Learning to Fly

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May 2009

Learning to Fly

Gymnastics.

It is a sport participated in by a few and watched by many. For some, it is a lifestyle by choice. Gymnasts will spend at least 20 hours a week in practice perfecting tricks and learning to be safe while learning to fly, dance, balance and tumble.

For Kingston’s Sam Thompson, she had to wait just a little bit longer to compete. She is a Level 5 gymnast at Olympic Gymnastic Center and now, is probably the youngest competitor to qualify for a state berth in the USAG trials (USA Gymnastics).

Sam, known as ‘Little Sam’ stands at just over 36 inches, sports fire red hair and is full of energy. She started on this team at 6 years old and traveled to Las Vegas for competition in January. There, she competed at her first and last meet. That was it for her until a few weeks ago. The legal age for competition is 7 for Level 5 Washington gymnastics athletes. Not to be deterred, Sam practiced daily with the team, traveled to all the meets, did warm-ups with the team and finally in early April, she had her first competition at the Seattle Sectionals.

It was her first legal competition, and at one week past the legal age limit Sam hit the floor, flew the bars, scaled the beam, ran at full speed toward a stationary object and vaulted clean over it with no hesitation. Sam was the hit of the event. Hundreds of eyes watched the little flyer post high scores on all the apparatus, include one over 9.0.

In the end, as the qualifiers were called up, one after another. Lots of them were from the big schools in Seattle and Sam’s name was called up as a qualifier. Her look of surprise was only matched by the excitement of many parents and the gymnasium full of athletes.

Little Sam practiced hard with the team and will now join 9 others from her team and head to state on May 2^nd to compete for a title. At barely seven years old, this locked Little Sam into the rolls as one of the youngest ever to qualify to a Level 5 USAG state meet.

POTD-USA Gymnast Vicky

Olympic Gymnastics Center team competed at the Cascade Elite team challenge Saturday and Gymnast Vicky Camp (yes--proud dad alert) placed in the top 10 for all-around with a score of 32.35. The team took 4th overall with 9 teams participating.

POTD-3-Point Clincher

POTD-Spartans Beach Rainier in Overtime.

The Bainbridge Spartans hosted a drama filled game Friday with Will DiIorio’s three-point shot with less than five seconds remaining gave the Spartan boys basketball team a 55-52 overtime win over Rainier Beach on Friday and moved the team into a tie for first place in the Metro League’s Mountain Division. Both teams have 10-3 league records with two games remaining.

POTD-Cyclocross

Picture of the day--Cyclocross World Championships

I met Zach McDonald, a BHS senior who is the mens junior champion Cyclocross for the USA. This is a sport which is a cross between mountain biking and urban cycling--with obstacles. He is heading off to Europe--the Netherlands, for the world chapionships. Great athlete-good luck Zach.

Hazy Dayz at Indianola

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September 2008

Hazy Dayz at 47° N

Indianola Days is probably one of my all time favorite places to be in the Summertime. Indianola History, according to Wikipedia, is described as; “Development began in 1916 with the formation of the Indianola Beach Land Company by W. L. Gazzam to promote real estate sales on the land owned by the Loughreys. A dock and a store were built as amenities to attract buyers; a second store, the Beachcomber, was built the next year. From the beginning, Indianola has been a vacation community, with its population inflating considerably in the summertime.”
This community may not be the same vacation community as it was in the beginning, but it is still one big family. The event draws locals and visitors with the same hometown feel that I remember while growing up in Kansas.
Where else can you find community founders and their grandchildren at the same place in such large numbers. The community has changed considerably recently. The Clubhouse is sporting a new foundation and facade complete with brand new landscaping. The pavilion looks amazing in natural wood and I have been busy putting the old pavilion concrete to good use in my yard as landscaping.
The keynote family event for the Indianola Days weekend is the sand-sculpture contest. Dozens of creations with teams of builders swarmed the low tide palette of sand. The low tidal zone at the dock allows for hundreds of yards of perfectly smooth canvases. The skill level varied from the basic creations resembling a sandworm to an elaborate creation of a medieval castle complete with crushed shell roofing and a drawbridge. My favorite was a Great White shark ballooning up from the sand with spiked and jagged teeth made from broken clam shells.
In all, the event was about the community coming together. This annual event brings out the neighbors and gets a chance for everyone to say hello. Events like this create a strong sense of community and allow for the youth to connect. The dock and beach is more than just a place to hang with friends on long summer days, it is really about creating lifelong memories of family outings and fun projects. The contest helps preserve the traditions of friends and family creating the most outrageous, most creative and perhaps the most interactive sand-sculptures, then watching as the tides reclaim the work.
Indianola Days is done for this year as are many of the summer community events. So now we are gearing up for school. Next month's feature, the first day of Kindergarten from 36 inches high.

Gettin' in the Game

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June 2008
(Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN, EF 300mm/f2.8 lens @ 300mm, ISO 320, 1/100 sec., f2.8)

Kingston High School is producing some stellar athletics in its first year out. The girls basketball battled at state and spring sports is taking boys soccer and baseball to the match-ups. This month is about the KHS soccer team and the coaching. An ensemble team with whole lot of passion from the players and the coaching.

“All in and you are in”

Covering a large variety of teams across several leagues allows a photographer to learn about many different types of coaching and coaching styles. Some teams have active 'coaching' from exuberant parents in the stands and some teams display coaching from the confines of a huddle during time-outs. Coaching can be loud and in-your-face or simply led by a look and hand gesture.
Kingston's head coach Craig Smith is in the 'look' category. Typically sporting a classic hat, Smith looks like your sideline east coast football coach. During a game the range of looks will range from deep concern to exuberant excitement-but in his eyes- the fire of the game burns deep at all times. He calls play changes halfway across the field and freely hands out atta-boys after heartfelt attempts to score or gain possession.

His players respond-and respond quickly. After a goal, the players erupt on the field with same excitement and congratulations typically seen on the World Cup stage. Many of the other teams I shoot in the region rarely bolster a high five after a goal. This team, like many others at KHS, work together under supportive and positive leadership which in turn seems to foster a spirit of play that can't be broken by an opposing teams streak of good plays or missed opportunities.

“Shake it off—we will win this game,” Smith bellowed across the field as a goal attempt hits the bottom the top bar. The player rolled his head around as the words sunk across the turf. Moments later, Kingston scored a direct hit penalty shot and cemented the road to state for the boys soccer. To see a multimedia slideshow from the series, visit the multimedia link from the North Kitsap Herald.

Get more details on image capture from the blog at: http://www.bradcampimages.blogspot.com/.

Facing Off

Bainbridge girls lacrosse opened a home game recently and I had the opportunity to shoot a game without my full rain gear on--for the first time this season! For those not in Washington--Seattle has been very cold and extra wet this year (beleive it!)
Lacrosse is one of my favorite sports to shoot with its fast action, intense paassion from both th e players and parents.
In this game, the players collided and I saw a blur across the viewfinder and realized after chimping the play later, it was her goggles flying across the field. The other player got a yellow card despite the collision and I had a good image for the story--and was dry to boot!

This ran in the Review at www.bainbridgereview.com

Thanks for reading!
Brad