Ursuline Academy At Mariemont

My spring season officially started on Saturday. While the temp was pretty warm and the sun was out on occasion the wind was whipping. Given that it was still March I was okay with the weather. It could have been much worse. I covered the JV & Varsity lacrosse games at Mariemont. I made good use of the track around the field during some of the games. Since the field turf was still wet from all the rain I was able to keep myself mostly dry by sitting on the track instead of on the turf. I did kneel on occasion on the turf because there is no way the track is comfortable enough for that. Starting a season always makes me a bit nervous. All sports are different so I am a little anxious to get back in the rhythm of covering a specific sport. My positioning and methods are different per sport and I quickly got into my flow and am happy with my results. There are a lot of images from the games below. All game images are available through the Games link on the right. Enjoy.

A save by the keeper. I was so happy this one turned out because rarely do I have a clear path to the keeper.

Looking the ball all the way in.

A nice grab on the fall sideline to keep the ball in play.

A Few Odds & Ends

So much for the great weather we had yesterday. I knew my luck would not hold out. My schedule has a couple of lacrosse games on it for today. I was hoping for nice weather but that is not going to happen. So instead of on being my way to the games I am still in front of my computer. I even had everything ready and all ready to be put in the car. Here is hoping the weather on Saturday is better than today.

Yesterday I did cut out for awhile to enjoy the weather. It was a perfect day for a run and my running shoes were calling my name. After that I grabbed my camera and just wandered around for awhile. I would have loved to have had a portrait session or a game yesterday but who would know it would be so nice for outdoor stuff at the end of March. Since I cut out during the day I did work a little last night. One of the hazardous of having a home office, you never really get away from work. Though I do love the commute.

Some things of note:

• I am taking a workshop during the spring sports session so my time will be limited in April. If you want to schedule a session or put in a request for April I would recommend doing that soon.
• For those of you looking for a wonderful wedding photographer - I cannot say enjoy great things about Neysa Ruhl. I have added a link to her site on the right.
• I am taking appointments for 2009 Senior Sessions now. Can you believe it is that time of the year already? Feel free to contact me for information regarding the sessions.

I think that is all for now. I leave you with some images from yesterday.

This is a leftover bird's nest from last year. I played around in PS and thought it was an interesting result.
Spring! Everything is starting to bloom.

Cloudy Sky

Sometimes I get antsy being in front of the computer and just need to get up and take a break. While staring out the window sipping my coffee I noticed the clouds and the sun trying to break through them. So instead of just staring I put my 300mm lens on a camera and starting taking different images. The below one is my favorite. By under exposing a little I get darker clouds with the different colors showing from the sun's light.

Did you see the sun in the upper right hand corner? Thanks for looking. Back to work for me. Have a great day!

Refs

Let me start this post out by stating that I fully believe it is my job to cover an event and work around anything that is in my way. That is one of the reasons I like to move around. So this post is meant to be funny and nothing more than that. The refs have their job to do and it is my responsibility to stay out of their way and work around them. I occasionally joke around with the refs between games and normally they tell me to make sure I get their good side or to not take any pictures of them:) Below are some images I got at various events throughout the winter season. I will admit to being frustrated at times to not get the image I wanted but I know it is just something that will happen at almost every game and happens to every photographer. So here are some images to salute the refs.

The ref ran in front of my line of vision during a fast break so I leaned to try to get an image....
and he leaned to!

The Next 4 Days

So what will I be up to for the next 4 days? Sitting on my butt watching a lot of basketball. Every year my husband and I invite friends and family over to watch all the game with us the first weekend. I make up a lot of food and everyone brings something to drink. Looking forward to relaxing and spending time with friends. (any friends that did not get the original email - it was an overlook and not a snub so feel free to give us a call and let us know you are coming) Here is my view for the next 4 days.

Side note - I will be checking email and returning phone calls in the mornings. If you need to talk to me in the afternoon or evening let me know and I will make the time.

