Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph the engagement photos for Phil and Britt, we had a perfect break in the weather and a very fun location to shoot. They were so much fun to work with and I can hardly wait to photograph their special day in May! Hope you enjoy this preview!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 703 Liker Giveaway, the response was truly amazing! Thank you to all of the new Facebook Likers, please feel free to help spread the word about Jason Duchow Photography so we can reach another “interesting number” and have another fun contest. If you missed the post on facebook then you might not know how the final results panned out. In Sandpoint the winner was Natasha Roop, Priest River saw Tyler Douglas run away with a poster, Newport’s Sarah Morse is celebrating in victory and the winning voter was Morgan Bach. Tonight I finished the first of the Senior Posters, since Newport’s Senior Night is less than a week away I started with Sarah’s poster. The poster has been sent off to the printer, but you don’t have to wait for the print to see the poster, here is a peek at Sarah’s winnings:
My Pastor, Jim Osman, seemed to think that it was a strange thing that I chose the 703 number for a contest. His response does not surprise me, I think he is a neat and tidy kind of guy and 703 is just kind of messy! So, why did I choose 703? Here are two reasons; First, the facebook numbers always seem to change, I can have 700 fans one minute and 698 the next so I simply don’t trust that there are 700 “Likers” until it reaches 703; Second, and most importantly, I just thought that 703 was more interesting than 700.
The contest is simple, I am going to give away a Senior Poster to one senior from each of the three High Schools that I photograph regularly, Sandpoint High School, Priest River High School and Newport High School. Below is a list of all of the seniors, in the comments section on the bottom of this post please vote for one senior from each school. Also, might I suggest at this point that perhaps some of those seniors might want to leave a comment and tell you why you should vote for them.
The answer to some expected FAQ’s: Yes, you can vote for yourself. Yes you can campaign for more votes, share the link on Facebook, Myspace, twitter or e-mail it and recruit your friends to vote for you, but also let them know that they MUST be a “Liker” on facebook to be eligible for the next part of the giveaway.
There is one more giveaway in this contest! If you are a “Liker” of Jason Duchow Photography on facebook and vote for at least one senior you will be entered into a drawing. The winner of that drawing will win their choice of the following: 1 custom poster of the athlete of your choice, any athlete from any sport*. 1 8×10 print from the Landscape galleries. or 1 $40 gift code redeemable on jasonduchowphotography.com for prints from sporting events or from past or future custom portrait session.
Now, the list of athletes to choose from for your voting:
To close, I just want to once again thank all of you who have been so supportive of me and my work, I am very appreciative! Now go ahead and vote, remember you have to be a “Liker” on the facebook page to qualify for the drawing, if you are not yet a fan or “Liker” of the Jason Duchow Photography page visit it here and click the “Like” button at the top of the page.
We are right in the middle of the High School basketball season, but before you know it “Senior Night”, the night of the last regular season home game will be upon us. For senior night one of the traditions of many schools is that the seniors will create and display a senior poster for people to view at that last game. I thought it might be fun to come up with a few of my own. I randomly picked a few seniors, here is what I came up with.
This first one features Priest River Senior Guard Jaden Barrett.
For this one I could not find a vector graphic that even closely resembled the Spartan mascot of Priest River so I decided I needed to spend the time to make my own replica of the one that is displayed in the PRLHS gym.
Next is Sandpoint Senior Wing Cole Fuhrman
No, I did not create that bulldog graphic, I bit the bullet and forked out the money to buy one with an unlimited reproduction license.
Lastly check out the poster of Sandpoint Senior Guard Erik Nikssarian . . . .
Eric, the Basketball Roster spells your name Erik but on facebook you have it Eric, I concluded that you probably spelled your own name right when you created your facebook account, but if I I concluded wrong let me know and I will fix it!
When I took this shot I remember seeing this lane open up and Eric bursting through it, I used an effect to try to give him the same sense of motion that I saw through the lens of my camera. Whether or not I was successful, you be the judge.
Over the Christmas and New Years break break my family and I have been near the coast in Northern California visiting family. On the last day of our visit we had a bright ad sunny day to go and visit the beach together. Of course I brought my camera! After a short time at the beach I decided to give myself an assignment, that assignment was to use the harsh direct sun light to create some dramatic lighting for some black and white photos. Here are a few of my favorites from the day.
Here is the favorite of grandma Juju and great grandma Pat. I was seeing spots for a while and had difficulty focusing (my eyes) after shooting a few into the sun, but it created a fun effect and some interesting lens flare.
Originally I was planning on focusing my black and white venture on landscapes, as you can see my focus shifted quickly to my kids! But, none the less, here is one landscape photo to round out the post.
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!
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 parents of Kanyen Bauer (the SHS Boys Varsity Soccer starting Goal Keeper and IEL Keeper of The Year) approached me about getting a large print of one of Kanyen’s saves. I figured I could come up with something even better than a large print, so I worked up a montage of the play to be printed as a 16×24 on metallic paper and mounted as a standout display. The finished product was delivered to the Bauer family after being on display at the Boys Soccer banquet where it received rave reviews from all who saw it! With Christmas shopping gearing up I thought it would be a good idea for me to start dropping some hints about possible gift items, perhaps a custom photo montage might just fit the bill. Take a look at this one, your screen is not quite the same as that metallic paper, but it will have to do. Click the photo for a larger view.
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!
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.
