Sports Photography Trends: Summer - The Best Time For Booking High School Sports!

Photo by Cincinnati Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

RIGHT NOW is the BEST TIME to book high school sports…do you have your marketing kits ready?  The grads have thrown their hats in the air, and the coaches are taking a sigh of relief, FOR THE MOMENT.

Many schools require staff and personnel to work for a week, or several days, past the last day of the classes for students, so NOW is the time to act!  These couple of weeks following classes are PRIME TIME for speaking with any high school coach.  During these weeks most coaches are more accessible and more willing to meet – and listen – to what you have to offer.

Take advantage of this calm time, as a lot of coaches are hard to locate during the school year.  When they are busy it is tricky to find a “best time” to speak with them, and finding the “best time” that they are willing to listen can be even trickier!  Very often they are busy, and will only give you a few minutes of their time, if that.  You want to approach them at a time when they have more time to listen to you.

Plan ahead.  Do you have your marketing kits together and ready to go?  Be sure to have samples of unique products that will make you stand out among your competitors.  Have a calendar with you for scheduling.  Have testimonial letters from other schools and coaches.  Be prepared to leave detailed information with the coach/decision maker so they can refer back to what you discussed.

One HUGE advantage to approaching school coaches now is that more than likely there areMANY coaches there at the same time.  Once you’re in the school, track down other coaches of other sports.  Now is also the best time to show up unannounced and visit with as many coaches as possible.  Make the most of YOUR time and the coaches availability.  Don’t miss these lucrative couple of weeks…the BEST TIME FOR BOOKING SCHOOL SPORTS!

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Know your Sport...Know your Players! Part 2

Karate Black Belt and Olympic hopeful Amanda Joiner photographed in Monroe by Photographer Vincent Rush

Volleyball
Volleyball is a rarely covered event, with beach volleyball getting more press than the traditional gym based variety. Volleyball can yield some rich, colorful and dramatic shots given the need and desire to take them. Your access in volleyball venues will vary drastically. For instance, during a high school game, you may be permitted to shoot along the sidelines, or not far behind the end lines. As the level of competition goes up, you will be moved further and further back. In beach volley ball, you probably will not be permitted in the sand pit at all. So pack a long lens and some sun block (for the beach game).

Volleyball shots are tricky to use auto focus on. If you are shooting from behind the lines towards the net, the AF could trigger on the net, the back of the opposing players, the back wall, or just about any point in between. It is best to use a vertical sensor for this sport since people are going up and down and there is little side to side movement. For manual focus, you want to zone focus. From behind the end line, most all action at the net will be at the same distance from you, so focus on an area just a little behind the net and leave it there.

For shots along the side lines, it is best to shoot at an angle to capture the faces. These are the best times to capture digs and diving players as you should have a fairly un-obscured view of all the players. Traditionally, volleyball follows the "Bump Set Spike" ritual. Learn who the diggers, setter, and hitters are. Then take your time working on a shot of the individual skill you want to capture. Your setter will be easy to track and get shots of. Digging is a bit tricky since it can come from any were on a given half of the court, be a low or high dig, involve a dive or other less than predictable motion. Hitters/blockers are fairly easy to capture since that area of play is somewhat limited.

Your safeties are the player serving and the setters since they are fairly easy to capture. Next work on your hitters/blockers followed by digs.

Golf
Golf is a fairly easy game to shoot as far as action goes, but it is one of the toughest because of the nature of the game. That is you can get good action shots if you can get there at all. Consider the following. Golf is a long distance, one direction game. It is played over a course of thousands of yards in a some what straight path and it is played from hole to hole. Secondly, it is a quiet game where the slightest distraction is not allowed. Finally, for your safety, your access to swing areas is limited.

The first problem is addressed by one of two methods. First, you can camp at one location, such as a tee box or a green on one hole and shoot multiple people as they pass you. Or alternatively, you can with the permission of the course, use a cart and follow individual golfers. Cart paths are narrow and heading against the grain is difficult. Ideally, you will learn the course and find a spot where you can shoot both green play and a tee box with minimal movement.

Even at 400mm, you may not get close enough for good tight shots. Longer lenses are almost a must for capturing competitive golf. If you are shooting recreational golf, say your beer buddies, you can get closer and a lens in the 200mm range will suffice. Any focus method will work since the players are basically standing still. Golf, in particular at the pro level is very sound sensitive. Turn off the AF (you don't need it any way) and go to a slient manual focus. If you have silent AF lenses, such as the Canon USM or the Nikon AF-S lenses, then you can AF. Some events may require you to use a sound blimp around the camera if your shutter/motor are distracting to the golfers.

There are a few main golf shots, in most all cases, they are individual shots. The primary action golf shots include a shot during the back-swing, a shot near impact of the ball, a shot after the follow-through with the golfer looking for the ball or any time during a putt (but be quiet). However, there are a lot of opportunities for safeties in golf. Any shot of a golfer studying the course, be it looking at the scorecard, messing with the golf bag, talking to the caddie, or lining up a putt are easy shots to get. These are times where the firing of the shutter will be more tolerated. Also, shots after the follow-through are considered safe shots. The action is paused and you know its going to happen so getting them is somewhat easier.

