Habeeb Photography

Back in Baltimore

2011-11-23T14:55:00.002-05:00

Before I get too backed up with my blog posts, I wanted to put my images from the Cardinals and Ravens game I covered a few weeks ago. As a Ravens fan, it's always difficult for me to photograph one of their games and not get too emotional. Actually, I suck at not getting too emotional, but what are you gonna do? However, I didn't realize that until this game because the other Ravens games I've photographed, they won and won pretty easily. :)

In this game, they were down 24-3 in the first half, and I just wanted to go home! Haha. But, I stuck it out and got to witness the largest comeback in team history! The team is 3-0 with me there, so you gotta think that I should bring that to somebody's attention to make sure I be at every game. No big deal...

To the images...

#5 was a cool thing to see. That's Todd Heap signing an autograph for a man and his kids. One of the kids had a Heap Ravens jersey, and the other had a Heap Cardinals jersey. Todd is such a great guy, and is good at recognizing stuff like this. :)

#21.....yea....he caught that.

#38 I love Ray Rice.

#41 I just thought was funny because it looks like McPhee is standing on air...

#44 Torrey being BIG TIME!

#48 is one of my faves. I didn't realize how close Holliday got to my camera. The answer? Um...close.

Enjoy!

The not so frozen tundra....of Lambeau Field

2011-11-09T22:46:00.002-05:00

It gives me great pleasure to create this post. There are a handful of stadiums in professional sports that carry a certain level of historical awesomeness to them, and I have gotten to photograph at two of them this past year. First, was my trip to Fenway Park in Boston. This time, I went to Lambeau Field in Green Bay. As a sports fanatic, I just want to see and experience everything I possibly can. A year ago, I thought it would only be a dream of mine to be able to photograph a game at Lambeau Field, and a couple weeks ago, that actually happened!

It was such a cool feeling to be on that field with all the history.....and the best team in football. And, living in Baltimore, you wouldn't think this next thing is true, but I've now photographed the Packers 3 times, which is equal to the amount of times I've photographed the Ravens. And, those two teams are tied for the most frequently photographed teams by me. Ok...enough nerdiness.

To the images. Just a few notes.

Number 4: Clay Matthews is awesome....but he's also a tool.
Number 5: We weren't really sure if the photographers were allowed on the field during intros. By the looks of Spags there, it appears he was not thrilled that me and a few other photographers were 'in the way.' Oh well. :)
Number 15: My first Lambeau Leap! Ehhhh........not great. He was on the other side of the field, of course, and I had a dancing plethora of other media members blocking the rest of the frame. Maybe next time.....??
Number 20: Lambeau Leap number 2. Not much better. Haha. I was approximately 125 yards away from Jordy Nelson for this photo. Not ideal. Nelson actually caught a 93 yard touchdown on this play, and since I was trying to photograph some Rams defensive players, I thought, "now would be a good time to get some tight shots of the Rams players, while they're so close to the back end zone." Thanks Aaron Rodgers for being better than everybody at football! Forced me to get terrible pictures of a big play! :)
Number 21: You Packer fans are crazy.
Number 32: He puts the team on his back, do.
Number 37: I'm pretty sure it's illegal to step on another players neck. Let me check the rules.
Number 41: Nobody made the catch. :(
Number 42: Ummm....somehow the Rams actually caught that pass. Probably the cleanest shot I've ever gotten of a wide receiver, and it bounced right off his hands.
Number 47: Best smile in the NFL.

Oh....and the Packers decided to wear their throwbacks which made my editor.....let's say, less than thrilled. I was hoping I could coax him to send me to another Packers game, but no dice.....yet! Enjoy!

First Time in New York...

2011-10-24T12:15:00.002-04:00

Well, my goal in life (right now, anyway) is to photograph all major professional teams in every single venue. I got to add two more teams and one more venue to my accomplishments a couple weeks ago when the Seattle Seahawks came across the country and took down the New York Giants. First off, that stadium is incredible. It's perfectly designed inside and outside and made a potentially daunting task of getting in and out of the stadium, almost pleasant! New York is known for it's historically terrible traffic, and I thought, "man, it takes forever to get in and out of FedEx Field.....it's gonna take even longer to get in and out of here!" But....that just goes to show you that the people who run the New York franchises are a little...shall we say....better than the people who run the DC franchises. Just saying. Plus, I have never seen a larger photographer's wookroom. It had it's own set of bathrooms and people serving us breakfast before the game and lunch at halftime and at the end of the game. That's the way every stadium should be!

Anyway, to the game....

It was a pretty exciting game from start to finish, which is always good. I didn't like that they wouldn't let photographers get between the hash marks in the back of the end zone. That was irritating because there is soooo much media there, you really need that space. I would hate to have to work a super bowl or something like that there with those rules. Anyway, my only real note would be the catch that Victor Cruz made. Just an absolutely amazing catch, and if you saw the original tv angle, and you happened to see the photographer kneeling right behind him when he finally got control of the ball, then you saw me! Haha. I was the only person set up in that spot, and when the play happened, I felt like I had gotten the images, and they were in focus, but I was so blown away by how awesome that catch was, and the fact that it happened right in front of me, that I didn't want to look at the sequence until later. If those images were out of focus or something, I would have been livid and thrown things at people. But, I got some good shots and my boss made it a point to compliment me on that sequence, so life is good! Enjoy the rest of the images!

Back to Minnesota...

2011-10-12T23:14:00.003-04:00

For the second straight year, my company has sent me to Minnesota for a nice little weekend of significantly colder air and miserable fans. For the second straight year....the Vikings lost. They did better against the Lions this year than they did against the Packers last year....but they still lost. Regardless, I wasn't rooting for the Vikings, and I was just trying to get to a place after the game so I could watch the second half of the Ravens game, which I did and they won. Success feels good.

