Experiencing Christmas

this time of year, as the gifts are wrapped and the food is getting ready to be prepared, it's easy to to lose sight of what is important. there are some changes this year to my family's Christmas gatherings. this will be the first year we don't open gifts at my parent's home, this will be the first year i don't see my grandparents on christmas (but rather on saturday), and this is the first year we will celebrate at my sisters home as a new tradition begins with my young niece! this is also the first time since being in ashland that i will attend Christmas Eve service as just a member and not an employee.

despite all these changes, i feel as though i have already experienced christmas! yesterday, i drove an hour to akron to witness something so special that it took the akron police, akron fire department and hundreds of volunteers to make nearly 1,000 young childrens' Christmas holiday brighter. elves and more of north east ohio (<---click for link) became santa clause to one akron neighborhood giving away 1,000 bicycles to children who might otherwise not have the ability to enjoy a new bicycle.

as the caravan of semi-tractor trailors packed full of bicycles, the school bus hauling the volunteers and the akron police cruisors and fire trucks winded back and forth through the neighborhood that had no idea of what was to come, the sirens became the christmas bells that so many children associate with the arrival of santa clause. however, it wasn't santa that passed the bikes out, but the spirit of Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas that was on display.

as each young child pushed and pedaled their new, shining bikes home, smiles adorned their faces as ornaments adorn christmas trees. the children got to pick their new bikes out as they entered the street. they pointed and ran to their new bike almost as if the bike chose them. i feel honored to have been there to photograph the day, especially since one of the co-founders of this group is my cousin brian, who you might have seen interviewed on news channel 3 out of cleveland. you can learn more about elves and more by visiting their website (link above). they are always in need of financial support to purchase additional bikes.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

a night "off"

yesterday i took the day off from photographing and traveled north to the great city of cleveland. loaded in a minivan with my sister, her husband and his brother, we stopped on our way for a bite to eat and then off to the "Q" for a cavs game. although we didn't stay until the end of the game, we did get to see this amazing play by lebron james. even though i was not there shooting officially, i had along with me my trusty canon powershot and grabbed this sweet pic :-). if you click on it, it gets bigger...the wonder of technology! every now and then it's nice to take a break and enjoy the action like the rest of the fans in the stands.

Rabble-Rousers?

do these four look like rabble-rousers? hardened criminals? up-to-no-gooders? i think not! today, they were ejected from the ahs girls basketball game for apparently...well, no one really seems to know. as the official seemed to "snap", everyone, including the adult that was seated right behind them wondered what the heck had just happened.

the identity of the official has been obscured to protect the...here's to you for moving us one step closer to silent games! here's to you mr. official thrower-outer. you threaten ejection and strike fear in the hearts of young children. when no one's looking you chuck the thumb in a discerning way that sends an unexpecting fan out to the car.

i've been to quite a few games in the past several years and never before have i seen something like this before. needless to say, this added a little excitement to the game.

We're #2 (and #8)

Recently, we were contacted by Shutterfly, the company that hosts and sells our photographs for us. They have requested to "possibly" use us as one of their featured pro-gallery owners to show other photographers the success they can have with partnering with Shutterfly. If that actually happens, we'll be sure to share the link with everyone.

We were also just told that we are #2 in Ohio and #8 in the US in sales of photographs! It's you the customers that have helped us reach this impressive ranking in less than two short years! THANK YOU! (Wouldn't it be great if we could be #1...of course that means you would have to buy more photos)

Orchestra Oops

Tonight was an interesting night. At 6:50pm I left the home to photograph the Ashland Middle School Orchestra Concert. When I arrived at the middle school...nothing. I thought, "let's try the high school." Sure enough, it was there (even though it was listed as being at the middle school. Also, it was listed at 7:00pm, but in fact began at 6:30pm. So by the time I got my camera all set up at 7:15pm, only the 8th grade orchestra had yet to play. So, 30-some photos taken, the night ended earlier than I expected. I do plan on photographing the band concert on Thursday (hopefully all goes as planned...)

This Past Weekend

This past Saturday, I photographed the Bookmaster's Wrestling Tournament held at Ashland High School. I was glad I wasn't the young man in this picture! It made for a very long day - set up at 8am and tear down and home by 8pm...whew! Wrestling is actually one of the more enjoyable sports for me to photograph because I'm indoors and the wrestlers (not players!) are confined to a small circle, making it much easier to get the shot...much easier than soccer! Coach Visintine and the Arrow Parents did a great job of hosting the meet. It was one of the smoothest tournaments I had been to. Also, kudos to many of the wrestlers for their sportsmanship in helping their opponent up! All of the pictures are now posted on Black and White Services!

1st Post

here is my first attempt at blogging for black and white services. this may or may not last... i've tried other things like this before, but never with black and white services. here are some upcoming events i hope to shoot:
12/7 - wrestling - bookmasters tournament
12/8 - special events - mansfield symphony youth orchestra (greg squires photographer)
12/10 - special events - ams choral concert
12/11 - special events - ams instrumental concert
12/15 - basketball - ahs girls
12/15 - basketball - ahs boys
12/18 - basketball - ahs girls
12/20 - wrestling - ahs jv tournament
12/21 - basketball - ahs boys
12/22 - basketball - alumni games & 100th anniversary game (ahs boys)
12/28 - basketball - ahs boys
1/2 - swimming - ahs boys & girls
1/3 - basketball - ahs girls
1/4 - basketball - ahs boys
1/5 - road races - blizzard busters 5k
1/6 - special events - all-city dodgeball tournament
1/7 - swimming - ahs boys & girls
1/10 - basketball - ahs girls
1/11 - basketball - ahs boys
1/12 - basketball - ahs boys freshmen
1/12 - basketball - gbc upward league
1/18 - basketball - ahs boys
1/19 - basketball - ahs girls
1/19 - basketball - gbc upward league
1/22 - basketball - ahs boys freshmen
1/23 - swimming - ahs boys & girls
1/24 - wrestling - ahs dual
1/25 - basketball - ahs boys
1/26 - basketball - ahs girls
1/26 - basketball - gbc upward league
1/31 - wrestling - ams boys
2/2 - basketball - ahs girls
2/2 - basketball - ahs boys
2/3 - basketball - gbc upward league
2/4 - swimming - ahs boys & girls
2/9 - wrestling - middle school occ tournament
2/12 - basketball - ahs boys
2/17 - basketball - gbc upward league
2/24 - basketball - gbc upward league
3/2 - basketball - gbc upward league (possible)

please know that tuesday/thursday events are subject to change as i will have night classes those nights. i might possibly not have class on thursday, but do not know yet. class comes first for me at this point. also, please note that i will be at upward games as much as i can (realizing that there are other events sometimes on the same days.

let me know what you think of the blogger and if you find this helpful!

enjoy the snow...before it melts :-(