Sweet Emotion

First off, I know- Aerosmith is a big step backwards in the project.  Truth is, progress in painfully slow, and I've picked over all the titles around the F's & G's, leaving me nowhere to turn.  I felt this worked well, as this game was full of sweet emotion as the Lady Royals came from behind to defeat Wyoming Area in overtime by a 2-1 score.

The pictures from this gallery were up for a few hours before this post hit the net- and in a pleasant surprise, sales have already begun.  Thanks for your enthusiasm for this effort- It makes it fun to do!

Thanks to the delay, this will be blessedly brief-

It's getting cold, yes?  At least the bugs are gone.

I love the celebration shots- partly because they are easier to get than the goals themselves.  I can't tell who the girl in the back left of this shot is, but she's clearly enjoying the moment.  Mary seems pretty happy here too.  I also want to thank Erica for leaning back in this one-  It made the shot.

While in the subject of Erica making the shot- How can she do such a good impression of my Grandfather when she never met him?

At the Lehman game, I thought I learned something about the rules of field hockey when I came to the conclusion that orange ball = bad.  Imagine my shock to see this game played with an orange ball.  I guess that one at the Lehman game was just flat.

Enough of this rambling-  Go buy pictures.

Game

Site

Enjoy!

Rock and Roll Girls

Saturday afternoon saw your HoRe Football Royals break into the win column for the first time this season, at the expense of the HoCro Crusaders.  As one might expect, this was not as easy win, as the Crusaders managed a 4th quarter comeback to tie the game, then scored a touchdown on their OT possession.  A missed PAT in OT gave the Royals all the opportunity they needed, as they matched the Crusader's touchdown, then followed through by making the extra point to assure the victory.  Exciting stuff for the 8 fans that made the trip.

Lots of excitement on the field, and a big batch of pictures.  Let's start the fun there-

Here's one of those shots that makes you think that the Holy Cross player should really have bought Zach dinner first, then tried this.

This one really didn't work out so well.  The scoreboard at this field is kind of "old-school", so I thought it would be cool to include it in a picture.  This is HoRe's first extra point sailing through the uprights, with the scoreboard as a backdrop, but in the end, I don't like it.  I think I had to zoom in too close to see the football, and lost some of the impact of the scoreboard as a result.  Here's a better attempt, as Zach tries to make his way out of a 4th and 8 situation, but something still seems off.  Maybe next time.

This was a good fake.  Good enough to fool me, anyway, as I thought I was following the ball.

My process is way too slow to be used for instant replay, but thankfully this facemask was called anyway.

I like this series-  Nick was this close to being tackled, broke free, and made it all the way to me at the other end zone for an extreme close-up.  At the time, it seemed to put the game out of reach.

Hard to tell from this picture, but this was a crushing hit.  Nice job, Mike.

The body language on this one is awesome.  The ref didn't buy it though, as pass interference was called.

Here's the game-winning moment.  I am not so sure Mrs. Degnan would have been able to leave the field on her own power if Louis had missed this.

In spite of the low attendance, there was plenty of fun off the field as well.  Let's start with the band-

My second look at the Styx tribute was every bit as good as the first time (for me) last week.  I may have mis-heard, but I would swear that the show was introduced as "Holy Redeemer's marching band will take you on a journey through the past with the songs of today"  Huh?

I forgot to mention these cool props last week.  They look like some kind of futuristic pizza cutters to me.

Warm-ups for the band?  OK.....

Give Christine credit for enthusiasm.  And consistency.

I was planning on a short blog post today, but that clearly didn't work out.  Here are just a few quick notes from the land of FotoFink-

It's a bit of a stretch to link our title today to the game, but bear with me-  Styx, when performed well, is rock and roll.  There are girls in the halftime show performing it, so....  The truth is, I am finally moving on from Fleetwood Mac with my lifelong project, and I just like this song.

