View 98: We are the Champions!

Celebrating 100 years of Baldwinsville High School football, the B’ville Bees varsity football team ran over the Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) by a score of 30-12 in the Carrier Dome on the Syracuse University campus to claim the New York State Section III Football Championship.

B'ville (Baldwinsville) Bees Football team celebrates the New York State Section III Championship in the Carrier Dome.

Running behind a dominating offensive line, Malik Burks (1) ran for 243 yards on 43 rushing attempts and scored 3 touchdowns.  The Bees defense shut down the CBA passing attack in the second half who lead at halftime 12-8.  As an alum of Baldwinsville, I was proud of the team and how they came from behind to win.

Click Here for More Photos from the Baldwinsville vs. CBA NYS Section III Championship Game.

Malik Burks (1) is interviewed by local television after being named Most Valuable Player for Baldwinsville. Baldwinsville defeated CBA to claim the New York State Section III High School Football Championship.

Since this game ended, I have found out the Syracuse University Football program is NOT interested in Malik Burks.  Malik is a senior and is being actively recruited by three other Big East football schools.  This astounded me.  The current SU Football coach is on record as saying he would do his best to recruit the most talented New York high school players.  Yet, here’s the number 3 running back in high school football in the entire nation right in SU’s backyard and they are not interested?  If I was the SU coach, I would not only recruit Malik Burks, I would offer to take the number 44 out of retirement to do so.

View 84: Fast and Furious

Dragsters racing at ESTA Safety Park Dragstrip on Sunday, July 26, 2009

Unlike the show cars I showed you recently, the cars at ESTA Safety Park Dragstrip near Cicero, New York, want to go as fast as they can in a 1/4 mile and beat their opponent in doing so. That is the fast part. The furious comes from all the activity that happens on the cars in preparation to race. As a fan of most kinds of motor sports, I have enjoyed visiting ESTA over the years as a spectator and now as a photographer. This is also where I practice my panning technique and sports photography a few times a year.

Street Class cars in a close race at ESTA Safety Park Dragstrip.

I was disappointed in the number of Street Class cars at ESTA. These are racers who use there cars as their primary vehicle during the week and bring them to the track on the weekends to compete. Many spend thousands of dollars to get their cars to go faster than the manufacturers built them to go. Why was I disappointed? Because I see cars like these all over my area. I know many “race” on the streets where it is against the law and dangerous not only to themselves but others on the road. For a fraction of the money they put in their cars, they could come to ESTA and run their cars in a safe environment without fear of having their license revoked when they are caught street racing or worse, if they are in an accident. Okay, off my soapbox and back to the racing.

Pro Stock Class cars flying down the 1/4 mile at ESTA Safety Park Dragstrip.

Other classes, like the dragsters in the first photo, are dedicated race cars. The drivers and crew of these cars spend days to prepare for a few runs every week, championship points and cash prizes. At this level, no one wins enough money to make a living. It’s more about the passion, competition and fun of the sport.

Syracuse Hydrofest

Last Saturday I attended Syracuse Hydrofest featuring Inboard Hydroplane racing. All boats use propellers with the Grand Prix class reaching speeds up to 175 miles per hour (282 kilometers per hour). The day was rainy and grey causing the day to start late and ending early after only a few races due to visibility and a serious accident. However, I did get to go out on one of the turn boats on the course and bring back a few photos I’d like to share with you here.

Miss Dinomytes (GP46) driven by Pierre Maheu from Quebec, Canada, chases down the leader durng a Grand Prix Hyrdroplane heat during the Syracuse Hydrofest on Saturday, June 20. 2009.

Rolling Thunder (GP88 on the left) and Miss Dinomytes (GP46) race past the Start/Finish line

Rolling Thunder (GP88 on the outside) and Miss Dinomytes (GP46) race for the lead.

Reining Horses

I have been photographing horse shows at the New York State Fairgrounds indoor horse arena called the Coliseum for the last 15 years.  I’ve never been happy with my results.  Having to resort to slow shutters and panning or use flash which wasn’t very flattering to the rider or horse.

Last weekend I attended the Central New York Reining Horse Association Show with a friend’s Nikon D700 camera and my Nikon 70-200VR f/2.8 lens.  If there was any doubt in my mind this will be my next camera, it is totally gone now.  I was able to set the shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and get great exposures with ISO ranging between 2000 and 6400.

Reining horses are famous for their sliding stops like this one (ISO was 3600 here).

Reining horse digs into the dirt at the CNY Reining Horse Association Show in Syracuse, New York.

The Nikon D700 has a fast continuous shutter mode and 3D auto focus tracking so I caught this sequence of one of the riders coming in for a stop (ISO ranged between 2000 and 4000 through this photos).

Reining horse sliding stop sequence.

View 70: Autograph Hounds

Penn State Football players, Abe Koroma (95, in white) and Evan Royster (22, in blue), autograph footballs, programs, notebooks, miniature helmets, t-shirts, hats, and posters before the annual Blue-White Intersquad Spring game in Beaver Stadium on the Pennsylvania State University campus, College Park, Pennsylvania.

