Miscellaous Stuff

I thought I would do one post to describe 3 days in April. On the 19th I headed out to Anderson Township to spend some time with fellow photographer Arlyn as he covered the Little League Opening Day festivities. There was off and on rain showers to start the day but as the parade started the sky cleared. Gapper was there to entertain the players and crowd.

After returning home I went for a run and then worked on business stuff for awhile. I actually got to go out to dinner with my husband that night which was nice. We unfortunately do not get to spend a lot of time together at night since that is when I am normally at an event. On the 20th I spent the day inside at a basketball tournament. It was an early start for me on a Sunday. My normal Sunday morning is the paper and a cup of coffee. Just a nice slow start to the day. I love basketball so it was a good substitute. I will spare you any images since I have already shared a ton of basketball images.

On the 21st I headed up to Lakota East to get some images of their tennis and softball teams for their website. I had already provided the school with baseball and was covering volleyball the next day. I was hoping to cover the entire softball game but that unfortunately did not happen. The opposing tennis team got there a bit late because of traffic. I want to thank the coach for allowing me on the courts during warmup. Much nicer than trying to shoot through a fence. Since tennis was late starting the softball game was already in the 2nd inning by the time I quickly crossed the field. I hate (really hate) showing up late for an event. When I am covering a team I show up early and stay through the entire event. To me, that is what a professional does. So since I did not make it to the start of the game I got the images I needed for the website and left. Here is an image from tennis and one from softball. More can be found on East's site.

Senior Session

Just over a week ago I photographed an '08 Senior on a beautiful day. I met her at a stable where she horse is currently residing. We managed to get a couple quick images with him before he decided it was too nice to stand around. After a few more shots at the stable minus horse we headed to her house for the rest of the session. I pulled into the driveway and was excited about all the possibilities available for some images. A barn, a horse trailer, tons of trees and even a creek down the hill. I had a great time! Here are a few of my favorites from the session:

I hope you enjoy the rest of your senior year!

Lakota East At Mason Lacrosse

Somehow I am a week behind on posting games. This game occurred last Friday night. I was only there for the JV game. There was also a track meet at Mason so parking was at a premium. I just parked in one of the far away rows in the first spot I found. Course after the game I had to find my car hidden behind some buses and larger vehicles. Sometimes I really miss driving my truck - I could always find it in the parking lot. Here are a few images from the game.

Face - meet arm

A nice save.

The big hit of the night. I could hear the crowd go - owwww!

Beautiful Night

I was at 2 Junior High girls lacrosse games tonight. It was a great night to be outside. Least before dark. It is definitely Spring now. Towards the end of the last game the bugs were starting to find me. Time to dig out my sunscreen and bug spray. Just a quick image from the setting sun at halftime of the second game. Off to get some sleep. Something I am a little low on after last night's great volleyball games. More on those later.

Springboro At Lakota West Lacrosse

Another nice weather day. A pretty strong wind at times but the temperature was nice. When I got to the field I was a little worried about covering the game with my complete attention. On the side of the field with stand the Lakota West boys lacrosse team was practicing. This was also the side I was going to be shooting from during part of the game since the sun would then be at my back. Then, on one end of the field, the Lakota East boys lacrosse team was practicing. So I was trying to decide what my odds of being hit by a ball from one of those practices during the game would be. Once I started photographing the game I really did put that out of my mind. My concentration was on the game in front of me and not so much those practices. Only once did a ball come close to me. I heard a - "Watch out!" from my left side. Not wanting to turn and find the ball coming at me I just threw my arm up in front of my camera to protect it. Nice reflex huh, protect the camera instead of myself :) Luckily for me it passed rather closely behind me but missed. I went right back to photographing the game with a slightly accelerated heartbeat for a minute. I appreciate the player for the warning and even more so for missing me :) Anyway, here are images from the game. (only the JV teams played)

Trying to split through the defense.

Looking over the top of the defense.

