The first day of Spring brought sunny skies and warm temperatures. As I was picking up my lawn after a long winter, I noticed the group of Snow Drop flowers in the bright light. These flowers have probably been blooming for a few days but this was the first time I noticed them.
Snow Drop (Galanthus nivalis) on the first day of Spring in a backyard of a home in Baldwinsville, New York on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Nikon D750/50mm f/1.8, 1/250s, f/8, ISO 100, EV 0.
Not having a macro lens, I put a Nifty-Fifty (aka 50mm f/1.8) prime lens on my camera. I had to be careful to not get too close to keep the flowers in focus. I used different apertures to control the depth of field.
Snow Drop (Galanthus nivalis) flowers on the first day of Spring in a backyard of a home in Baldwinsville, New York on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Nikon D750/50mm f/1.8, 1/800s, f/4, ISO 100, EV 0.
For these two flowers, I opened up the aperture to f/4 which put the background out of focus and popping the Snow Drops right at you. It was a little breezy so the resulting fast shutter speed helped to keep the flowers in focus.
This season I am trying to get close up photos of the players on the ice for the Syracuse Crunch to use if a player needs to be featured on their website or social media outlets.
Syracuse Crunch Alex Green (57) on the ice against the Utica Comets in American Hockey League (AHL) action at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, New York on Saturday, February 6, 2021. Syracuse won 6-1. Nikon D500/18-140VR, 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 6400, EV +1.3, 140mm Focal Length.
I use photography holes cut into the protective plexiglass large enough for a lens and small enough to keep pucks out (so far!). Without thick and marked up plexiglass between me and the players, I can shoot with a faster shutter speed. This helps a lot when players get close to me.
Syracuse Crunch Declan McDonnell (52) on the ice against the Rochester Americans in American Hockey League (AHL) action at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, New York on Saturday, February 20, 2021. Rochester won 3-2. Nikon D500/18-140VR, 1/1000s, f/5.3, ISO 6400, EV +1.3, 80mm Focal Length.
While sometimes they are not going at full speed, I still need to be ready when the players turn towards me.
Syracuse Crunch Gabriel Fortier (9) on the ice against the Rochester Americans in American Hockey League (AHL) action at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, New York on Saturday, March 6, 2021. Rochester won 4-2. Nikon D500/18-140VR, 1/1000s, f/5.3, ISO 6400, EV +1.3, 85mm Focal Length.
The key to a good action portrait is to catch the player with their head up with little background clutter and the frame as filled as much as possible so little to no cropping is needed. This gives the Crunch media people the best image possible.
On March 11, 2020, I was driving home from photographing an American Hockey League game between the Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets in the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, I was listening to the NHL Network SiriusXM channel in my car. The news of the National Basketball Association (NBA) shutting down their season because of the threat from the COVID virus was breaking. By the end of the week both the American and National Hockey League seasons had been “paused”.
Not only did the professional teams but all the high school and collegiate teams I covered for local newspapers had their seasons cancelled. I went from photographing three to five games a week to none for the rest of 2020. Then, the news came the Syracuse Crunch would have a shortened season of 32 games starting on February 6, 2021. I was asked to photograph their home games. No fans, skeleton staff, scouts, some local media and COVID precautions in full effect.
After 332 days, I was back in action! However, in very different circumstances. No contact with the players allowed and a fanless arena.
Syracuse Crunch and Rochester Americans playing an American Hockey League (AHL) game in a fanless Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, New York on Saturday, March 6, 2021.
It is an eerie feeling watching AHL games with no fans except for those who put their likeness in the seats as cutouts. It is interesting to hear the players yelling to each other or Officials yelling at the players. The game operations people do pipe in music, sound effects and even crowd noise after the Crunch score a goal but it is not the same.
The players are doing their best as it must be hard without the home fans cheering them on. Fans are cheering but from their homes as most of the Crunch’s home games are being televised locally.
Making the best of a strange situation, I can roam the whole arena and photograph from different locations without worrying about getting in a fans field of view. For instance, this photo was taken from a seat along the glass which is usually filled with season ticket holders.
Syracuse Crunch goalie Spencer Martin (30) in net against Rochester Americans Michael Mersch (28) in American Hockey League (AHL) action at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, New York on Monday, March 1, 2021. Syracuse won 4-3.
