Role Reversal

Has anyone noticed lately that the sports page and magazines such as Sports Illustrated have started to read like the daily crime page? Is it just me or is everyone tired of news reports and stories concerning the less than appropriate behavior of highly paid professional athletes? Seems like everyday there's at least one new report about some superstar athlete recently arrested for breaking the law. Come on guys, wake up! You have been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime and you are blowing it! Not only are you earning more in week than than the average American will make in a year but you have thousands of young people looking up to you, wanting to be like you, play the game like you. So either step up and do the right thing or get out.

I'm proposing an alternative, something that I think many people could get behind. How about if we start honoring, recognizing and admiring the young athletes, those who don't get paid to play but rather do it because they love the sport? Who in America wouldn't get a kick out of seeing their son or daughter on the front of a Wheatie's box? It's really not such a crazy idea folks. After all we do live in a democracy where everyone has the right to free speech. Vote bad behavior out and good sportsmanship and citizenship in. I guarantee you that if enough people write or call Nike telling them they will no longer be purchasing any Nike products that are endorsed by (insert name of latest felon here) because of his recent activity and criminal behavior, they will listen. Trust me. Who are they going to stand behind, the athlete they're paying $10 million a year to or the consumers who allow them the luxury of paying someone $10 million a year?

Okay, so once we have the sponsors on board, call or write your local newspapers tell them about this exceptional athlete that not only excels at their sport but exemplifies all those qualities in an athlete we should admire: sportsmanship, fair play, respect for fellow players, and good citizenship. Get enough people to do it and they may listen as well. If not, keep trying until you find someone who will. Create a buzz and they will listen.

Now you may be wondering why I'm writing this, why I'm proposing such a potentially far-fetched and radical idea? I started my spring by taking a lot of photos of soccer and lacrosse. Lately, I've been able to shoot quite a few Little League games. I've shot so many images that I easily recognize many of the kids I've seen on the field even when they're out of uniform maybe at the local grocery store with mom and dad. So for me they're no longer simply a bunch of kids playing a sport. They are the kids of my community and they've made me proud of where I live because of their actions on the field. Not just because they've been fierce competitors on the field, fighting and scrapping for every goal or run, but also for the dignity and sportsmanship they've shown in doing so.

Okay, back to reality. We probably won't ever see our children or the children of others adorning the cover of SI. As much as I'd like to see it, it's probably just not going to happen. Local papers do cover some local sports events but it's usually sparse and back page stuff. So what options are we left with? Well, just so happens I have a great example.

I was recently shooting a Little League game. The batter gets hit by a pitch. At this age, you know it wasn't one of those nasty, revengeful, knockdown pitches that the big leaguers throw. It was simply a young kid still learning the game and finding his control on the mound. Anyway as the runner approached first base, the pitcher runs over, apologizes and they shake hands. That by itself would've have been commendable but then something truly remarkable happened. As the pitcher was heading back to the mound, both bleachers erupt, parents, family, friends all cheering and applauding together. Now that's what I'm talking about folks! Wow, what a memorable moment.

Let me close by saying that I don't think all professional athletes are thugs and hooligans. There are some truly remarkable men and women who do so much for their sport, their fans, and the communities where they live. I also have hope that leagues are getting tired of all the bad publicity and press. They seem to be much less tolerant and more willing to punish the offenders more severely than in the past. But as for me, I'm still casting my vote for the kids.

If you haven't been to a local sporting event for a while, do yourself a favor and go. Doesn't matter if you know anyone playing or not, just go and support those kids. Besides the seats are great and the hot dogs cheap.

Photo of The Week

I've decided to try and showcase a photo that really spotlights amazing athletic feats, captures a specific emotional moment, or one that I just particularly like. In this case I think that this week's photo (and our first one) meets all those criteria.

Although they've since been eliminated from the tournament, I had the pleasure of shooting the Dillsburg Youth Baseball 11-12 International All Star Team as they beat Mechanicsburg one evening in Camp Hill. Although Dillsburg had been leading the entire game, Mechanicsburg was definitely trying to scrap their way back.

At one point with Dillsburg in the field, one of the Mechanicsburg batters got a hold of one and hit it a ton. The ball was heading to deep center field and doing so pretty quickly. Center fielder, Jason Barbaretta turned and gave chase as it went over his head. Everything happened so fast that I barely had time to swing the 300mm lens towards centerfield and get my eye to the viewfinder. As I pushed the autofocus button on the Canon Mark II I could see Jason just beginning to leap with his glove hand outstretched. I instinctively pushed the shutter button and held my finger down as I continued to track him in the camera's viewfinder. I saw him go up, make the catch, come down on the warning track and, a split second later, crash into the sponsor sign hanging on the fence. Not only had Jason made an incredible catch but had held onto the ball even after slamming into the fence.

