Busy Weekends: Gus Macker/Rally in the Valley

The last two weekends have been full with some big events. Olean hosted two big events, The Gus Macker, a 3 on 3 basketball tournament and then Rally in the Valley, a 3 day motorcycle rally. Both were great events with plenty of opportunity to make interesting images. The Macker can be summed up in 3 words... basketball, basketball, basketball. I don't know how many games I shot Saturday afternoon and Sunday covering the tourney, but I saw an amazing number of good games. From 8 yr olds through adult. Here are just a few of my favorites. Other photos can be seen here.

-The best seat in the house!

Then this past weekend was the Rally in the Valley. Thousands of people turned out for the 3 day event. Friday evening was the kickoff with a band and big wheel races. Saturday filled Bradner Stadium with bikers, visitors, food and gear vendors, music and games. Sunday rounded out the weekend with a 130 mile dice run. I've included a few of my favorites here as well. I also have them available through my web-site for anyone looking for pictures of themselves and their friends, just click here: Rally Pics

-Ball Drop... Off the fingertips

-Knights Joust

-Tire Toss

-Bite the Wienie

-Fun for all ages!

-Pin-striping by Letterfly

-Dice Run

Larry and his bike!

My friend Larry has a pretty cool chopper. We got talking the other day about the upcoming Rally in the Valley in Olean that I will be photographing. He agreed to let me photograph him and his bike. Look for us at the Rally. In addition to taking photos at the event, I will be offering special portrait sessions like I did with Larry. See you there!

~Darrell

CUTCO Shoot

I recently did a series of photos for CUTCO Cutlery here in Olean. They were looking for some photos of their employees to feature in different locations around their building. The conditions were a challenge, mixed lighting, dark backgrounds and loud machinery. Overall, I was really happy with the results. The folks there were great to work with, especially with the time window we had to work in. Here are some of my favorites.

~Darrell

Amazing Power of Nature

So here I go again with another weather post. I saw something the other day that we don't usually see around here in WNY. The aftermath of a tornado, granted a small one by mid-west standards but more than enough damage for this neighborhood. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Just lost some 40-50 year old trees. Amazing how some were toppled or broken and others just feet away were spared.

~Darrell

Meghan & Mike's Wedding at St. Mary of the Angels and Bartlett CC

Starting out the weather for Saturday's wedding was iffy at best, but Meghan was beautiful and Mike was all ready with the guys, so it all worked out wonderfully in the end. What a great couple to work with, we had a lot of fun! And the sun finally made an appearance as well!

Here is a sneak peak.

The ceremony was at St. Mary of the Angels with the reception at the Bartlett Country Club, both here in Olean.

Cool Skies

The other night I couldn't resist the gorgeous sky. Some thunderstorms that had been working through the area started breaking up and moving to the north allowing the last rays of the sun to pass through. I took a chance and ran over to St. Bonaventure University looking for an opportunity to put something interesting into the foreground. The first image in a HDR of the center of campus with the clock tower. The second is a 30 second exposure of a new statue outside of the Hickey Dining Hall. I was hoping to capture some of the lightning from the storm to the north, but even though that didn't work out, I loved how the clouds made such a beautiful background.

~ Darrell

UPAA Symposium

So today was the opening of the University Photographers Association of America's (UPAA) symposium at JCC in Jamestown NY. The lecture line-up looks great and the photogs I met Monday seem like a good bunch to know. Jim Dusen of SUNY Brockport gave a presentation on stereo photography. Quite the step up from the old View-Masters. I'll keep posting through the week as I get through the sessions each day.

~Darrell

Time to play

This afternoon while visiting my in-laws, I got a chance to wander through the yard and just enjoy being outside for a while. Here are a few images I came up with.

~Darrell

Kristin and Kevin's Wedding

I've been editing my most recent wedding. Kristin and Kevin were a lot of fun to work with. Kristin made sure we had plenty of time for photos both before and after the ceremony. We had some getting ready sessions before the ceremony at Kristin's parents home and at another relatives home outdoors. I caught up with Kevin and the guys at the United Congregational Methodist Church in Salamanca and got a few of them as they were waiting for the ceremony.

It was a beautiful ceremony! The reception followed at Yodeler Lodge at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville. What a great location for a reception (and photos). We took a little time there before they were announced to find some secluded locations for some romantic portraits. The reception was a blast and everyone had a great time. Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

- Darrell

Wow!  Its been a busy couple weeks!  Actually, the end of last week through Saturday took on multiple shoots.  One was an on-going project for CUTCO, creating images for a new store layout.  It has been a real pleasure working with the team from CUTCO and the people they have pulled together as models.  It is a project that will carry through the next couple weeks for a debut near the end of summer.  I should be able to post some images in the near future.

The other big item for last weekend was the Dance Arts: Performance 2009, dance recital.  I photographed three nights.  Dress Rehearsal on Thursday and a performance on both Friday and Saturday evening.  35 dance/performance numbers each evening and age groups from 4-5 years through adults.  What an amazing amount of talent on the stage those three nights.  Here are a few of my favorites from the three nights.

- Darrell

Hinsdale Varsity Softball Playoffs

Monday afternoon I photographed the Hinsdale Girls Varsity Softball playoff game vs. Pine Valley.  After trailing most of the game Hinsdale pulled out the victory in the final inning.

Here are a few of my favorites.

-Darrell

Welcome

In this space I'm hoping to share with you some of the beautiful and interesting images being created here at Gronemeier Photography.  My goal is to also share some of the fun and excitement that goes on between my clients and myself.  Contact me for weddings, portraits, senior/grad photos or event coverage.

Check out my website at:  www.gronemeierphotography.com

Here is a photo from last winter.  Lets hope we have some warmth before we get back to the snow flying.

- Darrell