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Starting off right...

Happy New Year everybody...

And to kick it off...photos from my two fave. sports to shoot.

Baseball...and hockey.

Wichita Falls defenseman Paul Velo (5) catches the puck with the shaft of his stick in front of Santa Fe defenseman Ryan Peterson (2) during the second period of the Wildcats' game against the Bandits Thursday night. (Jason Palmer/Times Record News)

I'm a big hockey fan. I always have been.

It's no secret that I love going and shooting the Wichita Falls Wildcats hockey games. It's always a challenge and fun to get something really nice and from a fresh perspective.

That's why I believe that this is the perfect hockey photo....or as close to technically perfect as I can get.

How perfect is it? Lets see.

1. There is no wasted space. I believe in shooting as tight as possible for sports. No reason for their to be dead space all over the place. Sometimes, hockey is tough to do this...they carry their sticks well in front of their bodies, and sometimes you have to just deal with large areas of blank ice.

That's not the case here. Both players bodies are pretty much perfectly filling the space of the frame. That's a good thing.

2. Peak Action. The puck is on the freaking shaft of his stick. Now...that's luck. But the skill is in getting the shot with the puck in the frame to begin with...especially when he's trying get a quick shot off, or clear the puck from the zone.

3. No background distractions. At a hockey game...the background can range from people in the stands, advertisements on the boards or on the ice itself and parts of other players. Sometimes, you'll have a random stick or arm in the background that you just can't crop out.

Again...not the case in this photograph. Combine all of that with razor sharp focus and good lighting, and you've got a really eye-pleasing photograph.

This has always been my favorite hockey photograph of the year, even more so than the overhead goalie shots from a few weeks ago.

Rider pitcher Chase Anderson delivers a pitch to a Denison batter during the fifth inning Tuesday evening at Hoskins Field. (Jason Palmer/Times Record News)

Now...baseball is my sport of choice. I love shooting football, soccer, basketball and hockey. But for me, baseball is it.

It's hard. Really hard to make a good, unique image out of baseball. In every other sport, there is constant action. Baseball can have long periods of not much.

Routine grounders to the infielders don't make for really good photos. Everybody takes a picture of the pitcher or the batter trying to hit the ball.

You hope for a good story-telling or exciting play to get the shot.

This one isn't exactly exiting or story-telling.....but it's executed very well.

Again...in sports, a nice clean background is key. From the field level, there are all sorts of things to take away from the image I was trying to make.

I wanted a shot of the pitcher throwing the ball to the batter...plain and simple. Chase Anderson was dominating the game (as usual for him) and I wanted to try a new angle and see if it worked.

It took a few shots to get the ball right where I wanted it....almost perfectly inbetween the batter and pitcher.

What helps is the sunlight. Hoskins Field isn't exactly the easiest place to take photographs at. The sun sets on the third base side...almost in line with 3rd and 1st base.

Sometimes you just get lucky and everything falls into place.

Texas Rangers reliever Antonio Alfonseca delivers a pitch to Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ranirez Monday afternoon during the Rangers 2006 season opener at Ameriquest Field. Boston beat the Rangers 7-3 in front of 51,541, the largest crowd in Rangers' history. (Jason Palmer/Times Record News)

Guess what I did on my birthday this past year?

Got to work at the the Texas Rangers opening day game against Boston.

For me...it was the ultimate combo of work/fun. It's been my dream ever since I started this photojournalism road to shoot the Rangers season opener...and it happened last year. It'll happen again this year if I can help it.

I probably came across as a dorky kid with a huge smile more so than a professional photographer at the game. You know what, I didn't care.

That game and that day will always have a special place for me.

Posted by Jason Palmer at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)