Scavenger Hunt - 2 of my favorite things - Skiing & Mountains

Crossed
Berkshire East hosted the Pioneer Valley Individual Championships.  I shot the boys Slalom run - this is the number 1 seeded boy John Mentor - what amazing form!  In Slalom skiing when you reach across your body to hit the gate is called a "cross block" :)

John Mentor, Longmeadow, Seeded #1

A Glimpse

...of a future Olympian. :)  Schuyler is so jazzed now that he is skiing fast and placing in and near the top 10 of the 70 plus 9-10 year old boys.  He has such great form, the whole thing is finally coming together and he loves it!  So amazing to see him have such confidence in his skiing!  

Schuyler - 2nd run at Stratton, VT

Handwritten

The Stratton Training Center made this banner for their kids at their home race this past weekend.  Each J5 (9-10 year old) signed the banner -- very cool to have the motivation and support of your team mates!

J5 STC banner at Stratton, VT

Bliss

... to see our friend Glen who survived a stroke at the same time I was diagnosed with cancer a year and a half ago.  It was bliss to see him recovering and happy!  Here he is with our other dear friend Richard - they are coaches for the Longmeadow team.

Glenn & Richard

Gray

..skies mean snow is coming! Or so we hope.  It has been a dry winter here in Massachusetts and pretty dry up north in Southern VT too.  Here is the view of Bromley from Stratton Mountain.  We love the mountains in the winter!

Bromley Mountain, VT

Hope you like my photos! Please leave a comment if you stop by! If you are interested in more great photos from some amazing photographers and/or want to play along check out the link to Ashley's blog below! 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - Ski Racing Edition

Strike a Pose,
My winter fun is ski racing photography.  I love to catch these young athletes in action! Check out these little ones Jake & Tess  striking a pose.  (J6 = 7-8 year olds) Tess below won both J6 races -- and for good reason -- look at that form! 

Footwear
Although ski boots are tight and not always fun to get on your feet.  To get the right ones is a real advantage to how well you ski.  Schuyler is in Nordicas and doing a little boot skiing at the top of the race course with friends! 

Hobby
A hobby, a love, a passion -- our family loves to ski and Schuyler has grown up in the ski world with us.  I am so incredibly proud to see him ski the course with such vigor and be so proud of his performance at the finish line.  There's nothing better than that!

Shiny
 After coaching on Sunday I went back to my knoll to shoot some J3 (13-14 year olds) photos for their race (SVC GS) at Mount Snow - these young athletes are amazing!  This is Jean Pierre who I recognize because of his shiny goggles! :)  We had the opportunity to free ski with his dad, Pepe, who is the Amherst High School ski coach & a long time family friend. 

Color Me Green
Here is Harrison Ma - our friends from Clifton Park NY.  They ski out of Willard, NY and Pico VT -- I have photographed him every year and was so happy that I got a few shots of him in his new green GS suit - :)  Last time I photographed him he was in yellow!  Looking good out there cresting the knoll Harrison!

These guys were keeping me in line so I didn't wander too far into the course away from the B net.  They were laughing and posed for this crazy shot.  This is where the coaches and the TD stand where they can see the majority of the course.  (TD = Technical Director) :)  

Ski Racing Albums from this weekend
SVC J3 GS at Mount Snow 




Hope you like my photos! 
Please leave a comment if you stop by!

Scavenger Hunt!

The rules are simple: 

1. Anyone can participate.
2. You're encouraged to take five new photos this week for the challenge. Creativity is also encouraged!
3. If you get stumped, you may use one photo from your archive 
4. Link up on Sunday to Ashley's link above
5. Leave comments for at least five entries around yours
6. Have fun!

Photo Challenges Tuesday: Flowers & Ski Racing! :)

Sweet Shot Tuesday: 

This morning I took this photo of the white roses I bought as a treat for myself.  I love flowers in the dining room - there is a sense of strength they give.  Each color rose has a meaning -- I love this post from Hugs & Kisses. shows all the meanings for the different colors.

 White roses have several meanings: 

 “You’re heavenly,” reverence and humility, innocence and purity, 

“I’m worthy of you,” and secrecy and silence. 

For more Sweet Shots, go to:

Trendy Treehouse: Shutter Love Tuesdays 

Action photography I can truly say is my specialty.  Once you understand the sport and the games you can get the right kind of action at the right time for the prime photo.  Ski racing has helped me get in tune to what is the best photo that someone would want to buy.  It is with such pride that I watch these children on the race course in the winter.  I have a lot of other sports photos - water skiing and soccer and some baseball ones that I love, but the ski racing photos I think are my best!   I know these photos will cool you down on these hot summer days.....  we think about skiing all the time in our house, so here ya go!

Hope you like this one for this week's sports theme on Trendy Treehouse

This J3 boy is from the Killington Mountain School at the top of the race course this past March 2010  - I love the blue sky background and the focused look on his face.  I have so many great ski photos, this one may not be the best, but the Bermuda Open photos each year are just always the greatest and this is a good one to share.

And just one more from that same album as it shows this excitement of the dual ski race.  

Here is a link to the video I created with all my favorites highlighting the J5's from their 2009-10 season.

For more "sports" photos, go to:

Bermuda Open photos!

This has to be the most fun race of the whole season.  We get to see all levels of skiers (a LOT of Mount Snow racers and some of our local favorites!)  :)  J3,4, and 5's race on Charlie's Chase over a couple speed bumps that can make or break a ski turn....  we had a LOT of crashes this year with the hard snow and the kids going all out for the end of the year.  Crazy and fun!  I always some great photos off the top jump and had to share.  More than 1200 photos, it was tough to break them out in separate galleries for the mountains not knowing who is from where and knowing there are people from everywhere - - Berkshire East and KMS to name a few.....  so here is the mass of photos even after deleting the ones that weren't so good ---- Take a look!

SVC J5 Race #4 at Stratton - Nancy E Photography

Love these latest photos from Stratton on Sunday -- the sun was right in my face on the side of the course, but I feel that my photos are getting better and better all the time.  This is the first I was able to play with my new camera - a D300s and VR 18/200 with image stabilization.  There are certain skiers that I get such great photos of including Will and Ian Lynch, Evan Hynes and of course our own Schuyler.  :)  We missed Jenna this weekend as she is with her family in Vail.

Enjoy!

J5 Ski Racing Gallery on Nancy E Photography




Hannah Trudeau

 

Reed Mullen

Sofia Kurd