I think anyone who is in the creative or photography industry has heard of Scott Kelby. The emperor of Kelby Media and NAPP empire. I was fortunate enough to me Mr. Kelby on several occasions at workshops and PSW. We are both sports photographers and we both shoot for a wire service. We have recently been exchanging emails regarding my trip to Tampa and where a good shooting spot in the area may be. He mention on one of his blog posts now that the football season is over he will be shooting some Tampa Bay Lightning games. I mentioned to him I shoot a lot of hockey. And much to much surprise the legend himself asked sent me another email asking for my advice on shooting hockey. Which of course I thought was way cool, Scott Kelby himself asking me, a photog nobody, tips on shooting hockey. I naturally obliged.

Back when I first started shooting assignments for US Presswire I would get really excited to see one of my images make it on the web whether it be on ESPN.com or Foxsports, it was really cool to see something that I shot get posted to such popular sites. Well that was 9 months ago. The novelty sort of has worn off since then. Sure I still check to see what outlets are picking up my images. That is a good thing since I get paid on commissions but I don’t get the little kid in the candy shop look in my eyes like I used to. Well not until the other day I just happen to go the the NHL section of ESPN.com and noticed an Illustration using 2 of my images I had taken of Boston Bruin Tyler Seguin and Vancouver Canuck Henrik Sedin. I have to say I was pretty pumped to see the photo/illustration. I was the kid in the candy store again. Like I previously mentioned, the novelty has sort of worn off, but not completely. Heck I am still a rookie at this. It is pretty cool to see your images in a magazine or on the web. I am still learning and taking everything in as much as I can. I try to pick the brains of the other photographers. I watch what they do. I keep my eyes and ears open. I know a lot of people that think getting a credential to a pro sporting event is something spectacular but it is a lot of hard work. Far from the glory of being courtside or rinkside or even inside the ropes. I remember covering this past Deutsche Bank Golf Championship here in my state of MA. After the first day of walking for 6 straight hours I wanted to throw in the towel. I didn’t want to go back the last day. I was so drained and sore from all the walking. I quickly said to a fellow photog and friend, “No way am I doing this next year”. Well I recently saw him at an NCAA basketball game and we talked about that weekend and how hectic it was, but we both looked at each other and said “yeah we will be back next year”.

BC times the game with no time left on the clock

I recently just shot my second NCAA basketball game. Much better pictures than my first crack at it. I have never shot basketball before. I have shot golf, hockey, baseball and football both on the college and pro level but never shot hoops until most recently. My first college game was nothing more of a tuneup for future games. Experimenting with lenses and shutter speeds and ISO’s, my first assignment was all about getting my feet wet. This past holiday weekend I covered my second NCAA game on assignment, the BC Eagles hosting the Rhode Island Rams. I was more comfortable with my settings and it was much less of an experiment and more of capturing great images. It was a matchup of two teams with equally poor records but this game was nothing short of a thriller. BC forced a second OT when freshman guard Patrick Heckman hit a shot with zero time left on the clock. Rhode Island proceeded to run away with the game in the second OT. I was happy with my selects and want to keep improving my quality of shots each assignment which in fact continues tonight when the Boston Celtics host the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden.