The temperature reached 100 in Death Valley on March 10 – 18 during my family vacation, and I enjoyed every degree difference between that and the late winter cold snap you all had then. Did you miss me? Several of you have and let me know by e-mail. Rest assured, I worked diligently on the photos from the Virginia State Singles Championship when we got back, and you can see the finished galleries by clicking here.

Speaking of the Virginia State Singles Championship, I would like to thank team CVRA for the recognition that Sunday. It really meant a lot to me. Your CVRA Photographer, Ken
  

Have you been looking for the photos taken during the 8^th Annual Ghostly Classic? Look no more! Your CVRA photographer is back from two weeks out of town and photos can be found by clicking on this.

Have you ever wondered why I put so many photos on the web? One reason is that I try to include everybody that gets photographed. Another is for educational purposes: the players can see their mistakes and improve, and regular players like myself can look at how the better players hit. For example, look at a series of open player photos and observe how well they keep their eyes on the ball.

Photo webpage enhanced features: Just in time for the holidays, you now have a wider selection of items that can be ordered from the SmugMug web service. Please remember to use the crop feature, however, if you order a print size that is not 4X6, or 8X12.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ken

In the photo, Todd Boss gives $4,000 to Christi of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The donation was raised thanks to the generosity of the tournament players and sponsors. Thanks!

Photos taken during the tournament can be found on our photo web site (click on this to see them). Please take a look because this tournament had one of the best open draws ever! The seeding was exceptionally competitive. Men’s Open included # 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 of the VA seeds, plus Andy Hawthorne who is #11 on the IRT. Andy, thanks for driving out from OH! Women’s Open seeding was also extremely competitive with the top # 2, 3, 6, and 8 VA seeds. Totally eye candy for the photographer, and I hope you like what you see on the gallery. Finally, kudos to the NVA team headed up by Karen &l  

Greg has put me to shame by getting the results up so fast! Good going Greg. Action photos are now on line.  For larger versions of the automations below, and more, click on this.

Your CVRA Photographer, Ken  

Crystal Gateway Sport and Health of Arlington did another fabulous job of hosting the 7th Annual Ghostly Gateway Classic.  Thank you Sport and Health!  Thanks also to Karen Denu, Bill Milbach, Russ Burns, and the outstanding team who did the work to make the tournament a success.  Photos are now on the website.  Click on this for a direct link.  Finally, Ira Holland who gave me a bucket of cash for making him look so good sponsored the photo below.
Your CVRA Photographer, Ken

Christie Van Hees, #1 in WPRO and in the world, made two stops in the national capitol area this week to give free clinics and play with the locals.  First stop was Severna Park MD on Wednesday.  Thursday it was Regency Sport & Health VA. What a great opportunity to learn from the best!  Thanks Christie.  Photos can be found on this link.

Your CVRA Photographer,  Ken

The photo site for the 2005 Virginia State Doubles Tournament is ready for browsing.  Simply click on this link to take a look, and don’t forget to leave comments.  I also did a little more work on the photo web site by adding to the best shots section for the VA Open held last March.  Or you can click on this to get to the main link to the racquetball photo gallery.  Finally, I would like to put in a good word for the Ghostly Gateway tournament on Oct 28^th.  Crystal Gateway is my home club.  You can be sure to see me and my camera at the tournament.  Thank you, Karen, for setting it up.

Your CVRA Photographer,

Ken

Hi all,

Just finished doing some photo gallery updates in anticipation of the 2005 / 2006 tournament season. Our CVRA Photo gallery has two new entries. First, a photo gallery from the October 2004 Ghostly Gateway Open has been added that I had inadvertently left out. It must have been a busy month. I was reminded during the April 2005 USA Racquetball Regional Singles Championships, but was in denial then. It is finally finished. How embarrassing! Second, I added a few examples of bad racquetball photos caused by light flicker. We have a few clubs whose lighting flickers at 60 cycles. Our eyes do not see this (we can see 30 cycles but not 60), but the camera does. Flicker makes action photos look bad because a fast shutter speed (1/800 of a second or faster) is required to minimize motion blur (racquetball is a fast sport thus the fast shutter speed).