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.