So Jason had done his part but had I done mine? I knew that I had him in the frame through the entire sequence but what I didn't know is whether or not I had locked focus on Jason. As much as I wanted, I didn't bother to check the images on the camera's lcd screen. I figured if I got it great, if not there wasn't anything I could do to change it so I just continued to shoot the rest of the game. Needless to say after I got home that evening and offloaded the images onto my pc, I was happily surprised. Here is the first frame of the sequence:

Not only was it an exciting moment to watch but I had also captured it and, best of all, it was in focus! Jason is really the one who deserves the credit though: it was his play, his moment. He made it happen.

When you take a moment to remember that these kid's are really only 11-12 years old, you begin to appreciate the catch as well as all the other heroic efforts shown out on those fields. Unfortunately I don't have the time to post and write about them all here.

I chose this photo not only because it's a good photo of a great moment but because it is representative of the way these kids played the game. They played each game with heart, with guts and with pure emotion. As far as I'm concerned each and every one of those kids deserves the All Star designation.

Nice catch Jason.

Season Recap

As this was the inaugural season for PhotoFX Pros, I thought I'd just do a quick recap and jot down some thoughts. Although we're still busy with the Dillsburg Youth Baseball All Star season, things have generally slowed down enough that I can take some time to update the blog.

Let me first thank all the organizations, teams, coaches, players and parents. The cooperation, appreciation and assistance we've received has been awesome. Although a number of companies have been shooting and selling game photos for some time now, it is something that is still relatively new to our little corner of the world. Not new in the sense of someone shooting game photos. Ever since the digital camera explosion, proud parents have been taking pictures of their children's teams. These are usually posted to the team's web site or given away to the other parents. However, having a professional photography company shoot games throughout the season, upload them to a photo gallery and offer them for sale I think is what was new to most people.

Things started rather slowly but primarily because we jumped into this so quickly that we didn't have any time for pre season marketing. As lacrosse and soccer seasons progressed, again no marketing mainly because we were scrambling around trying to shoot as many games as we could while trying to still have time with our own families and children. All things considered, I think that we did cover quite a few games and matches with each one averaging about 300 images per event. That's 12.5 rolls of 24 exposure film! Imagine the cost of having to buy and process 12.5 rolls of film for each game? I doubt that there'd be a PhotoFX Pros if digital hadn't happened. That's not to say that digital photography is not without its costs. You no longer have to buy and process film but the equipment is significantly more expensive, and with so many images, it takes time to quickly edit through 300 photos and decide which will be uploaded to the galleries. So, bottom line: it's been tiring, it's been hectic, but it's all been well worth. I love what I do because I love sports and I love photography. Most of all I really enjoy watching children play sports without all the egos, money and politics involved.

So, what's next? Well we've been working on getting our web site updated. Cleaner, streamlined design, more content, and . . . a blog! We'll also be sitting down to expand our service and product offerings like designing those custom posters and magazine covers we've been wanting to do for months now. Additionally, we'll begin actively promoting our "sportraits" which puts a new, and exciting twist on the old style portrait. Plus we'll be looking for more opportunities for contract work, more special events, and corporate events as well. And finally, although our primary focus is still Dillsburg and the Northern York area, we'll be looking for work in other communities. After all, those big lenses and fancy cameras you see us with do not come cheap but they certainly do look cool don't they? Oh, I forgot to mention that we're also current speaking with several photographers, one in Pennsylvania and one in Maryland about extending the reach of PhotoFX Pros into other regions and possibly into other areas such as weddings and more freelance work. Very exciting stuff!

Anyway, we've had a great time so far. We've taken lots of pictures, seen some amazing displays of athleticism and teamwork and sold a few photos along the way. That's certainly enough for me to keep doing this for a while.

Welcome To Our New Blog

Welcome to the new photo blog for PhotoFX Pros providing the finest in sports, action and event photography services for the central Pennsylvania region.

In our first year of operation, we've had the privilege of being able to photograph games for Northern York County Lacrosse Club, Dillsburg Area Soccer Club, and Dillsburg Youth Baseball. While taking some 10,000+ images, I've been able to witness some incredible team as well as individual efforts.

As my season progressed I began to see the opportunity to provide something more than just a gallery of images for people to view and purchase. What I'd really like to do is provide a web site where all the results, announcements, pictures, videos, etc. for all Dillsburg sports teams could be centralized and consolidated. However, that's a much more ambitious project than I am able to undertake at this time. So I guess the next best thing is to add a blog to my web site. Besides I'm much better at the open rant than compiling statistics and results anyway.

My hope is to comment on games, specific plays, or just anything related to Dillsburg sporting and area events. I will also use photos in the PhotoFX Pros gallery to post or link to.

I think that people visiting the PhotoFX Pros web site will find the new blog a nice addition. I'm also hoping that people will be inclined to post comments so that it becomes more of a two-way interactive exchange of thoughts and opinions.