PGA US Open 2013

I had the opportunity to attend Wednesday’s practice round of the PGA US Open and I captured some exciting action during the day. It was a lot of fun to be with these big hitters of the Tour. Merion Golf Course is not long but it is not easy either. Just look at that sand trap!

The golfers were out on the course checking yardages and conditions. The dirt was flying as divots were created. It was a day of sizing up the complicated course and fine-tuning one’s game in preparation for the opening round that began the next day.

These athletes are strong: just look at the bend in this club as the force generated from the swing impacts the golf ball.

Merion Golf Course is not only a demanding course; it is beautiful as well. The history and beauty of the course brought the US Open to Pennsylvania this year. It is one of the four major events on the Tour and it looks to be a very exciting and entertaining weekend!

Ernie Els hit this shot in the late afternoon. The background shows one of the many sand traps that are strategically located throughout the course. Greens are protected by these bunkers, some water, and rough, which is tall and thick. Staying in the fairways is imperative!

Enroute from the second green to the third tee, Matt Kuchar flips a ball to himself.

I captured many more photographs at the US Open. They can be viewed here:
http://www.bobshankphotography.com/Gallery%20Photos/PGA%20US%20Open%202013/

He’s Out!

Today’s Legion baseball game featured the Birches at East Stroudsburg. The game was played on the East Stroudsburg University field. East Stroudsburg won 7-2. There was a great photo I captured at first base where a base runner was sliding headfirst back to the bag. The dust is flying, the first baseman is applying the tag, and the runner’s hand is just about to touch the bag. I think it is a really cool shot. What do you think?

This was the second Legion game I photographed in the new season. Now that the high school season is over, these games are in full swing. I posted all the photos from these past two games on my website and you can view all the photos of the games here: http://bobshankphotography.com/Legion%202013.html

There is something special about the challenge of capturing the action at a baseball game. The action is quick and sometimes elusive. You always have to be ready for anything! Planning ahead, figuring out which base the ball might be thrown to, and staying constantly alert are key elements for sports photography. I am getting better and building a stronger portfolio these days. I just need to keep my head in the game and keep trying harder and harder!

Photo of the Month Hits Newstands!

Some of you may not know that I have another website called Perfect Game Photos. This site features my sports photography, which is a fast-growing area of my photographic interests. Six of my photos were published in our daily newspaper, The Pocono Record, this past week!

The Perfect Game Photos website is a collection of my favorite sports photographs captured at exciting moments. I believe that each game has a unique story to tell and it’s our job as sports photographers to capture the exciting action of the players and the plays as they unfold.

The name, “Perfect Game Photos,” comes from two similar and connected ideas. First, and most obvious, a pitcher in baseball can pitch a perfect game. This is a very big deal for the fans, the team, and especially, the pitcher. Similarly, as a sports photographer I try to have a perfect game behind the viewfinder every time out. What I mean by this is I try to capture the exciting moments of the plays as they unfold and I want to capture the action in clear focus to help make the play a memory for a lifetime! Second, when I played ball back in the day, I set a high goal for each game: I wanted to bat perfectly at the plate, getting a hit every time at the plate, score a run every time I got on base, and play error-free in the field. I’m not sure I ever once met this high standard, but it was a great motivator to help me play at my highest level. Now, when I am shooting a game, I want my photography to be at the highest level, too! So, these are the two reasons why my sports photography website is named Perfect Game Photos.

Each month I try to post the best photo of the month. It’s not a fancy name, but I hope it displays some of my best work and shows my ability to capture the exiting action on the field. You can see the current photo of the month to see what I am talking about.

Take a moment to check out my sports photography website. And if you get a chance, drop me a line to let me know what you think about it. I am continuing to hone my skills in capturing the action and I am beginning to gain wider exposure by working with the Pocono Record. Some day I hope to capture the perfect photo!

First Round District 11 Playoffs – Bangor @ Pleasant Valley

Pleasant Valley’s Jordan Caffrey slides into third on the way to victory over Bangor in the first round of District 11 playoffs.

