With the sun having just set behind the trees and the stars making their way out, Minisink Valley started their warm-up routine with a quick run and some midfield stretching. As they started practicing, I thought it would be a good idea to find a spot on the field where I could grab some closeup shots of the team. Unfortunately, I found out that I needed to move because there were too many lacrosse balls whizzing past me – and you certainly don’t want to get hit with one of them!

Just before the start, Loretta and I swapped out our lenses and found good spots to shoot from. I settled back into the same spot as the first game and started shooting away. Before the end of the first quarter, Minisink and Warwick had traded goal scores back-and-forth a few times – by the end of the half, Warwick would have a lead that they would maintain until the end.

It was sad to see Minisink’s season end before they could reach the state level games, but we did get some great action shots of everyone! Check out some of our favorite ones from both sides …

Just before the half of the game prior, I figured I would “warm-up” my lacrosse photography skills and take some shots of the James I. O’Neill vs Red Hook game. Making sure I was out of the line of fire, I found a spot alongside Red Hook just off the field that was perfect for most of the action.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the game!

If you are interested in seeing more images, contact us and we’ll setup a special access gallery for you!

Up Next: Minisink Valley vs Warwick …

I love photographing the younger kids because they put so much heart and soul into playing the game – and it shows in the images we capture!

During an extended break around the middle of the day, I decided to head up to one of the games to grab some action shots before the next team arrived for their portraits. I found my spot on the sidelines with the players and caught some warm-up shots of both Warwick and Minisink.

With the next team starting to arrive, I could only stay for the first half … but was able to get some really cool shots …

As the players entered the court, we saw an immediate difference in the intensity of the team. They seemed to run faster, shoot farther and jump higher – so we knew that it was going to be a good game. Having seen us work during the JV game, they decided to goof off/show off a bit for us – which led to some really good shots.

When the game started, we found it hard to keep up – as they would move from one basket to the other with incredible speed. Add to that the shouting from the coaches on the bench and you could almost feel like you were at an official NBA game.

With a few hundred shots captured by the half-time, we decided to pack up and head out for the night. Here are a few of our favorites …

Not wanting to setup and tear down equipment like last time, we decided to forgo strobes and instead push our new camera to see what it could produce with its incredible low-light capabilities. We also decided to experiment with its hi-def recording abilities in order to create a fusion slideshow when we were done. Needless to say, the camera performed amazingly!

For most of the game, Loretta and I sat tucked in a door frame at the far end of the gym. Due to its small size, we didn’t have many places to go where we could get good shots and not get run over by one of the players or hit with a wild ball.

Here are a couple of our favorites from the game …

At the end of the JV game, we decided to stay a little longer and grab some shots of the Varsity team. A post with those images is coming soon!

I turned everything off, reset the camera and changed my settings for the best! Having not photographed a basketball game in over two years, I was a bit rusty with the first few shots – hands covering faces, bad timing on throws … you name it and I caught it. However, it didn’t take long for me to get back into the rhythm of things and capturing awesome shots.

Unfortunately, because the lighting in the gym was horrible (like most of the school around the area), the raw out-of-the-camera shots aren’t the best looking and need to be lightened up a bit. However, after breezing through my shots from the game, here are a couple of the ones that I liked the most!

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Next Saturday, January 30th, we will be at the Minisink Valley High School for the 2010 Minisink Valley Cheer Competition. We’ll have our tables setup in the back corner of the gym, printing pictures and creating buttons, all while the competition is going on! Be sure to stop by and check out our awesome cheer posters, team portraits and all of the other cool products we’ll have on display!

Knowing how important this game was, we decided to head out to the field a little early so we could get shots of the players warming up. While walking down to the field, we couldn’t believe how many people filled the stands. It almost had the energy and feel of a high school football game!

As the Middletown versus Warwick game was coming into its final seconds, we made our way to the far side of the field to setup for the Marlboro versus Washingtonville game. While setting up, we realized that one of our friends was a coach for the Warwick team. When his team was crowned the winner, we took a few moments to grab some team shots with their new trophy!

Once the field was clear, Marlboro warmed up a bit more and before we knew it, the game was underway. Letting Washingtonville slip by with the first touchdown, Marlboro worked hard to get the scored tied – which came just a few downs later. Unfortunately, a missed field goal would let Washingtonville keep the lead.

With both sides playing hard, I found it easy to keep warm in the 50 degree air as I was continually running up and down the field to stay ahead of the action. Heading into half time, Marlboro was down by a touch down and a two point conversion. Unfortunately, they were unable to dig themselves out of the hole and ended the game with a loss. The hardest part of the day was looking at the disappointment in the faces of all the players!

Though Marlboro lost, we did get some great shots of the players in action! Check out some of the image below!

Here are a couple shots from those games …

Some of our most favorite shots include the quarterback looking almost directly into the lens of the camera as he got ready to pass the ball. A few of the others include a missed catch and an awesome tackle. Check them out below!

