View 304: TampaCuse

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

The main task of an American Hockey League (AHL) team is to develop players for their affiliated National Hockey League (NHL) team. The Syracuse Crunch last year had many players who were on the cusp of jumping to the Tampa Bay Lightning. This season, those players make up a third of the Lightning’s roster.

Last Saturday, thanks to the public relations offices of the Crunch and Lightning, I got to photograph my first NHL game in the Tampa Bay Times Forum.  The Lightning’s photographer, Scott Audette, made me feel right at home and assigned me to one of the coveted photography holes along the glass at ice level.

Former Syracuse Crunch players now on the Tampa Bay Lightning roster who played against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, November 2, 2013. The Lightning won 4-2 thanks to a few of these players.

The Lightning defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-2, thanks to former Syracuse Crunch players Alex Killorn (1 Goal, 2 Assists), Brett Connelly (1 Goal), Radko Gudas (1 Assist) and Mark Barberio (1 Assist). The Top Gun line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Richard Panik were also factors in the win.

The term TampaCuse was coined by the producer of the RAW Charge website which is all about the Tampa Bay Lightning and its farm system. TampaCuse links the Tampa Bay Lightning with their Syracuse Crunch farm team and shows the strong connection between the organizations and their fans.  It quickly became a popular hashtag with fans of both teams. I even bought a TampaCuse t-shirt from their online store.

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Sunset at the Grand Canyon

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

My wife and I had visited a few locations around the Grand Canyon National Park in search of a place to photograph the sunset on this day.  After walking the Rim Trail from Mather Point to Yavapai Point and a little beyond, we decided a point south of the Yavapai Geology Museum would be the place.  Setting up 90 minutes before sunset, the location was confirmed as a guide stopped with a group and told them this was one of the best places around the South Rim to watch the Sun set.

Why did I set up so early?  For a couple of reasons.  The first was I knew there would be lots of people showing up later and I wanted to stake out an area for my tripod.  The second was we wanted to spend some time enjoying the Grand Canyon. We listened to the wind, breathed the air, watched birds soar along the rim and became very thankful the United States was willing to protect the Grand Canyon as far back as 1893 before making it a National Park in 1919.

With the day being a cloudless blue sky, I knew the real show would not be in watching the Sun.  It would be in watching the golden light of the sunset bath the canyon walls and mesas.

The Sun bathing the Grand Canyon in golden light on September 25, 2013 at 5:49PM.

The Sun bathing the Grand Canyon in golden light from Yavapai Point on September 25, 2013 at 5:49PM in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
Nikon D7100/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 200, EV 0, 85mm focal length.

The sunlight deepened the colors and created a 3-D effect as shadows lengthened behind the rock formations on the canyon’s floor.

Sunset light painting the walls and mesas from Yavapai Point in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

Sunset light painting the walls and mesas from Yavapai Point at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 500, EV 0, 116mm focal length.

Photographing the transformation from the flat looking day time landscape to a dramatic symphony of color, light and shadow as the Sun moved closer to the horizon, I found the telephoto lens showed it best.  The camera and lens worked in concert to pull out details in the rock formations and capturing how the shadows added depth, texture and interest to the geologic formations.

Sunset light baths the canyon as seen from Yavapai Point at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

Sunset light baths the canyon as seen from Yavapai Point at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 1400, EV 0, 300mm focal length.

More and more, the people watching the Sun turned their heads and saw what we were seeing.  We heard gasps and conversation telling others to look in the canyon. There, they would really see and start to understand why the Grand Canyon is one of the natural wonders of the world.  It is not only for its size but for its awe inspiring grandeur.

I found only one thing better than watching the sunset light at the Grand Canyon…

The night sky above the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

The night sky above the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.
Nikon D700/Tokina 11-16mm, 30s, f/4, ISO 3200, EV 0, 16mm focal length, tripod.

Seeing the night sky above the Grand Canyon was a spiritual experience in and of itself.

Being from the light polluted northeastern United States, the night sky at the Grand Canyon was overwhelmingly stellar.  I now understand how photographers can capture the Milky Way once you remove most of the light Man produces.  I will have more on photographing starscapes later this year.

