Hockey East Weekend Action
No. 13 UNH Wildcats upset No. 9 Providence College Saturday night in Durham at the Whittemore Center.
NXL World Cup Finals
15 years ago, I just happened to catch the PSP World Cup on television and I was immediately hooked. I watched the match between Dynasty and Aftershock on the yellow JT field with the giant pyramid in the middle, and instantly Dynasty became my favorite team. They were having unprecedented success, winning the PSP, NPPL and Millennium Series.
Flash forward to last weekend when I traveled to Florida for the second year in a row to cover this year's NXL World Cup. Dynasty was in the Finals, but this time I was on the field. Some of the names you saw that Sunday night, were the same names back 15 years ago. Alex Fraige, Ryan Greenspan were two veterans on that team,, and now a new crew is solidifying their own legacy in the game. Dynasty didn't win this year's Cup. They went down 3-0, but just when you were about to count them out they started to come back. They closed the gap, but when the match was over Impact finished on top, 4-3.
Best of the ALDS
We're a few days removed from the end of the Red Sox season now, and looking back I wanted to share a gallery of my favorite photos from the two ALDS games at Fenway. Obviously we were all hoping for the Sox to make it to the World Series, but I have to say that it was an amazing season no matter what the outcome was going to be. In the rain and the cold, we made it through two games against a very good opponent in the Houston Astros.
It was a great opportunity to work alongside the Red Sox staffers, Mike Ivins and Billie Weiss, and not to mention my fellow intern Kathryn Riley. Soon I'll have another post of my favorite photos from the entire season, buts it's going be tough to sort through 1.5 TB of photos. Bittersweet ending to a long baseball season, but looking forward to what the next step is.
Cape Cod Baseball League Championship Game
After a rainy night in Bourne on Saturday, and a pretty lopsided score, I headed to Brewster Sunday morning for the final game of the 3 game series. Brewster got off to an early lead and never looked back. Had a great time down on the Cape all weekend, and looking forward to watching more baseball at Fenway this week with the Red Sox back in town.
Cape League Semi Finals
I headed down to Orleans last night for my first Cape Cod Baseball League game of the summer. The Brewster Whitecaps traveled to face the Orleans Firebirds, in front of a crowd of over 3,000 fans. It was the final game of the series to determine who moved on to the Finals to face the Bourne Braves this weekend in the League Finals. Low scoring game, finishing 2-1 in favor of the Whitecaps. The Cape League features some of the best college players in the country, and has featured numerous players who have gone on the play in the Major Leagues. Its quintessential summer baseball.
Wild Walk-Off Win
Last night's game was absolutely pure chaos. Leads constantly changing, Hanley Ramirez robbed of a home run by maybe the best catch of the year and it all finishing with a blast by Christian Vasquez. Not to mention the celebration of the 90th birthday for usher Al Green who has been working at Fenway Park for 45 years. Not a bad way to start off the month of August.
June Recap of the Red Sox
After a week on vacation in South Carolina and two nights of shooting concerts at Fenway, I finally had a chance to put this post together of my favorite photos from my Red Sox internship for the month of June. A few walk-offs, a couple rainy nights mixed in with some of the hottest days, a visit from Pete Frates and just some overall great baseball. With the All Star break this week, I'm working on a recap of the first half of the season as well. Enjoy.
Red Bull Global Rallycross at Thompson Speedway
At the Indy 500 two years ago, I met the Bryan Herta Racing team while working on a behind the scenes video of their rookie driver Gabby Chavez. Fast forward to last weekend when our paths crossed again, but this time instead of on an oval it was in a completely different form of racing. At the Red Bull GRC at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut, another rookie driver Cabot Bigham tested his skills on a track that combined dirt, pavement and even a jump as a race to the finish. Racing isn't something I shoot often, so it was a fun time trying out some panning shots and watching the dirt fly as the cars sped through the sketchy turns. By the end of the weekend, the cars were pretty worked over from the course conditions and intense competition.
NEPL Event #2
Literally the first experience of sports photography I ever had was taking photos at an NEPL event back in 2008 when 7-man events dominated the circuit. It was a great learning experience, and a good way to stay involved in the sport after deciding to now longer play. After deciding to go back to World Cup last fall, paintball is going to stay up there on the list of sports I shoot. Felt good to get out yesterday's at the NEPL event at Boston Paintball to see what the local scene is like again.
the 143rd Kentucky Derby
Its nearly been two weeks since the Kentucky Derby, and 'm finally getting the chance to reflect on the rainy, cold three days I spent in Louisville. This year I had the opportunity to work alongside Laura Heald for Sports Illustrated, after working with Bill Frakes and ESPN at last year's Derby.
"There is a frozen moment, right before the start of the Kentucky Derby. It is a moment of infinite possibility, where every bet is cashed, every wish comes true and every horse runs with wings." - Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated
The thing about the Derby is that there's about two days worth of preparation for a race that lasts barely more than two minutes. You place, focus and wire your remote cameras under the rail, in the starting gate, on the roof and in the on the designated stands. With races going on all day, it makes for some early mornings and a late nights to get your work done while the horses aren't on the track. The elements made this a bit more challenging than the previous times I'd been to the race.
When you think of the Derby the pageantry, the large ornate hats and the outrageous outfits is what usually comes to mind over the horses. Those decorated hats ended up needing to be wrapt with plastic and the outfits covered in rain ponchos. A more unusual scene that the years past.
When we weren't working to prepare for the race, I seized the opportunity to wander around the grounds to photograph those who were enjoying the track in a different form. For the actual Derby is sat in the final turn with my Nikon D5 and 400mm lens to catch the horses as they came through the homestretch. 'Always Dreaming' took the race in a little over that 2 minute mark, and all that was left was to take down our cameras, process the files and pack up to go home. This marked my 3rd Derby in a row, and its always an opportunity I am looking forward to more and more each year. Even though I think I'm still finding remnants of the muddy race in my clothes and on my cameras, I can't wait to head back again next year to see those thoroughbreds race in the shadows of the Twin Spires.
Start of an Internship
The last few weeks have been quite an adjustment. I found out that I got offered an internship with the Boston Red Sox, nearly had to drop everything in Indiana and move right to Boston before Opening Day on March 29th. This opportunity has been indescribable.
Last night's game was rained out, and it gave me the chance to go through my work from the first home stand to compile a gallery of my favorite images.
Shooting in Fenway Park is unlike anything I've done. Cubs fans will argue with me, but to me Fenway is the Cathedral of baseball. Its the most recognizable stadium with that giant green left field wall, the history that surrounds the foul poles, the red seat that stands out in deep right field. Every where you look there's a moment in Red Sox history. Two days that have stood out were Opening Day, and then Marathon Monday or Patriot's Day. For Opening Day, it was truly one of my first days in Fenway looking through the camera. I've been going to Red Sox games for the past 17 years, but now I see the stadium in a whole new light. Vantage points that I've never seen before, spots where the sun makes its way through. Its been like discovering Fenway all over again. Marathon Monday is a celebration in its own way. We will always have to remember the tragedy that happened just 4 years ago, but the day is also one of excitement. The weather is beginning to truly break, and its like a second Opening Day.
I'm still going to find new spots, and meet new people. The season is barely a month in, and there's plenty of baseball left , its been a blast so far.