A closeup Yasmin alibhai-brown in this shot allows you to get more emotion than if you had used a wide-angle shot to get the ring and all the ropes in the photo.

The reality of most sports fans is that when you go to a game, if you are going to take photos, you’ll have to think outside the box.

Not having the credentials, connections or ability to get right in on the action makes one have to look at how to take photos and what to focus on when capturing the event.

Remember, just because you don’t get all the action doesn’t mean you can’t tell a story with your images.

As a fan of professional wrestling, going to live events is an extreme blast. I really like it because it gives me a different outlet to shoot images. However, not being up next to the ring makes action shots harder. Not that one can’t do it, but you get the ropes in the way and shadows created by the ropes by lighting or a flash can make things harder.

A few of us went to an event last weekend and were close to the ring, which made it even better.

When wrestlers Clopidogrel 75 mg go back and forth with fans, closing in on the wrestler gives a more close-up feel to the action.

It was a place to capture more close ups and to see some emotion.

We’ve seen this federation — 2CW — before. It’ s a Metoprolol and pregnancy good company with solid workers who know how to play to the crowd and utilize their roles. No matter how you look at professional wrestling, realize this — it’s entertainment. It’s a show and when done well, it’s highly athletic entertainment. That gives a photographer a chance to really hone in on several skills — action shots, closeups, emotion and reactions. You have the best of many worlds when you shoot pro wrestling.

If you’re lucky, you can capture everything in one shot.

So how to go about it?

Use a zoom lens. I used my 70-200 F4 with a flash. I was probably 20-25 feet from the ring and standing, so I had a pretty good vantage point. With a white ceiling, I was able to, at times, bounce the flash a little bit to get some better lighting. I’ve noticed in the times shooting wrestling that shooting the flash directly at the ring can be too much lighting, so play around with your flash and adjust as needed.

Snapping shots Metronidazole 250 mg of personalities during down time can give you interesting images of the people outside the element of "action."

Though the way I shoot isn’t for everyone, it works well for me. Some of my techniques include:

• Closing in on the action so I can see the focus of the wrestler(s). It makes for a tighter crop on the photo and brings out details in what’s going on.
• Capturing people/personalities in down situations. You get to see different reactions and such by doing so.
• Keeping an eye on turnbuckles or action coming toward you.
• Watch your surroundings — you never know when something else or someone else could add to your photo.

This isn’t the only way I shoot wrestling, however. I use a wide-angle lens at times to try and capture the feel of the venue or what’s going on overall.

The best part of independent professional wrestling?

It’s usually a cheap ticket. So for 10 or 12 bucks, you can usually get 2-4 hours of interesting entertainment and a bundle of photograph opportunities. Many times, these independent federations will also bring in one or more older stars — those from yesteryear who are no longer affiliated with the WWE or some other big place. It’s cool to see them, too, for the most part because they can be very personable.

Bring several memory cards, your camera, a flash and a lens or two and snap away.

Here are some more of the shots I took at the last event I went to:

Keep an Can zoloft cause weight gain eye on the turnbuckle area because you can get some cool action and emotions and not usually be blocked out by anyone or anything.

Watch your surroundings -- sometimes something Duetact 17 mg else can add to the shot. Such as this video guy and being able to see his screen as he films this wrestler.

Many independent Buy Atorlip 5 Online federations bring in old stars, such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Getting closeups on these guys can usually be pretty wild.

The reactions Buy Frumil Online and emotions you can get with closeups can help tell the story.

If you decide that you’d like to try shooting a wrestling event, check out this calendar. Though it doesn’ t list Minocycline 50mg - 15 pills everything possible, it’s pretty close and it’s one of the most comprehensive calendars for pro wrestling.

It’s a fun event to shoot though. Get out there and give it a try. You might get some wild images!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Street art Flonase 50mcg - 1 nasal sprays from NYC.

A Day Zero Project goal of P.J.’s has been completed!

Goal completed: Buy a piece of art from a street vendor.

Date completed: December 2011.

Number: 41  (remember, these goals will not all be done in order. It’s a random list where the numbers actually are).

Description:  As a fan of art, I wanted to buy some local art from a street vendor.

Why I wanted to do it: To expand my street art collection. I have a lot of cool pieces of art and most were bought on the street during my travels.

How I did it: I always peek at vendors for local art when traveling, whether it be a day trip to New York City or an extended trip elsewhere. I am usually quite successful in finding some sort of street art that I really love (with the exception of finding something in Dublin in 2010, unfortunately).

Some of my favorite art has been purchased from the actual artist, mainly in my travels to Montreal. But I’ve also been successful in finding some really nice stuff in my trips to New York City and other spots. The art in NYC is usually not all original — it might be reproductions or what have you, but it’s some beautiful stuff. I do prefer originals, but the right piece of art is something I enjoy getting.

See above.

This piece was picked up this past December while on a day trip to NYC. This art really was something that was a piece that I wanted to add to my collection. The colors. The symbol. Everything. It is New York City. And, of course, it’s a time captured that we’ll never see again. So it’s a great piece in that regard.

The best part was the price. I got this — and two others — for $5. Seriously. They were $1.99 or three for $5. Unreal. Loved that price! And now it’s a permanent addition to my art collection.

About P.J.’s Day Zero Project: Day Zero is a project where people come up with 101 things to do over 1001 days. I started the project on Oct. 10, 2010 with an anticipated finish date of July 8, 2013. Goals will not be revealed until they are completed. A private list is at the Day Zero website  and the  list will Cymbalta 20mg - 90 pills be made public upon completion of the project. It’s my thoughts that if things are kept private, should I not do them, change or find a way around it, I’d only be cheating myself.

Sarah, left, as part Avapro 300 mg of the Team Viacom fundraiser in New York City.

I don’t often try and get people to give money through this blog.

Usually, it’s once a year when I am trying to solicit a few bucks for our Relay For Life team (don’t worry, that will be coming soon enough).

But this time, it’s for a friend and former co-worker, Sarah.

Sarah is trying to raise a bunch of bucks for a good cause. And to do this, she’s running a half marathon in Miami this Sunday. In other words, a 13.1-mile stroll. No problem, right?

Well…

I worked with Sarah at the newspaper for a couple of years. She started as a part-timer in the sports department and eventually became a copy editor. She’s a happy-go-lucky person, but if somebody had told me Sarah would be running a half marathon a few years ago…

… I probably would have laughed in their face.

See, Sarah has been known to injure herself in odd ways when it comes to athletics. So a half marathon? It took me off-guard when I saw it, that’s for sure!

Sarah, right, after competing Buy Clozaril Online in the Seaford Wellness Hot Chocolate 5K on Dec. 3.

OK, humor aside, this is serious.

Sarah is a kind-hearted soul and her undertaking this is amazing enough. Heck, anyone deciding to run 13.1 miles for a charity should be applauded. That’s not an easy undertaking.

Sarah is running for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through Team in Training. She’s competing at the ING Miami Half Marathon this Sunday.

TNT Training Celebrex 200mg - 270 pills works to prepare people for endurance sports. In turn, those people work to donate and raise money for charities. According to a its fact sheet, TNT has prepared more than 500,000 people to compete in a marathon, half marathon, triathlon, 100-mile bicycle ride or hike adventure. Those people have raised $1 billion to support blood cancer research and patient services.

As she competes, she’ll keep the memory of her paternal grandmother, Betty Weber, in her mind. Betty Weber died in 2004 of complications from breast cancer. Sarah says her grandmother was a lady who was extremely fit and had been a physical education teacher.

Let’s put this race in perspective for Sarah.

She started training in October. At that point, she said she couldn’t run more than a mile without having to give in. Now, her longest run/walk has been 11 miles. She uses a run/walk interval setup where she runs for five minutes and walked for one minute. A resident of New York City, this training has allowed Sarah to run across the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and George Washington Bridge.

That’s pretty impressive.

Her goal, she said, is to finish. Based on her times now, a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes to 2:45 would be about right. But she said she’s not putting a time on her goal — just to cross that line.

This is all being done for a reason, however. It’s not just to run for the sake of running in a half marathon.

She’s doing this to raise money for a good cause. Donations are tax-deductible. Her goal is $3,200. As of me writing this, she’s a shade beyond $3,000. So if you have a buck or two and can donate, send it over and do a good thing. Every dollar helps.

If you can and will donate, you can visit Sarah’s fundraising page here.

Remember, it goes Neurontin 400 mg to a good cause.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

It’ s been Styplon 30 caps a while since I dived into YouTube to share some of the finest things I’ve found lately, so let’s take a peek at some fun stuff, shall we?

