Summer Softball & Baseball
Each season has reasons why I love them.
Fall brings cool, crisp weather & football. Winter has family holidays, snow & basketball. Spring welcomes warmer weather, green & rain. But summer... oh summer means a lot of my favorite things: long days of sunlight, lake weekends, fire pits, cool summer nights, fireworks and baseball!
Baseball (and softball) might also be my favorite sport. It is definitely nice to get outside with good sunlight after months of basketball. And unfortunately I do not get many opportunities to photograph track.
So baseball is a welcomed sight for my soul and for photo opportunities! Not only is the sport itself beautiful with the green grass, sharp white foul lines & bases, it is also has unique feels to it in terms of tempo, style of play & sounds.
For me, carrying a camera around the baseball diamond might also be the most relaxing time I have shooting. Photographing sports always makes me feel like I'm home. But something about this sport helps me really enjoy summer.
So, enough words! I love baseball. And I love summer. Fortunately I try to squeeze in a few games to go photograph.
2017 Boys State Basketball Finals
Here is my last 2017 state basketball post! I covered the last three championship games on Saturday -- that would be class C2, A & D2. You can check out the photos & purchase your own copies at Callam Sports Photo. I also photographed some of the semifinal games on Friday. Check out my post on those games here.
And if you want, check out my recap on the girls basketball tournament too.
2017 Boys State Semifinals
I thought I'd split up some Boys State Basketball recap posts. Here is a quick recap of three of the semifinal games on Friday. It was a fantastic time!
It isn't too often that I get to shoot too many of the Friday semifinals, but this week worked out to help cover the Elmwood-Murdock vs Ponca C2 Semifinal and both Class A Semifinals, Kearney vs Papillion La Vista and Norfolk vs Omaha South. You can check out some of my photos on Striv Sports and on NEBHSSPORTS.com.
2017 Girls State Basketball Recap
Another year and another great Nebraska Girls State Basketball Tournament! I was able to cover the last three games of the Championships for Callam Sports Photo again. Be sure to head over there to check out photos from the whole tournament!
The games I covered featured the title games for classes C2, A and D2. And this year, those games included some of my favorite teams -- ones from Southeast Nebraska! I get to cover both Diller-Odell (C2 Runner-Up) and Falls City Sacred Heart (D2 Champions) during the regular season. The Griffins are in the coverage area of the Beatrice Daily Sun. And the Irish join the Griffins in playing in the MUDECAS Conference Basketball Tournament in January!
I have to say that these two teams were great. They both include some special seniors.
That senior class from Diller-Odell made back-to-back state championship appearances in volleyball. And this month, they've created some huge buzz at this year's basketball tournament, knocking off perennial power Crofton! There was always tons of excitement, yelling & smiles from Diller-Odell over the last few years.
And from Sacred Heart, the senior class has made quite the four-year run: 2014 - 3rd, 2015 - 1st, 2016 - 3rd, and finally 2017 - 1st again! It was fun in January to see them battle to win the Girls A Division at the MUDECAS Tournament. And then to follow through on their dreams to avenge last year's semifinal loss was very cool.
So here are some of my favorite images from Saturday's last three championship games: C2 - Howells-Dodge defeats Diller-Odell (39-30); A - Lincoln Southwest defeats Millard South (56-51 OT); and D2 - Falls City Sacred Heart defeats Wynot (48-36).
2017 State Cheer & Dance
Another year at the 2017 Nebraska State Cheer & Dance Championships in Grand Island for Callam Sports Photo. It's two long days of almost constant pounding music & loud cheering.
It can be a daunting task to photograph this event. There is little time for breaks. Scheduled down to the exact minute.
But there is so much about State Cheer & Dance that make it an event that I keep going back to photograph. Maybe it's the high energy. Maybe it's the positive vibes. Maybe it's the impromptu dance parties. Maybe it's the way that music is so much a part of it.
Maybe it's just something as simple as the people: the coaches, the event workers, the students.
The Nebraska State Cheer & Dance Championships? Highly Recommended.
Below are just some of the more than 20,000 images I took this weekend. So many that I haven't even looked through hours' worth of photos. So these are a lot of awards & extra candid shots. Looking for a specific team? Check out Callam Sports Photo for all of the photos from all of the Callam photographers!