Just as the victory on Saturday is a milestone for Royals Football, FF has hit a milestone.  September is probably going to finish up with about 70,000 hits on the website, the most ever in a single month.  The previous high was just over 50,000, so this is a significant increase.  I view this as an indication that I am not the only one enjoying this, so thanks to all of you for viewing, and buying, the photos on the site.

So much for short.  Here's what you need-

Game pictures

Many, many pictures

Enjoy!

Like It Or Not

Another game with mixed emotions for your FotoFink staff .  ("I'm in a glass case of emotion").  Depending on your rooting interest, you will either like the results or not.  (Sorry about the quality on that link- that recording looks awfully "bootleggy" to me.)  Not that there were any real surprises at Thursday's match- Coughlin, who have been on a roll, came to Eddie White and dominated Holy Redeemer, who have been on something other than a roll.  There were a few bright spots for HoRe- the 5-0 score at halftime matched the deficit that took the whole game on Monday night, so there ought to be some points for efficiency.  I'll leave the game analysis to the coaches, and focus my efforts on some of the my gametime observations-

I know that players get in to odd positions during matches, and that sometimes the camera will catch them in a unique pose.  Still-  this doesn't look right.

If I can get to a game in time for warm-ups, I can usually get some decent shots.  In many ways, it's easier- There is more activity, it happens in a predictable way, and I can seek out players that I may have missed on the field.  If I am careful, the shots will look like game shots- so I try to keep the background clear, not show teammates standing around without a game face, and hopefully get a decent picture.  All of this added up for this shot of Matt- until I am working on the processing and noticed the ipod cord.

Olivia Zurad broke her consecutive game streak, so Cal Ripken Jr. can rest easy.  We'll cut Olivia a break here, as she was competing in the girls volleyball match at gametime.

I still don't completely get it- It wasn't that sunny, it certainly didn't rain.  Maybe she's just shy.

Speaking of awkward moments, I'll make a Seinfeld reference for these- Pick or Scratch?

Many of you know that Mrs. FotoFink has had some surgery recently.  During the 8 week (and counting) recovery, I came to more fully understand the term "stir crazy" as her activities were extremely limited and I got to watch as she slowly slipped off the deep end.  I get a more mild case of stir crazy as I edit a large batch of photos- After the Ian Pope tournament I had the "Josie and the Pussycats" theme in my head thanks to this team.   As I worked on these shots, my mind took me on a few journeys as well.  This picture took me here. Which reminded me of the Chris Farley version from Tommy Boy- near the end of this clip.  This picture then took me here.  Is there any medication for this?

Sorry Lindsey-  I had to.

Air Magnus.  Nice.

I feel that I've been over-wordy with this- so on to the pics.

Game

Site

Just some FYI- the upcoming schedule looks like Redeemer Football on Saturday, Crestwood Soccer on Wednesday, then Redeemer Field Hockey on Thursday.  Looks like more Redeemer soccer on the 8th, and Coughlin on the 14th.

Walk A Thin Line

It's hard for me to recap Monday night's soccer match- Crestwood hosted Holy Redeemer, and the Comets more than held serve on their home field, crushing the Royals by a 5-0 score.  At this point, I have ties to both teams, so I am finding that I can be neither happy nor sad over the result.  These entries usually have a decided bias to them, in this case, I have nowhere to tilt.  I'll try to walk a thin line and struggle through this.

It's a little early in the year to be resting the season on any one game, but considering last year's battles, including the one-game elimination match for a playoff spot, this game seemed to matter.  In another week, the season will be half over.  In this league, the second half is made up of matches against the same teams as the first half, but on different fields.  Redeemer needed a win to show that they can play with the top half of the division, Crestwood could use the win to lay an early claim to the #3 spot, and start to lock in their playoff hopes.  An important game for this time of year.

In simple terms, Crestwood was up for the challenge, Redeemer was not.  It is interesting to see how these teams have evolved from the pre-season- Redeemer looked strong at the Patriot Cup, Crestwood less so.  Monday night left no questions as to the stronger team.  From here, Crestwood will eye the #2 position, and their games will all be important, but the rematch with Valley West and the Dallas matches will be critical to that end.  The Royals have their backs against a wall now, and can only hope to have a better second half than the first.  Post season for HR will be a struggle, but anything is possible.

