Oak Hills Freshmen Invitational

This wrestling Invitational happened back on January 19th. It was a start to a full day of photographing wrestling for me. After this event I covered a varsity match in the evening. By the end of the day my back was definitely sore. I like to get as close to the floor as possible to photograph wrestling because a lot of the action happens down on the mat. This means I am hunched over or leaning to my side. Sometimes I lay on the ground but I hate the fact that I am not mobile at that point. You never know when some of the action is going to come at your way fast and you need to move. Even though I am at the edge of the mat sometimes the momentum of the wrestlers carry them off the mat so that is what I need to be aware of.

During the preliminary rounds of the event there were 4 mats in use. That kept me hoping from one point to another. Especially since I like to get clean backgrounds whenever I can. If I can avoid getting another match in the background of the one I am photographing I try to get myself in a position to do so. Here are some images from the day.

Some Snow Pictures

I decided to take a short break today and head out for some fun. Least it is fun to me. I love walking around taking images, especially when there is snow on the ground. Today I headed up to a park that I use for some of my outdoor portrait sessions. It is really close to me and not heavily used. I spent about an hour just walking around. Walking on snow with an ice layer is definitely not something I can do quietly. I did not want to disturb any possible wildlife but that was definitely not going to happen today. I felt like I was just clumping around. Anyways, I thought I would share just a few of the images I took today. None are cropped but I did do some light toning in photoshop plus converted one to black & white. Hope you enjoy them. I put the settings on each image as well. The only thing I kept constant was the ISO. The rest I changed depending on what I was trying to accomplish.

A view of the stream from the bank.

55mm, f6.3; speed 1/250; ISO 200

I wish I had my larger lens on when this happened but I was still using my 17-55mm.
55mm; f8.0; speed 1/500; ISO 200

I took this one on the way out of the park. Not my tired tracks as I had parked across the street. I was a little worried about trying to get out afterwards since I knew my car would be sitting on ice. 80-200mm lens.
185mm; f5.6; speed 1/800; ISO 200

A manually focused image. It actually turned out the way I wanted it to. This was with my 80-200mm lens.
80mm; f8.0; speed 1/1000; ISO 200

Centerville At Lakota West Basketball

This is one of the basketball games I skipped posting awhile back so I thought I would post it today. I am a bit tired today so there will not be much explanation about the game. My husband has come down with a cold which meant I slept on the couch last night to try to avoid catching it. And then we had a few inches of snow topped by some ice that I got to shovel this morning. I have made it a priority to learn how to start and operate the snow blower. That would have saved me time and some sore muscles today. Enjoy the pictures from the boys freshmen game on January 10th.

Not my idea of a nice facial.
Trying to keep the ball inbounds.

A steal.

Oak Hills At Fairfield Wrestling

More wrestling images. The matches occurred back on January 17th. The lighting is definitely better at Fairfield than most places. They use red mats which do not absorb as much light as black ones which is nice. The JV and Freshmen teams competed at the same time which makes it a bit more difficult for me to get great images of all the wrestlers. Last year I remember a few teams have different uniforms for the teams which helped me out when it came time to proof the images at the end of the night. I could separate them based on uniform color. No luck this year. Luckily the backgrounds were different enough that I was able to tell the 2 level apart. Or at least I hope I got them right. Here are some images from the night.

I am always amazed by the flexibility of the wrestlers.

Checking the time left in the round.




I like that the ref is in this picture giving you an idea of what is going on.

Mason JV Invitational

I decided to skip posting some basketball games (may post them at a later time) and post wrestling instead. The Mason Invitational was the first wrestling I did all season which was really unusual. I normally have a few other meets covered before mid-January. If you have read my blog in the past I mention the low light available in gyms that can cause problems with image quality. Add a few huge mats for wrestling and it gets worse. They absorb a lot of light so it becomes even more of challenge to deal with low lighting. Wrestling is always interesting to cover. I am always amazed at how strong and flexible the wrestlers are. Things can change in a split second during a match. I have seen wrestlers go from losing a match to pinning their opponent in a few short seconds. Below are some images from the meet.

Something Different

Last Saturday I decided I needed a break from things and made a little time for myself. At least for a few hours I could leave all my work behind. (that was the hope) My parents are involved in a group called American Volkssport Association (AVA). AVA is a walking group and they were having a walk on Saturday that was setup by my parents. I have been on some of these walks before but it had been a very long time. The walks are great ways to see different parts of towns and cities. The walk was in Hamilton where I grew up so I thought it would be perfect since it was close. It had been awhile since I had been through the part of town it was routed plus it ran through Icefest too. So off I went to walk 10k. (6.2 miles) I even left my watch at home so I would not be tempted to try to beat a specific time - yes, I am competitive at times. It was great to get out by myself and just let my mind wander. I definitely feel refreshed and ready for my busy week. I highly encourage everyone to make time for themselves.

Yes, that is my shadow. I am showing snapshots today - no post processing work except a crop.

I cool barn I saw on the walk. I had no idea it was there and just had to shoot it.
From Icefest - I went to Miami so the M was appropriate for me.
A carver working on his next creation.
The ice would fly a huge distance.
An Eagle by the old courthouse.

Mercy At Oak Hills Basketball

I know, more basketball. I promise there is some swimming, diving and wrestling coming. But for now there is more basketball to look at. Mercy and Oak Hills played on January 8th. I covered all 3 games and of course I wanted to share my images:) Hope you enjoy them.

Looking for a teammate.

Multi-talented. Blowing a bubble while completing a layup.

The ball got stuck during warm-ups at the end of half time.