Being In Front of the Lens, and Capturing a Shared Moment

This past Sunday saw the Phoenix at home to the Basingstoke Bison, it wasn't a classic game by any standards but it was still a game with a difference. My friend, student, and former Phoenix match night crew-member Vicki Smart was shooting a documentary about the off-ice volunteers who give their time and efforts to support the Phoenix club, and I ended up being one of the interviewees. Vicki also interviewed several other volunteers, including my fellow snapper Lauren Freeman, and after the interviews were done, Vicki and her crew proceeded to get footage of their interviewees carrying out their duties. It's a little unnerving when you're taking photos in the warm up and you turn around to see this behind you!:

The gentleman in the shot is Rich Stephenson, one of Vicki's cameramen for the evening, shooting on a rather nice Sony EX3. Lovely piece of kit!

As Yolanda was with me at the game, I was shooting from my seat up in Block 15. Sometimes that can be a little limiting, shooting around peoples' heads, but sometimes it can present opportunities for shots that I wouldn't get elsewhere. In the second period, Marcus Kristoffersson scored a hat-trick, and on the third goal he presented me with such an opportunity:




Marcus celebrated by blowing a kiss to his fiancee Maria and daughter Selma, who sit a couple of rows in front of me in Block 15, so I was able to get not only Marcus blowing the kiss, but Selma catching it! A shared moment, a tender moment between a big burly hockey player and his two year old daughter in front of an audience of hundreds. Yet another reason why I love hockey!

My full set of game photos can be seen on my Flickr page: Phoenix v Bison