Don't forget that a lot of good golf shots, and other sports for that matter do not involve play at all. One of my personal favorite golf shots was of a greens keeper changing the pins.

Track and Field
Track and Field meets are a lot of fun to shoot. You get a lot of variety of shots, multiple opportunities to shoot most participants and events and there generally is a lot of emotion displayed during a track meet. The most difficult things about track meets are logistical.

Access can be restricted depending on the level of play that is being photographed. At a high school meet, there is little in the way of restrictions. Just stay out of the participants way, or out of the way of projectiles like shot puts and discus and you are okay. As you climb the ladder, access gets tighter and tighter. Even at NCAA Division I level meets, the access is still pretty good. Pro level, Olympic, or Major Events will be more tightly controlled due to the size of the event and the amount of media present. Access will be restricted to particular shooting areas.

Logistically, track meets are hard to cover because multiple events are going on at once. If media movement is controlled, you may only get to shoot one or two events. But at a more relaxed meet, you will have more freedom to scoot from event to event. Because of time, multiple heats/attempts and so on, the track will generally be filled with races while the inside of the track contains the field events.

There are no specific safety shots in a track meet, but the individual events are fairly easy since almost all movement is predictable. Track events all move one direction. Shooting the finish, or turns provides the most dramatic events. For the hurdles, it is pretty easy to time the players as they peak over the hurdles. Relays, with the baton passing is probably the hardest part to capture because the runner taking the baton may obscure the runner handing it off. Use follow focus to catch runners and they move past, or zone focus if you are working on the finish line.

Field events, like wise are very predictable. Events like the high jump, long jump, and pole vault involve participants running towards an object, and then jumping over it. This is a zone focus heaven. Use a little depth of field (F5.6 or so) and focus on the bar for the high jump and pole vault and fire as they start up and over. You should catch them at the peak as they hurdle over the event. If you didn't get that run, don't worry, each player generally takes two or three shots and there are multiple players.


The Long jump, and its cousin, the triple-jump are pretty easy. They are also zone focus events. If you are at the end of the pit, focus just a few feet into the pit and fire when they hit the board and begin their jump. After a few jumps, you should have a feel for when they peak at their jump and will nail a few really good jumps. If you have to shoot from the side, you still zone focus over the middle of the pit, track the runner as they head down the track and fire when they go airborne.

The throwing and hurling events are likewise easy to shoot. The players have to stay within a confined space, so zone focus and you will do well. Try to catch them when their face is towards you and when their emotion is at its best or just after the throw.

If you have good access, you can get some great shots with an 80-200mm lens. If you are restricted you may need a 400mm or longer, but in most cases you can get away with smaller lenses.

Gymnastics and Figure Skating
Gymnastics, as a rule, is a no flash event. While a flash may be tolerated at a basketball game, or a night football or baseball game, its generally a no-no for gymnastics. The participants are easily distracted and the slightest hesitation can cause serious injury. The bad thing is most gymnastics happen is poorly lit situations. Lighting will be covered later.

Like Track and Field, gymnastics is a series of events with individuals performing. The events go on simultaneous to each other and depending on the level of the meet, your access may be limited to minimize distractions. With the exception of the floor program, most of the gymnastics events are kept in a small area which makes focusing easy and the movements are predictable. Even with the vault, your object is to catch the vault itself or the landing. So you will probably want to zone focus most of the events. The floor exercise will require follow focus or auto focus. Your lens choice will vary too much by access, but like other indoor sports you want the fastest glass available.

Events like the balance beam, rings, parallel bars, and the uneven bars provide several opportunities to capture the athletes in artistic, athletic, and emotional poses where capturing the moment is somewhat easier. The vault and floor exercises require more timing to get good shots. However, for the floor exercises, its about emotion anyway, so catching the cute smiles and ballet style poses is critical to telling the story more than catching someone in a tumbling pass.

Figure Skating combines the problems of gymnastics with the problems of hockey. You are limited by your access to off ice and you have to compensate for the white surface. Lighting isn't as good as a hockey game. Frequently, the lighting is spot lights, so knowing stage lighting is important. The programs can be predictable and are generally published before the event so you know when the triple jumps are coming. Lens length is determined by proximity to the surface but again, you want the fastest glass possible. Autofocus is a good idea for Figure Skating, though some success with follow and zone focusing can be achieved.

Motorsports and Racing Events
These sports are generally fairly easy to photograph. They generally occur during the daytime and you can get away with longer slower lenses. AF isn't quite as important because the action occurs in a very precticable fashion. You can follow or zone focus easy enough. Safety shots are the partcipants racing past you. The challenge for racing sports is to show motion which will be covered shortly. You don't want your Forumla 1 car looking like it is sitting still. Also much more importantly, there is a lot to the game other than the cars or horses running around the track. The pits/paddock afford some of the best shots. Be ready for an accident. They can happen at any time.

The biggest problem with racing sports is the distance from the track. You only have the partcipants for a brief time on each lap and in the case of the ponies, you only get them for one lap (per race). You will need big lenses in almost all circumstances for the race itself. Your shorter lenses work well for crowd and off track shots.


