Capturing the Essence of a Game

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The Pocono Record published another gallery of my photos, this time from Friday night’s football game in Lehighton. You can view the photo gallery here. My assignment is first and foremost to get quality photographs that tell the story of the game for the following morning’s newspaper. Deadline for submission is 9:15pm, which means the game is often still going on and the final outcome may be undetermined as yet. Therefore, I need to provide photos from each team in action so the winning photo can be representative of the game and reflect the actual winner.

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Secondarily, I provide a gallery of photos for the newspaper to display on their website. The goal here is always to capture photographs, which capture the essence of the game and the atmosphere we experience in-person at a Friday night high school football game. The options are plentiful, but some thought, creativity, and camera skills are required to pull this off. It is one thing to experience the exciting atmosphere of a football game, but it is quite another to communicate it through photos to help the viewer get a taste of the action.

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I like to say it this way: Each game tells a unique story, which deserves to be told photographically. My job is to capture the action with my camera to tell this story and freeze the special moments to make them into lasting memories for a lifetime.

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Friday Night Football

Stroudsburg travled to Lehighton on Friday and took home a victory.

The Stroudsburg Mounties traveled to Lehighton to face the Indians in Friday night high school football. They found a team worthy of battle and a close contest the entire night. Stroudsburg struck first but it wasn’t until the second quarter. It was a defensive battle on both sides. Fans cheered as each stop was made and pads clashed. It was a nail-biter almost down to the wire

Stroudsburg travled to Lehighton on Friday and took home a victory.

The Stadium was abuzz with fans on both sides cheering for their team. The teams came into the game looking equally matched, having both won last week. Defense was stingy and yards hard to come for both sides. Some sizable runs were snarled by linemen and linebackers filling holes and making team tackles.

Stroudsburg QB Nickorak calls out the play against Lehighton on Friday night.

The final score, 13-6 in favor of the Mounties was indicative of the close game. Both teams put a quality team on the field and played a solid game. It was a great night for high school football!

 

Cross Country Photos

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph the Pleasant Valley Cross Country Team as they hosted East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsgburg South, and Stroudsburg. This was my first time photographing Cross Country. I arrived early to get the layout of the course and try to find a spot on the course and then get back to the finish line before the end of the race.

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I found my spot and took photos on the course and then had to scramble to get to the finish line before the race ended. Fortunately, my planning worked out and I did make it in time! I tried a couple spots at the finish line and having my 200-400mm Nikon lens was good to have on my camera. This allowed me to stay back away from the finish line far enough so as not to intrude on the runners, but still get most of the finishing stretch with my camera. Sweet!

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I found my favorite location by the time the girls were getting ready to finish. I really liked being on the first lane, far enough past the finish line so I was not in the way of anyone. This vantage point provided the cleanest backgrounds because I could avoid the fence on the left and the spectators and athletes in the infield.

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I found myself zooming all the way in as a runner rounded the last corner of the track before the homestretch. Then as the runner got closer, I zoomed out to keep her in the frame. Finally, as the runner got even closer, I would get some closeup shots at the finish.

CC130930-1169You can see the photo gallery of yesterday’s Cross Country Meet here.

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