Used the newspaper photographer’s technique to set my camera to f/8 or better (in this case, I used f/11) and held the camera over my head, aimed as best I could and pressed the shutter. Used the Tokina 11-16mm Wide Angle Zoom which created some pleasing distortions and, I hope, gives you a sense of the craziness of the event.

Let’s Go Orange!

The Syracuse Orange Men’s Basketball team has been on a roll lately. They thrilled all their fans by outlasting the Connecticut Huskies in six overtimes during last week’s Big East Tournament and was awarded a number three seed in this week’s NCAA National Championship Tournament. I see many of you are searching for information and photos of the Syracuse Orange basketball team and it’s players.

With that in mind and after receiving a comment and some encouragement by a fellow Orange fan, I have created a special print to commemorate the first ever (as far as I know) Orange Out! at the Carrier Dome from last February in a Big East game against the Georgetown Hoyas. Own a piece of Syracuse Orange Basketball history! GO ORANGE!

Orange Out! Click Photo for More Information and to Place an Order.

Prints are 16 by 20 inches in size and comes in Lustre ($19.99) and Metallic ($29.99) professional finishes.

View 63: End of Season

Baldwinsville goalie Nick Leader (30) stops West Genesee's Adam King's (4) shot on goal. Baldwinsville's defensemen Mark Bellucci (4) gets there a little late to help during the New York State Section III Boys Ice Hockey Championship game. West Genesee won 3-2.

Within 2 hours of returning from Orlando, Florida, last weekend, I was photographing the New York State Section III Boys Ice Hockey Championship game between the Baldwinsville Bees, my high school Alma Mater, and historical hockey power, the West Genesee Wildcats. Though Baldwinsville scored first and held a slim 1-0 lead after the first period, West Genesee pressured Baldwinsville’s Senior goaltender Nick Leader until they built up a 3-1 lead in the third period. Baldwinsville did score late in the third period to make it close but never got another good chance to tie it.

I enjoyed following the Baldwinsville team during the last part of their season. I learned a lot about shooting sports along the way, too. Baldwinsville will lose a very talented Senior class this year. I look forward to next season to see how the team’s underclassmen grow into new roles as starters.

Click here for more photos from this game and others: Baldwinsville Bees Ice Hockey 2008/2009 Season

Orange Out!

The word spread quickly around Syracuse that an Orange Out was being called for when Georgetown’s Mens basketball team would come to town on Saturday, February 14. Websites and blogs proclaimed it. Even going so far as to propose a ban on anyone NOT wearing orange entering the Carrier Dome for the game. A nice thought but, as it turned out, there were a lot of fans who wore blue, white or no SU colors at all. Sigh, why can’t Syracuse go all out when asked? Really, we need some more spirit around here!

31,841 mostly Orange-clad people attended the Big East Men's Basketball game between the Syracuse University Orange and the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday, February 14, 2009.

This Photo is Available in a Special Commemorate Print.  Click Here for More Information.

The Syracuse University Bookstore was selling special shirts for the game for only $10. A bargain for anything SU sells. I guess the University can get behind something if they can make some money on it.

Special Orange Out T-shirts on sale in the Syracuse University Bookstore before the game.

The SU students knew what an Orange Out was all about. Their section was almost completely bright orange. As a fellow Alum, you made me proud!

Some of the Syracuse University Student section showing their colors at the Georgetown game.

As promised, some of the Georgetown fans made it up for the game. They stuck out like a sore thumb with their drab grey and blue colors. The policemen ensuring their safety get a bye on the Orange Out as they were working.

A small group of Georgetown fans break up the Orange Out but watched as their team lost in overtime.

While the Orange fans had a scare watching their team’s 16 point lead dwindle to a tie at the end of regulation. SU won it in overtime, 98-94. Go Orange!

Sports Weekend: 3 of 3

Greg Niewieroski of the Syracuse University Orange Mens Lacrosse team get ready to score a goal against Providence. Syracuse went on to post a win by the score of 22-3.

The Syracuse University Orange Men’s defending NCAA National Champion Lacrosse team made it look easy today by defeating the visiting Providence Friars by a score of 22-3. Thanks to the Carrier Dome, the game was held in climate controlled comfort with outside temperatures dipping into the teens (degree F) wind chill.

This concludes my Sports Weekend trifecta of three major events held in Syracuse, New York. From hockey to basketball to lacrosse, it was a fun weekend of photography.

Sports Weekend: 2 of 3

Paul Harris of the Syracuse University Orange Mens basketball team warming up before a Big East game against the Georgetown Hoyas. Syracuse won the game 98-94 in OT.

One of my first weekly views from 2008 featured Paul Harris of the Syracuse University Orange Men’s basketball team. Since then, he has become the most searched person on my blog. He still lags behind those people looking for the answer of why birds stand on one leg. To help those people looking for more Paul Harris photos, I made it a point to take a few pictures of him today before the Big East game between Syracuse and Georgetown which SU won 98-94 in overtime. Enjoy!