For the Love of the Game

 

  I love soccer and capturing it through the lens of my camera.  Four years ago I would have never thought that this love affair I have with soccer could ever exist.  So, how did this happen to me.  Well, as it turns out, my hubby was the matchmaker.  He loves the sport and has been following the European games for years.  At our house it is not unusual to find a FIFA (The Federation Internationale de Football Association) game playing somewhere in the background either on the TV or on the web.  And this was the beginning of my soccer education.  The first thing that I learned was that throughout the world this beautiful game is known as football.

   One day my hubby arranged for my first date with football and he suggested that I bring my camera.  He had discovered an amateur league, ADASL (Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League), that has similar  principles and guide-lines as the English Premier League of football (EPL).  Being a wife who was interested in sharing in my husband' s interests I naturally went to the games with him.

   There I was with my hubby and camera in tow at the ADASL games.  It was great to witness the grit of the players as their foot work moved the ball quickly across the field.  Seeing this type of fast moving action live was thrilling.  My first time shooting one of these games was o.k..  However, both my hubby and I noticed that my photos were not telling the story of the game.  Besides, I had never tried to take a photo of something/someone moving.  This was a challenge for me.  Once I figured out how to take action shots my next challenge was to make sure that I would be in the right spot at the right time to capture the action.

  These challenges meant that I had to become well aquatinted with the game.  As in all relationships there is a courtship period.  This courtship or learning period helped me to see if this was truly  a good match.  I was determined to make this match work.  I read books and I carefully studied European football game photos.  I wanted my photos to show the struggle and drama of the game.  The more I learned about the sport the more I learned how to capture it with my camera and the better my photos became.  I truly fell in love and tried never to go to a football game without my camera.

Recently someone asked for some advice on how to shoot sports action.  Here's how I do it -

1. I use a 300mm Lens.
2. Prepare to deal with the lighting or lack there of.  This will dictate your ISO; i.e. be prepared to shoot with an ISO between 200 - 800.
3. Plan to use a fast shutter speed so as to freeze the action.
4. Follow the game action through the lens of your camera.  The minute you take your camera eye off of the action you will miss an opportunity to catch a good shot.
5. Set your camera to take multiple shots/frames with one click of your shutter button.  This will make it easier to catch the action.
6. Try to have your camera aimed at an area before the action happens; i.e. if a player is setting up for a corner kick have your camera pointed and ready either at the player before he/she kicks or in the direction of where he/she is aiming to kick the ball.  This will aid you in getting a great photo of the player(s) in motion.
7. Remember that the story is not just on the field.  Catching candid shots of fan reactions, side-line player reactions and coach reactions tell the story of the game as well.
8. Above all else have fun and enjoy the game. 

I understand that just like any other love affair or relationship mine with  football is not perfect.  My photos don't always come out the way that I wish that they would.  However, football never fails to give me at least one shot per game that makes my heart sing for the sport.  And so, this love affair has been going on for over four years.  It was a perfect match.  Who knew?? My hubby, that's who...

Maternity Portrait Sneak Peek

  

 
  
   The growth of love in a family is a special moment in a couple's life.  And I wanted this portrait session to reflect the feelings of love and the celebration of a new life.  This session was a challenge for me for two reasons.  First, I knew that because of my vision and my subject the best setting would be indoors, unlike my previous photo sessions.  And I hadn't done a studio photo shoot before.  So, I would need the proper lighting.  The second challenge was that of capturing the beauty of a pregnant woman.  This was a challenge because we live in a world where most women are very subconscious of their bodies and the way they look. Unfortunately, this negative self awareness hinders one from truly seeing and appreciating the beauty that is. And if it is not quickly captured this beauty fades and disappears.

   How did I overcome these challenges?  The first challenge concerned me the most because photography is all about the light; the light is the true subject of all photos.  Also, I wanted to keep the lighting simple.  This allowed me the opportunity to create my own lights.  I did this by going down to the hardware store and buying a couple of inexpensive clamp lights.  I then needed stands for them.  A few old tri-pods that no longer could hold a camera were in the back of my closet and worked really well as light stands.  After I acquired the necessary lighting I then focused on my pregnant model.