I was much more pleased with the images from this year, compared to the images from last year's game at Mall of America Field. The previous dome was dark and dank and provided quite and ugly color shift from one side of the field to the other. The new dome is kinda sexy. I could tell immediately when I walked in that it was much brighter than last year, and the exposures were wayyyy better! It is definitely much brighter when the sun is out a little more, but even at it's darkest it was still a good 2/3 of a stop brighter than last year.

A few notes about the images...

#7 - that just made me laugh. Both girls' jerseys were like that. Well done.
#12 - Ummm....don't mess with the Lions. They have big dudes that carry around big chains. If you get out of line.....well.....
#17 - Donovan's in trouble
#20 - Donovan's in trouble again
#23 - Props to Joe Webb for staring at me while accenting the image
#42 - Titus Young instantly became one of my faves

Enjoy!

First NFL game of the year!

2011-09-18T22:27:00.002-04:00

It feels good to get my first NFL game of the year out of the way. Last year, I photographed my first NFL game ever and I was pretty starstruck the whole time. I feel like I got some pretty good images, but I had no idea what I was doing. I feel like I know......a little these days, but it definitely takes a game or two to get back into the swing of things....especially at the pro level. Ok, so I technically did one other game already, but it was a preseason game at night, which is almost a completely different sport than a regular season game during the day. Haha. Maybe not, but still.

I came out of the game feeling pretty good about what I had shot. But, as I was going through the images, I got exponentially more perturbed because of soft images, or slightly blocked action or whatever. Nevertheless, I always enjoy photographing a football game, regardless of who's playing.

A couple notes:

#6 is what you call the "smelling salts face"
I like #26.
#39....I love Brandon Banks. He makes me look like a giant.
#42....Mr. Kolb made the strongest effort to NOT look at me, as I've ever seen anybody make.....ever.
#43-46....I got yelled at for being in the tunnel. I wasn't singled out or anything, there was a bunch of us there, but still. You know those guys who like to abuse their 'power'.........
That's all! I hope you enjoy the images. :)

A wedding post.....finally!

2011-07-31T15:59:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a while since I've made a blog post and I wanted to start posting some weddings on here, so here we go. This wedding was a little different than a normal one, because I had a second shooter with me, and she did the pre-ceremony action with the groom and his groomsmen. Nevertheless, I was able to have plenty of time with the girls and they were a little silly, which always makes things easier. The ceremony was held at a nice little church near Federal Hill, and the reception was at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Not your traditional reception location, but that's the way I like it.

I think one of my favorite photos is the creepy one of the lady knocking on the window during the cake cutting. Sorry if that gives you nightmares, but I had to include it. :)

First time in Pittsburgh

2011-05-30T14:11:00.002-04:00

After the Red Sox trip, I came home on Friday, photographed a wedding on Saturday and went to Pittsburgh from there to photograph the Pirates game on Sunday. And, I feel like I've been working ever since! Anyway, this game occurred on Mother's Day, hence all the pink stuff. Neil Walker seemed to be decked out in the most pink gear, and he's the person you see the bottom half of in frame 13.

The stadium was a complete contrast of Fenway. There was plenty of room for all of the photographers, including a two level design in EACH of the 4 photo wells. The only thing that was difficult to navigate around was the sun! It couldn't make up it's mind if it wanted to stay behind the clouds, or blast away. I actually set the camera on aperture priority for the majority of the game because of that.

I loved the scene with the cityscape in the background. This is a very well designed stadium and I would love to go there again. Plus, the parking garage only charged $10, which is nice compared to the $50 garage I parked in in Boston. Really tells a lot about the state of each city, as well....

Take a moment to look at the photos and comments are always welcome!

Baseball in Beantown

2011-05-15T22:39:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get to go to Boston to photograph a game between the Angels and Red Sox. The night before, there was a 2 1/2 hour rain delay and the game went 13 innings, so it seemed like everybody in the stadium was talking about how little sleep they got and how they didn't want to be there. I, on the other hand, got a great night's sleep and I thoroughly wanted to be there. I never seem to fit in. :)

I got to the stadium extra early, so I could trek around the outside and take some photos of the stadium. There's so much history in that stadium, that it was just something I needed to do. Overall, I had a great time and I was pretty pleased with the photos. It was a pretty difficult stadium to work in for several reasons. First, it's a very old stadium, so there is no photographer's work room like in most stadiums (that I'm used to anyway). All of the photographers that have to transmit photos on the spot bring their laptops into the photo wells with them, and transmit right from there. That makes it even more crowded in the wells....especially the first base side where most of the 'regulars' hang out for the entire game anyway. Plus, they don't let you go on the field behind the catcher, between innings, to go from one photo well to the other. You have to go through the stands, which are barely wide enough for one person to walk through......let alone a person with all of his camera equipment. PLUS, there are only two photo wells in the stadium, at the outside of the dugouts. The only time you can get 'head on' shots of the pitchers is in the first inning when you have to sit in the first row of seats, if there are no fans there, or you have to squat in the aisles. Talk about making things more difficult than they have to be! But, I'm not complaining. I still can't believe I get paid for doing that stuff.

On to the photos. Image 5 is one that made me happy. It's of Torii Hunter (who I gained a lot of respect for during that experience) and Peter Gammons (who you must know if you've watched any Baseball Tonight, or MLB Network in the last 15 years). Torii was so cool to take the time to speak to that group of people (they were some sort of Christian mission group) and joke around with them and tell some funny stories. Most pro athletes won't do that kind of thing, and it was really refreshing to see that. And, Peter.....well, he's got more baseball knowledge in his pinky finger than I'll ever know in my life. To be able to experience Fenway, and seeing Peter Gammons up close and personal, at the same time, was a real thrill for me.

Image 7 is of the first pitch. The woman throwing out the pitch was 100 years old. Pretty cool stuff.

Image 23, just looked interesting to me. How, his hand is directly underneath the ball just doesn't make sense to me. Haha.

Comments about anything else are appreciated.

Rain...go away!

