A reboot and the year in review

Cobras senior boys coach Jim Forrest speaks to the team during the provincial finals at SAIT in Calgary.

When I started to work on this it was a little early for new years resolutions, now its right about that time but I'm not much of one for new years resolutions. Be that as it may, starting immediately I plan to use so called social media, this blog, twitter, and to a lesser extent Facebook more effectively.

A triathlete makes her way through the transition point at Footstock in Cochrane.

This means frequent updates starting with a photographic year in review. This year I've decided that instead of a top ten I'm going to write about different kinds of photos and assignments that I had success with in 2011. In no particular order they are: Sports, Rodeo, People, Haiti, Hard News (fire), Feature, and Animals.

The South Korean national women's team compete in the ladies bonspiel in Cochrane.

Starting with sports, ever since my time in Lloydminster with the Meridian Booster I have been very good at sports photography. This year might be my best yet.
Through a combination of more experience, good planning and a lot of luck I have been able to capture an array of pictures that show the emotion, skill, determination of the athletes.

Anthony Toth races south along highway 22 in the Viterra 70.3 Ironman triathalon July 31.

I think that the football catch below is my best shot of the year. It is also the perfect example of of planning, experience and luck coming together.
Over the years, I have covered all levels of football from atom to the CFL. As the Cobras vs. Phoenix game was being played I decided I wanted to try and get a shot of the receiver catching or reaching for the ball. Since there had been a fair amount of passing in the game I decided to hang around the line of scrimmage to capture the receiver as he turned back towards the QB to make the catch. As the play developed I kept an eye on the receiver and started to shoot as he jumped up for the catch.
This is where the luck came in. I was lucky that the pass was on target and even luckier that no player or referee stepped in front of me.

High school football, the Cochrane Cobras vs. the Springbank Phoenix

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