2012 Douglas Fooball… vs. Damonte…

I only played football one season… I was the kicker my Junior year of high school (we were State champions!!)… I knew nothing about the game, wasn’t given a playbook, made a few tackles simply because I was the last guy there on a kickoff… being a soccer player for 14 straight years ending with three years at San Jose State… I will never quite understand American Football… and the ending of the game tonight’s game was so strange that I’ll let someone else try to explain it in technical terms… if they’re able…  (I’ll give you my explanation at the bottom of this post if you care to read… 🙂  )

Homecoming AND Senior night at Douglas tonight as it was their last regular season home game!  All my Senior Night images are in the Varsity gallery… the Homecoming images link is on the Douglas High Athletics page…

… but to kick off my images I’ll start with the Homecoming King and Queen!  I’ve been photographing Kyle for quite a few years now!  Congrats Kyle and Jordan!!I can always count on Kyle to have his great smile!  But for those of you that don’t know or haven’t seen Kyle in action in the pool… 🙂

OK, back to the game!

I just want to give a big shout out to Cale Kynett… Like Kyle above, I’ve been photographing Cale for quite a few years… tonight was his Varsity debut… and in this photographer’s opinion, he certainly earned himself some playing time!  Here’s one of his tackles tonight!  Welcome to Varsity Cale!

… and one last shot… this was Damonte’s last drive of the game… leading to the most bizarre finish I can remember….

Wild ending… OK… well… Damonte took over on downs around their 45 or so… a few plays later, the above image being the one that got them down to where all the crazy ending happened… they ended up with the ball inside the 5…. No timeouts left… with 2.9 seconds remaining the near side (Douglas side) umpire threw a penalty flag… I believe it was 4th and goal at this point, so score or it’s over… well the penalty was waived off… Damonte attempted to snap the ball and it was bobbled but the end zone umpire was in the process of blowing his whistle to hold the play… it was all rather chaotic… time expired as the play had started (the booth can’t tell what’s going on that clearly on the field…)… but the whistle had blown so they added the 2.9 seconds back… Damonte regrouped (changed plays even), snapped the ball and ran into the end zone… that tied it 46-46… Damonte kicked the extra and won the game.  I can’t even being to comment as it was all surreal watching it live… I asked Joey (from the Record-Courier) and he was just as baffled…  I’ll be anxious to watch if anything comes of it post game….

2012 Douglas High Volleyball… vs. Carson…

An exciting duel tonight at the Douglas High Gym… Douglas hosted Carson… even the Carson “athletic supporters” show up tonight to cheer on the team… certainly the loudest, most exciting volleyball game I’ve been to since I was in college!

I had to laugh… before the game they were playing a song that came out when I was a sophomore in high school… I asked one of the Carson girls if she had heard the song before… “… yes, it’s an oldie…”… 🙂  Not to date myself but not a sole playing tonight was even born when that song came out… NO, I won’t tell you the song… THAT would make me an oldie too! 😉

On to the photos!  The Carson “athletic supporters”… 🙂  The were quite animated tonight!  Even chanting “Jeff, take a picture!”… I had to oblige….

Still working on that “net” shot…, manual focus on this one… I’m pretty happy with this one!

I had a very good friend in college that played volleyball at San Jose State when I was on the soccer team… she was a left handed setter… (see where this is going…)… at one of her games I saw her get all ready to set the ball but instead she spiked it over the net left handed, scoring a point… I’d never seen that before so it really caused me to sit up and pay attention… I LOVE that threat!

… and the celebration!  I have to confess, I was waiting for this one… even the bench is celebrating!  Love it!  Hats off to both teams… there must be a winner, tonight it was Carson, but these teams gave the crowd and this photographer an exciting game to watch tonight!  Glad I was there to record parts of it!

Lessons learned… and executed…

If you saw the last blog post you should recognize this image…

This has been bugging me… 🙂

As we go anywhere in life we are told things that really stick in our heads… hopefully we learn and grow as time goes on, that’s what makes us better, right?  THIS photo is a perfect example for me.  I was told something very clearly when away at a photo conference lately that I think about just about every time I’m out shooting… so HERE is how what I was told is applied…  THIS is how this photo should be shown. 🙂

2012 Douglas High Soccer… vs. Carson…

Douglas hosted Carson today for Boys JV, Boys Varsity, Girls Varsity and Girls JV soccer… four straight games… check the photo galleries for all the action, including the JV! 🙂