A Wedding

I had opportunity to photograph a wedding with the wonderful photographer Neysa. I was her second photographer for a wedding in February. We got lucky with the weather. Some snow and ice a couple days before the wedding but the roads were all clear by Saturday morning. I love working with Neysa. She truely loves photography and it comes through in her images and in her personality. When I arrived at her house to start the day she had a huge smile on her face and was excited about the day. By the end of the day she still had the smile and was looking forward to viewing her images from the day.

The couple getting married were great and welcomed me immediately. All the family and friends were incredibly nice and friendly. Thank you for allowing me to share in your day.

The groom preparing for the day.
The groomsmen checking out themselves in the mirror.


Even though it was cold we ventured outside. I got a quick image with the skyline in the background.


Trying to patiently wait to make her big entrance at the reception.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Check out the History Channel website for information about St. Patrick.

GMC Wrestling Tournament

I covered the GMC Wrestling Tournament for the second year. This year it seemed to go much faster than last year. I heard there were some sick and injured wrestlers which I am sure contributed to that. The early rounds of the tournament is held on 4 mats. That means a lot of moving around for me which is actually a good thing. Moving around keeps me from getting too sore. Though by the end of the day I just wanted to stretch my legs straight out in front of me. The finals and consolation bouts are held at the same time on 2 mats. Luckily I was able to place myself at the end of the 2 mats so I could try to capture all the wrestlers in the finals. I decided just to post some images from the early rounds. To see more images from the event click the Games link on the right side of the screen.

High Levels of Frustration

Today did not start off on a good note. I have a voucher for an airline that I decided to try to use this morning for a flight to go see some family. I am not joking when I say I spent 3 hours on the phone talking to one company 3 times and another company 2 times. Without any results. They said I could only use it to purchase a ticket from San Diego to Honolulu to Cincinnati - part of my original ticket. When I asked why I could not use it to fly from Cincy to Denver (the voucher says any flight) I was told that it could not be used for a one-way ticket. Hmmm. Cincy to Denver and back is round trip in my eyes. The San Diego/Honolulu/Cincinnati trip would be one way. After several phone calls, representatives and one manager I finally gave up. The manager put me over the edge. I was very frustrated. He would not let me talk (kept interrupting me) and was the one who told me his definition of one-way and round trip. I was really not happy about losing so much money. Luckily for me my husband flew a lot last year and is part of a rewards program and has a high status. He managed to get everything straightened out and we both have our tickets now. Mine was more than quoted but I really did not care at that point. It was better than losing all my money. I also realized through all this experience how well my family and friends know me. When I get really frustrated I love to run. It clears my head and makes me feel better. I had 3 people tell me to go take a run:) So I did and I feel much better. I am so glad the weather is getting better and it was not a cold run. Using my camera always makes me feel better as well so in the spirit of things I took a picture of my running shoes when I got back. Thank you for reading my rant.

Oak Hills Bowling

During this past season I photographed a ton of basketball. While I love basketball I decided that I really needed to break away from it for a few days so I could stay fresh when covering games. I did a few different things to try to remain creative and not get burnt out. One thing I really wanted to try was photographing bowling. I want to thank Western Bowl and Oak Hills for allowing me to photograph the warm-ups before a match. They actually let me walk down the gutters and take pictures from down by the pins. Since this would be a little distracting to some bowlers during the match I was only allowed there during warm-ups. That was fine with me. Now, I have commented about low lighting in gyms but they do not even come close to bowling alleys. I knew this going in so I was not even sure if I could get any quality images. I regret not taking my 300mm lens which would allow me to get closer to the bowlers and remove any cropping needs. But since I wanted to keep my equipment to a minimum I only brought one camera and my 80-200mm lens. I did have a backup camera and lens in my waist bag just in case. It was a fun change of pace and I am glad I went. These are my first attempt at capturing bowling. Let me know what you think.

I had to do a collage of this bowler. He was warming up in the lane almost dead in front of where I was balanced on the ball return.