I'm Amazed

This past week looked to be packed with shooting opportunities- until winter returned.....  I'm amazed at how little the actual week resembled the original plans.  Saturday was the prime example-

Originally, there looked to be three separate events to shoot on Saturday- Holy Redeemer baseball, Holy Redeemer Girls Soccer, and Wilkes tennis.  Concerns ran through the halls of FotoFink-how can we be in three places at once?  I can't, of course, so up went the bat signal to summon some help, in the form of additional shooters.  No small feat considering little (no) pay, the only benefit is the experience of shooting, and it works best if you have your own gear.  No surprise that its hard to find help.  After pulling strings, calling in favors, and making promises, a staff was in place to handle the onslaught.  ..  Then... after all that...... If you live here in NEPA,  you know how this ends.  One by one (First Friday baseball, then Saturday- baseball, tennis and soccer, in that order) everything was postponed or outright canceled- which really doesn't help the already-crowded-rest-of-the-Spring schedule at all....

The week was not a total loss, of course. Monday brought us to a doubleheader of womens' softball at Wilkes, Which, while cold and damp, was at least held.  As usual with the Wilkes shots, they went right to the athletic department and are not available for sale here.  There are a few samples on facebook though- but I believe you have to be a facebook person to view that.  Really though- If you are not a facebook person by now, shouldn't you be?  Furthermore- while you are there, shouldn't you join the FotoFink group?

In another case, the weather worked to my favor- I had left a Holy Redeemer track meet off my schedule, as it was originally slated for Monday (two places at once and all...) but the powers that be decided to move that one to Tuesday- which gave me the chance to be there and capture some pre-season action.

I am sure I have mentioned this before- but a track meet, to me, is like a three ringed circus.  There is always something going on, and there is always the feeling that I should be somewhere else at the event to capture it.  Picture this- in ring one, the track itself is almost always in use- hurdles, running, whatever.  In ring two, there are jumpers- high, long, triple (oh how I wish we had pole....)- who seem to have only a vague sense of schedule at  most meets.  Ring three- throwers- discus, javelin, shotput.  Ring three is especially tricky, because it is rarely in sight of the other events.  I generally feel like a dog chasing its tail as I walk around looking for photos.

There would be more links in that last passage if all of those events were run.  Actually- perhaps they were, and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The week ended up on a good note as well- My friends at the Emerald Isle Step Dancing School were on the slate to perform at the benefit for Mackenzie Marx on Saturday night at Rodano's.  Some scheduling issues (I swear they told me 7:00...) resulted in me seeing only part of the show, and the atmosphere was not quite as "Irish" as our last get-together, but in the end, things worked out- there are a few more photos added to their page.

A quick look at the coming week-  Wow....

Monday- Wilkes for Baseball and Lacrosse
Tuesday- Holy Redeemer at Lehman Track
Thursday- Wyoming Area Softball
Friday- Crestwood Volleyball
Saturday- WVW volleyball tournament, Wilkes Tennis
Sunday- Emerald Isle Step Dancers at Pittston High

Sadly, the Ice Breaker Relays are on Saturday, and I don't see any way I can get to that part of the world to get some shots.  Very disappointing, as last year that was a very fun day.  Hope for bad weather maybe, and another reschedule.

Well-  Due to inclement weather... the rest of this post is postponed indefinitely.  Here are a few links-

Wilkes Athletics-  Why not?  You can see lots of FotoFink work on there.

Holy Redeemer Track at Solomon

Emerald Isle Step Dancers at the Mackenzie Marx benefit

The whole enchilada

Enjoy!

Local Hero

Another busy week here in and out of the cozy mountain retreat- with Spring finally arriving, we are seeing the end of the last of the winter sports, and a start to the very busy warm weather seasons.  Not all of what goes on at FotoFink makes it to the galleries on the website, so its here on the blog where you can get a look behind the curtain, in case you really are wondering....

In no particular order- some random ramblings-

First- something I need to get off my chest.  For a number of years, FotoFink and the Red Sea/Argent nation have enjoyed something of a symbiotic relationship- Photos on my site, and facebook, have furthered the legend of the most devoted fans in the local leagues.  Likewise- Chants of "FotoFink, FotoFink..." ringing through the gyms have made me feel like something of a local hero. So what's the problem?  The warm fuzzy feeling that I get when you cheer "FotoFink" is cheapened when you clearly use your cheers to further your own fame.  Imagine how I felt, watching the boys basketball game,  and hearing cheers of "Service Electric" to get the attention of the video camera.  Or worse still-  "Camera Guy"  Camera Guy?  If you are going to solicit the charms of another, at least learn their name.  Service Electric?  The evil cable empire?  As the godfather once said- "True love is hard to find, sometimes you think you have true love and then you catch the early flight home from San Diego and a couple of nude people jump out of your bathroom blindfolded like a goddamn magic show ready to double team your girlfriend..."  I know just how you felt, Mitch.