This first shot… we haven’t gotten to the Carson Douglas football game yet (Thursday, October 25th, fittingly the day before Nevada Day!!) so I don’t have a “contact” shot from that matchup… so this will be my quintessential “rivalry” shot until then… 🙂  THIS to me shows the intensity of the your rivalry!  Fun stuff… and like basketball, soccer is a “non-contact” sport… 😉Literally seconds into the boys varsity game Douglas went up a goal… the ball bounced around in the Carson goal area until it was hammered into the back of the net… it all happened very fast… very fast… as in, what just happened as the ball bounced in the back of the net… I might be wrong, but I think this fella was the one who tried to rip the net off the back of the goal with that first shot!  THAT’S the kind of passion for this game I miss the most… well done!! (this is NOT his goal… just another shot later in the first half, I had the long tele lens in hand and quite frankly was no where near prepared to see a first 1/2 minute of play goal… that will teach me! 😉 )

Both the varsity games were very well attended, that was great to see… I commented after the boys game which ended 4-4, “… you can’t call that game “unexciting”…”!  A good show for all the fans…

This fella is always entertaining to photograph!  THIS is commitment to a move… for your information… a soccer ball is a fair amount smaller than a basketball… look at how far his knee is from the ground!  … and you have to love the muscle definition in the plant leg….

On to the girls game… … just a shot I liked… it’s kinda funny to me in a strange photo geek way… I was commenting the other day I was hoping they would be playing on the football field because there’s a “not very attractive” (… and of course I used those words… 😉 ) railcar type structure behind the Douglas bench… and here I go and choose a photo with that “not very attractive” structure in the background… You can see how the team tent is reflecting white light onto the upper portion so you can see the shape of the structure vs. the bottom where there is no reflection…. interesting in a photo geek kinda way I guess.

Here’s a now and then for you… and not to pick on Kiahna but… 🙂  This is her playing yesterday and the photo below is from two years ago… a little flashback for you from the photos I’ve posted over the years on the site.

Check out that posting here… you’ll see another familiar face on the Carson Girls team… 🙂

2012 Douglas High Football… vs Galena High…

Based on how the year for Douglas has gone so far if you had told me this one would be high scoring I would have agreed… if you would have tried to convince me that half of the stuff that went on tonight would happen… interceptions, a safety, kick off reverse touchdown, etc. I would not have believed it…

Combined scores for 100 total points… 57-43 Galena was the final… I’m not even remotely a “student” of the game of football, it still baffles me why they do (or try) some of the things they do… this will be an eternal debate between soccer players and football players… but there was no shortage of “excitement” tonight!

Just a few photos here, check the galleries for both teams for more game action!  Out early for Carson-Douglas Soccer tomorrow at Douglas (4 games starting at 9:00 am).

I couldn’t resist this one… can you tell who is on offense?  This was called pass interference on the… offense… Galena was given the penalty on this one!

And this was the very last image I shot tonight… the runner is the older brother of Will, who’s my poster child for two of my baseball collages… and while that is of significance… I love the Douglas player’s face too much to pass it up!  … not to mention his “horizontal-ness”…  Expressions can make such an impact on an image!  🙂

The North State Division 1 Football standings are certainly going to be VERY interesting this year!  This result, Damonte edging Carson… what a ride we’re going to be on for the next few weeks!!  Hold on and keep an eye on the site for more action here!

2012 Carson High Volleyball… vs North Valleys

A good night for the Lady Senators tonight at home against North Valleys!  Here are some shots from the evening!  Always fun to shoot these gals, they’re fun to be around… and I’m starting to get some new angles that I’m liking… I’ve got a month to go to keep working on it… the never ending journey of “photography”.  🙂

The National Anthem…… and some action shots… I’m really liking what I’m getting with this shot… the net still is causing havoc with the autofocus so this one is manual focused!  Someone was asking Shannon (the Nevada Appeal/Record Courier photog) about manual focus tonight… Autofocus is AMAZING these days… BUT… that volleyball net against a face or a number on a jersey creates fantastic contrast that the camera loves to grab focus on… which then puts the player out of focus when you shoot at f/2.8… 🙂 the dilemmas of a photog! 😉

2012 Carson High Girls Varsity Soccer… vs. North Valleys

The Carson High Varsity Girls Soccer team hosted North Valleys last night… I was late getting to the field because of another photo shoot… and to not be even later than I was I just grabbed one lens and headed to the field… all I can say is… I won’t do that again!

As I mentioned in my last post from the football game, the lights at the Carson High stadium can present some “issues”… and well, soccer… the “main attraction” is right in front of the goal! 🙂  That can cause some issues when trying to get goal scoring photos!