Seton At Ursuline Academy Lacrosse

Last Tuesday was the start of a beautiful run of weather that lasted a few days. I headed out for a couple of lacrosse games and actually did not have to make multiple trips to my car with extra clothing to wear to stay warm. There was a little confusion about which teams were going to play at what time so the games got started late but luckily finished before dark. During warm ups people noticed that Seton had their varsity team warming up and Ursuline's JV team was on the field. Lots of phone calls were made to try to get either the Seton JV team or the Ursuline varsity team to the field as quickly as possible. The Ursuline varsity team made it first so the varsity teams played first followed by the JV. I was really happy that everything moved quickly and JV game was completed before dark. The field does not have lights so it was up to setting sun how much time I would have to cover the game. Here are some images from the games:

I look through the net as a player scores.

That would be a foul. And a bit painful.


I like this one even though the goalie is not in the image.
On the opposite end, another save.

And then a save with the goalie in the image.

Still Here

Yes, I slacked off a little on blogging this week. The week has flown by for me. Posts to come - some girls lacrosse games and a '08 senior. The weekend is pretty crowded with stuff so do not expect anything until Monday. Hopefully not earthquake will wake me up early this weekend. I was so confused when I woke up to the shaking. Luckily no damage to anything. The after shock later during the day was a bit surprising since it came several hours after the first tremor. My desk rattled a bit but nothing big. I leave you with an interesting image I snapped during halftime of one of the lacrosse games. Click the image to make it larger so you can see the bird in the scoreboard. Have a great weekend.

Fairfield At Mason Baseball

The ballgame on Monday was in totally opposite the one last week. Least weather wise. It was a pretty cold day for baseball. The wind was whipping and there was no escaping it. If you do not believe me it was cold check out these players.

Told you it was cold. Mason has a really nice field and open sidelines. While it is nice to not have to shoot through a fence it is also a bit unnerving. You constantly have to pay attention to the batter so you know if a foul ball is coming your way. I was all ready for a pick off attempt to first base and really thought the pitcher was about ready to pitch. My mistake. I take a peak at the batter and realize the throw is coming to first. Here is my stellar image of that :)

That is what I get for being fooled by the pitcher. One more reason why I am behind a camera and not trying to play baseball or softball. I am not good at either. I did better the rest of the game and that was only 1 of 2 images I really regret screwing up. The other one I did not even get an attempt as there was a player between me and the actual play I wanted to get. But here are a few of the good ones.

I converted this one to b&w and decided I liked it better that way than in color.

Another b&w
A hard throw for a pick off attempt. The ball is pushing the webbing out.

Oak Hills At Lakota East Baseball

The weather was so nice when I got back from my workshop that I could not resist going to a baseball game on Thursday. No coat necessary! I struggle a bit photographing baseball because I want to get images of peak action. That means guessing where the action is going to be and I am not always correct with my guesses. If only I knew where the batter was going to hit the ball ahead of time:) The Lakota East field has fences all the way around it but with my 300mm lens it is not a problem. I put the lens against the fence and it does not even see it since it is so close to the focus point. Plus I get the added benefit of not having to worry about a ball hitting me while I am looking in a different direction. Here are some images from the game. I would love to hear any feedback from you. All images from the game are located through the Games link on the right.

Hilliard Darby At Sycamore Lacrosse

These games were the Saturday before I left for my workshop. I actually was at the Sycamore Varsity game on Wednesday and got a request to come back out on Saturday for both teams. I love getting requests and even better when I can actually fit them into my schedule. Saturday's temps were nice but the wind was still pretty cold. That meant a coat for me which I really hate wearing while shooting. I have yet to find the perfect coat for shooting. There is always at least one thing that annoys me about the coat. Yes - I am picky. Anyway, Hilliard Darby made the commute down for the game and had a great following as well. Here are the images from the JV and Varsity games.

One reason helmets are worn.

Eying the goal for a shot.