2011-05-10T09:36:00.003-04:00

A couple more entries are on the way, but I wanted to put up a post of a few images I captured during a few events over the last couple of weeks. Two really rainy days and one sunny day, fills up this slideshow. The rain....although annoying and, well, wet....definitely yields some interesting photos. Stay tuned for some more baseball, and possibly a wedding (gasp).

One great week...

2011-04-14T21:56:00.002-04:00

To end my first week (actually Sunday to Sunday, so that was 8 days. I'm gonna call that a "Baker's Week".) of multiple baseball games (4 to be exact), I photographed the Orioles taking on the Texas Rangers. Luckily, this was a couple days before Josh Hamilton broke his arm, so I was able to get a few photos of him. That kind of stuff still makes me happy....as a sports fan. I would have been happier if the O's could have gotten some clutch hits, but that didn't happen in this game. Still, another great day at the ballpark, and I was fairly pleased with my success. I can't wait to do a little traveling for these baseball games. Philly is the furthest I've been, and it'll be fun to work in a stadium like Fenway, or the new Target Field in Minnesota.

As always, enjoy the photos and leave a comment if you feel inclined to do so!

Oh, and the homeless man throwing batting practice in image #2 is actually Ron Washington, manager of the Rangers. He looks especially homeless in images where you can see the bald top part of his head. Haha.

The Doctor was domINating.

2011-04-09T17:08:00.004-04:00

My 3rd MLB game in 5 days was between the Mets and Phillies. A solid, long standing rivalry like this, normally yields a competitive game, a lot of emotion and a close outcome. Uhhh...except when Roy Halladay pitches. Honestly, he didn't even have his best stuff, giving up 5 baserunners in the first 3 innings, but when the Mets needed a clutch hit, they couldn't even come close. After the 3rd, he basically shut them down the rest of the way. And, Wilson Valdez must really love it when I'm at the ballpark, for some reason. Last year when I photographed a Phillies game, he was 3 for 3, and in this game, he was 4 for 4! I've literally never personally seen Valdez make an out. Anyway, the Phillies won the game 11-0. Here are some photos that I picked out. I did get my first broken bat photo. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but it's still interesting. I think I like Brian Roberts' bat fly in the previous post, better...

Opening Day in Baltimore

2011-04-07T01:08:00.002-04:00

On Monday, I was lucky enough to get to photograph my first Oriole's Opening Day game. Ok, so it was just the Home Opener, but it was still an opener. As 'lucky' as I was for being able to shoot it, the entire day was completely unlucky (photography wise)......minus one moment, I suppose.

For the second straight year, I was almost ended by a foul ball. This year, it was off the bat of Brian Roberts. Although, I'm determined that he was meant to injure somebody on that day. Anyway, he drilled a ball RIGHT at me, and i'm not exactly sure where it hit on the net in front of me, but I'm guessing if it were about 4 inches higher, it would have hit me right in the heart. Let's just say, those moments raise your awareness a little. But, Brian also let go of his bat earlier in the game and it flew in to the stands. Both of these occurrences are featured in my slideshow. The foul ball has two frames (the second being a little more difficult to see the ball).

A lot of cool things happened before and during the game. Earl Weaver threw out the first pitch, which was a pretty cool moment. The intros were awesome. The O's won! But, the unlucky part of the day....was all the action I was trying to get! Every single time I had something lined up, I either had a coach, an umpire, another player, or another photographer in my way. I've never been so frustrated in my life. I was able to capture a few decent shots, but definitely not the action I was hoping for. I'm shooting in Baltimore again on Sunday, so hopefully I'll have less of a crowd to fight with, and a better chance at getting some decent photos.

Meanwhile, check these out and let me know what you like!

A few notes. I liked frame 3 enough to keep it in, even though the ball girl messed it up. Again, every opportunity....

Frame 4 is Jose Valverde being a jokester. He put a Rhymes jersey on the bat boy and told him to go take bp because nobody would know the difference. Rhymes is about 5'9 165 lbs....so it was a little exaggeration, but it was funny. I did take it upon myself to say to Jose, "I think the kid is too big!" He laughed. :)

Frame 8.......I must have been doing something interesting.

Frames 23-25.....some stupid idiot thought it would be funny to jump onto the field and run around for a few minutes. He thought he'd be able to exit through the grounds crew's door, but little did he know that they are trained to lock that door when something like that happens. He fell down like his bones melted when he realized he was stuck. It was actually a good plan because it prevented him from being tazed. Shucks.

Summer is on the way...

2011-04-03T23:07:00.002-04:00

A nice little kick off to the baseball season for me today. I photographed (professionally) my first Nationals game and I was pretty pleased with the success. Most of the baseball games I've done so far have let me down in one way or another. Either, they were very low scoring with no action, or they just had no action. And, maybe I missed a little action here or there....but we won't mention that. This game between the Braves and Nationals started out the same way for about 4 innings, and then things started to happen. I was able to grab some nice shots of Ryan Zimmerman and Dan Uggla. Two of the main guys I was sent there for, so I'm feeling good about the season by today's start. I made Jason Heyward a little angry, by getting a little too close to him while I was shooting with the fisheye lens. Ooops. I made a joke to Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez though, and he joked back which was pretty cool. I get a kick out of that stuff. I also got a kick out of the 'Strasburg' jersey that guy was wearing. The photo that's next to it, makes it really look like the Nats are trying EVERYTHING to find a replacement for Strasburg!

All in all, I had beautiful weather, got some good photos, and started my week that will include 4 MLB games. I'll be posting more soon!

Face Off Classic

2011-03-31T15:22:00.002-04:00

After a little misunderstanding between me and my dropbox account, I can now access my slideshows again! I was going to post this about two weeks ago, but, it's better late than never.

