I helped another photographer last night setup some remote cameras and remove the lights he had installed in Thompson Boling Arena for the three games he covered this year, so I got to learn a bit plus spent some time on the catwalk in the ceiling of Thompson Boling, pretty neat stuff! Here’s a few of the more interesting images from last night, the full set from last night is here on the US Presswire site.

Jan 21, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Jarnell Stokes (5) during the first half against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-US PRESSWIRE

Jan 21, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Jarnell Stokes (right) has still not obtained team regulation size 20 orange shoes at Thompson Boling Arena. Tennessee won against the Connecticut Huskies 60 to 57. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-US PRESSWIRE

Jan 21, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; The Connecticut Huskies during the singing of the national anthem before the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson Boling Arena. Tennessee won 60 to 57. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-US PRESSWIRE

Jan 21, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; View of the catwalk above the floor at Thompson Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-US PRESSWIRE

Jan 21, 2012; Knoxville, TN, USA; View of the floor from the catwalk at Thompson Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-US PRESSWIRE

Luckily, I found out at halftime that he was at 399 wins, so with the victory pretty much in hand I decided to get a few images of Coach H doing his thing. Turned those into this nice 30″ by 20″ poster…

And sure enough, athletic director Jason Surlas had something in mind for Coach H  The next game, the poster and a signed game ball was presented to him…many, many thanks to Jamie Dahl for being there for that (and everything else he does with Catholic).

Again, the folks at Catholic put on a first class tournament, can’t wait for next year’s!

Here are a few of my favorites from Thursday’s Halls at Anderson County matchup (Lady Mavs won 55 to 52, Halls Men won 68 to 52). The complete galleries are at CBS MaxPreps and if you hurry, you can still have prints by Christmas

With all that said, what follows was definitely the most fantastic five days of sports photography on the planet. A few weeks ago I was able to attend SportsShooter Academy VIII in Irvine, CA and it certainly lived up to it’s billing as “The COOLEST Sports Photography Event of the YEAR!”

Let’s start with the staff and faculty, which instead of listing separately just take a look at this link  and think what it would be like to hang out with this “Whos-Who” list of photographers, let alone have them instruct you, shoot with you, and then critique your work, all on a daily basis. There’s just nothing like having your toes in the Pacific Ocean, photographing surfers, and being able to turn to John McDonough and ask, “How many focus points are you using, John?” In addition, we students were continually pushed to “See better, Shoot better”, which kinda sounds like standard workshop stuff, but they have really helped me with the ability to see things outside of the normal everyday grind of sports photography.

Just noticed that a few folks were not on the list I linked above, including Tim Mantoani, Shawn Cullen, and Jordan Murph. Three more awesome people that I learned a TON from. Also NPS (Nikon) was there with crates (yes, crates…well at least one great big crate) of equipment that was available for us to use every day. Need a D3s and a 500mm f/4.0 lens?…sure thing, here you go In addition Nikon, Samy’s Camera (also on site), and Think Tank were huge supporters of the workshop, so big thanks to them.

OK, enough atta-boys…if you want to further your education and networking in Sports Photography, you need to attend this workshop! On to the goods…

Here’s a short video showing the workshop in action.

SSA VIII: On Location, Cal State Fullerton from Sports Shooter Academy on Vimeo.

Here’s a gallery of some of my favorites from the workshop.

And one more video, from a Go Pro Camera that was mounted on a 70-200 lens hood (pointed back towards the photographer). Be sure and watch the crash at the end

Sports Shooter Academy VIII: Football POV from Sports Shooter Academy on Vimeo.

This Link will take you to all of the videos. I really can not stress what a great experience this was…to have the staff on the sidelines shooting with you and then having them critique the images (every day) was a remarkable learning experience. Huge thanks are due to Robert Hanashiro and Matt Brown (and everyone else), they have really got this one down right!

The pressure is intense, and of course we are running on little sleep and little food. I’m off to cover some lacrosse this afternoon, then another lighting class followed by edits, critiques, and slideshow. It’s a BLAST!

20 September 2011: Sarah Keene, AKA "Sonic the Sledgehog"", of the LA Derby Dolls jumps over some Think Tank camera bags during a portrait shoot in Irvine, CA.

After the mad dash to the local grocery store news stand, I must say I am still more than a little surprised. Be sure and pick up a copy, there is a lot of awesome photography in it including images from some other local photographers, including Wade Payne and Adam Brimer (and those two have been a HUGE help to my photography career).

It is a regional cover (other areas in the Southeast may have different covers), but I’m still way excited! Here is Mr. Tauren Poole, my new favorite football player  (sorry Peyton), in action during the Nov. 2010 Kentucky game..

Tauren Poole running against Kentucky Nov. 27, 2010