Written by Sports Photographer Rob Miracle and posted by Cincinnati Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

Know your Sport...Know your Players! Part 1

               Monroe Hornets Sports Photography by Monroe, Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush

Know your Sport, Know your Players Part 1

Each sport is different in the techniques used to capture the moment. Each sport has a limited number of unique shots. You can only shoot so many basketball games before you start feeling like, "been there, done that". Each sport also has opportunities to get "safeties". A safety is a shot that is easy to get and will give you something to publish if you fail to get good action. For instance, I was shooting a baseball game. In the visitors at bat in the second inning, the skies opened up and it started raining. I had time to shoot the home team in the field and at bat once. Realizing the pending weather, I concentrated on getting some simple usable shots instead of waiting on some excitement at a base, like a steal. Safeties include things like batters batting, pitchers pitching, basketball players shooting free throws, the quarterback under center. Take times when the action is slow to get some good tight shots to use in case no good action materializes. Shoot your safeties first, concentrate on action later. You always want to come back with something.

Its also important to spend some time at an event and not rush the assignment. Many photographers are under intense deadlines and cannot devote enough time to their sporting events and it shows in their work. I expect one usable shot every 20 frames. I like to shoot at least 72 (2 -36's) per event and I can come out with several usable shots and some fantastic ones. If you go to a soccer game and shoot a 1GB chip, don't expect much.

Its very important to know the sport you are covering. You have to know the coach and their coaching style. You have to understand some basic fundamentals of the game or you will become very frustrated. For instance, in football, if its 3rd down and 1 yard to go, don't expect a pass, but point the camera at the full back. In most likelihood, he will be getting the ball, unless its late in the game and they have to pass. Or don't wait on a steal at 2nd base with 2 outs. Coaches hate making the last out of the inning on the base paths.
You also need to know players and their habits. Some players are full of emotion and tend to display their patterned moves. For instance at a local high school girls soccer match, I got a dramatic sequence of a player doing a cartwheel throw in. I knew it was coming and I was prepared for her move when she got the ball.
Knowing your sport goes beyond the rules and players. Know your coaches and what tends to make them emotional. Get fan shots or cheerleader shots with their emotion. A co-worker once told me "even a blind pig gets an acorn once in a while". Any photographer will eventually get the "action" shot, but sometimes you need that crying cheerleader after a loss, or fans in costumes going nuts to completely tell the story. The game goes beyond the boundaries of the field and the rule book.

Baseball
Baseball is one of the hardest sports to shoot. The action is unpredictable. You wait and wait and then when you are half asleep, something happens. Much of the field is out of range of normal zoom and telephoto lenses. Depending on the level of your sport, you will need long lenses. For most regulation fields (90 feet between bases, 350+ feet to the wall), you need 400mm or longer if you are shooting from the dugouts. It lets you shoot all the infield positions reasonably tight from the dugout/press area. The near base can be gotten with a 200-300mm lens. If you are shooting little league, you can get away with a 200-300mm lens because of the smaller fields unless you are trying to catch the outfield. Night baseball is too poorly lit and you need professional long telephotos to capture good images here.

Your safeties in baseball consist of the pitcher, throwing the ball, the batters batting, the catcher catching or getting a sign from the dugout. After these shots, the game becomes a little less predictable. When a batter hits the ball to an infielder, you have to find the play, aim the camera, focus, and fire. Generally its too late. What you have to do is kinda keep the camera pointed at the short stop or the second baseman. Keep the camera near your face, but you need to watch the play. In particular, if you are standing where you can see the batters stomach, you are in risk of getting hit by a foul ball. If you see the batters back, you will rarely see a foul ball. Once you have an idea of where the play is going, you can adjust, focus and fire. If you are shooting from the first base dugout, 3rd and Short Stop should be about the same distance away, so you can zone focus here. Likewise, from the third base dugout, 2nd and 1st are about the same distance.



Basketball
Unlike baseball, basketball is the easiest sport to shoot. Action is contained in a 100 foot x 50 foot area. There are two objects (the nets) where the action always heads. Basketball is a game of limited shots though. You can shoot jump shots, lay ups, free throws, blocks, dribbling, and defense. Zone focus works well in basketball. You know lay ups are going to happen close to the net, so focus on the net and wait on the action to come to you. Your focusing techniques will vary somewhat if you are on the side line or base line. If you are on the baseline, zone focus is the best method. If you are along the side, you can follow focus. Your safeties are free throws and players dribbling or looking to pass. At these times action is minimal and you can get some good tight shots of players.

Basketball (and other gym sports) is probably the worst lighting situation you will get into, however, you can get away with much slower shutter speeds. When a player drives for a lay up or takes a jump shot, they almost pause at the top of their jump. This is the peak of the action and the shot should be taken then. Since they have stopped moving for a millisecond, that is the best time to freeze them. Once you have these shots under your belt, you can then start working on emotion shots, blocks, and other action which may not come along as often.