In happier news, Wilkes baseball and lacrosse started their home seasons this past week and FotoFink was there to capture the highlights.  Although those photos all went to Wilkes, we may try to get out and shoot a game or 2 for the FotoFink site before the season ends.  Leave a comment if that is something you'd like to see.  In he meantime, you can see some of the shots on the Wilkes Atheletics site.

Crestwood Volleyball asked for the FotoFink magic for their Team and individual photos for this season, and of course, we are happy to oblige.  A note to other teams- Some attractive pricing and packages are available for this kind of shoot- Contact me if you'd like to set anything like this up.  Leave a comment, use the contact button on the website, or just send an email to sfinkernagel@hotmail.com.

Not to be outdone, Holy Redeemer volleyball set up a tri-scrimmage on Saturday, inviting teams from Lackawanna Trail and Blue Ridge for some pre-season fun.  The Royals look to have some size and experience this year- and should be hopeful for a great season.  We also took some headshots for the long-awaited boysvb.com site- which, I am told, may actually go live this season.

The volleyball season is young, and it will take a bit for me to get my timing down.  Usually, if I miss the ball in the frame, I delete the shot.  Something about this photo struck me as funny though...

While the event was over a week ago, the shots from the Hoops for Hope 3v3 basketball tournament are finally  posted. A full gym of basketball players, all having fun, all for a good cause- Make a Wish..... FotoFink was happy to be there.  Some highlights-

I know there are a few photographers (parent/photographers- nothing wrong with that at all) shooting the Dallas teams.  My hear goes out to you if you shoot a lot in that gym.  No gym has really good lighting, but that one was especially funky- Blue/green coming in one side, daylight in the other, gym lights over head.... Thanks for the challenge-  Its rare that the colors are so bad in a photos that I resort to B&W, but this was a time....

I've noted before, as I edit a large batch of photos, my mind wanders.  After this shot, I couldn't help but think about the last part of this scene.  Thankfully, that didn't happen- in front of the camera, anyway.

Looking ahead, this would appear to be another busy week- Wilkes Softball today (Monday), Wilkes/Kings Baseball on Friday, then a triple-play Saturday of Holy Redeemer baseball, Holy Redeemer soccer, and Wilkes Tennis.  Warm weather would be nice....

Some links-

Crestwood volleyball team and individual shots

Redeemer volleyball headshots

Redeemer volleyball action shots

Hoops for Hope

FotoFink.net

Enjoy!

Drink The Night Away

Longtime fans may be aware that parades are not really my "thing"  I may have to change that opinion though.  Its a little hard not to enjoy the atmosphere with so many people there to drink the night away, even if I am focused (get it?  focused? ....  sorry...) elsewhere. This past week, the Emerald Isle Irish Step Dancers brought me first to their studio, then to the Scranton parade, for a day of celebration and a surprisingly good time.

So first things first- how does a club-footed, overweight,  non-dancing (seriously non-dancing- there was no music even at my wedding) German photographer get involved with a Irish step dancing school?  Photography has taken me to some strange places, I have pretty much learned to enjoy the ride.  I connected to Emerald Isle through a cheer family, and found a few friends of FotoFink there already.  For all the evils that the internet is supposed to bring, I have to say it is a tremendous way to network and market.  Remember this?  Social media is like that on steroids.  Anyway, after a brief meet-and-greet at the studio, it was go time on parade day in Scranton.  The float girls were strapped in, the dancers stayed loose with some sort of slappy, cardinal puff type of circle elimination game, and the fun began.  My prior parade experience was a few years back for Bishop Hoban's last stand.  I recall not really having any trouble keeping up- I was able to easily walk circles around the float, and shoot it for the whole parade route.  This one felt more like a race to me.  Keeping up was no easy feat.  A day of running never hurt anyone though, and the photos were worth the effort.  How about the background in that shot?  Sometimes even I get lucky.

The parade, of course, is filled with other stuff too, and the floats are maybe 1/2 of the attraction-

Didn't Tom Petty wear that hat in a video?

Cast your vote-  Leprechaun #1?  or #2?  I am going with #2- blending his own mustache into the outfit pushes it over for me.

Nice hat- let me get a shot of that....  mmm  not a great face-  I'll try again...  Alright- time to move on.  Some things just aren't going to happen.

Hey!  HEY!  Take my picture!  OK- you are famous now.  And drunk.

Scranton is the greatest city in the world, and this is the BEST day of my life!  Lord I hope not.  I do like your hat though.

Getting back to our connected world- I love how it takes no time for Charlie Sheen to be part of the T-Shirt pop culture.

Step dancers, FotoFink... STEP DANCERS!  Oh yeah... sorry.......

There uni-suit guys look odd enough no matter where you put them, but for some reason, waiting in the port-o-pottie line struck me as funny.  Is there a zipper in that suit?