   When a woman feels beautiful she then looks beautiful.  This thought got me on a search for something that would make this pregnant woman feel beautiful.  A while ago my mother sent me an exquisitely hand-made antique bed spread.  By itself it was beautiful, however, adding it to our model equaled a precious life time moment photographed in its loveliness.  The minute I showed it to the model she fell in love with it.  The affect was automatic and this moment in all its beauty could be easily capture by the camera and seen by all.

Part 3 of The Gumshoe and The Dame (1920’s revisited)

“Rough morning,” Martyn thought as he leaned against the driver’s side of his Canary Lady.  He then decided that now was a good time to enjoy his cigar.  The gift with strings attached.  Its aroma reminded him that he had several text messages from Max. Letting out a deep sigh, he thought of the wrath he was soon to incur from the lady esquire, Maxine James, for not answering.  He could not remember a time when he called her by her full name as he had always called her Max. Moreover, for reasons he would not admit openly to himself or anyone else he always made himself easily available to her.  However, yesterday was the first time in a long time that he decided to ignore her. “Well, I’d better respond before…” Just then, in his peripheral vision, there was a very pretty young Korean lady walking cautiously toward him.

“Can I help you or are you here to admire this wonderful alley view?” He glanced at her from the corners of his eyes. 

Martyn was never the 9 to 5 desk jockey type.  Considering his clientele the conventional office was not very agreeable with his type of work.   Plus he believes in keeping his over-head costs low, so he found it convenient to set up shop where he got most of his work.  And the bounty of his work came from the law firm of Littman and Bernstein where Max had an office as a junior partner.  The alleys behind Littman and Bernstein were amazingly clean.  The trash binds were neatly tucked away in the corners.  If it weren’t for the word “waste” printed on the sides of these binds one might not believe that there was garbage inside of them.  However, in spite of it’s clean appearance Martyn knew better.  He knew that this area was no different than any other area in Atlanta.  Dirt could always be found, you just had to know where to look. Also, dirt cannot always be found in its usually hiding places and this reminder  helped to keep Martyn on his toes. 

“Are you Mr. Mustang?  I was told I could find you here.”  The Korean lady continued to shyly approach.

Martyn looks straight into her eyes and doesn’t answer.  She stops her approach as if she were a frightened animal about to make an escape.  His eye-to-eye look was not meant to frighten her but to examine the look on her face and to get a better read on her true intentions. As one of his defense measures Martyn learned to pay close attention to non-verbal gestures.  A good defense is often better than a great offence and in this situation it was obvious that this young lady was not a threat.

“Who told you how to find me?” Keeping his eye-to-eye look locked waiting for an answer.

“My name is Elaina Chang and Maxine James told me that you could help me.  My identity has been stolen and I think that someone is following me.” Not taking any breaths in between it was as if the words were choking her as she said them.  Tears filled her eyes as she looked downward and away and the eye-to-eye lock was broken.  At the same time Martyn suddenly realized that this is the case Max was texting to him yesterday.

“My services aren’t cheep.  And this is something you can take care of for yourself.  I can give you a couple of websites for reporting identity theft.”  As he reaches into his pants pocket for his little notebook Elaina’s tears increase.  Tears from a pretty woman were Martyn’s kryptonite.

“I’m being followed.  I’m afraid and I don’t know what to do,” she mumbled in between sobs.

 

“What makes you think that your identity has been stolen and that you are being followed?”  The kryptonite was slowly taking effect.

She started to explain as she slowly attempted to look back up at him. “A month ago I went to South Korea to visit my family when my wallet was stolen.  When I came home I noticed that my email had been hacked.  I can’t explain it but I feel like I’m being watched and followed.”

As he listened to her explanation he started to believe that this was a simple case of identity theft and paranoia.  Martyn decided to help Elaina and offered to take her home.  He started to feel sorry for her and so he did not allow his normal business speech for new clientele to cross his lips which was a sure sign that the kryptonite was now in full effect.