Kenzie, always entertaining to watch “shake” things up… wherever she plays… 🙂

Right after I took this shot I was laughing with Adam from the Nevada Appeal… I did NOT Photoshop the Nike Swoosh in either the ball nor her cleats!  I repeat!  I did NOT!  But it’s a great product endorsement shot as she went on a break away for goal #3 for Carson in the first half… “Swoosh” right into the net!

How’s this for a celebration!  Little did I know that Emmy would be moved from goalkeeper to forward… AND score two goals…!  This is what you get when you only bring a long lens to the park…. but she “fits” in the frame!!

2012 Carson High Football, Homecoming… vs Reed High…

Yes they DID!  This was a highly anticipated game… Reed took it to Carson last season in the Regional Championship… I think the then Juniors, now Seniors, had something to say about that tonight.  I cannot say it was the “prettiest” game I’ve ever seen, but it was the perfect exclamation to Carson’s Homecoming Week!  Well done fellas! The team I know that can show up, showed up and played literally until the last second of the game!

For those that were not there, 0:01 left on the clock… Carson’s QB Shafer throws a pass over the middle to “just returning to play tonight” Matt Nolan… and… well… I’ll let the photo speak for itself… (if you doubt if he made it in before the ball was knocked loose, check the photo gallery for the rest of the play…I just included “the ball crossing the plane of the goal line…” 🙂 )

But let me rewind… back to the beginning… The American Anthem…I had this plan… I’d stand on the opposite 50 yard line and shoot back at the Carson side, get the nice sky, the light stands so we see it’s night… blah blah blah… I get to the field early, go over check it out, point the camera to try to get the shot all set… erh, ah wait a minute… the north light poles are on the 25 yard line… but the south light poles are on the 15 yard line… well that won’t work!  Foiled!  So… as the captains were out in the center I figured out a new plan… having shot the color guard before I could shoot back at the stands, scrap the symmetry thing and… well… and I even got the wind to whip the flag a bit for me.

Just one more “action” shot tonight… the return of last year’s starting QB Matt Nolan added some dimension to the Senator’s offense tonight, welcome back Matt!

At halftime we crowned a Homecoming Queen and King! (check the gallery for all my Homecoming Court shots… it will be on the 2012 Football page…)

… and although these were at halftime… I feel it’s an appropriate way to end my posting for the night!  Congrats Senators!!  This is one to remember!

Where do I start… the first game… Carson High Volleyball, wait, football, wait…

OK… five games, two locations AT Carson High (thankfully…) three inside, two outside… 3:45 to whenever the 5th game gets over…  So what was it?

3:45 Freshman Volleyball

4:30 Freshman Football

4:45ish JV Volleyball

6:00 Varsity Volleyball

6:30 JV Football…

Yikes!  I’m happy to say I got a pretty decent selection of each of the games!  I’m BEAT… but I got a lot of shots tonight!

Check it out on the site, here are a few from the night…

It’s always fun to see the volleyball girls!  Never know what you might get!  🙂… and they play too!Volleyball is one of my most challenging sports to shoot… I’m still working on getting a good location and angles that I like… but then there’s that pesky net to deal with.  The camera LOVES to focus on that darn thing… GREAT contrast on the black, so it grabs it every time… there are a lot of tricks I’ve tried… a lot of tonight I was manually focusing… I mess around with different approaches each time, manual focus was my friend tonight.

Then out to football… well, it was more like a revolving door… but…

The JV Senators beat Reed tonight 50-14… Carson is facing a tough game tomorrow for Homecoming… See you out at the field! 7:00 kickoff.  Halftime King and Queen selections announced… check back after the game for your “Royals”.  🙂

2012 Carson High Boys Soccer… vs. Damonte Ranch High

Finally got a chance to get out to a Carson High Soccer game tonight!  The mess of the scheduling because of officials looks to be the demise of Saturday games for the league… which is an unfortunate thing for me… C’est la Vie!  🙂

Just a few photos, I’m back at CHS tomorrow substitute teaching again so gotta get some sleep…

Carson and Damonte Varsity tied 1-1… and while the home team didn’t come away with a win, it was an enjoyable game to watch.  There was quite a lot of excitement, some good opportunities created… some great saves by the Damonte goal keeper… (he saved a penalty kick…)… and I know, for you non-soccer fans 1-1 for a final score screams boring… but… guess you have to be a soccer fan! 🙂

Speaking of the keeper from Damonte… shot this one of him just playing around tonight… I’ll call it “lonely”… 

Carson’s back displaying some leaps!

Here’s some of the hard work shown tonight… Michael Samii holding down the midfield for Carson.

… and the Carson equalizer to make the game 1-1…