39th Annual Mt Airy NC Fiddlers Convention

I have been attending the Mt Airy Fiddlers Convention since 1980. This year was the 39th annual event held at Veterans Memorial Park, Mt Airy NC.

This was the largest crowd I have ever seen at Mt Airy. This year’s convention brought in nearly 800 competitors, the largest number ever. Admission to the convention was $5 per day. Parking was $2, and part of the parking proceeds benefited the White Plains Volunteer Fire Department.

When not taking pictures I enjoy playing Oldtime Music. Mt Airy is a great place to catch up with old friends and make new ones. It is one of the best conventions in North Carolina if not the best. On any given weekend between March-October there are numerous Fiddlers Conventions in North Carolina and Virginia. So get out and listen too real country music and meet some great folks along the way.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

NASCAR- Nationwide -TECH-NET Auto Service 300

I got to cover the Nationwide -TECH-NET Auto Service 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday.

First time covering NASCAR it was quite the show !!!! A few pictures from event

Big Surprise

I have been chasing a dream for over 3 years now. Sports Photography!!!

I have always had a passion for photography,owning a camera since the age of 6. I love to coach sports and have been active in area youth leagues for many years. As my sons grew older I combined these two passions, I started shooting my son's playing soccer and lacrosse in the beginning. I attended every HS event I could -soccer , basketball, football and wrestling. I spent many a night on wet dimly lit fields learning how to get the most out of my gear.I coach HS JV Lacrosse. Lacrosse is my favorite sport combining Skill,toughness,speed and hard hitting action. There is the challenge of catching a small white ball moving at 90-110 mph . Soon I moved to covering College Lacrosse in the triangle area of North Carolina . With both Duke and UNC in the area I was afforded many opportunities to cover 1st class Lacrosse. I took a paying gig shooting for Lax.com which helped my gain access and hone my skills.
In June of last year I approached South Creek Media about covering events for them in North Carolina. Ray and Kathy Miller,owners of South Creek, welcomed me aboard. Being a long time Duke fan I soon had access to Duke sports. A dream when I started this quest was to cover Duke men's Basketball. Through South Creek I was given game by game status to cover the men's team. Getting a season pass is hard and even harder for a new comer. The learning curve was rough at first, learning to edit and caption photo's under the gun of a halftime clock. I soon got a work flow that worked best for me. I was rewarded and surprised when I was informed in the press room at Duke before a game that I had my first ever published photo in the March 1st issue of Sports Illustrated!!!! SI was doing a story on foreign players playing college BB in the US. They used a pictue I took at the Duke vs Radford game.

This week I was informed by Jon Gardiner, the Duke Photographer that I had two Double Trucks in the Sports Illustrated Duke championship commemorative issue. I was completely overwhelmed to say the least. These are the photo's SI used.

A big thanks to Ray and Kathy Miller for giving me a chance. A even bigger thanks to my wife for supporting me as I chase a dream!!!!!!

Duke Womens Basketball vs Wingate

Duke hands Wingate a 99-31 defeat in last pre-season exhibition game.

Here are a few shots from the game.

Duke Mens Basketball vs Findlay

I got to cover the Dukes mens basketball final pre season game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke defeats Findlay, 84-48, in Final Exhibition Game. Kyle Singler had 20 points and John Scheyer added 19 for the Blue Devils

Duke gets a hard fought 17-13 Victory Over Maryland

On a very rainy and sometimes windy day Duke Football came to play. Duke has a 4-3 record after todays contest and 2 back to back ACC wins.
The last time Duke had back to Back wins was 1994. The rain was torrential at times ,which made photographing a challenge.
Duke website full story-Duke website full story
Some pictures from the game

Duke - Virginia Tech Football

Blue Devils Fall, 34-26, to No. 6 Virginia Tech

The Blue Devils may have lost this game - But they were in it to the end.

Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns to help the No.6 Hokies past Duke, 34-26, there were 26,211 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Blue Devils went up 7-0 early and came within four points twice in the second half. Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis completed 22 passes for two touchdowns and 359 yards, the sixth 300-yard game of his career and second this season. Freshman wide receiver Conner Vernon caught four passes for career-high 128 yards , while kicker Will Snyderwine was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goal attempts.