As the Canary Lady rounded the corner Martyn kept one eye on his distressed passenger while his other eye was both on the rearview mirror and the road ahead.  Martyn noticed, for about three blocks, that there was a dark colored Ford LTD trailing behind them. To find out if they were being followed meant that he would have to drive like a moron.  Martyn made a lot of meaningless turns.  So that this would not turn into a high-speed chase that would land them in jail or on the six o’clock news he had to be patient and try to lose them.  Like a moron he continued to speed up, slow down, signaling one way and turn the other waiting for them to make a mistake.  Then it happened and the mistake was made.  The Ford LTD made a wrong turn and Martyn then immediately put his beloved Canary Lady into high gear.  It was at this moment  he knew that Elaina’s feelings were genuine and it was probably not safe to take her home.    

To be continued......

Part 2 of Martyn Mustang - The Gumshoe and The Dame (1920's Revisited)

As a private eye I’ve grown accustom to sizing up my clients and putting them into one of two categories; good or bad.  And in my line of work you learn how to swallow down the bad with whatever good you can find.  If no good can be found I settle for whatever is in my flask.  If it’s empty that was a sure sign that no good was coming my way.

However, this day was different.  My flask was full of Jack and I don’t even remember the last time I filled it.  This beautiful dame walked up to me and told me the she needed my help to prove her innocence.  As she unfolded her story to me my mind immediately classified her as a bad client and a bad idea.  But the deeper I looked into her face the more my heart believed in the purity coming from her eyes.  My heart would not let me type cast her with some of the prior garbage characters I had dealt with.  And so I took her on as a client without any reservations which was my first mistake…

4:05 p.m. The Day Before

Checking the time Martyn casually looked at his watch.  "Long day," he sighed to himself as he leaned against the driver's side of his Mustang GT; his Canary Lady as he fondly referred to her.

"Check my messages and then it's off to the gym."  Reaching into his pocket for his cell he mentally ran through what was left on his to-do list.  The display on his cell showed one text message from Max.  "Got a job 4 U. Sending email with info. Pls get right on this. Tnks Max."

Max was one of the attorneys that gave Martyn the majority of his headache jobs.  And because of their long history together as close friends he just couldn't say no to Max.  However, throughout his years of working on these types of gigs he learned how to brush Max off without offending.  So, he decided to play the, 'my phone hasn't been on all day,' card.  In his defense he was in court all morning and it was a widely known fact that cell phone usage is not allowed in the courtrooms.  Putting his cell back into his pants pocket he decided to ignore the text.

Martyn then pulls a cigar from his other pocket and lightly puts it under his nose to take in its heavenly cedar  aroma. This scent identified the type of wooden box it must have been previously stored.  It now became clear to Martyn that Max, who gave this gift to him earlier, was using this as a way of buttering him up for the next job to be done off of the books.  Despite it's intoxicating aroma he decided to move forward with his original plan of ending his workday.  "I hate being sent a job an hour before quitting time.  The paper work can wait and so can Max."  Putting his treat away to be savored at a later time he got into his Canary Lady and turned the key in her ignition.  "Sing for me my Lady," he smiled as the engine roared and he drove away...

6:30 p.m. Gym Locker Room

A good workout is my wind down for the day.  The adrenaline rush of stepping into the ring for a kickboxing match was a nightly fix.  Unfortunately, 'want-a-be big man of the gym,' Johnny was ringside heckling my every punch and kick.  This forced me to admit to myself that my head wasn't in the ring and only a few of my blows hit the target while the majority were aimless.  It was obvious that tonight my no loss record was going to be scarred.  It puzzled me that Johnny did not take advantage of the moment by entering into the ring and challenging me as he would normally do.

"Man Martyn.  What's up with you? You weren't a sure bet tonight," Johnny laughed as he closed his locker door.

"Everyone has an off night and this was mine," wincing as I attempted to stretch.  A long soak in a hot tub followed by a rub down would be nice right about now.  And the rub down's name would be Wendy and she would have a great pair of....