Generally you can get away with anywhere between a 50mm and 135mm lens with 85-105 being optimal. This lets you cover out to about mid court. If you want to shoot shots under the far basket, you will need a longer lens. However a fast lens, like an 85mm F1.4 is an excellent choice for most of your basketball action shots.

Football
Football is also an easy sport to shoot but may be one of the most equipment intense sports. Most of the time, you will be shooting at night and fast glass is required. Motion is predictable and a student of the game can almost predict the plays to allow you to get ready. Knowing your sports allows you to know if its a passing situation or running situation so you know where to focus your attention. For instance, in a football game, if it is 3rd down with 1 yard to go, you can be pretty comfortable that a running play is coming. So get your lens pointed at the backfield and get ready.

Football affords the fewest safeties. You can get the QB getting ready to pass or the coach on the side lines. However, the action shots are plenty. You will get opportunities to photograph the quarterback throwing the ball and running backs running the ball. Make sure you get these shots. Then you can go hunting pass plays to the receivers.

If you have freedom of movement, you want to set up 5-10 yards down field from the play. That way you get the QB and running backs coming at you. If you are stuck in photo zones between the goal line and the 35 yard marker, you will be limited to shooting plays that occur in that area. Big glass is important to football. If you have freedom of movement, a 300mm F2.8 is the ideal lens. However if you are restricted, you either need a 2x on the 300mm or a 600mm to reach plays on the far end of the field. If you are patient or shooting youth league, you can get away with an 80-200 zoom. You will have to wait on more plays to come your way. You wont get much in the middle or far side of the field.

Since football movement is up and down the field and most photographers shoot from a side line, football is a follow focus sport. It is a pretty easy sport to follow focus because the subject to camera distance changes constantly, so once you start focusing, you should be able to time your turning the focus ring with their movement.

Soccer and Hockey
Auto focus was invented with soccer and hockey in mind. These two sports involve rapid changes in direction. The subject to camera distance changes so fast, its hard to follow focus because in an instant, the play is heading another direction. Zone focusing is a bit more applicable, except there is no guarantee the play will enter your focus zone. AF solves this problem because it tracks the play better than you. These two sports alone are the reason I moved from manual cameras to auto focus.

Soccer is a game where you need long lenses. Generally, you have good access to the side lines. At the major league and college level, there may be some limits, but they probably are not as tight as football because the number of players on the sidelines is much less. You will typically shoot from the touch (or side) lines, though you can get some real good shots from behind the net or along the goal line. The lens of choice for Soccer is a 400mm F2.8 or longer. Many pro soccer photographers will have two cameras. One with the long lens mounted and a second with an 80-200mm zoom. This gives me some flexibility in composition while giving me the length needed to capture this large field game. If play gets close, they can switch bodies and go to the shorter lens.

Soccer is a good game to get some dynamic and exciting photos. Your safeties include players dribbling the ball and throw ins. Get these shots and then work on catching headers, traps, corner kicks, and goalie saves. Soccer headers require the most accurate guessing on timing. The ball will be out of the frame quickly. It takes a lot of practice to capture these.

Hockey, while similar to soccer in its unpredictable movement, has an advantage of being played in a smaller contained area. An 80-200mm lens is good for shooting hockey regardless of where the play is. To get shots on the far end of the rink, up to 300mm may be needed. Hockey however has some quirks that you need to be aware of. Frequently you are limited to shooting through the glass which limits the angles you can shoot or through chain link fence for outdoor roller hockey. Some arenas you are limited to one location and have a small hole to shoot though and you most likely will be competing with other photographers for this real estate.
The ice or deck wrecks havoc with your camera's meter. You will need to overexpose by at least one stop in ice rinks to get white ice. This takes away from your available shutter speed. Your safeties includes face offs, and players skating with the puck/ball. Good shots can be had of the goalies, though many of your shots will be of players on the rink.

Written by Sports Photographer Rob Miracle and posted by Cincinnati Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Cincinnati Sports Photography.

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

The Difference Between Bokeh And Depth Of Field

       Joe Markiewicz autographed Home Run baseball presented to Vincent Rush. Photo by Vincent Rush

Bokeh and depth of field, both the techniques help the photographers in creating beautiful photographs. In the approach of photographing at lower f-numbers, the distinction between depth of field and bokeh vanishes and the hobbyists and enthusiasts often end up using the terms bokeh and DOF interchangeably. To photograph the aesthetics of the subject and the background, one should be clear about what DOF and bokeh stand for. To effectively use the two techniques, let’s have a quick view at depth of field, bokeh and the differences between the two.

What Is Depth Of Field

The depth of field refers to the area of sharp focus in a photograph. When taking a photograph, sometimes it may be desirable to have the entire image sharp and at other times you may be interested in focusing only a small portion of the scene. You can easily achieve the desired effect by tuning the camera to aperture priority mode for either high depth of field or small depth of field.

A high depth of field is the scenario where everything in the plane of focus is in sharp focus. The shallow depth of field on the other hand is the technique of focusing only a small portion of the plane of focus resulting in effectively focused subject amidst defocused background and foreground. The shallow depth of field helps in profoundly separating the subject by beautifully blurring the background clutter.

