FMPhotographer.com Sports

Playing Catch Up

2010-01-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Howdy, ya'll,

I sometimes wonder what type of person I'd be had I grown up in the southern climes of the U.S. instead of the quasi-tundra of North Dakota. Would I be saying, "Yau'w," after every other sentence like Paula Dean--or would I be more of a "breakfast at 10:00" tight-drawling, mid-south sophisticate? I know I'd be saying, "Hauwdy," a lot when meeting folks; it tends to spill off the lips like a rotten Avacado chucked against a white stucco wall in Phoenix during the dead heat of early August. But as for getting caught up with post processing and uploading galleries at my web site, "I'm so far back in the dog-house, my baby's gotta shoot me biscuits with a sling-shot."

Yes, this is the time of the Winter sports season where playing catch-up is the norm. The boys basketball game between Fargo North and West Fargo is uploading even as I type (geez...that one's from all the way back on Dec 22nd, 2009), and next on the docket is the girls hockey game between Fargo South and Minot. By late week, I'll see which of the 3 girls basketball games left to post process is next. It grieves me to be such a laggard, but there's an enormous amount of time required for indoor sports. If I had a Mission Statement for my business, it would would be something to the effect of, "Every photo I post online must be of a high enough quality that I'd be proud to hang each and every one on my own wall." And because of that statement, I 'touch' each picture to crop, straighten, white balance correct, color correct, de-noise, adjust luminance, and finally sharpen. Only at the end of this regimen do I decide whether or not the pic is a keeper. There are a host of photographers that would say I'm nuts for going to this extreme with each and every pic, but I beg to differ. I've seen many photogs post pics online that look like garbage, with the hollow promise of doing the above work on a pic only after the sale. My contention is: do you just use your imagination as to how this 'garbage' will be resurrected after the sale? Nope! Not on my watch. :)

So...I'll be shooting the Devils Lake lady Firebirds basketball team in action at Fargo North this weekend. This is by request, so I'll shoot the entire Firebirds lineup as always, but I have a special player to keep an eye on and 'load up' as much as the action allows on that particular individual. That's how requests work for me. Perhaps I shouldn't be using the word, "request" as I have been, when really, I think of it more as an "invitation" to shoot. I know some folks hedge on sending me these requests because they then feel obligated to purchase whether they like the resultant pics or not. This couldn't be farther from the truth. I LOVE shooting sports; every darn game is a magical sequence of athletes in action, with my camera/lens there to hopefully capture precious moments that will never occur again in that exact same way. Parental or athlete requests (umm...I mean invitations) simply direct me to which of the 20 games in a week's time I should attend. Deep down inside, I guess I am hoping for a 'payment' of sorts, and that's in the form of the requesting parent simply letting other parents (by word of mouth and/or email) know of my site and the game I shot. It saddens me to see some of the best captured moments for some athletes go unseen by family, friends, or loved ones--simply because they had no idea such pics existed. My site is not a, "build it and they will come" structure. So please--spread the word!

I'll bid "All Yau,w" (another Paula Dean 'Catskills in motion' compound verbal bomb) a good rest of the week, and I'll try to keep up with this blog on a more regular basis. You can return back to my site (or go there if you're linked directly to this blog) here. Don't be shy; feel free to email me here.

Dank Sie,
Don

First Winter shoots and Happy Holidays!

2009-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

It's been a good while since I've added to the blog; thanks Maren for giving me a mild, virtual kick in the nether-cheeks to stay updated. Additional thanks are in order to Christi for laying the smack down on the UPC facilities folks. Due to her persistence, the South/North girls and boys hockey matchups (12/11/2009) were lit up like the Ralph. The floods should be on for every H.S. game in my opinion. Last year, I approached the UPC staff about this, and I have to at least give them credit for their honesty. They simply said that they won't be turned on for H.S., but will always come on for a Force game. It's a matter of economics. Now don't get me wrong; I truly enjoy Force games, but--that attitude is such a disservice to the Fargo public school system, who was instrumental in not only initial funding of the UPC, but responsible (and contracted) for future funding as well. The Force will have long since come-and-gone, and the Fargo school system will still be pouring dollars (yours and mine...the tax payers) into the UPC's upkeep. Participating schools deserve to bask in the bright arena ambiance just like the Force does. Period! (Just my 2 cents, of course).

