A Dog Gym

Johnny Tocco's Boxing Gym is the epitome of old school. It's gritty inside. It smells like 50 years of sweat. They don't use the air conditioner. Not because they don't have one, but because the fighters like it hot. I don't usually favor black and white photos for myself. I usually love the colors of the world. But for Tocco's I had to go black and white.

Please check out Kristen Peterson's Las Vegas Weekly story and see the photos in color here.

Sport of Kings

I only have one thing to say about photographing professional arm wrestling: It was amazing and I want to do it again.

Wrestling for the Love

After seeing an article about Future Stars of Wrestling by April Corbin in Las Vegas Weekly a couple weeks ago, accompanied by awesome photos by Bill Hughes, I knew I had to go to their next event. FSW is a couple steps above a backyard wrestling club, and have their own 2 a.m. Sunday morning show on the local CW station. I went to last week's Friday Night Fight, and was not disappointed. These hardworking young wrestlers are definitely not doing it for the money. They do it for the handful of hardcore fans that lined up outside the arena an hour and a half before the doors opened with handmade signs. They do it for the pure joy of performing ridiculous scenes in often hilarious costumes. They do it to hear people laugh and scream, to hear children curse and shout. They do it for the love of the sport.

The Little Ones

Part Three: Kids of the Year

The Stinkiest Place on Earth

A hockey room after practice: The place where smells come to die. Why do age 55+ adult male hockey teams always let me into their locker room after practice? Is it my charming smile?

Golden Hour Shot Put Practice

This was my first time shooting shot put. Luckily, it was a practice so I could play around a little and get used to it first. It's a pretty hard sport to shoot. The photos will run in tomorrow's Las Vegas Sun. Here is one of the photos that is not running (a very similar one is running instead) of a female shot putter getting ready to throw.

Brief Sadness at the Little League Game

Running this photo made me kind of nervous. It ran in today's Las Vegas Sun, part of our new weekly photo page. I thought Peter's mother would get mad at me for showing a photo of her son crying. But, I thought, she WAS standing right next to me while I was taking the photo, and the whole situation was way too cute not to share. She hasn't yet contacted me about the photo, which I take as a good sign. I hope they keep this clipping for years to come, and show it to Peter when he's older.



Here's what I wrote to accompany the photo page:

Wednesday night's baseball game was going well for the Angels. Then, near the end of the game, the tears started. Peter Fisichella walked into the dugout crying. He had struck out. Catcher Austin Price rushed over to console his teammate.

"It's OK, Peter don't worry. You'll get it next time."

He leaned in, his hand softly patting Peter's back.

"Hey Peter, don't cry. We can practice together in my backyard."

The tears stopped and the Angels went on to win the game against the Mets, 7-0. They advanced to the next round of postseason tournament play in Henderson Little League's rookie division for ages 6-8. The spring-season tournament, and the high drama, will play out through May.

Tough Boy PDA

I love it when tough boys hug. That's why I was very happy to capture this moment between two Bishop Gorman football players, ecstatic during the national signing day ceremonies at their school. They are headed to UNLV and USC, respectively.