Basically had to go back for day 2 of the state wrestling meet to pick up the scraps, so to speak. Since we got action of all our wrestlers on day 1, I mainly focused on getting features, though I did manage to get some decent action frames.
Shooting the finals was a different beast altogether. There were only three mats set up, and fortunately, I only had four wrestlers who were all in different weight classes. There was a lot of pageantry before the matches started. The mats were actually elevated two feet off the ground. A herd of pro and wannabe photographers lined up shoulder-to-shoulder along the side of the mats opposite the officials and coaches. Unfortunately, I was only one for four in the winner department.
2008 U.S. freestyle wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo
Before heading back to the Schottenstein Center for the second day of the Ohio state wrestling meet, I thought I’d post some of my shots from yesterday. We had three shooters covering the three-division event. Our primary objective was to get a usable action shot of every local wrestler. There were times when all three of us had three wrestlers we were covering on the mats at the same time. It was a bit of a zoo atmosphere. Fortunately, we got everyone and I can focus on finding features this evening and tomorrow.
Thomas Worthington’s Alex Karageorge takes a knee after losing to Mason’s Dan McCormack in the 285-pound class during the opening round of the state wrestling meet at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center on March 5.
Marion Franklin’s Filandus Boyd, right, gets twisted up with Tyler Regan of Miamisburg in the 112-pound class.
Bishop Hartley’s Jarrod Zang gets pinned by Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Alex Utley in the 160-pound class.
Hilliard Davidson’s Tyler Rich, right, tries to keep his balance while wrestling Westlake’s Nick Lawrence in the 125-pound class.
Upper Arlington coaches Matt Stout, left, and Brett Purcell talk to senior Kevin Drake after his come-from-behind victory over Wadsworth’s Nate Ball in the 145-pound class.
Johnstown’s Chris Block, left, tangles up Delta’s Max Pennington in the 140-pound class.
Two 14-hour days of working poolside for the Ohio high school state swim meet produced more images than I’d like to count. We had kids from nearly 20 local schools competing this year, so it made for some hectic shooting. Without our trusty 200mm f1.8 lens this year, I had to resort to direct flash (yeck!) to help with some of the exposures. The tiny pool deck didn’t provide many shooting positions either.
Despite the limitations, I was firmly in my element at the pool. Since I grew up as a swimmer, lifeguard, and coach, I think there are probably still traces of chlorine in my blood. It was an assignment that I specifically requested and one that other photographers thanked me for taking. I had a good time shooting, and I hope that comes through in the photos.
Columbus has a great parks system. There are tons of large parks spread throughout the city. No matter what neighborhood, they’re usually one of the first places to look when in need for wildart.
On this occasion, I made a pass throught the Whetstone Park of Roses without finding anyone to take pictures of. It was nearly 0˚ outside, so it was to be expected that it was going to be a tough task to make an interesting photo of anyone out doing anything. I proceeded to drive around Clintonville for almost two hours before trying Whetstone again. The second time proved to be more successful as I found these two cross country skiers making their final pass through the park.
CAPTION:
“We live for days like this,” said Tamy Rudavsky, left, about the snowy, cold conditions as she skis through Whetstone Park of Roses with Rich Brody on Jan. 15. After receiving several inches of snow on Wednesday, the high temperature on Thursday topped out in the single digits.
Check out this link to see a collection of the best 100 photos shot by ThisWeek photographers in 2008. My colleague Tim Norman spent a lot of time pouring through thousands of captioned photographs from our 2008 archive to put together the slideshow.
I visited the Gruenbaum family dairy farm outside of Marysville last week for a story on, yep you guessed it, family farming. When I first arrived, Kenneth, pictured here, and his son David were de-horning the young steers. Mutually agreeing that the bloody practice wouldn’t best illustrate our story, not to mention wouldn’t stand a chance of running in my publication, I decided to come back later in the day when they were milking the cows. This is what we ran.
We have had a stretch of bad weather over the past week, so here is a feature photo from the German Village neighborhood. Driving from my house on the north side of Clintonville, I didn’t have any trouble navigating the slushy roads until I hit the brick streets and of German Village. Something about the bricks caused the road to stay frozen and icy longer than standard blacktop roads. After creeping around the neighborhood for almost half an hour looking for someone struggling with the ice, I pulled over when I spotted these two pink pooches scampering down the sidewalk.
The blog has changed a bit in the past week. While working on the design, I failed to upload my photos of the year from 2008. It was a good year for me as far as the picture taking goes. I tried to put myself in situations where I didn’t have to be lucky to get a good image and find a good moment. Patience and timing proved to be valuable skills.
After five and a half years of dating, I asked Ana to marry me on New Years Day. She thought I was just setting up the camera to take a family portrait with our dogs, so when I said, “there’s just one more thing I need to do,” you could imagine her surprise when I pulled out the ring and proposed. Here I am with the ring in one hand and PocketWizard transmitter clicking away in the other.
You've stumbled across the photoblog of Adam Cairns, a staff photographer for ThisWeek Newspapers in Columbus, Ohio. Adam grew up in Muncie, Ind. and has a B.A. in photojournalism and journalism graphics from Ball State University.
