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It was an exciting opener in Stroudsburg, that’s for sure! The Mounties hosted the Nazareth Eagles on a hot and muggy night as the opening high school football season got under way. An interception returned for a TD by Nazareth opened the scoring and then Stroudsburg immediately responded with a kickoff return in what would be a final score of 49-47.

It felt good to be on the field again as the season opened and these two teams put their best effort on the field. All the hard work of summer camp paid off splendidly. Big plays, speed, and grit & determination were displayed by both teams.

The new season has begun!

at  in Stroudsburg on Friday, September 4, 2015.

High School Football Kickoff

FB20130830-1137The High School football season kicked off last night in the #Poconos . I attended the Pleasant Valley v. Nazareth match up. Excitement was in the air well before the kickoff as fans drove and walked to the stadium, some bringing their back-supporting chairs for the bleachers. The bands’ music added to the excitement. The crowd was filled with excitement and enthusiasm for the first game of the season!

The above photo was printed in today’s Pocono Record, our local newspaper here in the #Poconos . I work as a stringer for the Pocono Record and enjoy photographing sports, which is one of my passions. There is something exhilarating about being on the field on a Friday night! It brings back many fond memories of my days of playing high school football and now I get to capture the action on the field with my cameras!

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The anticipation rose to a crescendo as the two teams were announced and ran onto the field through banners held by the cheerleaders. Then the players stood at attention as the Star Spangled Banner was played by the home band. The kickoff to open the game and the new season was greeted with cheers and the game was under way!

The Blue Eagles attacked first by putting up 6 points after a missed extra point. Then they struck again by tacking on another touchdown, this time with a successful extra point. The game was 13-0 going into halftime.

Nazareth's Marion Johnson receives a pass in the first half against PV.

The visiting band of Pleasant Valley took the field at halftime to put on a show that maintained the enthusiasm of the crowd on this opening night to the football season. The opposing band cheered loudly at times in support of the band on the field. Trumpets blared and drums kept steady beat as the band marched across the field.

Pleasant Valley v. Nazareth, 8/30/2013

The second half started with as much enthusiasm as the first. The teams rushed onto the field and the kickoff ensued. Nazareth received the kickoff this time and ran the field to score a TD on the opening play of the second half and went up by three touchdowns. PV could have rolled over. Instead, they put up 9 points of their own.

By the end of the game the players were showing some battle wounds and the final score was 31-9 in favor of Nazareth. Players and fans exited the stadium through the gates. The first game of the new season was complete!

PV's Austin Borre looks for daylight in the opener against Nazareth.

PV Bears Win Against Nazareth

Dan Hrbek recorded 10 Ks in a complete game against Nazareth

PV pitcher, Dan Hrbek, recorded 10 strikeouts in a complete game to propel PV to a 4-1 win over Nazareth.

Howie Stevens had 2 hits in a 4-1 vicotry over Nazareth

Howie Stevens, first baseman, had two of PV’s 6 hits.

Shortstop, Travis Van Houten, throws to 1B

Shortstop, Travis Van Houten, throws to 1B in the win over Nazareth. The early season victory shows PV has enough talent to compete against any team this season.

Howie Steves (1B) receives a pickoff throw from pitcher, Dan Hrbek

First baseman, Howie Stevens, receives a pick-off attempt from Dan Hrbek.

Stevens makes the tag to complete the pickoff and record the out

Stevens makes the tag on the pick-off to complete the play and record the out. PV featured solid defense behind Hrbek’s masterful presence on the mound.

Volleyball

Yesterday afternoon I photographed a high school volleyball game between Parkland and Nazareth.

Lighting conditions in a gymnasium can be tricky. The color of light can be tough to deal with and oftentimes there is a serious lack of light. The gym for this game wasn’t too bad. The color was pretty much like fluorescent light and it was fairly bright. I did have to crank up the ISO pretty high, but it could have been much worse.

The action in a volleyball game is almost non-stop. It is much faster than baseball, which has more of a stop-and-go rhythm. When it goes, it is fast, but the recovery times are longer. In baseball you must be ready for the play before it happens and this is true for volleyball, too. The problem is the playing field (court) is much smaller so multiple players are often close to one another. This can create cluttered frames, making isolating the subject more difficult. Anticipation and  a little luck can really help!

I photographed the Junior Varsity game first. They played the best out of three games and Parkland won in two straight games.  They did play another exhibition game afterward. Then the Varsity teams played and Parkland won the best of five  in three straight games.

There was plenty of action in all of these games. At first I thought it would be easy to photograph the server in action. I did get some decent photos of the server with the ball in the frame, but it was more difficult than I first thought! Getting the exciting action at the net was even more difficult. Trying to photograph the digs was nearly impossible! At the very least, I have a list of things I desperately want to photograph at the next volleyball game I attend!

Here are a few samples of what I captured yesterday.

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