What Is Bokeh

Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of blur in out of focus areas of the image. Bokeh is the terminology used for defining the quality of blur achieved at shallow depth of field. Bokeh thus refers to the quality of blurred imagery rendered by the lens for out-of-focus points of light.

The bokeh refers to the circular discs formed as the result of blurring the background. The pronounced  bokeh effect is created when the camera is tuned for shallow depth of field. The effective brightness in the background of the subject renders  beautiful imagery to the out-of-focus areas, thus, resulting in smooth, soft circular discs in the background.

The Difference Between Bokeh And Depth Of Field

The above definitions clarify the fact that the depth of field and the bokeh are not same. While depth of field is the technique of presenting the area of sharp focus, bokeh is the craft of artistically presenting the out-of-focus area of an image. Bokeh is more of a qualitative aspect of the photograph. You can eventually identify the bokeh as good or bad, but there is no way to adjudge the depth of field in terms of qualitative adjectives. The DOF is determined by the camera-to-subject distance, the lens focal length, the lens f-number, and the format size or circle of confusion criterion. The bokeh on the other hand is influenced by influence the phenomena outside the focal plane like foreground / background brightness, lens aberration, speed of the lens, color and shapes & patterns of the subject, etc.

Thus we can say that bokeh is dependent on depth of field but depth of field is in no way dependent on the bokeh. The bokeh and the depth of field are two different techniques used for specific purposes. The sole purpose of depth of field is to represent the area of sharp focus in the photograph, whereas bokeh is artistic quality of out-of-focus area. The two techniques (shallow depth of field and beautiful bokeh effect) when used together produce stunningly beautiful and creative results.

From Advanced Photography

Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of http://mainstreetmonroe.com and Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com Check out my about.me profile!

What They Don't Teach you in Photography School

Cincinnati Reds Photo by Cincinnati Sports Photography and Ohio Sports Photographer Vincent Rush



What they DON"T teach you in photography school is how to become a successful photographer. Technique is only a small percentage of what it takes to succeed today. A book I read a few years ago and about 12 times since, "The Magic of Thinking Big" said that "Success is 2% mechanics and 98% attitude.

As an Ohio sports photographer who has been having good success in the Cincinnati Photographers market, I get asked quite a bit by the guys at the local camera store where I do business, "How do you keep getting so many cool jobs?"

First of all, let me say, that with the exception of sports photography, that I know that there are better photographers than me.There are better much, much better Photoshop specialists than me and there are also those who have more expensive gear, fancy studios, slick websites and even those that belong to "professional membership, dues paying clubs"

However, with all of that said, there are not a lot of photographers getting paid or at least paid what they're worth.

Part of that is naturally due to the supply and demand of today.

Demand is down because of the economy.

Supply is off the charts because everyone that has a digital camera now is a "photographer". You also have the large number of people that give away everything and collectively drive the market down.

I know of one such company that will shoot an entire year of high school football action and sell a DVD of a gazillion images, 20% of which are quality action shots and 80% garbage pics lumped in together, for $40.00. In a desire to be "liked" in their community they not only devalue the quality of service of a professional photographer, but in the long run, devalue themselves.

In today's world, marketing and networking is everything. A young photographer has to know how to self promote, network and make connections, along with providing outstanding customer service that goes above and beyond a 10% discount.

I recommend every photographer pick up a copy of Jeffery Gitomer's book, "Customer Satisfaction is WORTHLESS, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

It seems to me that the one thing that many aspiring young photographers lack is self promoting skills, people skills, self image and confidence and the ability to create a brand.

Another pet peeve of mine is appearance. If you're on the sidelines and you look like a bum or if you show up to a consultation looking like a slob, you don't inspire confidence. You should treat every interaction like a professional job interview, because as a photographer, every job is an audition...for your next one.

Most of the photographers (Not all of course) in Cincinnati, that I meet, are either social wall flowers, arrogant and lacking people skills and have no real world business sales experience.

When young or struggling photographers ask me for advice, I recommend books such as , "How to Win Friends and Influence People", "Think and Grow Rich", any Jeffery Gitomer book and a series of other sales experts.

At the end of the day, no matter how good you are with PS5 or HDR techniques, it all comes down to personal marketing and personal branding.

When I began shooting sports photography a few years ago, I'll admit, I gave away a lot of 4 x 6 glossy action photos, to get my name out and introduce my brand to people.

The second year, I set up a site through SmugMug and started selling the pictures at the minimum prices to continue to establish my brand.

The 3rd year, I doubled the price of everything and the 4th year I doubled again.

Now that my brand and style are established, and making decent money and getting a lot of calls for family photos, senior portraits and team photos.

I have also read a half a dozen books on social media marketing, SEO, Search Engine Optimization and hundreds of books on sales and business leadership skills.

It's not enough to have a nice camera a couple of lenses and friends and family telling you that you are great. You have to earn the respect of your profession with diligence, ethics and talent along with dynamic people skills.

On a closing note for all young photographers coming out of school and hitting the streets; Your generation, while the most technically connected generation in history, is the most socially disconnected generation in history as well. If you want to succeed in any business, there is a wide open market for the young professionals that master the art of interpersonal interaction. You know, weird stuff, like eye contact, hand shakes, verbal communication and the art of making people feel better after they leave you than they did before they got with you.