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View 303: Crunch Road Games

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

Last season, I only attended one road game for the Syracuse Crunch during the Calder Cup playoffs.  This season I have already traveled to two road games.  Road games are fun, exciting and very different when you are there with the visiting team. The fans are behind their team and make the visiting team very aware of that fact.

Photography wise, the arenas are different and I have to learn the best places to photograph the games with help from the home team’s photographer(s).  The lighting may or may not be as good as the Onondaga County War Memorial which put in NHL caliber lighting before the start of last season.  In that, I have been spoiled.  I have also become friends with a veteran AHL photographer who has helped me tremendously in getting my feet wet (or frozen) covering Crunch road games. He set me up for the first road game in the Broome County Memorial Arena in Binghamton, New York as the Crunch took on the Binghamton Senators. Broome County had installed the same lighting over this past summer as the Crunch did so I was a happy photographer.

The Senators had soundly defeated the Crunch the night before in Syracuse by the score of 6 to 2. I was not sure what kind of response the team would have just 24 hours later. I am happy to report, they responded brilliantly.  The Crunch played their most complete game of the young season and pulled away in the third period with three goals to win, 4-1.

Photos from the October 19, 2013 game between the Syracuse Crunch and Binghamton Senators in the Broome County Memorial Arena in Binghamton, New York.

Photos from the October 19, 2013 game between the Syracuse Crunch and Binghamton Senators in the Broome County Memorial Arena in Binghamton, New York.

From upper left, the crowd is very quiet as Syracuse Crunch defensemen Artem Sergeev celebrates his goal with teammates on the bench, Binghamton Senators’ 2011 Calder Cup Championship banner hanging in the rafters, Vladislav Namestnikov (90) and Binghamton Senators Mika Zibanejad (93) facing off and Nikita Kucherov (86) is greeted by empty seats after being named First Star of the game.

Took me a bit to get used the silence after a Crunch goal.  Then, again, that is what it sounds like when the visiting team scores in the War Memorial, too.

The second road game was to the new Utica Comets who joined the AHL this season after the city’s 20 year absence from the league.  This time their parent club is the Vancouver Canucks and the Comets were sporting the Canucks’ aqua green and blue colors.  The Comets name has a long history with hockey in the Mohawk Valley region of New York state. Including the Clinton Comets who were a member of the old Eastern Hockey League (EHL) and played many games against the Syracuse Blazers.  The EHL was the league the movie, Slap Shot, was loosely patterned after.

This was the first time since 1977, Syracuse and Utica professional hockey teams have played each other.  Management from each team hope these games will garner lots of fan interest.  If the first game in Utica is any indication, they will get their wish as the Utica Memorial Auditorium was filled almost to capacity with over 3,900 fans.  Many had traveled from Syracuse with it being the closest AHL arena on the schedule.

The lighting in Utica was a good 1 to 1.5 stops slower and I had to adjust my exposure settings accordingly.  My shutter speed was in the 1/500 to 1/800 range.  Not ideal for the speed of hockey and many of my photos were not sharp. I hope the Comets can install better lighting in the future.  It will increase both fan and player enjoyment of their games.

Photos from the October 26, 2013 game between the Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets in the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York.

Photos from the October 26, 2013 game between the Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets in the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York.

From top left, Utica cloned the famous Vancouver Canucks Green Men, the logo for the Utica Comets on display, Syracuse Crunch captain Mike Angelidis (10) fights for a loose puck with Utica Comets Patrick Mullen (14) and Crunch Cedric Paquette (17) puts in the shootout winning goal past Comets goaltender Joacim Eriksson (30).

The game was a bit sloppy for the first two periods as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie. Syracuse dominated the third period out shooting the Comets 16 to 5 while Comets goaltender Joacim Eriksson was basically standing on his head keeping the puck out of the net.  The game came down to a shootout where Eriksson was beaten on a “dangle shot” by the Crunch’s rookie forward Cedric Paquette.  A fun ending (for Syracuse anyway) to a highly competitive game.

