From top left, fresh picked strawberries, salt potatoes, raspberries and blackberries and early sweet corn.

Strawberries were king as I saw people buying them in flats of four and eight quarts to take home and make into strawberry shortcake, sundaes, pies, muffins or dip them in melted chocolates.  Raspberries and blackberries are tasty natural sweets or to use as toppings on ice cream or waffles.

Before one can get to the dessert, you have a meal.  Salt potatoes and sweet corn are Central New York staples at summer cookouts, clambakes and barbecues.

What are some of your favorite summer treats?

Former Syracuse Crunch player, Evgeny “John” Namestnikov, dropping the puck in between his son, Vladislav Namestnikov (18), and Grand Rapids Griffins Nahtan Paetsh (4) before an American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff game at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Sunday, June 9, 2013. Nikon D700/24-85G, 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO 400, EV 0, 24mm focal length, flash.

Back in 1996, Vladdy (as the fans call him) was just a toddler when Evgeny “John” Namestnikov was a player for the Syracuse Crunch.  Vladdy does not remember playing in the hallways of the Onondaga County War Memorial where his Father practiced.  He does remember a nearby hill by their apartment his Father would take him sledding.

Russian players were just starting to come over to North America then as the Russian Hockey Federation allowed their players to go to leagues outside of Russia for the first time. I can imagine it was quite a culture shock for John and his family as well as Syracuse fans.  Today, there are many Russian and European players in the American and National Hockey Leagues which has increased the quality of play in both.

John retired from hockey back in 2006 after playing for several AHL, NHL and Russian teams.  I doubt he thought his son would return to Syracuse to play for the Crunch seventeen years after he did.  Made for a great moment in a year full of them for the Crunch to see Vladdy and his Father together on the ice where they both played.

Syracuse Crunch Vladislav Namestnikov (18) is greeted by his father, John Namestnikov, who played for the Crunch in 1996, before the Crunch played the Grand Rapids Griffins in an American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff game at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Sunday, June 9, 2013.
Nikon D700/24-85G, 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO 400, EV 0, 42mm focal length, flash.

Hope all of the Dads had a Happy Father’s Day yesterday.

The two hour morning workshop will include group and individual instruction with lots of opportunities to photograph the racing action and practice the skills needed for great panning photos.

Click photo below for details and to sign up.

Click Photo to Sign Up for the Art of Panning Workshop.

If you are attending the class, you must sign up at the Meetup website by clicking the photo above. Registration is free for the Meetup Group.

SPECIAL FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

If you only want to come and photograph the cars and not attend the class, I have arranged a $10 All Day Pit Pass ($5 off the regular price) for an additional eight (8) photographers.  If you are interested, use the Contact Form to notify me of your interest.

Regardless of the results, Syracuse Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins has kept the Crunch within striking distance of the Griffins during both games.

Syracuse Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins (30) snags a shot by a Grand Rapids Griffins player in American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff action at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Saturday, June 8, 2013.
Nikon D7100/70-200VR, 1/1000s, f/3.2, ISO 1400, EV +1.3, 155mm (233mm DX) focal length.

I was in the right place at the right time here. Too bad it was the wrong team scoring.

Grand Rapids Griffins Triston Grant (23) scores past Syracuse Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins (30) in American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff action at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Sunday, June 9, 2013. Grand Rapids won 6-4.
Nikon D7100/70-200VR, 1/1250, f/3.5, ISO 2200, EV +1.3, 200mm (300mm DX) focal length.

The puck shot by Crunch J. T. Brown (not pictured) you see here just under the STP logo not only went into the net behind the players, it went THROUGH the net. It wasn’t ruled a goal until the next stoppage of play after the referee reviewed it on the video monitor.

Syracuse Crunch J. T. Wyman (15) screens Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Petr Mrazek (34) as a shot by Crunch J. T. Brown (23) goes into the net in American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff action at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Sunday, June 9, 2013. Grand Rapids won 6-4.
Nikon D7100/24-85G, 1/800s, f/4.5, ISO 4000, EV +1.7, 70mm (105mm DX) focal length.

