I love Upward Sports and what this program brings to First United Methodist. It’s awesome to work on the preparation of the season, and I love to catch the games, especially when one of our nephews is playing.

Upward is a collaboration with New Philadelphia First United Methodist and New Philadelphia First Nazarene (NP Naz). There are a ton of great partners and vendors that help make Upward possible too. Jim Celuch is a great photographer that has been around the New Philadelphia and Dover area for a long time. He shoots all the team photos for the league, and usually covers a game day or two to capture photography for the programs and to share with parents. This year he was unable to cover a game day until later on into the season, so I was asked to fill in (big shoes to fill!) in order to get photography for the programs that are provided by Bloom’s Printing.

Typical action scene in an elementary age Upward game. Looks like a clean play to me!

I had a great time shooting at a few games, but sports photography is tough! Of course you have all of the technical issues that come with indoor sports (low light, fast movement, etc.) and then you couple that with the typical look of young elementary basketball players when they go up for a shot… I was able to come away with some good options, and was thrilled to help provide the photography for the program. One thing is for sure, however. I don’t think you’ll find me on the sidelines of an NBA game anytime soon! I’ll stick to wedding and portrait photography for now…