The Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation

Last evening I attended the Cappie awards at Upper Darby High School. The Cappies is a critics and awards program for high school theater. Think of it as an Oscar night for high school students, including its own red carpet, and performances interspersed throughout the awards presentation. My daughter is the lead critic on her high school’s Cappie team and vice president of the drama club. She was nominated for two awards this year. While those particular awards eluded her, she was awarded the Casey A. Feldman Memorial Foundation Scholarship.

Casey Feldman was killed by a distracted driver while she was a senior attending Fordham University in July of 2009. The Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation was created to “support charitable, educational and literary pursuits and encourage volunteerism and good citizenship.” Every year, at the Cappies awards, one student is gifted with a scholarship from the foundation. My daughter was chosen for this honor and humbly accepted it last evening. I am proud of the things my daughter has accomplished, and my heart goes out to Casey’s parents and family. Thank you for creating a wonderful way of remembering such a kind and loving spirit.

Click!

As a relatively new photographer ,I don’t have a ton of work from the past, so now and then I don’t have anything fresh to post. So here’s an image I shot last year in September,for which many people have expressed their adoration. I was up early searching for a sunrise picture. Everywhere I drove, I came away empty handed. The scene was either too cloudy, or too congested, or too blah, or too, well, not inspiring. This church was one of the places I had paused in front of earlier but nothing stood out, nothing caught my eye. When I returned, with my new vantage point, I could place the Sun behind the church and see its rays play in the morning mist. The clouds that had earlier obscured the dawn, broke into soft patterns across the sky, transforming the solid blue into gradients of azure. Then (purely by accident of course) the hot air balloon drifted into frame. Click!

Church with hot air balloon (1 of 1).jpg

​Nikon D800 Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm f/10 ISO 100 7 image HDR

Shippensburg Women’s Softball

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do some work for Shippensburg University’s Women's Softball Team. They are playing a tournament this weekend and their opening game was yesterday. The venue is in Quakertown so there was a little bit of a drive for me, but I had a blast! I’ve seen softball played before, but the strength, speed and professionalism these women played with was impressive. From a photographer’s standpoint I got to make good use out of a piece of hardware I don’t get to use often, the Sigma x2 teleconverter. What a teleconverter does is increase the magnification of the lense on the camera. A x2 teleconverter effectively doubles the range, so a 300mm lense becomes a 600mm lense. 600mm was the perfect length for me to take pictures from the outfield (behind the center field fence) to frame the batter, catcher and umpire at home plate. I was glad I put it in my bag.

Nikon D4 Sigma 300mm f/2.8 + x2 teleconverter @ 600mm f/5.6 ISO 400 1/1250 sec

Your May 2013 desktop calendar has arrived

Since Memorial day is in May, I chose to feature the National Memorial Arch which is located in Valley Forge National Historic Park because of the inscription on the reverse side.

"Naked and starving as they are We cannot enough admire The incomparable Patience and Fidelity of the Soldiery" - George Washington

The photograph was taken just after sunset in November of last year.

​May 2013 Calendar

#TravelTuesday The Philadelphia Phoenix

Earlier this year I was approached by a friend about an new sports team called the Philadelphia Phoenix who needed some photographic coverage. The Phoenix is part of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) which is a league for the sport of Ultimate (Ultimate Frisbee). This is a professional sports team, and the athleticism of the competitors is really something to watch. The pictures in the gallery below show a fraction of the continuous action. At first I was a bit skeptical of guys throwing a Frisbee around a football field. But now, having seen one of the games, let me assure you, these wiry, strong, determined gladiators take to the field with power and grace. It is an impressive sight. If you have some time Sunday May 5th at 1pm come see them at home against the DC Breeze at O’Shields Stadium, Cheyney University.