Last game, I set up in the end of the rink the Crunch were skating towards. It also meant I was shooting through the protective “glass”. In doing so, I needed to process the digital photos differently by adding a slight dose of the Dehaze slider in Adobe’s Lightroom Classic photo processing application.
Syracuse Crunch Taylor Raddysh (18) skating with the puck against the Rochester Americans in American Hockey League (AHL) action at the Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, New York on Saturday, March 6, 2021. Rochester won 4-2.
As the world and the United States slowly moves towards normalcy with vaccines being more available (I get my first vaccine shot later today, in fact), the hope is the AHL will return in October for a normal season with fans filling up the Upstate Medical University Arena at the Onondaga County War Memorial and all the other league’s venues.
Until that happens, I will be covering the Crunch’s home games every Saturday night until early May. If you can watch the games, you might see me.
Walt Disney World goes all out for the Christmas Holiday including fabulous Christmas tree displays in their themeparks. These are the displays from December of 2019.
While you may not see the Magic Kingdom Christmas tree on the annual televised parade down Main Street USA on Christmas morning, the tree is in the square when the the cameras are not rolling.
Christmas tree on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, December 4, 2019. Nikon D750/24-120VR, 1/160s, f/16, ISO 100, EV 0, 24mm Focal Length.
Over in Epcot, the tree is found at the start of World Showcase when using the walkway from Future World. It features decorations from all the countries surrounding the World Showcase Lagoon.
The World Showcase Christmas tree at night in Epcot during the International Festival of the Holidays in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida on Friday, December 6, 2019. Nikon D750/28-300VR, 1/30s, f/3.5, ISO 6400, EV 0, 28mm Focal Length.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Christmas tree used to be located outside the entrance until a couple of years ago when they moved it to an island on Echo Lake. Last year, I overstayed my welcome and hung out late until the lake became a mirror on a warm, calm night.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Christmas Tree reflected in Echo Lake at night in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida on Thursday, December 5, 2019. Nikon D750/16-35VR, 5s, f/8, ISO 100, EV 0, 16mm Focal Length, Tripod, Cropped.
Over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Christmas tree remains outside the park as not to upstage all the beautiful trees within. It features ornaments of all the animal and bird species found inside the park. Underneath the tree are unique gifts with famous animal Disney characters like Tigger, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Christmas tree at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida on Sunday, December 8, 2019. Nikon D750/28-300VR, 1/250s, f/8, ISO 100, EV 0, 28mm Focal Length.
If there is a common theme among the featured Christmas trees of each park, it is Big to fit the size of Walt Disney World. Guests enjoy all the trees and love to get their photos taken with them to create family memories for years to come.
If you are interested in more information on a Walt Disney World vacation, contact my wife by clicking her email address below merrie@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com
She has been booking and planning Disney trips and cruises for satisfied travelers exclusively for over 20 years.
Autumn of 2020 in upstate New York has been spectacular. Even after the colors had faded and most of the leaves had fallen, Autumn had one last gift.
A few days of 70 degree F (21 C) days dried up the fallen leaves making them perfect for the age old joy of jumping and playing in a pile of them. Add in a couple of children (aka my Grandson and Granddaughter) and one has the makings for beautiful Autumn portraits.
Boy in a pile of Autumn leaves in Baldwinsville, New York on Monday, November 9 2020. Nikon D750/24-120VR, 1/250s, f/5.6, ISO 360, EV 0, 38mm Focal Length, Fill Flash.
Well, my Granddaughter did not want her brother to have all the fun and joined him.
Brother and Sister in a pile of Autumn leaves in Baldwinsville, New York on Monday, November 9 2020. Nikon D750/24-120VR, 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 100, EV 0, 62mm Focal Length, Fill Flash.
Notice how I used Fill Flash to fill in the shadows with the Sun behind them allowing them to have their eyes open. It creates lovely catch lights in their eyes, too.
If you are interested in more information on a Walt Disney World vacation, contact my wife by clicking her email address below merrie@dreamsunlimitedtravel.com
She has been booking and planning Disney trips and cruises for satisfied travelers exclusively for over 20 years.
to my personal journal through my viewfinder. A place where I leave the world behind and try to find the spirit of what I am seeing.
Feel free to look around at all the posts and pages. If you'd like to borrow a photo(s) for your non-commercial blog or website, be my guest. Please, do not alter the photo(s) and be sure to link back to this blog with a prominent photo credit(s). Thank you and I'm thrilled you dropped in!
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