The Griffins defense kept the reigning AHL MVP, Tyler Johnson, off the scoreboard in the first two games.

Syracuse Crunch Tyler Johnson (9) being defended by Grand Rapids Griffins Nathan Paetsch (4) in American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff action at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Sunday, June 9, 2013. Grand Rapids won 6-4.
Nikon D7100/70-200VR, 1/1250s, f/3.5, ISO 1800, EV +1.3, 150mm (225mm DX) focal length.

Tonight is the first game in Grand Rapids and the Crunch being down 2 games to none really need to come out and win.  A win would extend the series to five games and hopefully to six or seven for a return of the series back to Syracuse next week.

Syracuse Crunch Ondrej Palat (12) hits Grand Rapids Griffins Brian Lashoff (32) in American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Finals Playoff action at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Sunday, June 9, 2013.
Nikon D7100/70-200VR, 1/1250s, f/3.5, ISO 4000, EV +1.3, 200mm (300mm DX) focal length.

The intensity of playoff hockey has players skating faster and hitting harder. Syracuse Crunch Ondrej Palat (12) is not the biggest player on the ice.  Still, he took on Grand Grand Rapids Brian Lashoff (32) during the Calder Cup Final game last night.  Even though Lashoff had over 35 pounds in weight and 3 inches in height over Palat, Ondrej was able to separate the puck from him with this hit.  It lead to a scoring chance for the Crunch a few seconds later.

This was one of the few highlights over the weekend as the Crunch lost both games and are now down to the Griffins, 2 game to 0, in the Best-of-7 series with the next three games in Grand Rapids.  I will be routing them on as they will need to win 2 of those games to bring the series back to Syracuse for game 6 next week.  Go get ‘em, Crunch!

My daughter and her French teacher with Epcot’s France pavilion in the background at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/320s, f/9, ISO 200, EV 0, 40mm focal length, fill flash.

This is a good example of telling a story in a photograph.

Syracuse Crunch players Andrej Sustr (2), Vladislav Namestnikov (18), Tyler Johnson (9), Ondrej Palat (12), Philippe Paradis (63) and Cedric Paquette (17) watch from the bench during a Crunch power play against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in American Hockey League (AHL) Calder Cup Playoff action at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Saturday, June 1, 2013.
Nikon D7100/10.5mm, 1/320s, f/8, ISO 4000, EV +1.0.

Notice the extreme distortion of the Fisheye lens.  You have to be very careful when using it so the distortion works in the composition and not against it.

Syracuse Crunch fans fill the Onondaga County War Memorial on Saturday, June 1, 2013.
Nikon D7100/10.5mm, 1/160s, f/8, ISO 4000, EV +1.0.

The War Memorial has a curved ceiling which helped in the above photo of the fans seating around the ice hockey rink.  Since the seating curved round the end of the ice surface, the fisheye distortion worked very well.

Syracuse Crunch fans react to a second period Crunch goal against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Nikon D7100/10.5mm, 1/50s, f/8, ISO 4000, EV +1.0.

The above photo I thought would work if the Crunch would oblige with a goal.  Five minutes later, they did and I got the shot.

Could this lens be used for portraits?  To find out I enlisted the help of the Crunch’s team mascot, Crunchman (on the right), and super fan, Bolt.

Team mascot Crunchman with super fan, Bolt, at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
Nikon D7100/10.5mm, 1/60s, f/8, ISO 4000, EV +1.0.

I kept them in the center of the composition and let the background wrap around. There was some distracting elements on the edges which I cropped out.  I was looking for an In-Your-Face kind of photo. What do you think?

The Fisheye lens was a fun change up and nice way to add excitement to the game photos. The game itself was won easily by the Crunch, 7-0, who will move on to the Calder Cup Finals starting next weekend.