Some thoughts-

Crestwood's fans are setting the bar for enthusiasm this season.  Here's a dream match-up-  St Gregories v Crestwood in the playoffs.  It would be hard to watch the action on the field. (I know-  It can't happen.  Don't spoil it for me.)  Wishing aside- If you are ever stuck for something to do, St Gregories is worth watching just for the fans.

Speaking of fans-  Olivia Z is finding her way onto the camera at every HR event.  We'll see if she makes the Coughlin match on Thursday.

Quite a few of Gary V. warming up before the game.  I'm not playing favorites, it's just hard to get good goalie shots during a game, so I took the opportunity.  If you want your special player to get the same treatment, have them do something impressive in good lighting.

Not Redeemer's finest moment.

To be even-handed, I tried to find a picture where HR was getting the better of Crestwood to balance that last one.  It proved to be harder than it seemed.  Here's the best I could do.  This game was one-sided.

Enough from me.  I am going to enjoy a few hours of being caught up before the HR/Coughlin match on Thursday.  See you there.

Game

Site

Enjoy.

Entangled

This is either terribly efficient, or I am just over-extended.  Either way, these 2 galleries are entangled into this one blog post, and it has to be a short one as the "real job" calls.

Holy Redeemer's girl's volleyball competed in the Wyoming Valley West tournament on Saturday, and at the end of a long day, emerged as the champions.  I've note my frustrations about this tournament before- LOTS of waiting between games with this format.  On the bright side, I did finally try the halushki.  Two thumbs up.  Anyway- the girls victory follows the boys winning the same tournament last spring.  Are there any doubts that the Royals are among the volleyball elite in the area?  Can you believe that I actually used the phrase "volleyball elite"?

In the links on the right side of this page, there is one for girlsvb.com- which is now running at a better level than usual.  Dig around a little if you have some interest there- a few of the photos are courtesy of FF.

Monday afternoon was too nice not to take pictures, so our staff weaved its way around the Coal Street labyrinth to find Crestwood visiting the Holy Redeemer Royals in a clash of middle school/7th & 8th grade teams.  The first game went to Crestwood, and our staff was called away before the second game began.

In spite of the numbering irregularities noted in an earlier post, I took a shot at naming the players on the Crestwood squad.  There are undoubtedly some errors, so forgive me in advance.  Hopefully it will help a little.  If you are not finding your player searching for his/her name, try the name of the other person who shares their number.  Or just page through.  It's fun.

On a side note- Entangled worked pretty well for this title, but I would have much preferred to work Squonk into the mix.  So I just did.  If you don't stand up, you don't stand a chance.

On to photos-

Girl's Volleyball

Middle School Soccer

FotoFink

Enjoy!

What's Going On

Busy times here at FotoFink have led to a drop in the Blog Post/Photo Gallery ratio- so this post will have to serve 2 very different galleries- Lehman at Redeemer for Girl's Field Hockey, then Hanover at Redeemer for Boy's (duh) Football.  The title today is from the late, great Marvin Gaye.  I'd love to say that I've progressed that far with the project, but in truth I am stuck at Fleetwood Mac.  It turns out that all the photo editing takes time away from the music project.

On to Field Hockey-

In a postponed match-up, Lake Lehman visited Hollenback for the matchup with your Lady Royals on Friday.  It proved to be a tough outing for the home side, as HR never seemed to mount a serious threat during the game.  The loss dropped our girls to 1-4 for the season, but I am told that there is reason for optimism- Apparently the rest of the schedule is more favorable, so a turnaround may be in the near future.

I know that I am about 30 years beyond being cool, but try as I might, I am coming up dry on figuring out what this means.  Can anyone get me the 411 on this?  (I know-  411... probably still not cool)

She's probably a very pretty, symmetrical girl without all that padding.  Really.

