Project Pink

Ashlyn Harris looks on helplessly as a rebound drops in front of the goal

I got an email from my friends at Puma about photographing a Project Pink event with the Boston Breakers of the WPS. This was my second time working with Puma as I had earlier been embedded with them for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Boston. I was anxious to work with the good folks at Puma again and with a quick email exchange, fellow photographer Jeff Tamagini and I were packing our gear and headed for Harvard Stadium.

(Left) Kelly Smith takes the corner

(Right)A Breakers striker

The Boston Breakers play in the Women's Professional Soccer League, which consists of 8 teams from across the US. The Breakers franchise is in their second year of the WPS, after having been affiliated with WUSA previously before it ceased operations.

Lindsay Tarpley tries to regain ball possession

In cooperation with Puma, the breakers hosted a Project Pink game to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. The hometown Breakers sported Pink Puma jerseys for the game which were auctioned off as part of the fund raising activities; overall the event raised over $7,000 for the cause.

New updates coming soon

Due to a number of personal factors I just haven't had the opportunity to update the blog on a regular enough basis. With work and school, some personal matters, bad weather, and worse luck, I haven't been able to get out and go shooting in the last few months. In addition, I haven't even had a chance to shoot any sporting events having missed opportunities to shoot both the BU/BC game at Fenway due to being out of town, and the Boston Blazers game last weekend due to a prior commitment.

The good news is things have settled down, and the I'm working on a best of 2009 post as well as a tribute to my mother who recently passed away with some of the pictures of her last trip to New England. Winter sports are also in full motion and there will be basketball, track, and ice hockey photos forthcoming so hang in there.

~ Brad

Homecoming

Homecoming is always a special time of year for any college or university. With alums coming back to reminisce and current students wanting to show that their class is as good as any in school history, the atmosphere is usually electric. It is a great time to rekindle old friendships and to make new ones.

At Regis as at many institutions homecoming centers itself around athletics and camaraderie. Our athletes take to the fields and courts to show their school spirit and and our fans cheer them on anxiously anticipating inevitable victory. Our faculty and staff come out in support of the students who work so hard on the field of competition, the same way they work hard in the classroom.



This year homecoming started out with the traditional pep rally. A late night party where school spirit dominates. The pep rally this year was student run and they did a terrific job. The DJ had the students on their feet, and the MCs for the evening kept things moving and helped fuel the great atmosphere.

(Various pep rally images)

Saturday morning homecoming began in earnest. With the official blessing of our new athletics fields, followed by men's and women's soccer, women's field hockey, and women's volleyball. This would be an all day event for me, and it turned out to be the same for many of our alums. With the biggest crowds of the year looking on, our teams competed fiercely in each of the games that day.

Ashley Hibbard(Left) & Marie Kong(Right) take the field for the women's soccer game

The Regis women's soccer team psychs themselves up for their homecoming match

Keith Mahoney makes a dangerous play during the men's soccer match

(Left) Kelly Cadigan takes a corner kick

(Right) Molly Teixira receives a pass during the women's field hockey game

Sara Ankerud (Yellow) comes out of her goal to stop an attack by the Anna Maria forwards

(Left) Amanda Hoyt serves against a tough Daniel Webster team

(Right) Domingas Gomez gets great height while on the offensive in two different matches that day

Lauren Ross stuffs a return attempt for an easy Regis point

New Fields & Fall Sports

The new turf athletic field at Regis. Included in the project were new areas for track & field events, and a new softball field

Over the winter Regis College completely renovated their outdoor athletics fields. With a few million dollars and some significant construction work, the old fields were torn out, a few more acres of land were cleared, and the result are brand new athletics fields for our students. Due to problems with the old fields, several of our teams were forced to play home games at off campus sites. This kept the number of fans in attendance down, and was a mental hurdle our athletes had to overcome before each game. With the new facilities here on campus, the fans are turning out, and the athletes appear more relaxed and better focused.