The average social weakling believes that they will be able to Twitter, Facebook, Text and email their way to success. That mentality is creating a void in our society, that if you learn how to differentiate yourselves in this new so called "connected" world you will raise your value in it as well...and that when you start getting PAID!

In sports photography, people pay me what they pay me, because I can do what other cant, in a way that other don't. And for now that remains my secret.

Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography, Monroe Ohio.


Posted by Monroe Ohio photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

"Protect This House"

"Protect This House". It's commonly known as being the marketing slogan for sports apparel company Under Armour. But for Monroe Hornet football player Jake Centers, it has more to do with the armour of  Ephesians Chapter 6 versus 10 thru 18.

"Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.


"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints...." Ephesians 6:10-18

God's armor brings victory because it is far more than a protective covering. It is the very life of Jesus Christ Himself.

"Put on the armor," wrote Paul in his letter to the Romans, "...clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 13:12-14)
When you do, He becomes your hiding place and your shelter in the storm -- just as He was to David. Hidden in Him, you can count on His victory, for He not only covers you as a shield, He also fills you with His life.

"I am the vine; you are the branches," said Jesus. "If a man abides in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

Since living in the safety of the armor means oneness with Jesus, we can expect to share His struggles as well as His peace. Remember, God offers us His victory in the midst of trouble -- not the absence pain. So "do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ..." (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Committed Christians who face torture for their faith continue to testify to the supernatural strength--even joy--that enables them to endure unthinkable pain. They affirm with Paul--

"that in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.... For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers.... will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)

This wonderful truth has become reality to all who believe and follow Jesus. When you put on His armor, His life surrounds you and keeps you safe in Him. He is your precious friend, and you are His! So "put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27) He is your victory!

I was in the locker room waiting on coach Brett Stubbs of the Monroe Hornets to address his men before taking the field on Friday night against the Eaton Eagles.

Each player was in his own mental place, meditating on the task at hand. The only sound was an over sized "boom box" blaring out some rap music, laced with profanity, "F Bombs" and the likes.

I happened to look to my left and there was this one player reading scripture to himself. As he closed the book and lowered his head to pray, I snapped the picture.

Jake Centers is a special young man. A good kid with a loving Mom, who is at every game Monroe plays. The struggles he has had to overcome, may not be that foreign in today's cultural landscape but they are his own mountains none the less.

Becoming a born again Christian this past year has given him a new found strength to deal with life's pressures. It has also caused him to have to deal with another sort of adversity. The kind of adversity from friends who don't quite understand his new walk.

When I became a new born again Christian there were many who poked fun at my new lifestyle choices. They routinely challenged me on the steadfastness of my new found faith and wondered how long the fad would continue.

That was some 20 yeasr ago. And while I still screw up and still make many mistakes that would be considered "Un Christian Like", many of those who proved to be real friends, came to respect my choices and appreciate the fact that I did not pass judgement upon them as non believers at the time.

Today, many of those friends are now born again belivers themselves.

So how does one "Put on the armour of God"?

This life in Christ begins with knowing and trusting each part of the armor. The first part is TRUTH -- God's revelation of all that He is to us, all that He has done for us, and all that He promises to do for us in the days ahead. This wonderful, everlasting TRUTH is written in the Bible, revealed by the Holy Spirit, and realized through Jesus Christ.

It cuts through all the world's distortions, deceptions, and compromises. When you study, memorize, live, and follow TRUTH, He enables you to see the world from God's high vantage point. For He is the Truth! Putting on the first piece of the armor means feeding on truth through daily Bible reading and making it part of yourself.















Posted by photographer Vincent Rush, Cincinnati Sports Photography and Dayton Sports Photography of Monroe Ohio. Vince Rush can be contacted by phone at (877) 858-6295 or by email at vrush@rushintl.com or visit http://CincinnatiSportsPhotography.com

Faces In The Crowd

One of the things I always love to shoot, is what other photographers never do.

There are plenty of sideline shooters looking for the "Immaculate Reception" picture. I'll admit, I am always looking for it to. But being a good photographer is also about being versatile and creative.

In today's High School culture of school spirit, there are some colorful face painting and costume selections in the student sections.

One of the tings I always take time to do is to try to create flattering pictures of the kids. If I see a kid in the picture with bad acne, I will clean it up before I post it. If I see someone with teeth that are not very white, I will touch them up. I always try to be careful and remember how those things affected my self esteem when I was that age.

You also have to double check your images to make sure no one in the background is giving you a "one fingered salute" or showing something they shouldn't. (Yes that has happened!)

I like to use "Selective Color" to bring my subjects to light and blend out the back ground of random fans.

Lets face it, parents or kids, are more likely to buy their pictures, if they look good in those pictures.

This particular photograph is from the Monroe Hornet student section in Monroe, Ohio during a Friday night contest.

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

Taking it to the House!

Even today, this photo of Monroe Wee Hornet Running Back, Davis Carpenter, who was in 3rd grade at the time, remains one of my all time favorite sports photographs.

