Backyard Hockey Rink

A family a few doors down from me built a homemade skating surface in their backyard. The outside edges of the rink were built up using 2x4's and a large 20x40 sheet of plastic was used to hold the water. It took 6 trips to haul in enough water to fill the large skating surface. After that it took a deep freeze before the surface was ready to go. The kids seem to have a blast playing hockey and can be seen skating every night.

Glowing Snow

The blowing snow glistens in the sun as it sets.

The setting sun made for an interesting photo following a recent snow storm. The sun highlighted the blowing snow perfectly for a nice feature photo. On top of that the Associated Press also picked the photo up and moved it across their wire. It was the perfect end to a perfect snowy day in Ohio.

Stanley Cup Take 2

A mother and her son have a close look at the Stanley Cup

Detroit Red Wings 2007-08

Hockey fans take photographs of the Stanley Cup prior to the start of a recent Toledo Walleye hockey game.

The Stanley Cup was recently at the Huntington Center, the home of the new Toledo Walleye hockey team, as part of a special promotion. This is actually the second time I've had the joy of photographing the Stanley Cup. Which in my mind is something that will never get old and I hope to have many more opportunities to do. The only problem is it was in the possession of the Chicago Black Hawks one of the Walleye's NHL affiliates. So this time around there was no touching the cup. Maybe the next time I see the cup it will be in the possession of the Detroit Red Wings, also one of the NHL affiliates of the Walleye, and I'll have my photo taken with it.

Church at Dusk

I was walking in to church on Christmas eve and something about the candles they lit and hung in the tree really stuck out to me. I asked the girls who came up with the neat idea if they could leave the candles because I had a good idea for a photo. A couple days later I was headed to the grocery store when I noticed the sun was setting nicely and it would be the perfect light for my photo idea. I raced to the church and frantically lit all the candles trying to hurry before it got too dark (I really should have gotten to the church sooner so I wouldn't have been so rushed). I shot several frames but thought I could get a better angle if I got lower. The light had faded enough that I could no longer handhold the camera but I did not have my tripod. Using a Toledo Walleye cup I still had in my car I laid across the driveway of the church and used the Walleye cup to support the camera capturing a unique angle of the church.

O.H. Wrestling Lady

I was at a middle school wrestling match in Oak Harbor and I noticed this little old lady who seemed to really be in to the match. At first I thought it must have been relation of hers out on the mat so I snapped a few frames of her. Then I started to notice that she seemed to react every time an Oak Harob Jr High wrestler competed. I snapped several frames of this lady's "ups and downs" of watching the young wrestlers. Here are top five.

Black-Tie Affair...

Members of the 8th grade Clyde McPherson Middle School shoot hoops

So it's not exactly a black-tie affair. However, I couldn't help be be amused when members of the Clyde McPherson Middle School eighth-grade basketball team came out to shoot hoops dressed in ties. It was during half time of the seventh-grade game and I guess the boys were restless so they passed the time shooting hoops till the second half resumed. I reminds me of the old photographs of spectators at sporting events dressed in suit and ties.

Swim

It was a full house at a swim meet at Port Clinton High school on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010

Swimmers warm-up prior to a meet at Port Clinton High School on Dec 9, 2010

It seems I've been covering a lot of swimming lately. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. I usually enjoy swimming and with the humidity in the pool I don't have to worry about getting cold. Here's a pair of features I'd like to share from two recent swim meets at Port Clinton High School