The Regis women's soccer team finishes their first pre-game warm up on their new field

As the athletics photographer, I marked my calendar months in advance to make sure I would be available for the first games on the new turf field. Last Saturday that day had finally arrived and the Regis women's soccer team took on Salve Regina for the first of many contests to be had at the new complex. The team lost this game, but I'm sure they will start a home winning tradition very soon.

Regis goaltender Ashley Hibbard (on ground) puts herself in harms way to beat an attacker to the ball

The men's team was next and they looked comfortable on the turf field versus the natural grass they played on last year. The pace was quick and tempers flared a bit before cooler heads prevailed.

(Left)Ricky Guyette gets his head in the game as teammate Shawn McDonough looks on

(Right)Shawn McDonough (left) and Josh Fidalgo (right) squeeze out Salve Regina William Shaheen for a loose ball

One thing about turf fields is that they can be a nightmare for professional photographers. Sure, they lines are clean and there aren't any brown spots where the grass is gone, but they act like asphalt on a hot day, giving off heat and causing visual distortions picked up by long focal length lenses. This happens even on a relatively cool 70 degree day in Massachusetts in September. An example of the problem is to the right.

Regis sophomore goalie Andrew LaMacchia fields a low shot making the save look routine

Just a few days later I was back on the field for my first field hockey game. At that point my only experience with field hockey was watching a few minutes of it on ESPN2 at 3am. Being an ice hockey fan, and a new lacrosse fan, I had a rough idea of what I was in for but it still was a long day of shooting as I kept finding myself out of position. Live and learn as they say! I did manage to get some shots that I was happy with and more importantly, I learned a lot for the next field hockey match I'll be shooting.

Sophomore Meghan Robohm (white) cuts off a Salve Regina attacker and steals the ball

































(Left) Defender Joanna McDonough gets to a loose ball to safely clear the Regis zone
(Right) Regis goalkeeper Sara Ankerud reflects back on the first half

With the school semester in full swing, I'll have frequent posts concerning Regis athletics, and some Hockey East including Boston University, Boston, College, Northeastern, & UMass so keep checking back in, and thanks for stopping by.

~ Brad

New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Club Racing

The grandstand at New Hampshire Motor Spedway in Loudon, NH

This past Sunday I was invited to shoot a father-daughter racing team in Loundon, NH at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Fisher Racing Team is part of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and competes in the Spec Miata (SM) and Showroom Spec Miata (SSM) classes. These classes are your typical stock car classes, minimal modifications allowed, and all the cars should run fairly equal leaving it up to driving skill and nerves to take the checkered flag.

Jody Fisher hangs tight in turn 1 during the SSM class qualifiers

Unfortunately the day went by too quickly and I didn't get to spend as much time with Doug & Jody off the track as I would have liked, but they were great people to be working with. The day reminded me a lot of being back in North Carolina, everyone had a smile on their face and a wave or a handshake for you. I love Massachusetts, but you don't see this type of friendly, laid back persona as often in the Greater Boston area.

Father Dougles Fisher & daughter Jody both race in their Spec Class Miata. Jody straps in and prepares to race

Douglas Fisher prepares to head back to the garage after a successful inspection

When it came down to racing, the competitors here may not be household names, but they were all there to win. We found a few great spots around the track and came up with some pretty good images for a 1st time shooting motorsports. I also learned a lot, like the fact that I need a good ND filter to get nice panning shots in bright sunlight, 1/4000 makes the cars look like they're parked in a parking lot. Oh well, lesson learned and I'll be ready next time. Thanks to Diane for setting this up for me and for the Fishers for having us out as part of their team.

A view of the SCCA racing garage

(Left) Spec Class Miatas lined up waiting for the racing to start

(Right) Fellow photographers Chris Wraight, Diane Hanlon, & Tom Lucia (back)

Jody Fisher drafts an opponent while waiting for the opportune moment to strike