For event updates, I've just begun to get a representative string of schools and sports, with the South/North varsity gymnasts (Dec 5th) starting out the season. Last night, I began post-processing these pics in earnest. To date, gymnastics at the American Gold Gymnastics facility is arguably my second most difficult environment to shoot in, but it's still preferable over my #1 lighting nemesis: the West Fargo H.S. gym. When I walk in there, it's so dark that I expect everyone to have their hands joined, holding a Seance while lit candle-tips wave in the mystic breeze, and un-satiated bats flutter among the high rafters. If the spirit of JFK is in this room tonight, please give us a sign...

On 12/10/2009, I hurried from my son's band concert at Discovery (he blew his first major solo on the Tenor sax during Jazz band. Move aside, John Tesh!) to arrive at the South/Moorhead girls basketball game with 9 minutes remaining in the 1st half. I loathe arriving at a game late; it's like missing the part where the bride says, "I do," at your 2nd cousin's wedding--but I don't get too down on myself. There's still the reception and dance to follow. Those pics are up and viewable on my site. It was a great spectator's game, as both teams played with a lot of 'scrap.' Elbows were cocked and ready to connect with cheek-bones from the moment I started firing the shutter.

And finally, it was pure pleasure to shoot the girls and boys South/North hockey matchups at the UPC on Dec 11th. As mentioned earlier in this blog, it was so wonderfully bright in there, I almost asked for a drink with an umbrella in it at the concession stand. I had received several requests from Bruins parents to shoot this game (and keep a special eye on their athletes), so was overjoyed to see the arena floods smiting the ice surface so dutifully that I could actually make out the sponsors' logos beneath the ice. Shame on me, but after only a little more than a week later, I can't remember a solitary sponsor. Perhaps my recall would have been better had I won a free, all-expenses-paid trip to Tierra de Fuego on one of the sponsors' dime. At any rate, the boys pics are up and viewable, and I hope to get the girls uploaded to their own gallery in just a couple days as well. It totally grieves me to say, that due to a memory card failure, I'll only be posting periods 1 and 2 of the girls game. The 3rd period has joined all my lost socks and pens--not to be viewed until I've passed on to the next plane of existence. Nuts!

To get back to the picture galleries, please click here.

Take care all, and don't forget to email me those requests at fmphotographer@cableone.net. I appreciate the correspondence, and will do my best to get back to you in the shortest available time-frame. Happy Holidays to all!

Shanley vs West Fargo Volleyball

2009-11-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

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.

Welcome to the FMPhotographer.com Sports Blog!

2009-11-01T22:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome, Sports Fans!

My name is Don Welk, and I thank everyone for stopping in and perusing the following blogs on everything and anything related to my photographic adventures in the greater FM and surrounding area. As many of you know (parents and athletes who've kept touch with me over the past 2 odd years), I'm never at a loss for words, so I'll try not to bore you with mundane musings...unless of course it relates to sports photography.

One of my passions in the world of digital photography is the use of computer-based tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, Bibble RAW converter, and a host of plug-ins that improve the functionality of the aforementioned applications. In many instances--primarily indoor gymnasiums--the use of Photoshop is the only means I have of salvaging what are oftentimes dark and murky looking photos of area athletes. Not many folks realize that each and every picture I post on my http://www.fmphotographer.com site has been leveled, cropped, color corrected, curves adjusted, sharpened, de-noised, etc before being uploaded for view. This takes TIME...and so now you know why I don't get games uploaded for oftentimes days after the event itself. My "Mission Statement" where FMPhotographer is concerned, is that every photo that you find on my site is a picture that I'd be proud to enlarge and frame on my own wall. I repeat: "each and every picture!"

On every blog I post, I'll refer back to the Home Page of my site either once or several times so that you can get back to viewing pics of area athletes in action...so keep an eye on the underlined link, http://www.fmphotographer.com .

I also will be throwing out my thoughts regarding specific sports or games as they come and go throughout the seasons. For example, there are a couple gyms in our area that are almost adequate for acceptable results, and there are gyms that I've got to pull off every digital trick in the book to make presentable. Sometimes I'll whine like a baby about some murky gyms, and other times I'll pat myself on the back when I 'luck out' where post processing these fussy gyms are concerned. Sometimes I'll engage in 'tech talk' where digital cameras are concerned, both as a means of educating other parents in the use of their cameras, and/or as a means of letting the inner geek out of the box. When all is said and done, I hope my blogs are both informative and entertaining to my customers, both parents and athletes alike.

Again, welcome to my blogs, and please don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts. My website is http://www.fmphotographer.com , and my email is fmphotographer@cableone.net . It's always an honor to hear from you, and I make every effort to respond to your inquiries. Until next time, take care!