Josh Weiss/Josh D. Weiss Photography » Sports

Too close for comfort

Josh D. Weiss — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:12:46 +0000

Covered a basketball game tonight for the paper between Meadowcreek and Brookwood. Despite a fairly terrible football program, apparently Meadowcreek’s basketball team is pretty good. They won, but it was a really close game.

See, even during fierce competition there is time to come together and love one another. Ok, is it just me or does it look like they are about to kiss?

Feel the Heat

Josh D. Weiss — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:02:06 +0000

Early last month I shot the first practice for a new youth wheelchair basketball team in Gwinnett called The Gwinnett Heat. The story finally ran today so here are the photos from the shoot that I liked.

Martinez Johnson practices sprinting across court with his wheelchair during the first practice of the Gwinnett Heat.

Awkward positions

Josh D. Weiss — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:36:11 +0000

Shot the Gwinnett County Wrestling Championships today at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Ga. I’ve never shot wrestling before, or been to a meet before, so it was an interesting experience.

I think I did decently, hopefully I’ll do better next time though.

Matt Johnson (Parkview) dec. Corban Nilson (Brookwood) 3-2

140: Zach George (Grayson) dec. Josiah Connell (Collins Hill) 4-0

135: Billy Anderton (Buford) dec. Alex Hillis (Parkview) 10-3

130: Joe Epps (Brookwood) fall Travis Elrod (GAC) 3:58

125: Devante Brown (Central Gwinnett) fall Clint Jones (Parkview) 4:42

160: Alan Gigolaev (Peachtree Ridge) fall Kyle Smith (Brookwood) 5:23

140: Zach George (Grayson) dec. Josiah Connell (Collins Hill) 4-0

119: Noah Hunt (Dacula) dec. Nick Isburgh (Grayson) 7-5

2008 Chick-Fil-A Bowl

Josh D. Weiss — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:44:04 +0000

Last night, besides being New Years Eve, was the Chick-Fil-A Bowl (formerly The Peach Bowl) at the Georgia Dome. The LSU Tigers took on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

I think the expectation going into the game was that Tech’s triple-option offense would tear apart the LSU defense which had been nothing short of terrible for a good part of the season. However, it didn’t exactly play out that way.

LSU scored on its first drive, Tech struck back with a field-goal, then the second quarter happened. LSU outscored Tech 28-0 and the game was pretty much over.

The Dome has pretty bad lighting so its always a challenge to get the proper exposure that can stop action, but what made it even worse last night were these barriers used for advertising that were placed in front of the photo lines. We were forced an extra yard back on the sidelines as a result, which were pretty crowded.

Fortunately, during the second quarter I was able to stick around this one corner of the field where there weren’t barriers due to LSU’s utter dominance during the quarter. Overall, I think I shot pretty well though.

LSU’s Richard Dickson (18) celebrates with a teammate after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter of Wednesday’s Chick-Fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

LSU’s Keiland Williams (5) runs the ball past Georgia Tech’s Morgan Burnett (1).

LSU quarterback jordan Jefferson (9) goes flying after being knocked out of bounds by Georgia Tech’s Rashaad Reid (28).

LSU’s Charles Scott (32) jumps into the arms of Lyle Hitt (65) after scoring a touchdown against Georgia Tech during the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

LSU’s Richard Dickson (18) makes his way into the Georgia Tech end zone for a touchdown as Tech’s Rashaad Reid (28) tries to pull him back.

LSU’s Matt Branch (82), Tyler Edwards (46) and Charles Scott (32) wait around before the start of the Chick-Fil-A bowl.

Georgia Tech players huddle up in the tunnel before entering the field prior to Wednesday’s Chick-Fil-A bowl.

The Ramblin’ Wreck leads the Georgia Tech team out onto the field before the start of the game.

LSU’s R.J. Jackson (28) flips over after making a catch.

LSU’s Brandon LaFell (1) goes airborn after catching a pass as Georgia Tech’s Dominique Reese (26) and Rashad Reid (28) defend.

Georgia Tech’s Andrew Smith (83) watches the ball after he fumbled a punt return.

LSU’s Alex Russian (85) signals LSU ball as ref’s sort out a pile formed ontop of the fumbled ball.

Georgia Tech’s Josh Nesbitt (9) jumps while running.

LSU’s Terrance Toliver (80) gets tackled from behind by the Georgia Tech defense.

LSU’s Chad Jones (3), Tyson Jackson (93) and Quinn Johnson (45) celebrate after another second quarter touchdown.

LSU’s Charles Scott (32) gets wrapped up from behind by Georgia Tech’s Rashaad Reid (28).

Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson paces the sideline after his team gave up a touchdown on the opening drive.

Maybe giving fans cows with parachutes wasn’t such a great idea.

Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan (91) and Michael Johnson (93) celebrate during the first quarter of the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. There wasn’t much to celebrate after the first quarter.

(More) lots of basketball

Josh D. Weiss — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:47:52 +0000

I shot two games today, because the other photographer was shooting the dominant art for the sports section he got to take the Pocket Wizards with him. I figured this may be the case so I planned ahead and brought my Canon and 85mm f/1.8.

Lets just say that combination is a beast at shooting in dark pits. All these photos were retouched minimally, mainly just to fix white balance and crop.

The first game was between the Parkview Lady panthers and the Lowndes team. It was one of those games where in order to not get any decent shots, you had to be a really terrible photographer. The second game was a men’s game between North Gwinnett and Richmond Academy. That one was more difficult because there weren’t as many drives to the basket, mainly jump shots from around the arc.

Parkview’s Megan Barnidge, left, collides with Lowndes’ Amanda Harper, right during the first quarter of Tuesday’s game. Harper was called for a foul after the collision sent her to the ground.

Photos of the Year 2008: Sports Action

Josh D. Weiss — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:23:41 +0000

This is the 7th post of my Photos of the Year Series, there are two more to go after today. The countdown today turns to Sports Action.

Honorable Mention: A Parkview High School cross country runner passes by the crowd during regionals back in early November.

5) The annual Twilight Criterium in Athens back in late April.

4) The Jacksonville Skate Park in Jacksonville, Ala. from the Summer.

3) UFC Breakthrough 88 at Phillips Arena in early September.

2) The University of Georgia’s AJ Green makes a catch during the team’s game against Georgia Tech in late November.

1) University of Georgia gymnast Courtney McCool warms up during a meet in the spring.

Photos of the Year 2008: Sports Features

Josh D. Weiss — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:25:49 +0000

Numero 6 of my Best of 2008 photo posts. Today is Sports Features, so non-action photos relating to a sporting event.

Honorable Mention: Tyler Boon plays around with a baseball in The Northeast Sales dugout during Wednesday night’s game against Hawthorne Drugs. Would have made the cut if the background was a little cleaner.

5) Brookwood players wait to run through the banner before their game against Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Ga., on Sept. 26, 2008.

4) Superfan Mike Woods screams in support of the UGA baseball team during their game against Tennessee on March 22, 2008.

3) Mill Creek High School softball players celebrate their state title after their championship game against Coweta Co. on October 25, 2008.

2) Carolina Panther Chad Upshaw screams after a teammate takes the ball into the endzone for a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 23, 2008.

1) Georgia Tech seniors and roommates Andrew Smith, right, and James Liipfert, left, hug while holding hedges from Sanford Stadium in their mouths after their 45-42 win over Georgia on Saturday.

Lots of Basketball

Josh D. Weiss — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:10:50 +0000

Shot 3 high school basketball games yesterday. One was at a tournament sponsored by Powerade at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee which featured the Parkview Women’s team against East Hall. The other two were men’s and women’s games at the Deep South Classic down at Brookwood High School featuring Grayson and Greater Atlanta Christian.

Buford made a new enemy when they defeated Calhoun for the AA Football State Championship. They defeated Calhoun earlier in the year for the Softball State Championship as well.

Blanche Alverson

Josh D. Weiss — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 06:00:14 +0000

I shot these portraits of Buford basketball player Blanche Alverson back in early November when I was doing Super 6 stuff.

I wanted to go with a different look than most of the portraits we run so I played around with this a bit to see if selective desaturation would make it more interesting. After a discussion about whether or not we should run it, we decided to. As another note, the lens flare is not a Photoshop affect, that’s from the strobe that’s rim lighting her hair.

This was the more standard shot that we took just in case the other one didn’t work out.

Gladiators vs. Stingrays

Josh D. Weiss — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:43:52 +0000

Shot the Gladiators game tonight at the Gwinnett Arena against the South Carolina Sting Rays. Normal hockey shots, but I really liked this fight photo right below this.

The Gwinnett Gladiators’ Daniel Sullivan (28) gets a knock to the head by the South Carolina Stingrays’ Tommy Maxwell (26) as refs try to stop the fight during the first period of Friday night’s game.

The Gwinnett Gladiators’ Matt Siddall (8) fights off the South Carolina Stingrays Ben Boudreau (20) on Friday.

The Gladiators’ Bruce Graham, black, tries to edge out the Stingrays Michael Dubuc, white, for the puck.

I just like this one because of the center ice logo.

Guy singing the national anthem before the game.