The Pleasant Valley hosted Bangor for the first round of District 11 playoffs. It was a beautiful, sunny day–a great day to play baseball! The Bears struck first and scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. It was a good game on many levels. PV’s starting pitcher, Dan Hrbek, pitched a one-hit game through 6 innings. Bases were loaded with no out in the top of the 4th inning on two walks and the one hit, but Hrbek pitched out of trouble with three straight strikeouts!

Pitcher, Dan Hrbek, throws to first base on a grounder back at him.

Bangor’s third baseman, Ryan Hydock, hit a solo home run off relief pitcher, Howie Stevens, in the bottom of the 7th. But that was the lone threat Bangor was able to mount in this playoff game. It was a pretty solid game from both sides, but PV prevailed through regulation to win 5-1.

There was a scary moment, however, in the bottom of the 5th inning. With Dan Hrbek on first base with a walk,  James Shank stepped up to the plate. Shank swung at the first pitch to protect Hrbek, who stole second base. Then the count went to 1-2. The next pitch tailed to the inside of the right-handed batter and hit the bill of Shank’s helmet, breaking it with a clean break! Shank fell to the ground after the ball bounced off the helmet, hit is cheek, and then caromed off his shoulder. These sequence of photos show the scary action…

Two More Photos Published with the Pocono Record!

Pocono Mountain East players celebrate victory over Stroudsburg 7-4 in the MVC Championship.

This photograph appeared on the front page of the sports section in the Pocono Record on Friday, May 17th. My photo took up half the page!

Pocono Mountain East won the game against Stroudsburg 7-4. It was the very first MVC Championship title for East. I was given the opportunity to cover the story with my camera and arrived at the field early to check in and get into position. I first had to coordinate with the sports writer to get the lineups for both sides. Having the names and numbers is imperative for writing accurate captions, which is an entire art in itself. Fortunately, one of my textbooks from Temple University covers this in-depth and offers great suggestions and examples for learning how to write better captions. I also had great training when I was a student there but I am still learning, too.

The game was an exciting one. Every time Stroudsburg seemed to gain momentum, Pocono Mountain East took it away with a timely out, and in one inning, an inning-ending double play! Things got really exciting in the bottom of the last inning. Stroudsburg scored one run but couldn’t string together the hits and rbi’s needed to take the lead. At the end of the game, with the final out secure, the players from East started their victory celebration. Fortunately, I had my camera ready and captured many shots, two of which appeared in the Pocono Record, our local newspaper, on Friday.

Pocono Mountain East pitcher, Austin Kollar, delivers a pitch in his save to secure the victory over Stroudsburg.

I am getting hooked on sports photography! I’ve enjoyed it for many years and think my repertoire is growing enough to allow me to capture the critical moments in these games. I’ve said a while ago that I wanted to take my photography to the next level. This week I think I did!

Here is a photograph of my photo as it appeared in the newspaper:

Pocono Record featuring my photograph on the top half of the front page in the sports section.

You can see the actual article here.

My First Photograph Published in the Pocono Record

I have a strong passion and interest in sports photography. When I was finishing up my first photography class at Temple University, my final project was on sports photography. I did okay in the class, but my photographs for this project helped my final grade immensely! I shadowed a photographer at a weekly newspaper for a day and one of the assignments was to photograph a Donegal High School baseball game. I remember that event and the excitement of trying to capture the action on the field. I was hooked!

Now, many years later, I can think of few things I’d rather do in my spare time than photograph a sporting event. I like sports to begin with and I believe every game has a unique story that unfolds as the players put their game on the field. Our job as sports photographers is to record the unique storyline of the game and capture the exciting action of the players!