Busy couple of weeks has slowed down my once eager aspirations of updating the blog more regularly. Well....this is just a large post to compensate for my 'lack' of gumption, if you will. One of my favorite days of the year is when I get to photograph my first lacrosse game. This year, my first lax entree came with two sides (too corny? Ok.). First up was number one ranked Syracuse vs Georgetown. The 'Cuse has an impressive team this year, and they came out of the gates rolling on all cylinders. Just when you thought they could put the game away early, the Hoyas came back with a couple quick goals and made it a really great game. Final score was 9-8, and was eerily similar to last year's FOC opener. The second game was Cornell and Virginia, and one of the goals from that game was actually #2 on ESPN's top plays. One of the Bratton boys made an incredible behind the head shot for a goal to lead the Wahoos to a nice 11-9 victory. The shot wasn't exactly the most photogenic play in sports, so there is no photographic evidence in the slideshow, but you can take my word for it. Finally, the last game featured Hopkins and UMBC, and you kinda had to feel a little bad for the Retrievers in this one. I heard that they have 14 freshman on their team this year and they will experience some growing pains because of that. A lot of knowledgable folks seem to think that Hopkins is overrated this year because....well....they're Hopkins. But, they certainly looked like a top 10 team (they're #11 right now), after scoring 5 seconds into the game, and not really stopping the rest of the way in the 16-5 win.

A couple of interesting shots were captured on this day. I wasn't too thrilled with the color of those Syracuse uniforms though. They just seemed to go nuclear and lose a certain amount of detail that drives me crazy. I did have to thank the guy for standing in the back of my shot when the Hoyas were coming out of the tunnel. He really made that shot an award winner. In the Cornell/Virginia game, there is an image of some guys messing with the net. That's because somebody fired a shot so hard, it actually ripped a hole right through it. Never seen that before! Feel free to comment about anything else that catches your eye....

Good times at Severna Park

2011-03-12T01:32:00.002-05:00

My assignment for wednesday was to photograph the Rock and Roll Revival performance at Severna Park High School. Let me just say that there are some immensely talented people at that school and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I see my fair share of bad high school productions, and I have seen some pretty good ones. This definitely ranked right up near the top (of the best....that is). This also ranked near the top of the worst lighting conditions to photograph in. The regular spot light was easy to manage, but they were trying to match some of the lighting with the theme of the current performance, and it made it impossible to get a consistent wb reading and so on. Some of it worked for 'creativity' but for the most part, it was just annoying.

But, overall, the performance was awesome and I would do it again if I had to! I was pretty pleased with the images that I got and I hope you enjoy them.

'Bout time

2011-03-07T15:58:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I made a blog entry and I thought I'd make a quick update before a lot of fun stuff starts happening! Lacrosse and baseball season's are upon us and you might even see some football from me pretty soon.

This slideshow is from the MRHS-tival (Marriotts Ridge High School). They have a fun school there, and their events are always a good time. They have a lot of open space in that school and it allows for unique things to happen. My favorite was the bungee run (or whatever it's name might be) because it was fun to watch and it produced some different photos. Enjoy!

Side note: This was my first shoot with my new D3. The photos of the kids at the improv portion of the slideshow were shot at 6400 ISO on Normal jpeg. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this camera. :)

It's snowing, so let's play some hockey.

2011-01-27T12:59:00.002-05:00

The Garden's Ice House in Laurel seems to be one of the go-to places to play some ice hockey in this area, as I've been there 3 times recently. I feel like I've gotten better shots each time there, which is the way it should be.....so I'm satisfied. The home team side has a drastic lighting difference down by the goalie, which makes it nearly impossible to get a decent shot through the glass from that side. The other side is pretty well blocked off by a metal fence, so that pretty much limits you to the penalty boxes. Getting varying angles from one spot is a definite challenge, so you just gotta do your best. Hopefully next time there, I'll be able to say I did even better than this one. Enjoy.

The countdown to April begins...

2011-01-15T22:58:00.003-05:00

Well, in the wake of my football season ending, I'm making a blog post to update from what I've done the last couple of weeks. The other option would be go out and do something harmful to people wearing Steelers stuff, so I'll stay in and try to contain myself.

My last blog entry was a random assortment of the things I'd done between the holidays and this is sort of similar. I have been photographing some indoor track, some basketball, and some elementary candid photos. Been working quite a bit, but it's been fun. More frequent updates coming soon.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-26T20:12:00.002-05:00

Well, I haven't posted a blog since Thanksgiving, and I wanted to show a little of what I've done since then. In this slideshow, there are photos from several different shoots. First is a basketball game that produced a slightly more difficult challenge than most. I was requested to make sure I get photos of the student section, which they dubbed the "Bird Cage." See if you can find Creepy Blue Santa, in said Bird Cage. But the challenge came in lighting the situation. I only had access to two flashes and the lighting in the gym was disgusting (hence the reason the one photo is in b&w). Accompany that, with the fact that this was a rivalry game with a packed gym, and there were limited spots to set up my lights. I chose to go with one light stand (don't yell at me, Ryan), and clamp a flash below the regularly mounted flash, and point one at the court and the other at the student section, which was located directly behind the basket. Fun stuff. By the way.....frame number 1.......that's cheating.

Second, is from an engagement session I did, down in Brewer's Hill in Baltimore. It was cold, but they were troopers! After that is a student/faculty basketball game. #17 just caught my eye because that's two different basketballs. Somebody else shot the higher one, and it just looked like a digital enhancement to me. I was still testing exposures when I shot this, so it's not the best exposure in the world, but I wanted to include the shot. Next is from a hockey game at the Garden's Ice House in Laurel. Pretty self explanatory. And, finally there are a few shots from a holiday concert. I think I encountered a fake santa in #33...

As always, comments are appreciated!

I'm thankful for...

2010-11-25T20:58:00.002-05:00

On this wonderful Thanksgiving Day, like every other, you will inevitably be asked one question. "What are you thankful for this year?"

Of course, everybody LOVES to go around the dinner table, especially with people they barely know (sometimes) and say something very cheesy....like, 'family' or something. Ha!

