Basketball Redux

Good stuff--there is more, but my current WiFi connection is slow with photos--took almost 10 minutes to download these.

Basketball Action Is Back

It took about a half to get back into the swing of the thing taking basketball pics but several good ones happened. I anticipate more as I am planning on going to several games over the next week.

Pink

Display at Dick's at Ward Parkway.

I have to confess, I like the pink gear. I managed to score a pink towel and sideline hat last year for next to nothing. I would love pink Giants and/or Jets pink tinged hats in my collection.

1976: High School Hoops

This is one of my favorite photographs from my days photographing sports in high school. I love how you can see all 10 players on the floor, and how the break is developing. This was the year that our boys were playing in away jerseys all year, except in this game the opponent, another blue team, was not reminded to bring their white jerseys. We scratched together enough stuff for the boys to wear for this game.

Ruskin-Rockhurst

District 13 Champs!

Looking for someone to pass to--Ruskin defense making it hard.

Great effort at the end of regulation to win the game for Ruskin.

(Best photo of the 90 or so I shot, hands down.)

There were many scrambles for loose balls--here's just one.

Angle

Same play, two different angles. The top photo is from The Jackson County Advocate and the bottom photo is mine. I did not know I had gotten that moment caught until I got the photo up on the 15 inch screen.

Can I tell you that the fact that the referee did not dispense a Technical Foul on the Truman High player for hanging onto the rim was just a tad controversial there in the Ruskin gym?

The sound gave it away!

More High School Hoops!

Coaches always are hollaring, "Use two hands!" #11 is already thinking offense.

One on one. Most of this game was played fast, with man to man defense employed.

Vying for a rebound. I count at least 7 players here.

High School Hoops Are Back!

Took in my first high school basketball game of 2010-11 (instead of the SOTU speech--bad blogger!) on Tuesday night, Ruskin HS entertaining Lee's Summit West.

The crowd holds up their hands in anticipation of a made free throw. This is late in the game when the LS West Titans were fouling to get the ball back. Winning teams make their foul shots! An experimental photo--a SLR would have probably been able to make more difference between the shooter and the crowd in terms of focus, throwing the player more out of focus--but I like the way it came out here pretty well.

Coaching'em up. I was right behind the Ruskin bench to get this shot. It is cropped but not by much. Love it!

West defender meets Ruskin offense.

This is what a stall looks like. Ruskin went into a four corners type offense for a little bit after needing to recover from losing a 10 point lead to West's crazy good three point shooter--he was 5-5 at one point!

Best action shot of the night. I was trying to remember if the ref called a foul--that sure looks like a foul what with #24's thumb wrapped around the shooter's arm.

Love, love, love shooting sports, I do, I do!

Deliberate Blurring

Actually the title of the post is misleading in this: I didn't do this deliberately. I wanted to shoot the Ruskin team running out onto the field with a little bit of pan, and I did. But I forgot that I had turned off the flash on the camera, thus slowing the "shutter speed" considerably. Thus a little extra blur, a little flourish on the old time technique known as "panning"--following a moving object in the viewfinder of the camera. Done right, it produces an image with the moving object fairly well focused and the background blurry, thus giving the viewer the impression of the movement of the object.

Cool, huh?

Victory!

At the end of the football game at Center Friday night, after the last Smith Cotton pass fell incomplete and the game was won, there was this wonderful celebration that took me by surprise. I grabbed the camera and "shot from the hip."

As I considered the scene before me, my eye was drawn to a Center coach talking to two players. As I framed the shot, he embraced the two young men...

More Ruskin-Park Hill Football Action

Park Hill pass. The receiver on this short screen type pass is just out of frame to the left.

Ruskin score! Note the celebration to the right--wish I had him all the way in the frame. The ball carrier is partially concealed in the group of five players to the right.

Remember: Clicky on photos to embiggen--use the back button to return.

Ruskin vs. Park Hill

Photog's note: Because District Stadium is oriented north/south, the sun sets right over the visitor's stands. Thus pictures are best taken from the visitor's side. Since this is a photo blog and not the rah-rah sports blog, I'm posting the best from my trips to the grid iron, regardless of who is pictured.

A Park Hill coach works with his players while cheerleaders lead the crowd in cheers.

Fumble! Actually a muffed punt by Park Hill. Ruskin eventually recovered the errant pigskin (just to the ref's left in this shot), leading to a score and one of the few bright spots for the Eagles in this game.

Pregame prayer. Three Park Hill players have a quiet time.

Football!

It was the first week of high school football action on the Missouri side. This is the best action shot I got during the game. Truman breaks up a Ruskin pass attempt. Ruskin ended up thumping Truman 45-6.

I got fooled several times by play action and other ball fakery in the Ruskin backfield, and missed a great shot of Ruskin defensive pressure when I wasn't paying attention. But it was fun. I wonder what it would take to get permission to be on the sidelines. That would be awesome, even without the zoom lens.

Contesting for the Ball

Moving Up the Field

I was really too far away to get great pics, but with zoom and a little help from the software, I got a few good ones.

High School Hoops Lookback: Ruskin vs. Center

High School Hoops Look Back: Grandview vs. Raymore-Peculiar

Guarded

To the Basket

Headed Up the Court

Photog's note: Everyone is moving except the rebounder. Not all blurring is bad!