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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New Sports Photography Slideshow

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I have a photo website dedicated exclusively to sports photography. It is called Perfect Game Photos and you can view the site here: http://www.perfectgamephotos.com/

One of the new features I added to this sports photography website is a slideshow of my published photos. Initially, I created the slideshow in Adobe InDesign and then exported it as a Flash slideshow. This worked well but had some serious limits. For example, those of you who use a tablet or smart phone were probably not able to view this slideshow.

So, since it was another stormy day in the Poconos on Labor Day, I labored just a little in front of my laptop to create a new version of this slideshow. I wanted to use Javascript so the slideshow can be viewed on just about any device. After some prep and planning, I started working out the script. It did take some time, but I ended up with just about what I was hoping to produce. You can view the end result here: http://www.perfectgamephotos.com/Slideshow.html

This slideshow features my sports photographs that were published in the Pocono Record. I am still amazed that more and more of my work is being found worthy of publication, which was a long-time dream of mine. I continue to learn all the time! I hope the trend continues but I realize that I must keep my personal expectations high. I must also keep working hard.

Sports photography is demanding at times and capturing the winning shot is not always easy. Lousy lighting at Friday night football games and nasty backgrounds at other sporting events are just two of the dilemmas that present problems for sports shooters. Keeping alert and always being ready is absolutely necessary. Nothing beats good preparation and knowing the game. Combining these skills and being the recipient of some good luck isn’t a bad combination either!

I hope to keep adding to my published portfolio. Sports photography is my passion and capturing the exciting action on the field to make lasting memories is my goal. I hope my photographs tell a sports story. More important, I hope they evoke emotion!

 

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.

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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.

My First Photograph Published in the Pocono Record

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I have a strong passion and interest in sports photography. When I was finishing up my first photography class at Temple University, my final project was on sports photography. I did okay in the class, but my photographs for this project helped my final grade immensely! I shadowed a photographer at a weekly newspaper for a day and one of the assignments was to photograph a Donegal High School baseball game. I remember that event and the excitement of trying to capture the action on the field. I was hooked!

Now, many years later, I can think of few things I’d rather do in my spare time than photograph a sporting event. I like sports to begin with and I believe every game has a unique story that unfolds as the players put their game on the field. Our job as sports photographers is to record the unique storyline of the game and capture the exciting action of the players!

Over the past five years I’ve enjoyed photographing the baseball games for Pleasant Valley High School. I photograph as many games as possible each season and then show a presentation of my best photos for their end-of-year banquet. I also create collages for the seniors each year as a special remembrance of their final season. Previously, I was the photographer for the Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Recently, I signed on with the Pocono Record to be one of their freelance photographers. I just had my first photograph published with them today! You can see my photograph here:

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130515/SPORTS/305150331/-1/SPORTS

I am very excited to share my photography passion in this way. I am at the games already and can provide some special coverage of the games with my camera. I hope to grow in my photographic abilities as I share my game-day art with others!