Shanley vs West Fargo Volleyball

Ah...the enigmatic Shanley gym. I love this gym for the amazing athleticism that has graced its reverberant halls...and I fear this gym for its more than difficult lighting. Tonight was both the "Dig the Cure" and "Senior Night" celebrations for the lady Deacons, and Volleyball was the heart-pumping sport in question.

Volleyball is perhaps one of the most difficult sports for me to capture. The environment (low-light gymnasium) is generally unforgiving, and the action is fast and furious. The auto-focus on my beloved Nikon D300 responds like a drunken sailor during a tsunami. It finally acquires focus about 2 seconds after the ball has left the hand of the athlete...which in a photographer's world is enough time to visit the Men's room and order a Hillshire Farms hot dog from the adjacent snack booth. My keeper rate is perhaps 1 out of 5, and all the shots that I'd send to my grandma (rest her soul), are blurry at best. Well...maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still, could someone turn on the lights? Speaking of lights--the Shanley gym's lights "cycle" (meaning one shot is pink, the other green, the next blue-ish, etc.). This makes for some interesting late-night moments in front of the computer with me saying, "Come on, White Balance...I promise I'll bury the kaleidescope when I'm finished.!"

All whining aside (remember, I promised to whine regularly in my first blog), a million thanks go out to Ann for emailing me this particular game request. I can't begin to say how much game requests mean to me. I've never missed a request yet (well--that's a lie; maybe one or two thus far), and I'll do everything shy of short-changing my family to fulfill the request. It was my honor to not only attend the VB game, but to also be in attendance during this special "Breast Cancer Awareness" event. Cancer is vicious--and breast cancer one of the worst. It brought tears to my eyes to see a sea of pink permeating the cloth of both women and men occupying the stands.

Ann (and all Shanley VB parents and athletes), I'll try to have the game posted by mid week. Wish me luck!  :)   Please follow this link: http://www.fmphotographer.com to return to the front page of my picture site, or fmphotographer@cableone.net to ask a question.