Next stop was the Scranton Cultural Center, which will now be known as SCC to save me typing.  Cramped quarters, but some very cool lighting led to some of my favorite photos from the day.  Tastes vary, of course, but I like photos where you can still see what the light of the room looks like, still sense the atmosphere.  Green stage lights and yellow house lights are a little tricky to mix with camera flash, but I was happy with most of the results.  Here's an example of what I mean-  This photo is clear, and the colors are basically true to life.  The flash is too much there though- and it has over powered the house lighting that gave the show atmosphere.  Compare that to this shot, where the ambient light took a bigger role.  For me, I love the second.

The cultural center also brought some new friends to the FotoFink world- Kilrush.  The show alternated between dancers, pipers, and the band, so I was able to capture a few shots of the band while I enjoyed their music.  This proved to be another pleasant surprise-  The live show was full of energy, fiddles and fun, and I am now a Celtic Fusion/Kilrush fan.  Again- thanks to our amazingly connected world, a quick google search, some facebook friend requests, and a day later I am chatting with the band.  They seem to love the photos, and the link at the top of the post is a clip of theirs from another show.  That clip seems to have been pre-Marissa, who has since joined as the fiddle player, and has been my source of info for the band.  They are playing in Wellsboro on Friday night, and if Mrs FotoFink were not already sick of me playing their music, I would consider the roadtrip.

Long week, long post.  Here are the goods-

Emerald Isle Step Dancers

Kilrush

FotoFink

Enjoy!

Tempted

Fans of the blog (haha- both of us....) may have noted a drop in frequency of posts in the last several months.  The truth is, there is just not the time that I would like to compose something witty to post after every shoot.  At times, I have been tempted to give it up entirely- but every once in a while I am reminded that some of you read and enjoy this.  Something, however has to give.  As I look ahead to the spring, there are as many as 14 teams that have interest in FotoFink attention this spring, plus a few weddings, parties, etc. thrown in to the mix... It should take very little time for me to fall well behind.  Hopefully to no one's surprise, I have an idea though- a compromise.  I am going to try to commit to a weekly blog post, where I will summarize the most recent shoots on the site, look ahead to what is coming up, and try to embarrass and insult a few folks as we've become accustomed to.  Use the RSS to subscribe, or check back on Sunday/Monday every week if you have some interest.

Last week saw the playoffs begin for basketball, and Holy Redeemer sent both the boys and girls all the way to the district finals.  First, the ladies-

A big thank you for scheduling these games at Wyoming Area.  Although the roof may have issues, the lighting in there is better than any high school (and many college) gym that I've shot in. In what we would soon find to be the norm, the Trojanettes pushed your Lady Royals to overtime, causing lots of stress all through the gym.  In spite of their attempt at divine intervention, Nanticoke would come up short in the extra period, moving HR to the next round.

Game 2 saw the girls face off against Scranton Prep- again at Wyoming Area, again a great effort, again overtime, and again- jubilation as Redeemer moves on.

So there is no need to worry when the district final game goes to OT, right?  We've been here before.  Besides, Gumby and Pokey are on our side. We even had Fallyn doing the three-headed finger wiggle hex...this is a lock....  Sadly, the third time was not the charm, and Redeemer settled for district silver before heading into the state tournament next week.

The boys had their own ride through districts, of course.  After winning a FotoFinkless opening round, we were able to catch up with the boys at Wyoming Area (yay!) for the second round game with Abington Heights.  Plenty of bad history here, as AbHeHi won the district from HoReHi last year, and handled them again back in December.  None of that mattered for this game though, as HR managed to power past AH to the district finals.  As a side note- Opinions will vary, but here since you are reading my blog, you get my opinion.  This  >  This.

The district final game brought the Royals to Kings College (perhaps the only better gym in the area than WA-  good choice!) for a matchup with West Scranton.  1,000 career points and Ivan Putski's belt (look it up yourself....) were still not enough for West Scranton to stop Holy Redeemer from finally reaching the top of the district.  Whether this was 1,000 or not, points like these help you win.  Santa knows this, cows know this, John Mendola knows this-  West Scranton now knows this too.

So on to states for both teams- As far as I can tell, PIAA has yet to work its voodoo to tell us the times and places yet, but both teams will likely see action this Friday or Saturday.  Depending on down and distance, FotoFink may or may not be able to be there, but best wishes go out to both teams.

We also had some fun with a photobooth shoot this past weekend-  There needs to be more of this going on.

In other FF news, we will be branching out this week to include some Irish Step Dancers on the site.  We have a Tuesday visit planned to their studio, then will catch some live performances at the Scranton Parade and then Cultural Center on Saturday.  Busy times....

Here, as always, are some links-

Girls Basketball

Boys Basketball

Mike Clark's Birthday and photobooth

All the FotoFink goodness

Enjoy!