About Me

My photo
Monroe, Ohio, United States
Began my photography career as most people do...the highschool yearbook. Upon graduation I attended the US Naval Photography School in Pensacola Fla. After getting a qualification in basic photography and then later attending their Portrait School,was assigned to a military operation. Experiences included USO photography for Bob Hope, Brooke Shields, Kathy Lee Crosby and Wayne Newton.Have also had the opportunity for travel assignments to places such as Beruit, Israel, Africa, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Spain and England. Upon exiting the Navy in 1984,opened up a Tanning Salon and Health Club in Oxford,Ohio and began photographing weddings, all as a vehicle to fund my way through college. I enjoy travel, sports photography, special event and Cincinnati Reds photography. I am frequently contracted as a sports photographer by parents, sports teams, and organizations,throughout the Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio areas, to provide the highest quality sports photography, both on an individual and team basis.

June 28, 2010

Cincinnati Reds Joey Votto

Cincinnati Reds First Baseman Joey Votto
Photo by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush
Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 27, 2010

Photoshop and Sports Photographs


I have to admit, that while Photoshop has allowed me to touch up my sports photography, it has caused me to spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen.

I have too many options of what I can do to pictures now, versus just crop and load onto my site which is hosted by Smugmug.
I have often been critical of many part time sideline shooters that think they are sports photographers simply because they have a decent camera and a long lens. Many of these people are lazy and will not work during the game and will not put forth a decent effort before loading the pictures onto their sites.

They simply dump and load the majority of their memory card, giving the prospective customer 600+ images to sort through to find the "money shot" of their favorite superstar.

The Mom or Dad that is browsing the pictures has way too many choices to sort through, from little Bobbies backside running to some apparent destination to an awkward body contortion that resembles a marionette puppet rather than a champion athlete.

Simply catching a high speed stop action shot does not make a good sports photograph worthy of hanging in the Man Cave at home.

Now I will admit, that I am not a big fan of the picture I use as an example here, mainly because I got tired of messing with the ball and trying to make it look natural. I wasted an hour working with this shot and failed at my attempt to avoid making it look altered

But had I done the ball right and if I ever re-try to work with it, I will have taken an average stop action shot of a pitcher on the mound and turned it into a world class sports photograph.

Photoshop can turn average looking, run of the mill pictures and turn them into eye catching sports photographs that will sell.

If you want to seperate yourself from the herd of "GWC" (Guys With Cameras) and establish a brand, you have to be willing to work at it.

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 21, 2010

Thou Shalt Not Steal!

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 20, 2010

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 15, 2010

Giant Jesus, Always a Lightning Rod for Controversy


Solid Rock Church in Monroe Ohio was struck by lightning on the evening of June 14th. The famous Jesus statue which faces I 75 caught fire and quickly melted...like butter into the pond.

A landmark along Interstate 75 was destroyed during severe thunderstorms Monday night, but officials said Tuesday it would be rebuilt.
Monroe police dispatchers told News 5 a bolt of lightning struck the Kings of Kings statue around 11:15 p.m. at the Solid Rock Church, setting it on fire.

Dozens of viewers called and e-mailed to report that they also saw the statue ablaze on Monday night. The first callers said the statue's right hand was on fire, but the flames quickly spread.
The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown.
It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.

Church officials said they didn't know exactly what prompted the nickname commonly used by people in the area. The nickname is the same used for a famous mural of the resurrected Jesus that overlooks the Notre Dame football stadium.

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said.

Estimated damage from the fire was set at $700,000 – $300,000 for the statue and $400,000 for the amphitheater, Fire Capt. Richard Mascarella said Tuesday.





Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 13, 2010

Cincinnati Metro Softball Highlight Video



Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 11, 2010

Head Over Heels

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 9, 2010

That's Gonna Hurt!

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 2, 2010

Thanks for the memories Ken Griffey Jr.!

Ken Griffey Jr. by Vincent Rush


Arguably the greatest player of my generation, Ken Griffey Jr. retired today after 22 seasons.

I was 25 and playing softball when Griffey broke into the bigs, straight out of Moeller Highschool.

Sadly, injuries robbed his chance at the all time home run record.

While Jr. was often aloof and seemed to not really care for the media, I can never remember any controversy about "The Kid".

I was at a Cincinnati Reds game a few years ago and some business partners and I rented out "The Living Legends Suite" at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati the night the Reds played the New York Mets in the second game of the 2005 season. Our guest for the evening was Ken Griffey Sr.

During the evening, Father Griffey shared numerous stories about Junior growing up.

My good friend and Amway Double Diamond Larry Winters, asked Senior, when he knew Junior was going to be a star, Ken Griffey Senior laughed and replied, "When I couldn't strike him out any more!"

Ken Griffey Jr. was one of those rare baseball players that caused you to stop whatever you were doing and watch every moment of every at bat you could catch.

I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to watch Griffey play for the Cincinnati Reds.

Thanks for all the great years. You retire as the legitimate number 4 all time natural home run hitter.

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

June 1, 2010

It's The Little Things

Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295