As you know, YouTube is a wonderful place on the web. You can find so much there. So much so that you can easily waste several hours without even realizing it.

Sometimes, however, the things I see boggle my mind.

The beauty of a website such as YouTube as it shows human nature at its finest — from crazy to funny to straight up nuts.

I am hoping to bring you some of the better clips I’ve watched recently. Unfortunately, the one clip I wanted to show you is no longer up on YouTube because it’s apparently being held for a copyright claim. There wasn’t music involved, so I’m assuming the person who uploaded it was not the owner of the video.

This first one though, is really cool. The idea of this is that they got a bike, all decked out, and locked it to a bike stand in New York City.

Then they left it there.

For a full year.

Along the way, they took a photo of the spot every day for that year — quite the 365 project, eh?

Very cool stuff. Check it out.

This next Buy Atorlip 5 Online one is kind of insane.

Apparently, wherever this mall is, some kid decided to up the wrong side of the escalator. When he got to the top, he falls. However, somebody see this unfolding (maybe somebody who works there?) and runs to be under the kid before he falls.

The security cameras capture all of this from different angles, which is kind of wild.

I echo the guy talking on the video — where are the kid’s parents?

Oh, by the way — future note Hyzaar 50 mg to mascots performing before or at halftime of a game that’s not professional (or wherever you are a mascot normally)…

Don’t shatter the glass!

I don’ t know Acivir Pills 200 mg what to think of this video. The beginning is funny and catchy. Then the one line catches you off guard. Then you see the point of the video. Interesting. I’ll look forward to any of you giving me thoughts on this one.

Busted by Yasmin 3.03 mg a dashboard camera!

I love the look on the face of the lady… almost like “Ah…crap!”

If I Aldactone 20mg - 60 pills was driving down a highway and saw this, I’m not sure what I would think…

But something tells me I’d be dialing 911.

Finally, I leave Baclofen 10mg - 60 pills you with a video uploaded by ESPN. It’s the piece they did when Joe Paterno died Sunday. It’s a very good piece and shows Paterno through the years and touches on many things. It’s well worth seeing, if you haven’t seen it already.

Feel free Buy Ranitidine Online to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

It seems Anafranil 10 mg that every time I think I have seen it all when it comes to being politically correct, something else makes me shake my head in wonderment.

This time, it’s in Utah.

The Cougar Cozaar 100 mg is not a good nickname for one Utah school, for an odd reason. (Photo by Mike Fisher via Flickr commons)

See, though I may not agree with everything that has to be politically correct out there, I understand it. I can see why schools change their team names from something like Warriors or Chiefs or Braves because of being sensitive. I really can.

There’s many more I understand.

Not this time.

See, it seems that there’s this new school in Utah — Corner Canyon High School. And, well, the school ran a contest to let future students decide on its future mascot. The school, according to a USA Today story, is slated to open in 2013.

The board, however, rejected the winning mascot from the contest. And what mascot put the board up in arms?

Cougars.

Raise your hand if you see where this is going.

It turns out the board though calling their mascot the Cougars would be offensive. To whom? To middle-age women who like to chase younger men. Because the term “cougar” is becoming synonymous with that act.

I can’t make this stuff up.

It’s to note, also, that three other schools in Utah, as well as Brigham Young University, all use the nickname Cougars, according to KSTU Fox 13.

The school had decided, instead, to call itself the Chargers.

But being the school doesn’t open until 2013, I’m sure the board will have a chance to re-visit this and see if it offends anyone else by then.

—

Legendary football coach Joe Paterno died Sunday at age 85.

His death ends the life of the winningest coach in major college history and also one of someone who stayed in Happy Valley for more than half of his life. His donations to and his love of Penn State is known my pretty much anyone who has heard JoePa’s name.

Paterno in November 2010 (photo by Jeremy Kahn via Flickr's creative commons license)

Though his final months were doused in controversy because of the alleged dirty doings of a former assistant coach, I personally don’t think his legacy is tarnished. He still did much for that University.

One could argue that he should have done more with the Jerry Sandusky situation. That’s a fair argument. Morally, should he have done more? Probably so. But, legally, he did what he was supposed to do. I understand both sides of the argument and I’m not going to get into one here. Everyone is entitled to believe what they want.

I still think Paterno got railroaded at the end, which is a shame — especially looking at how his final months unfolded. But he had tremendous support as was evident.

