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A Few Favorites

Basketball season is well under way and this week I had the pleasure to photograph the first games of the season for the three Sandpoint Bulldog Boys Basketball teams as well as the Boys and Girls teams for the Kootenai Thunder, a local Christian sports organization. I wanted to share a post tonight of a few of my favorite photos from those games, but . . . . . they are not of basketball players, they are of a few of the fans, in particular the youngest of the fans.

Here are a couple from the Thunder Games

I have heard of referees receiving bribes, but I think these two bribes were much more valuable than any cash payment!

Not only does he bribe the ref, but he also like to entertain the photographer. I love it when kids like to ham it up for the camera!

Not to be outdone by his friends near by, this guy begged me to take his photo as he literally “hung out”!

Now a few photos of another entertainer, this little guys is well known for his entertaining half time shows at the Sandpoint volleyball and baseball games.

I know as of late I am getting a reputation as a sports photographer, which of course is a part of what I do, but really I just love to photograph people. I love to capture the action of sports and the interaction between families; The emotion of victory and the emotion of relationships; The milestones of championships and the milestones of life in general; The once in a life time moments that happen on the field or in the corner chapel. We are surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation here in North Idaho, but I still find the most fascinating part of His creation is that which was created in His own image, people!

Becker Family (Bonners Ferry Photographer)

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to capture the wonderful Becker Family and the following is a sneak peak of the photos that have been prepared for them.

Let’s start off with the youngest member of the family:

Prior to this shoot this little gal had not figured out how to sit up on her own, what perfect timing for her to figure it out while I was there ready to capture the memory forever!  You might have already noticed this, but I love how the sun is poking through the trees in the top right corner of the barn.

This young man was not camera shy at all, so photogenic and so comfortable in front of the camera, I ended up taking way too many photos of him, but how could I resist!

Of course being a model is hard work for the kiddos and sometimes they just need to take a break and play with dad.  That does not mean it was break time for me, I would never want to miss an opportunity to capture fun photos like this one!

Thanks guys, it was sure fun to work with you and I look forward to showing you all the rest of your photos from our time together!

The Challenge of Photographing Sports

Last night (Sunday, October 30, 2010) I had the privilege of watching and photographing one of the most exciting football games I can remember.  It was the 8th Grade Junior Tackle Championship game featuring the underdog “Dawgs” from Sandpoint and the highly favored, undefeated for 4 seasons, Shadle Steelers.

One of the things that immediately stood out to me was the fact that this Steeler team was a passing team.  I could count on one or maybe two hands how many times they handed the ball off to a running back and as I watched the Quarterback it was obvious that he was a talented player and that the Dawgs were going to have their hands full.  Nonetheless, the rain falling from the sky in combination with the tenacious defense that Sandpoint brought to the Dwight Merckel Sports Complex was more than the Steelers could handle.  As Steve Russo, the Sandpoint head coach, announced to the team after the game “Defense wins championships”, a statement true in the NFL and in 8th Grade Junior Tackle!

This evening when I sat down to start working on the photos I jumped ahead to the photos from the end of the game, there was one play in particular that I wanted find.  I needed to know, did I get a good shot of the pivotal play, the play that opened up the door for the victory.  The play was an interception by Tyler Harris that was returned for a touchdown.  This touchdown provided the opportunity for Jeff Kappen to kick the winning 2 point kick.   Yes, that is right I said winning 2 point kick, in YMCS Junior Tackle the kick after a touchdown is worth 2 and what we normally call a 2 point conversion is only worth 1.

I titled this post “The Challenges of Photographing Sports” and to this point you might still be scratching your head wondering why I titled it that way since thus far it has been a report on the game, but it was when I looked at the series of photos from this play that this post and the title came to mind.  As I surveyed the series of photos I felt a mix of gladness and sadness.  I experienced gladness that I was able to get a few decent shots of the play.  Then the sadness,  due to a few different variables that were out of my hands I missed out on the best shots.  Sorry Tyler, but to be totally honest if I did not admit it I would be the only one that knew!

The following sequence of photos shows how the play went down and I think that the photos, as well as my brief comments, will show you why this is titled as it is.

All good so far, a decent shot of the Shadle QB making his throw.

Now here is “The Shot”, there is Tyler with the ball just coming into his posession . . . . . but unfortunately, number 11 Tanner Jacobson happens to be the player in focus.  You know, I think maybe instead of calling this one a missed shot I am going to claim “Artistic License”, because in my interpretation Tyler in the distance out of focus with Tanner in the foreground in focus adds to the drama of the photo . . .  Ok, I am convinced!  By the way, nice catch Tyler!

Tyler Emerges with the ball . . . . .  he, could . . . .

go . . . . all . . . .  the . . . .

oh no, the referee!

Oh no, it’s Tanner again!  Glad your happy Tanner, but could you move a little to the left?

And now it is the Field Monitor’s turn!  (note: all of the games have a field monitor, the YMCA claims that their role is to make sure that their special rules are adhered to, but I know the truth that their real job description is to watch for the key plays of the game and make sure that they stand in between that play and the photographer!)

And the post touchdown celebration!  Great game Dawgs, way to play hard all the way to the end.

And now, As a final note, a shout out to the coaches of all the Sandpoint Junior Tackle teams!  I was on the sidelines with you for a number of games and I was often very blessed to see how you interacted with the kids.  So often in football emotions can get intense but it was great to see how you fired up the team and when they made mistakes you coached and instructed instead of yelling and making a kid that was already disappointed in his play feel even worse!

