Saturday Day Football???

 Flying Crusader

Yep, this week’s varsity game was on Saturday during the day.  Good news for me.  My new favorite spot to start shooting pictures is from the end zones.  I get a new perspective of the players on the field and I get better chances to photograph the linemen, especially the center and nose guards.  It was a high scoring game with Delsea winning 42-7.  During the game, I got an awesome shot of either Okora or Medley flying through the air into the end zone.  Now that’s some athletic ability!

It’s been a while…

Delsea Reunion Classes of 1960-1969

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog, but things have been quite hectic. Last Saturday, I photographed the Delsea Knight’s 45th Anniversary celebration in addition to the normal four football games. This past Saturday, I was the photographer for the Delsea High Reunion. It was a great party. There were about 150 people and everyone seemed to have a great time. There was good food, drink, good music, and partying atmosphere. My girlfriend and I set up our table by the DJ stage. We sold 5″x7″ prints right on the spot. Everyone loved the instantaneousnous, if that’s a word. It was a fabulous night, with time flying by. Five hours flew by and the party was over. I look forward to next year.This afternoon, I have the Delsea Crusader JV squad at Deptford. Should be a good game. Weather is looking good so far. I hope the rain from the weekend is finally over. To anyone who will be at the game, I’ll see you there.

A Good Picture A Wet Camera Does Not Take

   So, it seems that this year promises to wetter and colder than last year. So far, our opening varsity game was in the rain, our freshman game yesterday was in the rain, and tonight’s varsity game will be in the rain. Not that I’m complaining, it’s just that I’d rather it not rain during the football games.

   Rain requires that I cover my camera and lens in a 2 gallon freezer bag. This becomes increasingly annyoying as the game progresses because the bag constantly is in my way. Everytime I want to zoom in on the action, I have to get my hand inside the bag. Everytime I want to put my eye up to the view finder I have to move the bag out of my face. Not to mention that when it rains I can’t wear my glasses. Because wet glasses are about as useful as not having glasses at all.

   But enough venting. There are some good things that come with rainy games. For one, rain tends to increase the color saturation. Meaning, reds are more red, greens are more green. You can see the effect the rain had on the grass in the varsity Cumberland game.

   For those coming out to tonight’s game, I’ll see you there. Bundle up and try to stay dry.

Freshmen Crusaders vs Kingsway Dragons

I’ll be at the next Freshmen game today at 4:00pm. Luckily, the game is at Kingsway which is only a few miles from my work. The weather is looking good and I have my gear in my car. Hopefully, I’ll catch a few good shots and get to enjoy another great football game.

Starting the 2008 Football Season

Fighting the Rain

Well, the 2008 football season is upon us.  The first game I photographed was against Delsea’s freshmen squad.  They finished the game with their first win of the season, beating the Cumberland Colts 24 - 8.  On Friday, I photographed the varsity squad who also faced the Cumberland Colts.  The game was very action packed, filled with turnovers, touchdowns, and RAIN.  Yes, there was plenty of water in the air, on the players, on the fans, and on me and my camera gear.  The rain wasn’t constant, rather it rolled in and out in bands of down pours.  The sidelines quickly turned into a slippery mud soup and that soaked my shoes and pants.  Delsea’s white jerseys quickly camoflauged themselves with the dirt and grass of the field.  Suprisingly, there weren’t many fumbles on either side.  However, traction was another issue.  Every chance the coaches had, they rushed the cleat cleaners onto the field so the players could remove the caked mud from their spikes.  Despite the weather, Delsea still managed to finish the game with a win.  Things look promising for this season.  Hopefully, the team will be able to pull together despite the fact that the squad has many younger players.

2008 Delsea Sports Hall of Fame

This past Friday, I was invited to photograph the induction banquet for the 2008 Delsea Sports Hall of Fame. There were roughly 180 people that attended the banquet, many who attended Delsea at one point or another. There was a mixture of emotions in the air throughout the night, as new faces met, and old friends re-united. A great deal of pride and accomplishment was expressed by each of inductees who thanked the friends, family, coaches, and mentors who helped them attain their goals. I enjoyed the challenge of finding the moments that would capture the essence of the night. As one speaker put it, “It was the little things” that they were being rewarded. I tried to remember the little things as I snapped away during the night, trying to convert the happiness of the evening into a photograph. To all of those that were inducted, I wish you a sincere congratulations. To all of those in attendance, your smiles, laughter, and memories shared helped make this ceremony a memorable event.