"Good thing you were only sparing. I learned a valuable lesson tonight. And that lesson was not to bet on you.  Although, seeing you get creamed was priceless." Smirking as he slapped me on my bare back his voice brought me back to reality.

"I wonder how much heckling you would do if I knocked your jaw right off," I mumbled as I watched Johnny walk out of the locker room.

Cell in hand with what was now three additional text messages from Max, all time stamped before tonight's loss in the ring.  Persistence was sometimes one of Max's admirable personality traits as an attorney; however, tonight it was just plain irritating.  Tossing the cell back into my gym bag I put on a clean shirt, grabbed the bag and headed out of the locker room.

7:30 p.m. Martyn's Condo

Entering what he has called home for the past 10 years Martyn tossed his gym bag to one side.  Cursing under breath he thinks about Max's text messages then goes into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.  Going back into the room that he first entered he collapses onto the couch.  Within eyesight from his position on the couch was the gym bag with the cell phone in it that now had a total of four nagging text messages.  To ease his conscience he proceeded to move to the other side of the couch so that his view of it would be obstructed. Reaching for the remote he then turns on the t.v.  After a few sips from his beer his eyes start to grow heavy and eventually he slips off to sleep.

Meet Martyn Mustang The Gumshoe

Before there was the story of “The Gumshoe and The Dame” there was just “The Gumshoe.”  Every story has a beginning and this is Martyn’s.

During his years as a young adult in Detroit, Michigan he would help his friends, neighbors, family and associates out of tight situations.  He seemed to have a knack for this and everyone in the neighborhood knew it.  For a while he did this in return for favors and bartering.  As time went on more and more associates with difficult situations showed up at his doorstep, so he decided to charge a fee for his services.  At first he only made enough money to cover his expenses.

Later he thought that a better way of helping these individuals would be to become a lawyer.  He went to law school and quickly discovered it was not for him.  Some of his friends suggested, because of his physical fitness, that he should think about joining the police force.  So he tried that as well.  He enjoyed the training and he was good at hand to hand combat, but he never felt comfortable with carrying a gun everyday as a part of the job.  He’d rather settle a dispute with words or his fists and not with bullets.  So, needless to say he didn’t complete his training to become a police officer.  However, he knows that in his current profession there are times when a gun is more persuasive than words or fists.  He has a license to carry a gun; he just chooses to make using it his very last resort.

When Martyn started his job of investigating cases for some of the local Atlanta attorneys he was immediately labeled as a private eye or private investigator.  Martyn hates labels and he prefers to be thought of and respected simply as a hard working man.  Besides, labels are not his thing and he fought against this label by referring to himself as the gumshoe because he believes that he stands in a class by himself.  So because of Martyn’s stature within this small society as well as his physical stature, no one argued with him and his personal gumshoe label stuck.

Gumshoe is an old slang term from the 1920’s era for private eye.  Martyn is not that old.  As a kid he would watch old black and white movies with his dad and when he first heard the term gumshoe he thought it was cool.  Although he grew-up during the 80’s and he never missed an episode of Magnum PI, he had a special love for the old black and white detective movies.   Being a gumshoe rather than a private eye was his memorial to his fond childhood memories of his father. Memories of those days along with his father were gone. 

So, just like his last name, gumshoe stuck. How he got the last name, Mustang, is a story for another day.

The Gumshoe and The Dame (1920's Revisited)

As a private eye I’ve grown accustom to sizing up potential clients and putting them into one of two categories; good or bad.  And in my line of work you learn how to swallow down the bad with whatever good you can find.  If no good can be found I settle for whatever is in my flask.  If it’s empty that was a sure sign that no good was coming my way.

However, this day was different.  My flask was full of Jack and I don’t even remember the last time I filled it.  This beautiful dame walked up to me and told me the she needed my help to prove her innocence.  As she unfolded her story to me my mind immediately classified her as a bad client and a bad idea.  But the deeper I looked into her face the more my heart believed in the purity coming from her eyes.  My heart would not let me type cast her along with some of the prior garbage for clients I had dealt with.  And so I took her on as a client without any reservations which was my first mistake… 

To be continued....