This is an example of what I always teach, when I say "Get at eye level with your subject. See it from the players perspective.

I also think that this sports image, may have been about the 600th I shot of that game. It was also among the last that I captured on that Saturday.

It ended up being published in the 2008 edition of Capture Cincinnati.

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

Stuffed

Sometimes a little selective color effect goes a long way to add drama to a picture.

While shooting for a client at a Monroe Hornets home high school football game against Meadowdale, I caught one of my subjects delivering a "slobber knocker" of a hit on an opposing RB.

I'm a big believer in ALWAYS making the home team look good. I see too many "photo dumps" into galleries that have multiple pictures of the home team dropping the ball, getting run over by the opposition or just plain looking awkward.

My sports photography rule of thumb; If you wouldn't be proud to post it on your own wall at home, what makes you think a parent is going to want to buy it and post it on theirs?

For example, I was browsing another photographers page today of a recent game. Their were 6 pages of images, 5 really good shots, (By good shots, I mean, I would have been proud to have shot them) and 100 plus images that were either out of focus, off target or left the viewer wondering, "What the heck was going on in this picture?"

Always make the player or home team you're shooting, look like pros. Always make sure your picture tells a story. Every camera has 1/1000 to 1/1600th of a second shutter speed. Don't fall in love with every image you capture. In a typical football game, I will shoot 700-1200 images yet only keep 20-60 of them.

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

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

Professional Quality Sports Photographs vs. Picture Takers

I purposely used one of the pictures I took at a recent girls softball game in Monroe, Ohio to illustrate the difference in a quality sports photograph and what the majority of picture takers consider sports photography.

Both images came from the same play thanks to my Nikon motor drive. the picture on the bottom is awkward, tells no story, is not cropped and uncorrected in any way. Now if I'm a Dad or a Mom, I like looking at the snap shot if it's my kid, but it does nothing to flatter my favorite ball player.

We all take hundreds of shots just like this, with an awkward pose or twist, but one should consider every shot the post on a web site as a portfolio picture and take more care.

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

Batters Eye View

One of my favorite shots when shooting sports photography, especially baseball, is hat I call, "The Batters Eye View".

There is not a more action packed, intense, story valued picture than the pitcher staring straight into your camera and the ball coming straight at you.

Technically, it is a simple shot to set up. The trick is getting the perfect harmony of pitchers position, and ball flight coming into frame, without being so high that you have to extend your crop zone.

In this sports photograph, I caught Monroe High school Freshman pitcher, Jake Little at the perfect moment. I used a little selective color technique to jazz it up a bit and cropped to an 8 x 10 frame.

Sports Photography and Photo Journalism, when done right should leave no question in the viewers mind as to what is happening. Too many aspiring "sports photographers" think that because they managed to get a "suspended in air" stop action shot, that they have an award winner on their hands.

It's not enough to freeze the action, you've got to be able to tell a story. A picture should be worth a thousand words, not a hundred question marks.

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

Last Batter

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

Locked On

In the Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio markets, high school baseball season has kicked into full swing.

Covering one of my favorite subjects next to the Cincinnati Reds, the Monroe Hornets, I went with one of my standard views in capturing this sports photograph.

It's a fairly easy shot to set up.

First of all you need a good monopod then a quality telephoto lens with excellent optics. For most of my sports photography, I use a Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 lens.

Once you get the perfect angle, press your lens hood up against the chain link fence.

The fence links will disappear and the compression of the lens will bring the pitcher and the batter together.

The next step is easy. Let your motodrive do the work until you capture the ball and pitcher in perfect harmony.
Posted by Cincinnati and Dayton Sports Photographer Vincent Rush of Monroe, Ohio. For more information (877) 858-6295

Monroe Softball Clinic Announced

From The Voice at Main Street Monroe http://mainstreetmonroe.com

I don't normally post community announcements on my blog, but as a result of not being able to think of anything creative to post today and a chance to use one of my sports photographs along with the announcement...

Monroe, Ohio has an incredible pool of talent and talented coaches in baseball and softball. From the youth baseball and softball leagues on up through the highschools, it's one of the better programs I've covered.

So when a Monroe Hornet organization is putting on a baseball clinic or softball clinic, it's sure to be a valuable use of money.




Dear Player and Parents,


Hello and welcome to 2010! What a great time plan ahead, prepare for the future, and work to improve ourselves! On behalf of the Hornet Softball Family, I would like to invite and encourage you to attend our inaugural FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL CLINIC, sponsored by myself, Head Coach Jenni Meier and Assistant Coach, Aimee Tyree of Monroe High School. This is a great opportunity for players from ages 8 to 14 to get the season started in the right direction.

We strongly believe this experience will be a critical investment that will certainly pay off for both players and youth coaches. Players will learn ways to improve their performance, get to know and learn from the experiences of high school players and coaches, and invest in their future as a Hornet softball player. Coaches will learn the philosophy of the program, new drills, and other ways to enhance their instruction to have better success with their teams.