I went to college at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, which is about a 20-minute ride to State College. Needless to say, during my years at The Haven, I knew all about Penn State and its athletics.

JoePa was loved indeed.

Though I never attended a football game at PSU (probably a silly move, eh?) I did venture to State College a bit. I explored the campus once or twice, saw a few other athletic contests and did have the chance to see the stadium.

And, I saw JoePa.

It only happened once. I had gone to this restaurant a few times and had been told it was one of Paterno’s favorite spots. I didn’t think I’d ever see him as it was apparently his “breakfast choice.”

Alas, one night a few of us went to State College and ate at the place. Soon after we arrived, JoePa and his wife came in. They ate not far from us, so we got to see the legendary coach. People said hi as they walked by and he greeted them the same. But nobody bothered him. No autographs. Nothing. They let the man be.

That’s the way it should be.

It was quite cool to see this legendary figure as a member of this small community. Embedded in it.

He was an amazing football coach and one of the best things to ever happen to Penn State. He’ll be missed by many, in football and in life. Rest in Peace, JoePa.

—

When owning a blog, you really see some interesting comments.

Though spam is awful for your e-mail inboxes, sometimes blog spam comments can be quite funny. (Photo Eddie Awad via Flickr commons)

Many comments are spam and need to just be deleted. But I like to read some of them before I delete them. Why? Because they are quite interesting and funny.

Usually, however, they make no sense.

It’s pretty simple to figure out the spam because you get random comments on posts where the comment makes no sense or on posts that are several years old.

A post of mine from the Day Zero Project — about traveling to five new cities — recently got a comment. It made NO sense whatsoever.

I realize that it might have picked up on some key words or something or maybe it’s because the post was about some travel of sorts, but it still didn’t make full sense as to why this comment would just show up, outside the fact that its spam.

One day while driving, I came to a stop at a red light. I looked both ways and made sure no one was coming, then proceeded to make a left turn. A few seconds later it hits me — you can only make a right on red. I felt like such an idiot.

I will admit it made me laugh.

Though I try to make sure these spam messages don’t make it through, I do give credit that at least some of them can be a bit funny!

—

You’ll remember that I had my personal stand with the legislation PIPA and SOPA last week?

I thought I’d give a quick update.

Apparently the Internet blackout work as both pieces of legislation have been pulled for now. That’s not to say they won’t come back at some point. I’m sure those who worked on these two will want to find a way to get them back, albeit with some workings.

I looked at many of the people in Congress who switched over on these bills and like that they did. They seemed to see the light — if even just in saying it. The reality is this — America talked and Congress finally listened. Things can happen when done in ways like this.

Protests don’t always have to be taking over public parks and making them slum palaces. There doesn’t always need to be a march, or people getting together in places all over the country.

Sometimes it can be quick, clean and effective. You just need to have a definite agenda, a hope for a resolution and an actual plan for what to do. This one-day blackout worked effectively and was way more successful than some other protests that have been going on for months with seemingly no true direction.

I applaud the country for getting this done, especially some of the Internet’s biggest sites who showed that getting people together in something like this can work wonders.

Again, these bills could slip back soon enough, so we — as  country — need to make sure we can stand for what we believe in. And I’m a firm believe that piracy needs to be stopped, somehow. Just in a different way than these two bills were showing.

Stay proud, America. The Internet is safe, for now.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

The challenge...

If you’ve seen the television show Man v. Food, you probably know where this post is heading.

In Ithaca.

Four of us headed to Ithaca on Saturday to catch a 2CW pro wrestling show. We had planned to stop somewhere for dinner and found this place Rulloff’s, which had clam chowder (score!) and reportedly good burgers. That turned out to be the plan and we got there with plenty of time before the show to have a good meal.

But one thing stuck out at us in the middle of the menu.

The 20-ounce burger seemed like a decent challenge. Add the fries and everything else — in 30 minutes?

Kevin surveys the situation.

The four of us in attendance were me, Rod, Bill and Kevin. I need to put the names out there, so you at least know who these people are — in a way — as I mention them.

We saw the Monster Burger note right away. It was mentioned by others that Kevin should give it a go. He got a shit-eating grin on his face, so you knew he was totally interested in trying. Free t-shirt? Sweet.

Then Rod offered to pay the $20 for the meal if Kevin went for it.

Yeah, sold.

