will try to justify it by saying this was my first time taking pictures of an indoor cheer and dance competition. I hope I get much better the next time I get the chance.

The sales site will have the UNEDITED images up later today.
DO NOT PURCHASE THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE SALES SITE.
DO NOT PURCHASE THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE SALES SITE.
DO NOT PURCHASE THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE SALES SITE.

DIRECTIONS TO PURCHASE:
1) Browse the pictures.
2) Make note of the image number BELOW the picture.
3) Put the picture #'s in an EMAIL message to me.
brent ( at ) thenextlevelphoto ( dot ) com
4) I will reply with a few more directions.
5) You will be purchasing the actual file, NOT PRINTS.

DO NOT PURCHASE THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE SALES SITE.
DO NOT PURCHASE THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE SALES SITE.
DO NOT PURCHASE THEM DIRECTLY FROM THE SALES SITE.

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!!!

SouthSide Wrestling

Well, the past two weeks were tough on many levels. I try to get pictures up from events in about 48 hours. But being sick and having some potentially devastating computer problems, it took me a week and a half.

I took pictures of a wrestling tournament at South Side Youth Wrestling December 13th. Here are a few from the day. One really amazing thing about wrestling is the intimacy of the sport. Of course it's a close contact sport. But the emotions, the agony and the excitement are all right there, in your face. Youth wrestling more so than high school or college though. At this level, people are literally on the edge of the mat. Mere feet from the action. Several times I would have people look at me and then stand between me and the wrestlers. Kind of makes it tough to take pictures through someone's back. :) Another facet of pictures in a gym is the lighting.We as humans see most light as white, or near white. Gym light colors range from deep yellow to a red color. Not red like a barn, but reddish/purple-ish. Doing post processing on pictures is a long ordeal. You can't pick a white balance of one picture an apply it to all of them, because based on what light is over head and at what cycle it is, depends on what color cast your subject will get. It's a challenge to say the least.

The best way to overcome that color cast is to use a flash that is just a little brighter than the lights in the gym. I tried that, but didn't have the power needed for the main gym with three mats in it. The small gym, I was able to throw some light onto the subjects. But after about 5 hours, my wireless remote got fried. It's no longer usable. I might have killed a flash too......

Anywhoooo, here are a few shots from the day:

Speed and intensity


Give it your all


Under the watchful eye(s)


All tied up, and nowhere to go


Coaches too

Updates coming

I spent all of Saturday....or at least the bulk of it.....shooting the SouthSide Wrestling tournament. I think I was told there would be 250 or so kids, plus their adults in attendance. My sleep work schedule is all discombobulated so I will try and get the pictures up late today or tomorrow.

Daily observation

It's snowing here in Pittsburgh. I have my computer on a desk and I look out two windows in the corner. Right now, all I see is grey (gray?) sky and white flakes falling. Not sure if it will accumulate, but even if it does it won't stay. We are suppose to get temps in the 50's in a few days.

In all honesty, the weather doesn't bother me. But I am going a little bonkers trying to come up with a few ideas to shoot in this kind of weather.

Instead of taking pictures, I am going through the pictures of the Potter & Raccoon Red Devils v. Beaver Bobcats game a few days ago.

Football, Week 7

NOTE: The sales site is updated and the web site gallery should be updated by tomorrow (Thur 10/16).

Sigh...only two more regular season games to go and the Senior bowl.

I got the opportunity to shoot another game at Quaker Valley. I don't know what it is, but the light in that facility is nothing short of magical. I am sure much of it is that the facility runs north-south and the grandstand is on the west side so the sun is almost always behind me when I shoot. It's artificial turf so unless it's actually raining, you can lay down on the ground for a different perspective when shooting.

Because I was contracted to get pictures for the Baden Volunteer Fire Department's 100th Anniversary, I was only able to take in the Nuts & Bolts game and a few minutes of the Termite game.

One major issue with all photographers is that after you shoot an activity over and over, it's tough to find something truly mind blowing. Sure, the action changes, but most likely it's the same player or group of players that are making the plays. I have been looking to make different pictures lately. But I still need to work off the roster, in which I realized isn't accurate...UGH. A few players are not playing now and some have changes numbers. NOT GOOD!

Anyway, here are a few shots from the Potter and Raccoon v. Quaker Valley football game.

From down low


Tackle


Going for a ride


High kick

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.

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.

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