Over the past five years I’ve enjoyed photographing the baseball games for Pleasant Valley High School. I photograph as many games as possible each season and then show a presentation of my best photos for their end-of-year banquet. I also create collages for the seniors each year as a special remembrance of their final season. Previously, I was the photographer for the Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Recently, I signed on with the Pocono Record to be one of their freelance photographers. I just had my first photograph published with them today! You can see my photograph here:

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130515/SPORTS/305150331/-1/SPORTS

I am very excited to share my photography passion in this way. I am at the games already and can provide some special coverage of the games with my camera. I hope to grow in my photographic abilities as I share my game-day art with others!

These Old Photos Bring Back Some Strong Memories!

I went to college at Temple University and graduated with a degree in Journalism. This education has helped me literally every week of my professional life. I went off to graduate school the same year I graduated from Temple.  One night, while I was in my dorm room in Pittsburgh and thinking about the required papers and class load of school, I heard some sirens. It wasn’t the usual, city siren passing by from an ambulance or single fire truck. No, this was a full-blown 5-alarm fire and I could see the flames from my dorm room window! So, I grabbed my camera and ran the seven city blocks to photograph the fire and firefighters who were working feverishly to put it out.

My mind raced back in time to my first photography class at Temple University. Our professor instructed us to always have our camera with us. On this night, I was very happy to have my camera with me. I started taking a few shots as I got closer to the fire. It was a cold December night and it was dark.

The flames were already completely out of hand and engulfing the row house. Firefighters were laying down hoses and keeping steady streams of gallons of water flowing onto the structure. Fortunately, no one was inside the home that night. I kept taking photographs as I changed angles every now and then to get different perspectives.

I did not mind the cold air one bit. Besides, the flames from this fire were heating up the whole block! So I persistently and patiently photographed the flames behind the firetrucks, which were parked in the middle of the street. I never saw such a large fire in my lifetime. This was big!

Not every shot worked and since this was back in the slide-film days, I wasn’t sure I actually was getting anything usable. My training and education from Temple, however, prepared me better than I could have imagined. The thrill of being the only photographer on location was exhilarating for me. Then, my eyes noticed something special. I saw a firefighter on top of a fire truck aiming a water cannon toward the fire. This alone was nothing unusual, but he was situated just beyond a beautifully backlit  instrument panel. Here is the photograph I captured:

I think it works pretty well to show the tireless work of these firefighters and the equipment they use to fight the fires. I did not realize the power of this image until I had the film developed and opened the box of slides. As I looked carefully at each slide, this one just popped out at me. It was my favorite one of the entire shoot.

The next day I went back to photograph the charred remains of the row house, as you can see here in this photograph.

The damage was devastating but at least no lives were lost. I got to bed much later that cold, December night and it was well worth it! I captured the consuming flames, the lights of the firetrucks, the efforts of the firefighters, and even the aftermath of this incredible fire.

I actually pretty much forgot this event until earlier this week when I dusted off my Photojournalism textbook for another photo project I am working on now. The textbook is entitled, “Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach,” by Kenneth Kobre. I started re-reading this textbook and came across an early chapter in the book about how to photograph fires. Incredibly, it was like these words were in my head and my actions that night. It was textbook! (Please pardon the pun.) Today, as I was scanning these slide images into my computer, I relived that night again after reading that specific chapter in my old textbook. I somehow took the words to heart and did just about everything mentioned in this section of the book.

That was the good news. Unfortunately, there was some rather sad news, as well. I did not even try to market my photos to the local newspaper that day. I suppose I was too busy with my classes in graduate school, but it certainly was an opportunity missed!

Lessons learned include:
1. Always have my camera with me
2. Learn to use existing light
3. Rely on my education; it was very good
4. Do not undervalue my photos or keep them to myself
5. Keep learning the craft & keep shooting!
6. Be a photojournalist!

I am a freelance photographer who is like wine–I am getting better with age! I now have many years of sports and wildlife photography under my belt, which I continue to enjoy. I also am branching out in new ways to some of the approaches I learned while attending Temple University. I am blessed. I see an event and I desperately desire to communicate that event in a visual way! I cannot wait for the next event to unfold!