What I'm thankful for, is the fact that my job sometimes doesn't feel like a job. That's the whole reason I got into photography, and I hope it stays like this. When I photograph a sporting event, it's not work to me. Especially when I have an all expenses paid trip to Minneapolis! The only thing that would make something like this better, would be decent lighting! The dome was torture. Apparently it's about a full stop brighter when the sun is out, but the day I photographed in there, it was severely overcast and gross outside. Add on to that, that I was having focus issues with one camera, and a shutter that was acting like a little baby because of the temperature, and it definitely made it difficult to get solid images. I tried. This is what I came up with.

By the way...the guy in #3 got his wish the next day. :)

More Futbol

2010-11-23T01:42:00.002-05:00

A couple weekends ago, I shot the Division 3 NJCAA Women's soccer finals....or, at least some of it. Scheduling conflicts and nasty weather didn't make the process smooth, but we got the job done. Day one, I was able to shoot on a nice beautiful turn at Anne Arundel Community College. I had some space to go up in the stand for a different perspective and everything. The only problem that occurred was that the sun couldn't make up it's mind if it wanted to come out of not. I actually shot aperture priority ::gasp:: for the majority of the day.

The next day I shot......they played on the field that they were originally supposed to play all the games on. Now, I'm sure this new field is nice and good to play on when everything is perfect, but it wasn't. It monsooned a few days before this game and the field still hadn't drained completely and it some spots, at all! Definitely made for some cool shots with the mud and whatnot, but there weren't any face first flops or anything like that. Bummer. Nevertheless.....my job always beats working. Check out the images captured (and don't whine about how many there are!).

P.S. - Some of these images are in desperate need of captions. Feel free to give the image number and caption (hopefully humorous). Start with #11, the mirror image #34, or my favorite #47.

More football! It's that time of year.

2010-10-25T23:36:00.002-04:00

High school football is frustrating to shoot. Most of the time you're begging for just one more stop of light.....but....that's asking a lot. Sometimes you get what Sparrows Point pulled. The rental lights. Usually a good 20 feet or so lower than a regular light setup, which creates a wonderful flare in 90% of the possible shooting angles. And, uneven lighting. And, uneven cycling between the different lights. There was about a 3 stop difference between the two 40 yard lines (facing different ways, but still). And, if you were at peace with the shooting conditions, there's always the smell and noise that accompanies those amazing lights. Good times.

Still got some interesting photos. Most of them came before the game or on the sidelines though! The game was delayed about 45 minutes due to the girls soccer game before it, so the football team warmed up in the darkness behind the field. Some light sneaked through and made me kinda happy though. Check 'em out!

Let's hit a round.

2010-10-25T23:23:00.002-04:00

To add some diversity to my blog posts, here are some shots from a recent golf outing that I photographed. A very sunny day, and kids with very orange shirts, really does a number on your coloring, but it's all right. I still got to work on a golf course! And, I got to drive a cart! Doesn't get much better.

Broncos @ Ravens

2010-10-19T21:51:00.002-04:00

Finally, I was able to get to last weekend's Ravens game that I photographed! A very busy week has set things back a little bit, but there will be a few more posts in the next week or so.

Ravens won pretty easily, so it made the day fun! The lighting conditions were not nearly as friendly as the last game I did. And, yes 'everybody'....I have edited myself down a little. 25 images. It also helps to edit everything down a little bit when the winning team has 4 rushing touchdowns...and 3 of them are 1 yarders.

What also made this day of shooting fun, was that the players were wearing the Breast Cancer Awareness gear. Pink shoes and gloves on all the players, is actually a pretty cool thing to see. I normally don't do the black and white with some color, editing technique, but I thought the one shot of Donte Stallworth called for it.

That's all. Enjoy!

Back to Sunday football!

2010-09-27T23:28:00.002-04:00

This Sunday, I was able to photograph my first Ravens game. I'm a huge Ravens fan, so this posed a more difficult task than it probably should have. I'm also pretty ridiculously superstitious, so there was just a lot going on in my mind, as you can imagine. As a photographer, you can never get 'every' shot. Sometimes I feel like I miss more shots than I should, but for my first two NFL games, I've been pretty happy with my work.

The only thing I didn't like was, two weeks ago when I did the Eagles/Packers game, they let us on the field for the player intros. The Ravens have it set up where only the 'talented' photographers can be on the field. :)

Still, Ray does a complete 360 when he gets introduced, so everybody has a fair shot of getting a good photo of him. Anyway, I'm not gonna lie.....that moment really got my heart racing. It's one thing to watch his intro on TV or from the stands, but it was the coolest thing ever, seeing it on the field. I can't wait to see it again!! In the meantime, check out the photos and let me know what you think!

For the love of the game

2010-09-24T00:14:00.002-04:00

Thought I'd share a few images from a recent football game. A little more effort in post, just to see what things would look like. I also ended up liking the pregame and non-action shots better than what I got during the game. That's usually true because of the "lighting" they have at high schools anyway.

Good tune up for this weekend!

NFL Week 1!

2010-09-18T11:49:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, I got the chance to photograph my first NFL game, and it was amazing! I really didn't know what to expect because I'm such a huge football fan, and I know being down there, you can only be in one spot at a time, and therefore might miss some of the awesomeness that they show on tv. But.....you also get to see a lot of things they DON'T show on tv. For the most part, I was trying to focus on the game, and not try to hear coaches cussing at players and stuff, but you hear what you hear. :)

I thought the photos came out pretty good, and the company I was shooting for was very happy. I can't wait to get to another game....and fortunately for me, I'll be in Baltimore for the next one. I'm going to have a hard time taking any photos of Browns players...

First time for everything

2010-09-17T00:13:00.003-04:00

Another first. This time, it's badminton. Definitely took a little getting used to, but once I sorta got the hang of it, I ended up with some usable shots. Still more updates coming including my first NFL game! Stay tuned.

Back to work

2010-09-12T09:41:00.002-04:00

Time for an update. I haven't had a blog entry in a while, and I've been doing a lot of shooting, so it's time to post some photos. There's a lot more coming in the next couple of days, so stay tuned.