Birgitte was one of the first to comment on my blog and to swap links with me as we both started blogging around the same time.  She has supported my assignments from the beginning.  I, and many others, have enjoyed her blog over the years and learned about Denmark’s customs, landscapes and people through her photos and words.

Birgitte’s gift is very special to me.  The creation of photo collages is one of her many talents. I have studied her collages and learned how to put my own together. I have used collages frequently on my blog mainly because of her examples.

NOTE: I have some additional news about the rest of this year’s assignments at the end of this article. Please, scroll down to see. Thank you!

25 Assignments

Birgitte, your most thoughtful gift touched me deeply.  The Internet with its instantaneous communication and different ways of presenting our thoughts through photos, images and words, has brought me friends from all over the world.  None more dear to me then you. Tak, min ven.

Assignments for the Rest of 2013:

There will be one in July (think Summer) and one in November.  September’s assignment will be skipped this year as I will be taking a long vacation for most of the month.  I feel I will not have the time while traveling to do it properly. As you can imagine, I am putting in a lot of planning for a trip of this length.  I will post more details as it gets closer. Still over 100 days before I leave. Not that I am counting.

Thank you all for your time, talents and continued enthusiasm.

I was not sure how this assignment would go.  I know people think and feel passion in their own way.  Some may not even be aware of theirs.  I will start there.

Carsten was not sure if he knew his passions.  I suggested he review all his blog posts to see  if anything popped out at him.  He went a bit further back and reviewed his photography over the last ten years.  I was particularly amazed with the photos he posted which were all taken on or about May 22nd of various years to coincide with the assignment’s deadline of May 22nd. I do agree with his discovered passions including the new family members who had their own timetable for arriving in Carsten’s heart and passion. The last clause is something most of us photographers would add, too.

I was not surprised at Simone’s selected passion.  It was her work with the bird of prey centre which first brought me to her blog. It has been a joy to watch her improvement in capturing the magnificent creatures she shares on her blog. You must click through to see the owl in flight photo.  She even included a photo processed in another passion of hers I have noticed: Black and White photography.

Amy-Lynn has a love for all living things both big and small and for those who move freely or live planted firmly in one spot. Her prose and photography leave no doubt her passion for the outdoors.  She also has a way of explaining things in words which pull it all together. Her posts are more than that.  They are essays to be enjoyed and pondered over.

Truels states his passion is Nature.  Everywhere he has traveled, Truels has shared his adventures mostly with nature photography. The post he shared is one of seven in a series from Assedrup in Denmark. I encourage you to look through all of them to see it through his photographic eye.

Mike is still young in his photographic journey and is not sure he has any specific passions within photography.  I feel he has some but they could morph as he continued along this photography timeline. He sure did spot and photograph the prettiest dandelion which says something.

Birgitte sees patterns or can create them in her famous collages. She has an eye for things  most people look at but do not see.  Her photographic inspiration could be a forgotten nick-nack on a shelf or footprints in the snow. Not to mention seeing how light and shadow can change things normally not noticed. She gives nice presents, too.

Scott, as in me, sure does not hide his passions but did talk about why they are so.

Karma presents her passions in life which intersect nicely with her photographic ones. From nature, flowers to birds to dance, gardening and the call of the open seas, a true plethora.

Nye is a master gardener (compare to anything I have tried) and have enjoyed watching her garden grow each year for an envious distance.  Her enjoyment of photographing events has opened my eyes to ceremonies and celebrations from southeast Asia. Like America, her vision is a melting pot of photographic delights.

Debbie gives us some news which often happens to people who follow their passions. Others take notice and move us in directions not foreseen.  Click to see where they are taking her and enjoy what moves her.

Robin whose passions are easy to see on her blog.  However, I like how she noticed the obvious ones were skin deep and what she sees and feels was different.  It is something many people find over time, experience and knowledge.

In conclusion, I am borrowing a quote from Robin’s blog…

Finding one’s voice is a process of finding one’s passion. ~ Terry Tempest Williams

I will be back on Friday with news on the future of these assignments.