It's all fun and games until...

You are practicing new takedown moves during summer wrestling camp and you are the one being taken down! 

The Takedown

The Jersey Community Unit 100 wrestling team coach had a summer camp for wrestlers of all ages and it was the first experience for some to wrestle.  I forgot to ask the boy in the yellow shirt if it was his first experience on the mat.

Warm Up

The one on the left is flying through warm ups.

Sometimes Black & White Images Are Just... Better!

Years ago when all you had was Tri-X or Recording Film (Yes,other film manufacturers other than Kodak made similar products.) and various different film developers to try and gain every last bit of light sensitivity the film could give you, I remember wishing I could do color images at the same film sensitivity levels.  Back then it just wasn't possible to do at the venues I was trying to photograph at.  I'd say that if I had to rely on film I'd still be pretty much B&W for most indoor and night events as the lighting hasn't improved much over the years.

Now I have available digital image sensors that can capture a really great looking color image at ISO ratings in excess of 10,000.  If you can barely see it, you can capture an image.  So, where does that bring us? 

The black and white image that didn't need color.

I have been looking at this one exposure and I kept tweaking it here and there and it finally hit me.  This one is just better in B&W.  It has a face with a great set of eyes, bodies banging against each other lots of people in a very small space.  I knew something was missing.  Actually it had something it didn't need, color.

So, here is the result and I like it much better than the color version.  More gritty and raw.  Taken during the middle of the day when I could have shot color years ago too!  Funny about how you wish for things and then end up where you started.

...and she thinks it's over



An unidentified, recently graduated high school student moves against a sea of people into the great unknown.


I suppose here in the US most high school graduation ceremonies are completed and it will be off to college or work for those that graduated.  As everyone was leaving this particular ceremony, I caught out of the corner of my eye this message on a cap and turned quickly to grab a shot of her signage.  She immediately disappeared into the crowd after I got a few images of her from behind.

It made me laugh to think she actually might believe what she put on her cap.

Jerseyville Hospital ER Groundbreaking

Jersey Community Hospital, located in Jerseyville IL, is the second largest employer in the county.  Today they broke ground to expand their emergency room facilities.  Many times these small town ER's mean the difference between the life and death of trauma patients. 

Click on the link to see all the photo's: http://michaelweaver.zenfolio.com/p834341249

Eldred/Carrollton vs Jerseyville American Legion Baseball

Jerseyville took on the Eldred (read Carrollton Illinois Class A Baseball champions) American Legion baseball team last night.  The doubleheader had Jerseyville winning the first with Eldred the second.

Been working on some wrestling images that will be up in a few days.  So stay tuned.

If you need a photographer, contact me for availability.

We Won!

Illinois Class A High School baseball champions, the Carrollton Hawks, come running out of the dugout before the final play of the game is completed.  If you look closely you can still see the first baseman stretched out and the runner still in motion.

Carrollton High School won the 2011 Illinois Class A Baseball Championship that was held recently in Peoria.  It was 95 degrees in the midday sun and the players took turns going into the hallway leading to the dugout as the cool air leaked out from from the locker room.

I liked the photo so much that I'm using it on my Twitter page (@mweaverpics) as well as this one.

If you would like to see the photo gallery of the championship game, click on the link below.

http://michaelweaver.zenfolio.com/p832045015

To see images of the team from the sectional through championship games, click on the link below.

http://michaelweaver.zenfolio.com/f375380461

West Central Illinois All-Star Football Game



Members of the North All-Star Team sit on the bench and comtemplate the game.


Well.. here we go.  Another way to show off photography and find people who want it.  The image above is from the West Central Illinois All-Star Football game of June 18, 2011.  The game was held at Illinois College in Jacksonville IL.  It had rained in excess of 10 inches in the 24 hours proceeding the game.  There were almost 100 players from 36 high schools competing on the "North" and "South" teams.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, I don't think I need to tell how how the game turned out.

You can see all of the other photographs from the game by clicking on the link.

http://michaelweaver.zenfolio.com/p139463538