After briefly looking through some of the galleries, I picked out a couple of my favorites from games played at the Hansen Park soccer fields as well as the William Lane soccer field …

I had to arrive at the field a little early as it was Senior Night for Minisink Valley Varsity Football. This night is special for the Seniors because it is the last time that they are going to play on their home turf before graduating. To commemorate the event, each Senior is joined by their parents on the field so we can take a picture of them together. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t make this task easy!

Even though I arrived early, the rain decided to move in just as I was getting ready to take my first shots. By the time I was done, it looked like I had dipped my camera in a bath tub! Thankfully, the Mark III can handle it!

Once I was done, practice got underway and the rain finally stopped and left behind a light mist. By this time, the field was already a mud puddle and the entire team was covered in it – yet they hadn’t even played a single down!

Once the game got underway, Minisink took an early lead with three back-to-back touchdowns and held onto the lead to finish the game against Kingston 52 to 32!

With the sun already creeping behind the trees, there were some long shadows on the field that challenged the settings of each shot – but it was still fun to cover nonetheless.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the game …

With both teams playing extremely hard, it felt like a repeat of Friday night between Minisink and Port Jervis with yellow flags being thrown almost every play. Luckily, no one got ejected from this game!

With a few fumbles, some incredible catches and lots of running, Loretta and I were able to capture some awesome actions shots from both sides. One of these shots was of a Burke player going after a long throw and making the catch almost sitting straight up. When I reviewed the shot (which is included below), it looks as if he was even sitting on the bench! Another was of a Goshen player running up the sidelines, clearly still on the field – yet the officials called him as stepping out!

By the end of the game, Goshen had pulled a slim lead over Burke and when the final seconds counted down … the stands erupted in cheer like nothing I’ve heard before!

As practice got underway, Loretta and I set ourselves near where all of the players were practicing pass catching. The light was perfect and some of the catches we caught made some of these guys look like NFL stars! One of them (in the gallery below) actually looks like a classic Michael Jordan – just with football pads …

After about 30 minutes, all of the players left the field, the officials arrived and everyone got ready for what was sure to be a great Friday Night Lights game!

Almost immediately after starting the game, Port Jervis landed a Safety and scored 2 points. Not wanting this to become a regular thing, Minisink fought back – and fought back hard. As things heated up between the two teams, the officials started throwing yellow flags for holding, pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct. They threw so many flags that it seemed like every play just before half time had one. After half time, it was no different … and it eventually led to a Port Jervis player being ejected from the game! In the end, Minisink only let Port Jervis get one touch down – ending the game 28-to-8!

Overall, there were two things that I’ll remember about last night …

The first was the half time game between the Minisink Youth Football Mighty Mites. These little guys ran around the field, tackled each other and played the game as if Friday Night was THEIR night!

The second would have to be my close encounter with Jesse Valenti (#7) along the sidelines just ahead of the Minisink Valley end-zone. As he broke away and ran up the field, I squatted on the side near the 10 yard line and captured every shot of him coming right towards me – until I noticed that he was getting a little too close for comfort! Just a few seconds before impact, I stopped shooting, stood up and darted for the fence as quickly as possible with Jesse just a few short feet behind me running at full speed. Luckily, I was fast enough to avoid being tackled and was even applauded by the crowd standing nearby. One spectator even yelled, “Nice move cameraman!”

Gotta love football season!

Minisink and Newburgh battled for field position on each down and only moved the ball a few yards before handing it back over. There was a mix of interceptions, fumbles and just some bad plays from both sides that left the score tied at 0-0 going into the half.

As each of the teams returned to the field for the second half, you could see a bit more fire in each of the players. Unfortunately, the fire was a little stronger in the players from NFA as they scored the only touchdown of the game just before the end of the 3rd quarter.

Though it may be a rough start for Minisink Valley, it is still early in the season and we are looking forward to covering more of their games this season! Ah, gotta love football!

Not only were all of the youth players there, but the entire Minisink Valley High School Football Team as well! They were the “instructors” at each of the stations and helped the kids perform the various actions – from throwing like a quarterback to kicking field goals to tackling.

It was a great opportunity for us to interact with some of the children we would be photographing this fall and for the parents to get to know us and what we do! Here are a few shots from the event …

This was a great shot! I was sitting just outside of the first base line when this player cracked the ball into the outfield and ran faster than I’ve seen anyone run before. However, he ran so fast that he left his one shoe back a home plate!

After playing baseball for a number of years as a kid, I know that the game can sometimes get boring. Though I am not sure why, but when that does happen, the infield sand looks like so much more fun!

Of all of the images that I just posted, this has got to be my favorite! This little runner was actually telling the coach to hold up because he already knew what he was going to do for the next play!

I took some shots of the team in their huddle before the game with a fisheye that I had in my bag from a wedding the night before. Out of a couple “point and shoots”, this was one of my favorites …

As the final game got underway, Minisink took an early lead. With Burke trailing behind by a wide margin, the Burke players were determined to try and prevent Minisink Valley from keeping that lead – which led to some great action of the players doing what they do best! However, Minisink kept that lead until the end and defeated Burke Catholic in their final game of the season. Here are some of the shots from that final game …