Post 200!

So, according to my sophisticated posting nomenclature (ie, near-constant guesswork), this is post number 200 on my blog! That does include some posts that were made on my Weight Watchers blog, as well as some posts that I haven’t yet recreated after switching my domain name and losing some stuff last year, and to be honest, I might have miss-numbered a post or two along the way :-P, but the folder for this post is numbered 200 on my computer, so I’m going with that! 😀

I decided I would “celebrate” this milestone by taking my blog back to where it all began.  It’s probably not at all obvious now, but this blog first started in the spring of 2011 as a way for me to showcase the use of my brand new DSLR camera.  I bought the camera as a splurge because I wanted to take better pictures at my son’s hockey games.  Almost 3 years and dozens of games later, I have lost count of the number of hockey pictures I’ve taken.   It’s probably coming up on 40,000 by now.  That’s not an exaggeration!  I take about 400-500 pictures per game, and between the two kids we have at least 35 games a year (that’s probably low-balling it, to be honest), and I’ve been doing this two and a half years, so…that’s a lot of pictures!

I won’t say that my photos are professional-quality or anything like that, but I do believe that practice has improved my skills to some extent.  There’s a real art to taking sports shots, an art that comes with not only knowing the right settings to use, but how to capture the “best” shots.  I get a lot of crappy pictures, but every once in a while, I get a real gem.  🙂  So, for my 200th post, I will share some of my most recent shots that I felt turned out well.

A few weeks back, one of the boys on Jamie’s team took a shot that we all thought ended up in the net…but the goal was waved off.  Because I was in the right place at the right time, I actually had photographic proof that the puck was indeed in.

 

 

I actually have a progression of several shots that show it going in and coming out.  Unfortunately, they don’t have “instant replay” in Pee Wee hockey, lol, so the goal didn’t count, but I was able to send my pictures to the player’s mom later on, and she told me I made his day by letting him know that, regardless of what the scoreboard showed, he did get the goal. That made me feel pretty darn good. 🙂

I mentioned in a recent post that Jamie’s team had traveled to Sault Ste. Marie for a hockey tournament, and that the lighting at the arena where we played most of our games was just fantastic.  It’s so rare that I get a well-lit arena!  The glass was still pretty dirty, but I was able to lower my ISO and increase my shutter speed for these games, which allowed for sharper action shots, and I was just thrilled with the resulting photos.  Below are a few that I couldn’t resist showing off. 🙂 Each one is of a different player on Jamie’s team, and I feel like these shots do a great job of capturing the kids’ skill and personalities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last one is Jamie, my big defenseman, doing what he does best. 🙂

And, because I love both my hockey players, here’s a shot of little brother “Daniel.”

 

 

I love taking the hockey pictures, and I’ve been really blessed to get a ton of positive and very grateful feedback from parents on both teams this season.   It brings me great joy to being able to give something of value to the parents (and kids!) with my little hobby.  🙂  My only hope is that I can continue to improve and give the families (and my own kids!) a chance to forever hold onto the great hockey memories that they’re making. 🙂

Thanks for reading and indulging my little “hobby” today!