PoD: Oops....

If your remember back a few weeks ago (two post down) I had a major fail from a recent high school track meet.

Well as you can see above I caught another. It was during the final hand-off for the 4x100 meter relay at this past Friday's LCAA track and field championships at the Hamilton Sports Complex in Caledonia.

Everybody was pushing hard to be in front and the team from Letchworth had best lane being the top seed. Though they found themselfs behind as the squad from Avon motored to the lead early and handed off to their anchor running well a head of the pack.

I feel bad for the Letchworth kid who's stumble just inches away from the hand-off cost the team. Though to be fair no body was going to catch Avon as they where just to far a head.

I chose to post this image over the others because you have three people looking at the Letchworth runner. His teammate, who is surprised to see the fall. A runner from Livonia who has just finished the hand-off and the kid from Dansville who is watching the fall rather than the hand-off.

I find it funny and amazing how quick everyones attention turns. In the frame before only Clifton, the teammate looking for the baton, is looking and in the next the two others attention has shifted. The frame before that no-one is looking not even Clifton who's attention is down the track.

So here is one of those agony of defeat photo's. With the sectional and state championships coming up for all the spring sports I know I'll see more.... and hopefully some thrill of victory. 

PoD: Up On The Roof Top......

For every picture there is a story of how the picture was made.

For the above image there is a slightly funny story behind me capturing this yesterday at Frontier Field in Rochester as fans pack the stadium to watch New York Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte on his come back from retirement.

I had made my plans as to what I wanted to capture during his innings and from what part of the stadium. While discussing this before the game with fellow shooter Mike Janes we both talked about finding a way to the very top of the stadium.

See at Frontier Field there is a platform on the roof. In the past we have asked to get access to that platform with the media director denying us access.

Both Janes and I figured this time we might get the answer we wanted with the size of the crowd and the new media director. So in the bottom half of the second inning I met up with Janes in the press-box where the access to the roof was.

We asked and got the yes we wanted.

I left all my gear behind but my Nikon D700 and my Sigma 14mm fish eye lens while Janes lugged up a Cannon setup that well was like lugging an actual cannon up the small, steep ladder. I'm not sure what cannon body Janes was using but he took up his 400mm f/2.8 lens.

Here's where it gets a little funny. The Wings staff unlocked the door to the ladder to get up to the roof. It is essentially a closet with a special ladder to the roof hatch. I should have taken a picture of this ladder and the closet/room.

So I climbed the ladder first, got through the hatch and climbed out onto the roof.

It felt like I was going to fall through.

After Janes cleared the hatch we figured out how to get to the catwalk and we made are way to the platform. Now both Janes and I are not small guys thhe platform was barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side with the small amount of camera gear that we each had. 

So here we are at the top of the stadium. I was a cool view. I know Janes got some cool images of Pettitte looking down on him and we both got the wide shots that we had talked about before the game.

The stadium was filled with a regular season single game record of 13,584. It was one of the main images I wanted from the day and it was awesome to get it and to get a spot in the stadium that very few people get to go to.

So then it was time to climb back down off the roof. While it was interesting climbing up getting back down was also a chore. Mainly because of the gear we had taken up with us.

Again it was a huge rush to get the chance to go up to that spot and I have to thank the media relations staff for letting us up there. 

PoD: Making a Splash

Saturday was the annual Fabian Invitational in Dansville. While it turned out to be a rather nice day it was very cold for this time of the year.

They run the steeplechase early in the meet. So on a day like they had where it's rather cold the water is down right freezing. This makes the race even more interesting as the runners become conscious of the frigid conditions. 

Most of the runners hit the water barrier in a two step motion. The jump onto the top and leap off as far as they can with the hope that they catch just a portion of the water.

The runner above attacked it a touch different.

He was hurdling the barrier in one motion. This worked for every lap but one.

On this time, his third lap, over the water barrier he caught his trail knee on the barrier. This caused him to do a summersault into the water and the big splash you see above.

He continued the race never deviating from his style to finish just outside of the top six. I was only giving the top six finishers so I'm not exactly sure what spot he finished but I know he stayed around the front the entire race even after the fall.

I talked with his coach after and he said that he was bruised but ok. He got lucky. Because he was near the front there was nobody directly behind him that could have landed on him. The next closest runner was to the right of him and had time to miss the incident.

So in the end I get a great splash down image and the runner "walks" away with just a few bruises.

PoD: Interesting Reflections

I've been known to grab photo's of various reflections in objects over the years. From someone's sunglasses to chrome bumpers I have noticed and photographed many interesting reflections.

Above is one I noticed last night while cleaning some camera gear. I'll leave the mystery for those who don't know what it is that is reflected.

Though to help out the mystery I will ad another picture that was also taken last night.

I was first made aware of the reflection below months ago by my mother. I had though about taking the picture on several occasion but with noticing the above image last night I figured it was a good time to catch the one below too.

If you are stumped on what it is you can send an e-mail or comment and I will gladly fill you in but until then here are the images.

The Big Dance

I haven't posted for a while but after this past weekends events I felt it was a good time for a new entry.

Sunday the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team qualify for the NCAA tournament following their win in the A10 championship game.

It was the first time since 2000 that the Bonnies made the tourney and they truly deserve it.

While I'm a diehard Syracuse fan I also pull for the underdog Bonnies who's campus is just under an hour from my house.

They have had success there but the past decade they have seen the program fall on hard times.

Their current head coach Mark Schmidt has done a masterful job rebuilding the program and their current star, senior Andrew Nicholson has been the pillar that this small D-I school in a small city in the Southern Tier of New York has needed.

It was a fun place for me when I got to go cover games.

Unlike Syracuse it's a small gym and very relaxed. The Bonnies get very little press being in the A10 so there tends to be a lot of elbow room for guy's like me on the baseline shooting away. It is just a different atmosphere but for it's small size the student section can be just as wild.

So here's to St. Bonaventure, their coach and players and the boost that making the tournament will give to the program and the community. 

This weekend also saw the boys basketball team from Olean knock off a team that I cover (the Wayland-Cohocton Eagles) to advance to the Class B state semi-finals. It a funny twist St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt's son is a guard starting of the Huskies.

Also in a twist Way-Co alum Tom Baldwin played for St. Bonaventure and was on the 1970 team that made the final four.

So I guess it's a good week to be from Olean, and a bitter-sweet one for Bonnies fans from Wayland.