The clinic will include lunch on day 1 and a Hornet Softball t-shirt for participating. In addition, there will be concessions, opportunities to purchase spirit wear, softball equipment, and a raffle for a FREE one on one, private instruction session with the Head Coach.

So, come join our Hornet Softball Family on Saturday, March 20, and/or Sunday March 21, 2010 at Monroe High School. We look forward to seeing you there!


Sincerely,


Jenni Meier
Head Softball Coach
Monroe High School
jenni.meier1@gmail.com



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

Sometimes, the Gold is on the Sidelines!

I was recently shooting sports photography and covering the sixth grade Monroe Wee Hornet Football team in Monroe which is close to Dayton Ohio.

Most aspiring sports photographers or GWC's,(Guy With Camera)only focus on the field. (Now I am not talking about Cheerleader Mom. She will obviously be shooting her girls on the side lines)

I like to think of myself as more of a well rounded photographer first and a sports photographer second. I can do very attractive family portraits, senior portraits and event photography throughout the Cincinnati and Dayton Ohio arena.

With that being said, you can only get so many captures of the running back or QB handing the ball off, before you run out of things to shoot. And if you're regularly shooting in one particular community, eventually Mom and Dad are going to have enough action shots of the family superstar to hold them till next year.

So I always look around for the collateral shot that when posted up on the community message board, highlights the fact that you probably are not a bad portrait photographer or could do a pretty nice family photo as well.

This little Monroe Hornet Cheerleader was on the sidelines with her big sis and was the cutest thing going on that afternoon. After all, what cheerleader squad doesn't have the cute little mascot that loves to dress up and be on the sidelines with the crew.

I took about 12 frames of this little kindergarten cheerleader and then took the time to do the color / B&W combo job on it to create a family keepsake, and then posted it on The Voice( http://www.mainstreetmonroe.com/Voice/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16778 ) a local community message board that caters to Monroe, Ohio.

That particular photo generated more hits and publicity than some of my better sports pictures. I got a call from the Mother of this little girl that night wondering how she could get a copy.

In this particular case, I gave it to her in a digital file and let her know that she had an option to buy from my site if she wanted, but either way, she could have the file.

I also knew that this little girl was the hit of the day on the web site, and it would be more to my benefit to have Mom spreading some good publicity about Vincent Rush and Cincinnati Sports Photography.

And as a result, less than 3 days later, I've received 4 questions about Senior Portraits and Family Pictures.


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

Piggy Backin

I was talking with a CINCINNATI SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER by the name of Bryan during a recent Monroe High School Football game in Monroe, Ohio and he was asking me how I manage to get so many interesting sports pictures or how I seem to always be in the right place at the right time.

In asking him what he was referring to, he mentioned that he often visited my site at http://CINCINNATISPORTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM and saw a lot of my pictures on Capture Cincinnati and WLWT.com's website and commented, "It seems as if you never shoot a bad sports photograph!"

I have to laugh, because I shoot thousands of bad sports pictures. Just having a nice Nikon or Canon camera and a set of good lenses doesn't mean you're flawless.

I will typically shoot 500-600 digital photography images at a sporting event and pic out about 50-60, at the most that I choose to post up on any site. (In one of my next posts, I may explain why I actually post them to all these sites. Hint: there is a method and a purpose to effective social media marketing)

The common mistake most "picture snappers" make is that they feel as if they have to post every image that is in focus on their website and in the process, water down their image or brand on the net.

Everyone can hook a big fish and capture a CINCINNATI REDS or a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED quality SPORTS PHOTOGRAPH with a good motor drive. You don't need a Nikon D3 or a $4000.00 Nikkor lens to do it.

You have to know the sport you're covering, know the angles of the sport and flow of the game, and then carefully choose the pictures that you want to identify your brand of photography.

In CINCINNATI and DAYTON, OHIO (There's a reason I use capital letters, explanation in a future post) one of the greatest compliments I can recieve is when someone says to me, I recognize that as one of you pictures. It's my "brand" and I'm very protective of it.

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

Big Fishes

I've been shooting a lot of baseball lately, as my son Zach plays on two All Star teams, Monroe & Eaton. Along the way, you happen to come across some great captures. I've always said that photography can be like fishing at times. If you keep casting your line, you're bound to hook a big one. During a little league baseball game, I will shoot 4-500 images, of which I crop and edit them down to 40-50 of the best.

This is one of those "fish"


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

Loading Up

Shooting sports photography over the 4th of July weekend, I had a chance to get some nice shots of my own son, playing for one of his two All Star teams.

I attribute a lot of my signature style in sports photographs to the angle of the shot. I've said before, that at local sporting events I see a lot of "lazy" photographers stand in one or two positions the whole game and very rarely work any angles during the game.

This angle is generally done best with a mono-pod and either sitting or down on one knee.

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

Stealing 3rd

Shooting sports photography in the Springboro Baseball All Star Tourney, over the 4th of July weekend, gave me some great freeze action Sports Photographs. If I was putting a book together of my best little league shots, this one would be an instant classic.

In a game that pitted Monroe vs. Monroe, the pitcher for the yellow team was throwing a lot of wild pitches.

In anticipation of several stolen bases, I set up at a low angle and waited.

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