Seeing Red

2010-07-18T21:11:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, I got to photograph the Phillies game when the Reds were in town. As you can tell, there was a lot of red in the stadium on this day. Really wreaked havoc on my white balance, but that's just a minor problem when you're photographing a baseball game, I guess. :)

I've only done a handful of pro games in my career, but half of them have been 1-0 finals. That can be a good thing, if there's good defensive plays and such, but if all you have are strikeouts and can o'corn fly balls, you're a little stuck.

There were two replay reviews, which is where the Joey Votto stretching photo came from. Tthe Phanatic will always produce fun photos. And, around 4 o'clock, the sun comes in at an interesting angle. I was going to go up in the stands to get a shot of Lidge (slide 29) with his shadow behind him, but, again, when you're final is 1-0 things move a little faster than you expect! Still like the one I got of Lidge though. One other note about Lidge. I've never heard anybody who's had so much success, get booed by his home crowd as much as Lidge did when he came in. In 2008 he was 41 for 41 in save chances! Now, granted, he was pretty much terrible last year, but still. Philly needs to lighten up a little! I guess if Santa Claus doesn't have a chance, Brad Lidge doesn't either.

Vacation in Bonaire

2010-07-11T00:15:00.002-04:00

If you are ever sick of your life, do yourself a favor and go to Bonaire. It's a small island in the Caribbean, near Aruba, and it's a pleasant place to be. People are nice, and there's a ton of stuff to take pictures of. The food is good, and they also have funny money (which is about to be obsolete soon). It's actually not that funny, but as an American, if it's not U.S. Dollars, it's 'funny.' :)

Anyway, check out the photos. I took over 2,000 photos, and I probably put too many in the blog here, but there was a lot to show! We fed some iguanas, set up a remote camera for some birds (with mild success), saw some flamingos, goats, and donkeys. Cactus fences and coral beaches....two things I'd never seen before as well. Enjoy!

P.S. - take a look at the photos that have a black and white appearance. I assure you, they are full color copies (there's one with a sunset, where everything else around it looks b&w). An interesting effect.

Mets vs. Orioles

2010-06-16T23:52:00.002-04:00

The New York Mets visited Baltimore over the weekend. It was good to see professional baseball in Baltimore, for a change. David Wright is really good. So good, in fact, that it was hard to get good photos of him. He spent most of the game jogging around the bases!

Anyway, about the slideshow. I missed a couple of shots, I wished I had gotten. I guess I'll never be satisfied with my work. I think I got some good close ups of people though. Andy MacPhail is the old white guy that's not in a uniform, in case anybody was wondering. I'm pretty sure Jose Reyes is the most photogenic person on the planet. And, David Wright certainly cannot keep his tongue in his mouth.

All in all, the Mets won the ballgame (obvi). Kevin Millwood is STILL winless on the season. And, I got into a completely unnecessary argument with one of the ushers. But, that's an entirely different blog...

Still a great day!

Prom Night

2010-05-18T21:56:00.002-04:00

Well, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd throw something together. Last week, I photographed Thomas McKean HS prom at the University of Delaware....hence the name of the slideshow. :)

Maybe I over-did it with the masquerade things, but oh well. That was the theme! A few interesting photos turned out. I didn't do a whole lot of shooting as the kids were arriving because it poured for the majority of the evening and kids were coming in soaked. I wanted to photograph some kids running through the rain and stuff, but there was also hail, and the wind was blowing, and it was cozy inside, and I just wasn't in the elements-fighting mode.

O's sweep the Sox!

2010-05-04T01:21:00.002-04:00

Sunday was a pretty cool day for me. I got to photograph my first Orioles game. Didn't matter that Wieters, Youkilis, & V Martinez were out of the starting lineup. Didn't matter that it was a sweaty 90 degrees and I didn't have any water with me. Didn't matter that I didn't bring a stool and I had to kneel on the concrete the whole time. It DID matter that the Luke Scott foul ball missed hitting me in the head by about 2 inches. Whatever happened was fine with me, because I was doing something I've always wanted to do. I'm just one more step closer to being where I want to be, and I learned a lot from all that happened. The photos came out a little more plain than I would have liked, but I was honestly a little wide-eyed the whole time. Check out the photos. Hopefully there will be more to come in the next few weeks!

Lions and Tigers and.....Pink Stuff

2010-04-25T21:58:00.002-04:00

Saturday's lacrosse game between Towson and Penn State featured some great lacrosse, but also featured some pink shoes, sticks and sweatbands. Obviously the pink gear was in support of the fight against breast cancer. I tried to make sure and grab a couple shots to show the athletes' supporting the fight. Check out the photos. Let me know what you think.

Enough Lacrosse. Let's see some softball.

2010-04-16T12:45:00.002-04:00

I don't know what it is, but lately all I've been photographing are blowouts! Once it's 15-0 in the third inning of a softball game, you start to experiment a little more. Here's a little of what I played around with yesterday.

We Want More......Lacrosse!

2010-04-10T23:59:00.003-04:00

I don't know if you've ever been to a Hopkins lacrosse game or not, but after they score a goal, the band plays their little song and at the end of it, the fans yell out the number of goals they've scored in the game, followed by "we want more!" Well, after Hopkins scores 19 TIMES, it gets a little tiresome. :)

But, it's all good and here are some decent shots from today's game anyway. No need to thank me for leaving out the audio...

Hot Stinkin' Lacrosse

2010-04-05T19:36:00.002-04:00

Honestly, there's not a whole lot of things that I enjoy more than photographing lacrosse games on a sunny day. They need to allow the women's game to get more physical, but it's still fun, regardless.

Lacrosse Fever

2010-03-20T20:40:00.002-04:00

You gotta love this weather we're having! After all this snow, it's wonderful to start spring off in the 70's! Mmmmm hmmmm!