The waitress came over and explained things a little — but we wanted to make sure there was Kevin’s size in the shirt. She went and checked and it turns out they were OUT of the shirts. Really? How do you have a challenge and run out of shirts? Sheesh!

But, the shirts were on order. Kevin had two choices — take one of the regular establishment shirts (should he beat the challenge), or they would mail one. He chose the mail option, but as we told him — get her name and the number of the joint and follow up if the shirt doesn’t arrive!

The challenge -- taken with Hipstamatic.

That’s, of course, if he beats the challenge. But at this point, we didn’t think there would be any issues with it whatsoever.

Oh how things change.

The meal takes time to prepare — up to 45 minutes for the burger (it actually took a little longer).

So, the order was placed. After the wait, out came the food. The burger was impressive. But it looked delicious. The bread, especially looked fantastic.

The fries? Not so much. I am not sure of everything that went into these loaded fries — but I saw some meat sauce, beans, some peppers and not sure what else. Chili, for sure. But probably some other crap, too.

And the pickle? Monster-sized as well. But excellent looking.

Though each of us wanted to offer words of wisdom to Kevin, the reality was he was doing this challenge and he had to decide how to attack this meal.

As time starts to tick off, Kevin digs in.

His plan?

Eat the burger, then half the pickle, then the fries, then the rest of the pickle.

Down the hatch we go!

Honestly, the other three of us didn’t think Kevin would have any issues with this challenge. It didn’t look as big as we thought it was going to look. In fact, we were putting the over/under at 23.5 minutes in Kevin finishing.

So, away things went.

The burger — again, which looked excellent — posed no challenge to Kevin. I’m pretty sure any of the four of us could have handled the burger. (The rest — maybe not so much)! But that burger would have been a meal all by itself.

Kevin did note that it was one of the best burgers he’s ever had, so that was a good thing.

By this point, two people had sat at the table behind us and they were intrigued by this and were watching as well. Believe me, it’s an impressive thing to even attempt this, let alone get it done. All for a t-shirt.

And the burger ended up being gone in 12 minutes.

Kevin’s pace was rocking at this point. But there was still a challenge left. He had 18 minutes to down the fries and the pickle.

Kevin crunched away at half the pickle. He noted that the fries didn’t look too good (I think the three of us agreed). With myself, Bill and Rod cheering on, Kevin dug in.

And after his first bite, he didn’t look so good.

Digging into the fries.

He said it didn’t feel good going down. So he took a drink of water. Took a few breaths and took another bite — a big one. A deep breath and he started going for another bite.

Then Kevin got an odd look on his face. Was he throwing in the towel already?

He found a hair.

Seriously.

A hair.

After calling the waitress over, he pulled the hair out to show her.

Needless to say, the challenge was over. She said she could get a fresh order of fries. Kevin, to his credit, offered to cut off a part of the fries and valiantly continue. The three of us vetoed that and I had said — who knows what else is in there?

In the end, the challenge was over. Who would want to wait for a new set of fries after that? Not me. My appetite would have been gone. So, the place did the right thing and made that meal fully free, which worked out well. Kevin did finish the pickle.

Kevin did admit as we walked out of the place that he would have given it his best, but he didn’t think he’d have gotten through the fries to win the challenge, so all is well in the end. He had a great burger — for free — and didn’t get sick.

On a side note, I think if Man v. Food host Adam Richman took this challenge, it wouldn’t be much for him to pull it off. That dude has eaten a lot of crazy things, so this would be like an appetizer.

And, despite the hair, I’d go back. Good place to eat. My chowder was excellent and I had a fruit and brie cheese platter, which was awesome. Three of us (sans Kevin) shared some nachos and their salsa was excellent with a slight kick. Rod and Bill each had burgers and seemed to enjoy as well. The prices were decent, too.

I just know that no matter how hungry I was — I wouldn’t try that challenge!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Another blast from the past!

OK, so as I work on this post, it’s snowing out a bit. It came down a little last night, too. We got a few inches. Remember as a kid what that was like — especially on a weekend?

Get all dressed up and out for the day. Sledding, snowball fights (if the snow was packy), building forts. Stop back home for a cup of hot coco and then back at it.

Ahh, the good days.

Some people still do that — with snowmobiles etc.

But as we grow older, though the snow is pretty and all, it’s easier to stay inside, do some work, play some games, catch up on things — or whatever.

Getting prepped to head out in the snow!

Enjoy!