Welcome to the beginning of the 2009 – 2010 High School (and college) basketball season. I’ve been waiting for a long time to get back into the local gyms in our coverage area for games and practices. Well, maybe some of them.
Others are just plain nightmares and challenges to work in for photographers. Probably started thinking about working games this winter back before the Army – Navy game in mid December. OK, now that the season is in full swing, and I’ve covered a few games, here’s how it’s all panning out so far, particularly schlepping in lights to all the games I’ve covered to date. Makes a big difference in improving my keeper rate of images shot at these games, including shooting both ends of the court. Also, a breaking story of sorts materialized here for the state champion Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks, as transfer student Devon McMillan of Uniondale, Long Island joined the team last week.
NFA defeated Uniondale last March up in Glens Falls, NY in the state semi-final game and eventually won their first championship the following day when they handed #1 ranked Niagara Falls a 20 – point whipping. Upon hearing that news last week, I immediately retrieved a few file images of McMillan (left) from that game in case our guys end up writing about the kid.
Yesterday was a quick feature at the local YMCA on former Middletown HS player Ryan Rhoomes (right, and below) who now plays in Queensat Benjamin Cardozo HS. You’re going to hear a lot about this kid as several big schools are recruiting him. He’s one of the top prospects in the talent-rich five boroughs in the city. West Virginia, St. John’s, Providence, Virginia Tech and Cincinnati have already made him full scholarship offers. Rhoomes is averaging 16.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 3.1 blocks this season. Ironically his former Middletown team is undefeated so far without him up here in Orange County.
Tuesday night it’s Minisink Valley vs. Kingston girls up at Kingston HS and the final regular season matchup between rivals Stefanie Dolson of Minisink and Rachel Coffey of Kingston. Dolson (lower left) is headed to UCONN next season and Coffey (right) to Syracuse,
so this is definitely going to be a special night to work. 
It’s going to be fun the rest of the way photographing both boys & girls basketball up here along the Hudson that’s for sure. -cg.
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
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