This week's lesson in Field Hockey-  Orange ball = Bad.

Before I could get all of the Field Hockey shots edited and posted, I was out again shooting the Football game on Saturday.  This was my first venture out to the gridiron this season- I prefer day games for photos.  Apparently, your Royals are rocked with injuries, but whatever the reason, this turned into a lopsided affair in favor of the Hanover Hawks.  Redeemer will look to break into the win column next week at Holy Cross, which may warrant another FotoFink visit.

I wouldn't call this game well-attended, but one good thing about football is that there is always lots going on besides the game.  For example-

Cheerleaders

The Band.  The Styx tribute was touching, especially the version of Mr. Roboto accompanied by the interpretive dancers.

Cheerleaders

Fans.  Enthusiastic, colorful, excited.  In spite of the lopsided score.

Did I mention Cheerleaders?

Speaking of cheerleaders- I saw that movie, but I don't remember this part.  Is this where they drop the Spirit Sticks, or is this when the one girl tells the other to "Bring it."?

If anyone was wondering about a Christmas gift for your favorite FotoFink staffer, one of these lenses will do nicely.  I am seriously jealous.

On to the good stuff.  Extra links again from this post.

Field Hockey Pictures

Football Pictures

Over 25,000 pictures

Enjoy!

Over My Head

It took a few weeks, but things are starting to feel "backed up" here at the cozy mountain retreat.  When I looked ahead last week, it seemed like this might be a slow time for pictures, but it was not to be.  A schedule change allowed me to squeeze in a Crestwood Middle School game on Monday, which, of course, turned out to be two games.  After that, my family miraculously arranged for their own transportation about town, so "while I was out" (that expression never leads to anything good-  it's like "We need to talk") I was able to stop by Crestwood High School and catch the varsity match that evening.  Add to that the team and individual photos for the Crestwood teams on Tuesday, and my empty week was quickly filling, leaving me quite a lot of editing to do.

This late after the matches, a recap seems unnecessary- let me just say that it was a good day to be a Crestwood fan, and Hazleton must have felt like the bug.  It was a nice turn of events from the varsity team's last outing.

Some thoughts-

You may notice that I did not name any of the middle school players- here's what I heard at the field on Tuesday-

Mrs. R-  "These numbers on the roster don't match up to your names"

Player- "Oh yeah.  Some numbers have two players that use them"


Mrs. R-  "That's confusing"


Player-  "Some of the numbers are different on the red and white jerseys too"


It seems foolish to even have numbers.  Considering how far behind I feel, this was not a task for me to embark on.  You'll have to page through that gallery and enjoy all of the shots.


Some of the middle school kids have great hair.  I am thinking that there is a Separated at Birth candidate or 2 in there.

Soccer is fun to shoot because there are lots of odd positions that get twisted into while they play.  This young gentleman is perhaps the best example I have seen in a while.  Love the hand positions.

I am experimenting a bit with flash photography at the night games.  If you are into this at all, you will know that it is not as easy it first seems.  The flashed shots have a different feel to them- If they are done right, the subjects are crisp and clear, but there are sometimes some odd shadows and the backgrounds are often very dark.  I'll keep doing both for a while and see how it goes.  Leave a comment here if you have any strong feelings on the issue.

Speaking of comments- I had my first one last week!  I feel sooo important.

Nothing to do with sports or photography, but RIP Mary Travers.  I was fortunate enough to see one of her last shows this past spring at the Kirby.  It was a strange evening- laughable, sad, and yet heroic.

I have no interest in turning this into another memorial post, but while I am at it- Patrick Swayze and Henry Gibson deserve mention as well.  Rough week.  By the way, it was hard to find those links-  I can't believe there is not a better quality version of the Chippendales skit, and I couldn't find any of Henry's poems anywhere.  As it is, he only has a few small parts in that clip, but 8 minutes of Laugh-In never hurt anyone.
Extra links today-

Middle School games

Varsity game

FotoFink

Enjoy!