Photo Painter

Over the years I have been involved with students, young athletes and their parents as a coach, parent and artist. As a sports photographer, it is exciting to see the game through the lens and capture those special moments that no one else in the stadium was able to get. I love shooting sports with my son and daughter who I trained throughout my years in business. Shooting sports action is not about "what happened" it's about what is going to happen. You have to have some understanding of the game you are shooting so you can anticipate the action about to occur. It's a lot like playing or coaching. I am constantly going over situations in my head as I am photographing the game. "Ok, two down, runner on first and second, left handed batter, batting third in the lineup, count is 3 & 2.... what if he lines to left? loops to right? bunts down third base? Believe me there is a lot more going on in the seasoned sports photographers mind than where he or she is going to grab a burger on the way home!

I have watched many many athletes become young men and women... The AAU basketball club I started in 1992, The Pacific Pistols, is still active in CA. This organization's coaches have coached hundreds maybe even thousands of young ladies in their pursuit of a college scholarships. I still talk to many of these young ladies but our conversations now are about the teams they coach, their children and their parents.
Many of the girls on this 10U team are now playing their first college season... This was the last Pistol team I coached.

Today I have made some very good friends here in WA and I enjoy watching their children grow as well. I met Sherry Racy  at a Pony Baseball tourney in 2005 and created a sketch from a photo I took of her son, Tanner, who was playing in right field. It was getting dark, as the last few rays of sun were waning and the lights had been turned on, when Sherry came and asked me to try to get some photos of Tanner who had been "riding the pine" that game. As luck would have it. a ball was hit in his direction and I was able to get the photo. The resulting sketch that I created from that event launched a number of contracts in the area. This was due to the word of mouth advertising from Sherry and others on the team that also ordered with us...

This year, Sherry's daughter has moved into competitive Cheer leading and the request for an additional sketch was in order. I've created two other sketches for Mallorie but making this squad was a BIG deal and should be celebrated with an image sure to spark a memory for years to come.

We, "Take Your Best Shot & SportSketch" try to support the leagues, teams and coaches we work with. We offer fund raising products and team prints at no cost. I know how much work, time and money goes into coaching a team or being involved with running a league. These small tokens are our way of saying "thank you" to those that give their time to insure that many kids can benefit from sports. We are aware that some organizations are now counting on these fundraiser and sincerely hope that we can continue this practice as long as we are working with each group.