Not a very exciting game here. UMBC came in with a 1-4 record, and Maryland came in undefeated at 5-0. Those records definitely indicated how this game went. But, I'm not complaining. Lacrosse is lacrosse and good weather is good weather.

Lots of Lacrosse!

2010-03-08T20:07:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to photograph the Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium. 3 games, and they were a great follow up to the first game that I photographed this year. Game 1 was Duke vs. Maryland. Final score....11-10 in OT, Maryland won it. Game 2 was Princeton vs. Johns Hopkins. Final score...11-10 in OT, Princeton won it. Game 3 was literally tied at 9 with about 4 minutes to go. When Notre Dame scored their next goal, I thought for sure we were going to go to overtime tied at 10. But, alas, Notre Dame score once more in regulation to put it away. Final score was Notre Dame - 11 and Loyola - 9. Pretty impressive day of lacrosse. Hopefully the magazine prints some of my shots!

And, having said all of this, I have one more treat for you. A new slideshow! That's right, Ryan! I figured it out!

Drumroll, Please...

P.S. - don't mind the "headline here" things. Too much time to go back. Nothing in the future will say that, I promise!

Bucknell @ Towson

2010-02-27T20:55:00.002-05:00

Ahhh, my first lacrosse game of the year. The beginning of the lax season is always cold, but it's good to be shooting outdoors again. No more of that horrible 'boy' smell that you get in gymnasiums. Just fresh air. Unitas Stadium was filled with snow still, and it really messed with exposures. It also created an ugly background in the areas where the melting of the snow was spotty. Nevertheless, it was a great game to start the season with. Towson, in my opinion, looked like the better team, but lost control of the game in the last 5 minutes. The final score was 13-9, Bucknell. Check out my slideshow on here, and you'll also be able to view it at www.insidelacrosse.com.

SMAC Wrestling Championship

2010-02-21T20:46:00.002-05:00

In the slideshow, are just a few shots from yesterday's SMAC (Southern Maryland Athletic Conference) Wreslting Championship. I was doing a little experimenting, while the school I was shooting for, wasn't wrestling. I also did something I've never done, which is shoot entirely with the 300mm lens (for wrestling). Basically, I chose to do that, because I've shot wrestling for this school 2 other times in the past month and a half, and I figured I got enough of the wide shots. I'll try to get some tight action shots.

Anyway, as you'll see, I did some playing with light direction and whatnot. Also, I was fortunate to be there, with guest referee Adam West. Haha.

Another update coming soon.

Snow Dogs

2010-02-10T00:52:00.002-05:00

I wouldn't say my dogs 'love' the snow. But, they know how to have fun whatever they're doing. This is a fairly sizable gallery. Almost 40 photos, I believe. I just couldn't leave some of them out. These dogs make some ridiculous faces. Maddy's 'shaking off' faces are crazy. And, she also tried to push her mama off a ledge! Just....take a peek.

P.S. - don't mind the black and white image. I overexposed it by about 3 stops and tried to bring it back down in lightroom, and ended up desaturating it to where it got this weird spotlight effect. I meant to take it out of the gallery, but realized I'm not ambitious enough to go back and get rid of it. Anyway, enjoy!

2010-02-01T17:10:00.002-05:00

This is Heather. She's a famous Hollywood actress who wanted to me to do some headshots of her over the weekend. Ok....she's not a Hollywood actress.....yet. But, we did the photos anyway. After the headshots, she agreed to take part in a snow throwing/kicking frenzy for the benefit of my photographic intrigue. And, I like bridges. It was win/win for me on this shoot!

Not something you see every day.

2010-01-27T20:42:00.004-05:00

Ambiguous. Inscrutable. Ineffable. All words that come to mind when you see a speed limit 24 sign. Ohhhh, New Jersey....what don't you do?

More Swimming

2010-01-20T22:53:00.001-05:00

Back at the pool. I found this one a little more difficult to maneuver around the athletes, as I was searching for different angles and so on, than the other swim meets I've photographed. I also experimented with the fisheye a little, though it's not such a good idea during the actual races because you would have to be a little too close to the action to get anything useful.

Paint the town Purple

2010-01-05T22:13:00.002-05:00

Today, the fine, hard-working folks who work for the Ravens, painted Baltimore purple. Basically, they just painted a Ravens logo on the lawn at City Hall, and on Federal Hill, but that's good enough! I was able to make it over for the Fed Hill portion of the day. Didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleased with what I ended up seeing. I got to see some real live ravens, a big fake raven, and I got a free lanyard. Oh....I took some photos too.

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-03T00:13:00.002-05:00

New Year's Eve night, we were hired by an organization to photograph portraits for people that attended their New Year's party. I decided to conduct a simple little experiment, where I brought along a white board with the words "My New Year's Resolution is...." written on it, and people would fill in the blank and let me snap their photo. Just to see what types of different responses I would get, and have a little fun. Turned out pretty good. Here are some of my favorites. What's yours?

(you probably have to pause the last one)

Terps Women vs. UNC-Wilmington

2009-12-30T14:47:00.002-05:00

University of Maryland women's basketball team took on UNC Wilmington in the Comcast Center last night. It's dark in that building, so I had to bump the ISO all the way up for these shots. Good experience, but I would like to know what it's like to use the strobes in there sometime.

Some random photos

2009-12-26T17:51:00.002-05:00

Here's a small collection of random photos from the past couple of months. I'm just looking for feedback on them. All feedback is welcome. Thanks!

To the Chapel

2009-12-18T23:34:00.002-05:00

In my opinion, December weddings are stupid. Unless you live in San Diego or something. But, I don't. I live in Baltimore, and here....December weddings are stupid. The thing I most enjoy about photographing weddings, is taking the bride and groom outside, between the ceremony and reception and doing fun photos. With December weddings, it's almost impossible to get people to go outside for more than 5 minutes without too many complaints. Don't get me wrong, the people from this wedding were nice and cool, but I could tell they didn't really want to be outside. In this slideshow, you'll see a few of my favorites from this wedding. I was pretty limited with time, and obviously my environmental settings, and so on. But, we did end up with a few pretty cool shots. Take a look at the cake though. Do you like it? You should...

