The New Face of Soccer

OK...if you are having coffee while reading my blog, do yourself a favour...and swallow your drink before you peek at the pictures in this post. I would hate to have been the reason that you spit your morning caffeine all over your computer keyboard. Carry on!

I love my zoom lens! It is the season for soccer, and without my Nikkor AFS 55-200 mm lens I wouldn't get half the action shots that I do. Last year, for my daughter's soccer season I don't think the other parents even took photos because I spent the entire time kneeling along the sidelines snapping away.

My son's first game was last night. He's played soccer before but this year he is on the U8 team, which means they actually play games -- not just practise. I took about 70 good photos of the team in action last night, with my zoom lens of course. I couldn't wait to check them when I got home.

Well, it seems as though my lovely zoom lens captured the most honest, focused soccer face I have ever seen -- so much that I laughed until I cried. So did my hubby. So did my mom. I just had to share them. This is what Curtis looks like when he plays soccer:

This one is my favorite...what a sweetie:

He's happy to be on the "older team" that plays games this year. I think it feeds his competitive spirit:

He's so happy, he dances:

I figured out that, when he's concentrating, he sticks his tongue out like this:

And like this:

And like this:

I have to say, though, that THIS one takes the cake. It was his kick-off and, man, he must have wanted to boot that ball really hard!

After I took this photo, I previewed it to check that I was getting decent light with the shutter speed I was using. OMGoodness, did I laugh! If you missed the look on his face, here it is cropped in close...

Oh...it is going to be an interesting season!

Happy scrapping!