Leaf malfunction

October 18, 2009; Watch out for falling leaves

For this portrait we had a nice little back lit location, a small bale of hay and a few pumpkins. We just needed a few leaves to close the deal.

I had a friend toss some loose leaves into the scene and everything went well except for one toss when the leaves are a bit wet and did quite float through the air as planned.

Glad I was not tossing the leaves.**

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

**No children were injured in the making of these photos.

Park portraits part two

October 18, 2009; A little more fun in the park

I was back out at Veteran's Acres Park in Crystal Lake for a second round of portraits Sunday to shoot a few families that could not make it last weekend. The weather was a bit warmer and the trees a touch less colorful but we had a good time.

Here are three from our morning session.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Here's a story

October 17, 2009; ...of a mascot named Jammy

I would much rather be working on a good story than shooting general photos so I am always looking for a story to follow.

A lot of cheer companies look for something to set themselves apart from the rest. One of the things Jamfest has is their mascot Jammy. I'm not sure exactly what he is but he hops around the kids in his 7-foot-tall inflatable costume and the kids go wild.

Here is a short triptych essay on Jammy from the Peoria competition.

-Jammy steps onto the stage area to a crowd of cheering cheerleaders.
-He gets ready to hand out the spirit award.
-Cheerleaders from Ultimate Athletics are entertained by one of Jammy's many talents.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Boot camp

October 17, 2009; Jamfest

I was scheduled to shoot the Maine South football game in Park Ridge Saturday for CoachesAid.com but I got an e-mail on Friday letting me know they did not need the game.

With an open Saturday I had a choice to hang out at home and get ready for an out of town trip or go to Peoria to watch our cheer squads. I am still learning a bit about web design and I try to keep the 5 Star Academy website updated with current photos so I was off to Peoria.

With our first squads hitting the floor at 1 pm I left home at 7am which put me in Peoria just before noon. As I walked in the building I was approached by a photog who was shooting for the event company LightSpeed and he told me that 2 people had not shown up and they were looking for someone to help shoot. I have already been talking to Gil Courson of LightSpeed about helping him out with some upcoming events so I jumped in to help out.

Shooting cheerleading events is my boot camp, I figure if I can survive those days everything else is a little easier. At a big meet the days can be 10-12 hours long, shooting 100 teams or more, every routine is different and trying not to miss a kid with squads of 8 to 30 kids is a lot of work. The time to take a break to grab a bite to eat or hit the can is sometimes filled with award sessions. Oh yeah, did I mention the loud music and screaming fans?

This day was a little longer than I intended but that is a good thing. Here are 3 from the competition.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Secondary game

October 16, 2009; Prairie Ridge vs. Johnsburg

The big high school football game of the day for the Northwest Herald was Cary Grove vs Crystal Lake South so that gave me a chance to pick up the secondary game for the paper. An added bonus is that it is only 10 minutes from my home.

Shooting football the past few weeks I have been spoiled with no tight deadlines. Tonight I had to get my pix to the paper by 10pm so that meant I would have to cut out before the game was over. If I had a wireless card I could send at the half and shoot the end of the game but right now my freelance gigs do not support the extra expense of a wireless card.

Working as a picture editor for the last 14 years I always tried to make sure all my assignments had complete information including contacts and phone numbers so my photogs were always well informed going into their assignments. I like walking into a game with some idea of who the underdog is so, after a little hunting online, I sent an e-mail to myself with the standout players to watch on both teams.

The storyline had to have something to do with Johnsburg's stud player, C.J. Fiedorowicz, who is expected to go to a division 1 school and their sophomore quarterback brought up to fill in for the starter who was injured last week. That said, both teams were fighting for a playoff position and this looked like it this was Prairie Ridge's game to lose.

Fiedorowicz was the star of the game and dominated on both sides of the ball and Johnsburg pulled off the upset.

Here are three from the game.

-Johnsburg sophomore quarterback Jon Torgerson scrambles to avoid Prairie Ridge defender Corey Peterson.
-Johnsburg running back Justin Peete (21) loses the handle on the ball in the first half.
-Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz (right) stays focused and makes a catch as Prairie Ridge defender Kyle Peterson hangs on in the second quarter.

-john

All photos © 2009 John Konstantaras/Northwest Herald

Home(coming) again

October 16, 2009; Hampshire pep rally

Some days you show up to an assignment and just kind of stand around and scratch your head trying to figure out where to start. I shot a homecoming Pep Rally for the Northwest Herald on Friday at Hampshire High School and that is how the day started.

I have shot enough of homecomings over the years to know I need to get football players, the King & Queen, and something offbeat and fun. The key is to find someone who knows what is going on. At this rally a few male teachers were going to be heading out to do a Pom routine, that's a start.

I worked the rally but nothing really great jumped out at me. Here are three from the rally.

-Senior football team members join in with the cheers
-King Ryan Burke (left) and queen Sam Anderson hug after they were introduced.
-Math teacher Dennis Wozniak fires up the students before their routine.

-john

All photos © John Konstantaras 2009

Back to the pitch

October 13, 2009; Harvard vs. Chicagoland Jewish

I covered the an IHSA regional quarterfinal soccer game between Harvard and Chicagoland Jewish for the Northwest Herald Tuesday night.

It has been a few years since I have covered a soccer game but shooting sports for me is like riding a bike. The challenges lie more in lighting, weather and finding a close WiFi hot spot.

Lighting at many high school fields leaves something to be desired and this field did not disappoint. The first half hour of most night games, before daylight savings time, is crucial because there is still a hint of ambient light to work with. After the sun set my exposures at this field varied from frame to frame about 2-3 stops and the color shifted between frames as well.

The weather was cold and windy but dry so that was good. As far as WiFi, I should have done a little more homework to find a hot spot but I had enough time to drive home and send from there.

Harvard handled the game and advanced to the next round with 6-0 win.

Here are three from the game.

-Harvard's David Martinez kicks the ball past Chicagoland Jewish's Tyler Weber (left) in the second half.
-Harvard's Ivan Pichardo (right) celebrates a second half goal with teammate Alberto Martinez.
-Harvard's Nathan Reckamp (left) and Chicagoland Jewish's Joshua Perry battle for a header in the second half.

-john

All photos © 2009 John Konstantaras/Northwest Herald