It's made by the one and only Duff Goldman, star of the hit show 'Ace of Cakes.' Pretty cool, right? The roses on there, looked like actual roses. It was insane. Unfortunately, Duff was not there to present the cake, but his camera crew was, and they were really cool. I talked to a them each (4 guys total), and they could not have been nicer. Basically, they were there just to photograph the bride and groom's reaction to seeing the cake for the first time, and do a little interview asking what they thought of it and stuff. Overall, a pretty cool experience for everybody.

Let's go swimming!

2009-12-06T17:11:00.003-05:00

I've been working in professional photography for the last 5 years now. I was doing photography in school before that for an additional 5 years. I have been in my current position at work for the last 2 years. I guess that's why it came as a shock to some of my colleagues recently, when I told them that I had never photographed a swim meet before. Well, yesterday, I did happen to photograph my first swim meet, and I think it went pretty well. I got there pretty early, partially to let my gear get used to the temperature, and partially to figure out shooting angles, and ask where I can go and what I can use, without getting thrown out. I was told that I could not use flash, which really bummed me out, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

As for the actual photos, I would love some feedback. I like the effect you get when the swimmers are under water, and you get the natural photoshop ripple filter. :)

Also, the diving, to me was the hardest to get good shots of. Focus was an issue at first, and then angles, and timing. Basically, everything became a factor when shooting the divers. I did, end up with an interesting 'off the frame' shot though.

Then, there's the disappearing face (which i'm sure is common, but i liked it anyway), the time exposure, and the pan (which, after about 100 tries, i think i got a good one). Pretty fun day, but I'm bringing deodorant with me next time.

Soccer Championships....in the Rain

2009-12-01T22:36:00.002-05:00

Recently, I photographed the 3A and 4A high school soccer championships at UMBC. The first night, it was RAINY and then went to FOGGY. The caps have to be there, because there was no in between. An interesting thing happens when you photograph in the rain, with other photographers around. You get to see how creative and/or successful certain photographers are, when it comes to protecting their gear. I, myself, have the Think Tank Rainshield for my 300mm lens. Best money I've ever spent, other than my 'Steelers Suck' t-shirt. :)

Before I got my Rainshield, I looked like everybody else that was there. I struggled, trying to keep a dollar store plastic bag on my 80-200, along with my camera body. Yes, I was embarrassed to use it, but you gotta do what you gotta do in this business sometimes. If you can afford a fancy rain cover (and by 'fancy' i mean, a film changing bag that has been strategically cut to fit a camera with a long lens on it....and don't forget the hole for your viewfinder), go ahead and get one. But, as long as it's not windy, you should be able to keep your stuff dry with a plastic bag. Just...when you can....upgrade.

So, I shot what I could this night, and the rain definitely helped some of the images become more interesting. I didn't get any good shots of anybody sliding and kicking up water all over the place, which is what I wanted to get, but I still think I ended up with some good shots. The fog made it difficult, for the men's game. I honestly couldn't get anything clear beyond 25 feet. Check out the slideshow and see for yourself.

Pet Photography

2009-11-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

Photographing your pets is always fun. Sometimes it's a little frustrating (for many different possible reasons), but in the end, if you persevere, you should get some good shots. My dogs are......interesting to photograph. One is a little camera shy, even though he always wants the most attention. The little jerk knows that, since he's dark in color, that I can't get as good of a photo of him (if I'm shooting natural light), if he sits in the dark. The other two.......they love the sunshine. They also couldn't care less if I'm pointing a camera at them. And, while they're chewing on their chewies, all you gotta do is make the little kissy sound, and they look right at you. Dance, puppets, dance.

So, recently I was taking some photos of natural light indoors and outdoors. At first, I wasn't all that psyched about how the ones from outdoors would come out, because the sun was completely gone, and the light was getting a little too flat. However, the shots came out great, and Maddy, the little model that she is, made some wonderful faces for me. You will notice, however, that there is a shot in here that was shot with a flash. I wanted to include it because it's.......well, just look at it. We were getting ready for the Ravens game, and got some doggie hair dye to give the pooches purple mohawks. Jack was a trooper and was rewarded with a treat, for getting his little mohawk. I will answer your questions now. Yes, that's his real head (no photoshop). And, yes, he's that creepy. :)

MMA in Glen Burnie

2009-11-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

Mixed martial arts, or MMA, recently became legal in the wonderful state of Maryland, USA. I had the 'pleasure' of being able to photograph the 2nd ever MMA event in the state. Much to the chagrin, of (seemingly) everybody in there. But, hey! I did it! I didn't know what to expect, and honestly, it wasn't quite as entertaining as I was hoping. I think, maybe, it was just some inexperienced guys, who need a little more training, because each of the 6 fights ended in the first round. Pretty astounding. The ring sluts (i think that's their official name) even made a 'joke' by picking up the Round cards and walking around the crowd, just to say they did something. Overall, it was a good experience, but I wish the fights were longer. It definitely affected the quality of my photos, as well as the obnoxious yellow mat they fight on. Really leaves a muddy, yellow, shadowy hue to the skin tones and looks kinda ugly. Did what I could though. Check out the shots. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

First Entry

2009-11-02T18:03:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog entry. Look at me now, 2004! So, I'm a photographer in the Baltimore area and I have been searching for countless ways to promote myself. I'm trying to become a successful sports photographer and I haven't been able to find that right person to show my work to....or whatever it takes (within reason)....to get me to where I need to be.

Anyway, I just wanted to see if this "blogging" thing was worth it. Everybody is always all "dude, blog." "Dude...where's your blog?" And I'm all, "uhhh....dude?"

So, we'll start off with some shots I took in Baltimore recently. Playing with lighting and things around. It was getting dark when I was on the photo prowl, so I didn't get a chance to do too much. Take a look.