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

Rough Seas

News Herald reporter James Proffitt braving the elements while on the top deck of the Miller's Ferry headed to Put-in-Bay

Waves blow over the deck of the Miller Ferry as we approach Put-in-Bay

In a perfect world anytime I leave the house to shoot an assignment I'd never have to worry about the weather. Unfortunately this isn't a perfect world. On a recent trip over to Put-in-Bay for work we hit rather undesirable conditions while crossing on the Miller Ferry. With strong winds blowing directly across the open waters of Lake Erie nothing stood in it's way to slow it down. At first I stayed in the protection of the vehicle we were taking over with us. Before too long the call of adventure grew too strong and I couldn't stay put. With some good timing I managed to leave the safety of the car and made it to the enclosed section of the ferry between waves. The boat was rocking pretty hard and I still don't know how I managed not to lose my footing as I made my way across the deck of the ferry. We got some strange looks but I couldn't resist not taking any photos from the top of the ferry.

Waterproof camera, pvc pipe, duck tape, and a little luck

Me trying to get photos of a school of rainbow trout from on top of the water

One of my unsuccessful attempts of photographing the school of rainbow's

Success! This is the image that ran with the story in the next days paper

I was working on a recent assignment with News Herald reporter James Proffitt doing a story about construction at the Castalia State Fish Hatchery. Construction was just getting underway and the photos I was getting were kind of boring. James and I decided we'd get something more exciting by duck taping a waterproof point-n-shoot style camera to a 6-foot long pvc pipe. By setting the camera on timer that gave me just enough time to push the button and slow dip the camera into a school of Rainbow Trout in the Cold Creek flowing through the grounds of the fish hatchery. It took several tries and a little luck but we were able to get a nice frame that ran in the paper along with Proffitt's story.

A special thanks to News Herald reporter James Proffitt who took the photos of me as I was taking the photos of the rainbow trout

Thrill of Victory, Agony of Defeat

According to Marriam-Webster the definition of jubilation is an act of rejoicing, and an expression of great joy. This season I've been working hard at catching photos of jubilation as well as sorrow. Whether it's scoring the game winner or losing a hard fought battle there's plenty of emotion to be seen during a sporting event. Here's an example of both I capture during a youth soccer game. In the first photo the young man scored the first goal well into the second half of a soccer match breaking the stalemate. In the second photo the young man was one-on-one against the goalie but pulled the ball wide of the net as his team falls short of a victory.

A light in the sky

I was unable to get out to catch the meteor shower on Thursday but from what I hear, in our location, it sounds like I didn't miss much. Friday night I headed out in hopes to maybe still have the chance to catch a meteor on film. I only saw four meteors and two of those were as I was setting the camera up. The other two fell in the opposite side of the sky I had the camera pointed at. I did however capture something in the night sky Friday night. I saw what I believed to be a satellite traveling through the southwest sky. I made a 30-second exposure as the object traveled high above the trees. While I may not have captured a meteor this time around and suffered from more mosquito bites than one would ever wish to, I did make a nice image of what I believe to be a satellite as well as the Big Dipper.

Toby!

A rather large bone for an average sized dog available for adoption at the Humane Society of Ottawa County, 2424 Sand Road, 419) 734-5191

Mohawk Trail Creatures

Shortly before graduating school, I was traveling along the Mohawk Trail in Western Massachusetts when a lady ran down the street flagging me down. I didn't know what was happening so I pulled over. Just as I did two mules came over the top of a hill running down the Mohawk Trail. I was able to catch a photo of the lady blocking traffic in the westbound lane and State Police blocking the eastbound lane as one of the mules cut between them. That was the first photo I ever had published back in 2001. I finally made it back to visit the area and to my surprise I found more creatures strolling down the road. I came around one of the many curves in the Mohawk Trail to find three cows casually strolling down the middle of the street. I was disappointed I couldn't make it to Brattleboro in time for the Strolling of the Heifers celebration and it turns out I was treated to my on personal "strolling of the Heifers".

Lobster at last!

I lived in Massachusetts for 3-years and nobody there could believe I never had lobster. Of course being born and raised in Ohio it was rare that lobster was ever an option. They told me not to have the imported thing in Ohio that I need to have it Fresh from a Massachusetts or Maine lobster shack. I moved back to Ohio in 2004 and I vowed that one day I'd be back and I'd finally have me a lobster. It took 6-years but this past week I found myself on the Vineyard . I found an awesome little place called Larsen's Fish Market located in Menemsha where I enjoyed my first lobster while sitting on the docks near the lobster and fish boats. It was quite a treat. If you ever find yourself on Martha's Vineyard you HAVE to make a stop at Larsen's. I have also included a few other photos seen near the docks during my visit.

10 Lucky Stones and a 4-Leaf Clover

I took the dog to the beach the other weekend for a little swim. Of course I always keep an eye out for lucky stones. Lucky stones are actually the ivory colored ear bone found in Sheephead fish. After a the fish dies and the body decays these white "stones" wash ashore. The unique thing about them is that every single one of them has an impression of the letter L. Lucky stones have been found at ancient archaeological sites, where they are thought to have been used as good luck charms to ward off illness. I first learned about these a few years ago and I began my search. I think it took about 7-months before I found my first one. Some days I might find one or two and then I might go a period of time before I find another. I was fortunate enough to find ten of them in an hour and a half this past weekend. A personal record! Add on top of that the four-leaf clover I found over the weekend as well. Now maybe I can channel some of this luck to use towards my favor.

Silly Puppies and Crazy Cats

I make a weekly visit to the Humane Society in Ottawa County to get photos of the various pets that are available for adoption. While some are easy to get photos of other can take a bit of work. Every once in a while a photo just does not come out right at all which can make for an interesting photo. Here is a look at just a couple from the past two weeks.

Jungle Gym

I headed to Fremont bright and early on Friday morning. My plan was to get a jump on next weeks assignments by shooting Camp Endurance at the Fremont Rec Center. It was a running camp that I thought would have worked great for a youth sports page. I guess they decided that they would let the kids spend the last day of camp swimming. I wasn't about to leave without shooting something. Thats when I found kids playing in the park at a nearby elementary school. I took this picture of three of the kids playing on the jungle gym. So here it is Monday and I'm stil looking for a youth sports page for Thursday.

Wacky Pants II

Another day of golf, another pair of wacky pants

Mayflies

The Mayflies have returned! You can't walk down the street or take your dog out in the yard without getting swarmed. They say these things live in the water for a year and then when they hatch they live anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. They can be really annoying but supposedly they are a big part of the food chain for the walleye and other fish here in Lake Erie. There's 630 different species of mayflies in North America and over 2500 worldwide. I think I'll try to get out and get some other photos of the mass gatherings and I'll post a link.

In Training

A young ref was in training learning the ropes prior to the start of the S.B.C. vs S.L.L. All-Star football game in Genoa on Monday, June 14, 2010.