2010 Girls State Soccer Poster – (Sandpoint Idaho Photographer)

The 2010 soccer season has come to a close and I have created a poster to commemorate the great State performance of the Bulldog Girls Soccer Team.  Now that the poster is finished I need to find out what kind of interest there is in it.  If there is enough interest in purchasing one or more of these posters I can get a quantity discount from my printer and pass those savings on to you.

Here is what I am proposing: with enough interest I can offer this 12” x 18” poster for $20.00 each.  This is a great price, but there is more!  I have also talked to the Sandpoint High School Athletic Director, Tom Albertson, and arranged to donate 25% of the proceeds to the Sandpoint High School Girls Soccer Program.

Now it is interest gathering time.  If you are interested in purchasing one or more of these posters, please e-mail me at this link and let me know how many posters you would be interested in.  If you know someone that might be interested in this poster make sure to pass the word on to them!

Click the poster below for a slightly larger view.

2010 State Soccer – Sandpoint vs. Kuna

Here is a quick preview to the gallery of photos from the first round of 2010 State 4A action featuring Sandpoint vs. Kuna.  Kuna jumped out to a very quick 2 goal lead, but the Bulldogs kept their composure and chipped away, starting with this goal on a penalty kick by Nichole Pagano:

The bulldogs tied it up with this goal by Ellie Engel, here is a four shot sequence of the equalizer.

Then in overtime the victory came with this goal by Meghan Pagano.  Not a very good shot by the photographer, but a great shot to win the game by Meghan!

Then of course the celebration!

T

Great game Bulldogs, way to stick with it after being down by 2, keep up the good work!

Sports, Sports, Sports!

The last couple of days have been filled with many hours of editing and uploading sports photos, I am happy to now report that I am caught up on the sports photos and am posting the links to the galleries here in my blog. On a technical note, I will set up the links so that they will open in a new window, that way if you want to view more than one gallery you will not have to navigate back to this page.

Boys Soccer: Sandpoint vs. Moscow


Volleyball: (JV) Sandpoint vs. Lakeland


Volleyball: Sandpoint vs. Lakeland


Football: Sandpoint vs. Lakeland


Football: (JV) Sandpoint vs. Lakeland


Sandpoint Junior Tackle Football: 5th and 6th Grade


Sandpoint Junior Tackle: 8th Grade


Sandpoint Junior Tackle: 7th Grade

Sandpoint vs. Lake City

I have been having a great time attending and photographing the Sandpoint Bulldog Soccer teams this fall.  Here are a few photos from the recent matches (JV and Varsity) against Lake City High School.  There are many more photos available for viewing and for ordering at:  http://jasonduchowphotography.zenfolio.com/

Let’s Start with the Boys and Girls JV matches

Now on to the Varsity action, unfortunately it did not take long for it to get too dark to get decent photos of the boys, but I was able to get a few before it was too late, including this one of Tanner Williams first of three goals in the game.

World Wide Photo Walk (Round 2)

Here is another batch of photos from the World Wide Photo Walk.  The last post I shared with you my favorite people photos from the walk, this time I am going to share with you the remainder of my favorites from the day.  I am really looking forward to next year’s photo walk, maybe if there is enough people interested we can get one up and running in Sandpoint!   I will start with what was my favorite  non-people photo.  This one was taken in a toy store on sherman avenue and I really like how it turned out.

That is HD for Harley Davidson, not High Definition.

Some artwork on a boat docked on the boardwalk.  Skull are not really my thing, but I loved the vibrant colors.

World Wide Photo Walk (Round 1)

Today was so much fun!  My friend Shea and I joined attended the World Wide Photo Walk in Coeur d’Alene today and we had a great time!  The photo walk was held in over 1,100 cities around the world and had over 33,000 people registered to participate.  The idea is to get together with a group of people and walk around, take photos for a couple of hours and then hang out for a while and talk photography.  Today I took photos of many different things, but my favorite thing to photograph was people.  I enjoyed meeting a number of folks in my walk and many of them agreed to let me take their photos, if you are one of those folks thanks again I appreciate it and had a wonderful time capturing a little bit of your world today!  For tonight I am going to post my favorite people photos from the day.

I know that Dog’s are not people, but here is bonus photo go add to the mix.

The Ice Cream Bribe

I went outside and found my son had gotten into my truck and had buckled himself in, he was convinced that it was time for Dad to take him on an adventure . . .   how could I say no.

When we pulled out of the driveway I suggested that we find a place where I could take his photo and try to capture the beauty of the eyes that he inherited from his mother (who has stunningly beautiful eyes!).  His response, no that sounds boring.  So we went to Arnie’s, the local convenience store. As we arrived I was informed that the store was not much fun, but we proceeded inside anyway.  I found myself a cold coffee drink and as I it on the counter I whispered to the clerk that I also wanted a small ice cream cone.

As we walked out of the store my son had no idea that in one hand I possessed that greatly coveted treat and he told me he was sad that I did not get him anything, when I presented him with the cone his eyes lit up, I then proceeded to bribe him . . . . . . an ice cream cone in trade for a photo session in the park while he eats it.  Funny how much he wanted me to take his picture after that!  Well, here are my favorites from our little ice cream session in the park!  I hope you enjoy them half as much as I did.