A Trip to the Zoo

Yawning Leopard
Well, I’ve been nursing my knee injury for about two weeks now and I’ve been suffering from a severe case of cabin fever. Jessica, my girlfriend who was probably fed up with my attitude, finally demanded that we leave the house. So she took me to the Cape May Zoo. I love this zoo, mostly because it isn’t crowded, even on busy days. They have an impressive number of species for your viewing pleasure, including all of the kid favorites: a lion, cheetahs, giraffes, black bears, and zebras! It was good to get away from the house for a few hours.

At the front of the zoo, there was a pen for some of the zoos newest arrivals: two pot-bellied pigs. Jessica instantly fell in love. They were “snorting” and prancing around their little pen. Every once and a while they would come up to the fence and stand on their hind legs so they could smell your feet and your hands. Jessica would have been quite content to put one of them in her purse and take him home.

Now, I’ve been to the Cape May Zoo quite a few times and over the years I’ve come to notice that other than the lone male lion, the big cats at the zoo are quite happy to just sleep and show no signs of life. Yesterday, this was not the case. We got to see a cheetah speed along its fence trying to catch a guinea hen in the adjacent pen. They are fast, TV shows do no justice for these animals. Seeing them run in person is amazing. Also, we got to see the lion roar! It was incredible. The sound is loud enough to be heard throughout the park. We also got to see an ocelot roam his pen, a sleepy leopard, and pooped bobcat.

I love zoos; they are a great place for photographing “wild” animals. Jessica and I have done some traveling and we usually work in the local zoos and aquariums in our journeys. Our list now includes: Baltimore Aquarium, Cape May Zoo, Tampa Bay Aquarium, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, and Sea World San Diego. So if you like the shows on the National Geographic channel where you journey out into the savanna for a rare glimpse at some amazing creatures, don’t think that you have to spend thousands on an African expedition. You’d be surprised at the number of photographic opportunities awaiting you at your local zoo.

A Kindergarten Teacher’s Retirement

Smiling Faces of a Teacher’s FlowerSomeone I know recently asked me if I could scan some pictures. The pictures were from yearbooks of an early childhood development center. In the pictures were students from a teacher who is now retiring. I had no problem completing the task for this person. After scanning the roughly 20 pages or so, a strange idea popped into my head. In the yearbook’s were individual black and white pictures of all the students for a particular year. I started to arrange these individual pictures in a flower shape. I started with the actual flower pedals, working my way to the center. In the center of the flower I placed a picture of the retiring teacher. I then created a stem and leaves in the same manner. Now this was still all in black and white and the effect isn’t what I thought it would be. I then started to experiment with lightly coloring the individual pictures, which, in my opinion, really made the overall image start to “pop.” I showed the person who asked me to do the scanning, and she seemed to really like it. I find instances like this funny. My original intention was to just help by scanning the pictures. I ended up finding inspiration and motivation to try to create something. I hope the teacher likes it, I don’t know the teacher, but anyone who is retiring I kind of envy.

Greetings From ARLPhoto.net LLC

What purpose doe a photographer have for a blog on his portfolio website? That is a fair question. I just wanted to present myself as something more than an abstract. I want to become human to those who don’t know me. With just my website, I’m just that guy who sits behind the camera. Hopefully, through this blog, I can introduce myself to those that have only interacted with me through email. Well, this is my introduction. My name is Anthony Lindner. I started suffering from a photographic addiction when I was first given a Polaroid instant camera when I was younger. Later, with the advent of digital technology, I became hooked again. I primarily photograph sporting events because I enjoy the challenge of nailing the shots at the peak of the action. However, I do enjoy bright, vibrant colors found in many places, such as flowers, balloons, kites, and frogs. I am the geek behind the lens. I am comfortable with that description, because when people look at my prints, they are always amazed.