I will be attending more road games this season for sure.

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Pressgram User Review

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

Pressgram is a photo publishing iOS app with a focus on content ownership and integration with WordPress blogs both self-hosted and via WordPress.com. It is an alternative to Instagram which has recently changed its Terms of Service (TOS) giving FaceBook, owner of Instagram, free use of any photos and content posted to the Instagram network. Pressgram’s TOS does not do that and, if used with a WordPress blog, places your photos and content where you control its use and get the benefits of bringing people to you.

However, if you do not have a WordPress blog, you can still use Pressgram like you would Instagram as it will post links to your Pressgram content to FaceBook and Twitter. Notice I said links and not photos.  FaceBook and Twitter can not grab links or the content shown via a link.

During my recent vacation, I used a WordPress.com blog to thoroughly test out Pressgram in the field. The app is very easy to use and has already been upgraded three times by the developer in response to user requests. As of this writing, Pressgram is at version 1.3 with plans for further upgrades via feedback from the Pressgram community.

I use Pressgram to share my photos from my iPhone 5’s Photo Library.  While one can take photos directly in Pressgram, I like to use the Pro HDR app from EyeApps which adds some pop to my iPhone photos. Once the photo is taken, I fire up Pressgram and select it.

Pressgram Scale and Crop screen on an Apple iPhone 5.

Pressgram Scale and Crop screen on an Apple iPhone 5.

As of Pressgram version 1.3, the crop can only be a square.  One of the planned upgrades will allow full cropping. Something many of the photographers using it have requested. Pressing the arrow in the upper right takes you to the Edit screen. You can rotate, add a vignette or auto adjust using buttons here.  There is also a set of 11 filters you can choose from. More are promised in future versions.

Normally, I do not edit my photos already having done so in the Pro HDR app.  Next is the Meta screen where you add the photo’s caption, post title, tags and category or categories. It is here you can choose which blog or blogs to post it to.  You can also choose not to post to any blogs and instead post it to FaceBook and/or Twitter and to the Pressgram community.

Pressgram Meta screen on an Apple iPhone 5.

Pressgram Meta screen on an Apple iPhone 5.
FaceBook and Twitter selections are not shown.

The FaceBook and Twitter selections are just below the list of blogs and can be scrolled down to.

Pressgram's Facebook and Twitter selection screen.

Pressgram’s Facebook and Twitter selection screen.

The WordPress.com test blog I was using was setup to automatically post to Facebook and Twitter.  So, once the photo was posted to the blog, the blog would then post the link to the other two social networks.  The blog uses the post’s title when it does.  I found I had to be very descriptive or use a catchy phrase in the title to get the results I was looking for. Which was people clicking the link and visiting the blog.

The completed post done by Pressgram.

The completed post done by Pressgram.
Click to Visit Post.

Finally, I had an easy way to update a WordPress blog on the road, in the mountains, at the Grand Canyon or from Disneyland. Anywhere I had access to the Internet.  I found Pressgram so easy, I have created a new blog just for my Disney vacations where I will share photos to my Disney followers starting next week.

I encourage you to check out Pressgram if you want control of your content via social networking. When you get on Pressgram (or if you are already using Pressgram), look me up.  My Pressgram user id is stphoto.

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Rocky Mountain High

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

The following lyrics are from the song Rocky Mountain High by John Denver.

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes

Chicago Creek along the scenic drive to Echo Lake on Route 103 in Colorado.

Rocky Mountain Stream. Chicago Creek along the scenic drive to Echo Lake on Route 103 in Colorado.
Nikon D7100/Tokina 11-16mm, 1/4s, f/16, ISO 100, EV 0, 14mm focal length.

His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

Echo Lake on Route 103 in Colorado.

Clear Blue Mountain Lake. Echo Lake on Route 103 in Colorado.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 450, EV -1.0, 70mm focal length.

He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

This was my second trip to Colorado but the first one since the death of John Denver. John’s songs played from my iPhone as I drove through the Rocky Mountains in tribute and remembrance.  His music a gift to my spirit.

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