Frozen Moments

How cool is it when you can combine 2 passions at once?  Those who know me well know that I love sports and recently I’ve added photography to a short list of passions (it knocked cooking and cleaning off the list :))  This past summer I had the good fortune to be the official photographer of the Canadian National Beach Volleyball Championships  just down the beach from my flat at Ashbridge’s Bay, Toronto.  I took the picture above on the second day of the three-day tournament.  A photographer’s job at these events is to attempt to capture a very special moment in time.  If you’ve done your job well, the athletes will remember the emotions of that moment whenever they see this picture.  It’s an added bonus if the same picture elicits emotion in you, the viewer, even if you were not at the event at the time.  That is the magic of photography, and especially sports photography.  Do you want to see what this magic looks like? 

I’ve been following the Winter Olympics and of course, have been dreaming that I could be one of the lucky few covering this spectacular event.  Maybe someday…In the meantime, I’ve appreciated this photo blog from Steve Russell, Toronto Star photographer, who’s post describes what it was like to cover the opening ceremonies – a really cool story from the inside. And for those of you who witnessed the awesome, historic gold medal run of Alexandre Bilodeau last night, this photo will surely evoke lasting emotions well beyond the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.  Way to go Alex!  We are so proud of you! 

Go Canada!

PS – please take a moment to check out Toronto Star photographer Richard Lautens’ shots from Alex’s now historic event – talk about being in the right place at the right time!  These shots are awesome!