Soft Launch of our New "Sportraits" Product

"Sportraits" (Sports Portraits) are dramatically posed and epicly lit portraits that showcase an athlete’s dynamic attitude, grace, and competitive vibe.  Using off-camera flash to allow the athlete to channel their inner bada$$!  I’m excited to begin offering this unique product to local athletes and their families!  

I'm currently planning that a "Sportraits" session will include the following:

• Session at the location of your choice.  Up to five different poses.
• Images posted online for your review and ordering.
• Reduced-size digital files included for social media.
• Order prints and photo products online at your leisure.

Pricing will be the same as a standard portrait session:  $200.  During this soft launch. I'll be offering "Sportraits" for an introductory price of $100, a 50% savings.  

Contact Paul at 412-480-4698 (phone or text) or pwossidlo@aol.com for more information.  

This special introductory pricing ends December 31, 2025.

Something New: "Sportraits!"

I’ve been photographing weddings for over 40 years. Loved every minute of it! But I’m not as young as I used to be, especially for a barn venue where I’m having to move my equipment between buildings. For the last 10 years I’ve been making increasing use of OCF (Off Camera Flash) to create beautiful dramatic wedding photos.

Now I'm applying the same lighting techniques and tricks to portraits of student athletes. Using dynamic lighting to make the athletes look “Bada$$”! If you’re interested in photos like this for your superstar, please reach out. Since this is a new market for me, prices are extremely reasonable!

2016 Swissvale Mile Race and Walk

This was the third year for the Swissvale Mile, a one mile race and walk that is a fundraiser for the Swissvale Police Department's K9 unit.  I'm proud to say that we've been a sponsor since the race began.

This year the weather was very cooperative, and we had a great turnout for both the run and the walk.  The first year there was only the one mile walk, and I took a little over 100 photos.  Last year there was both a race and a walk.  Unfortunately there was some serious rain and turnout was low.  I shot around 200 photos.  This year, with the good weather, and having a second photographer (my son), we ended up with almost 700 photos.

I did have one surprise that I wasn't expecting.  After we were done, I discovered that the clocks in the two cameras were off by almost 30 seconds.  As a result, the photos aren't exactly in chronological order.  I thought they had been in sync a month earlier, and once they are set they shouldn't be off by that much.  Moral of the story:  I've added a "Check cameras clock sync" item to my preparations checklists.

The full set of images are here.

The Pittsburgh Marathon

Sunday, May 4th, was the Pittsburgh Marathon. I was lucky enough to get a chance to photograph it this year.

For the last couple of years I've been working for a national company that photographs graduation and commencement ceremonies around the country. They have a sister division that covers major marathons and similar events. I was contacted mid-week because they needed additional photographers to help cover the Pittsburgh Marathon.  This is a huge production from the photography side.  They had a total of 37 photographers, and they expected to have over a quarter-million photos when we were finished.

My assignment was to photograph the runners after the race, in front of a Pittsburgh Marathon backdrop. There were ten of us assigned to do this, each with our own backdrop set up after the finish line. As the runners finished, we invited them to come over for an official portrait. Having 10 stations meant the runners shouldn't have to wait long. This type of assignment doesn't depend on a photographer's technical expertise. But it does depend on the photographer's ability to interact with their subject and get a great photo quickly. I found that a simple "How'd you do?" was a great way to start (they just finished a race, after all).

Things started rather slowly, but once more people started finishing, we got very busy, very quickly.  All 10 backdrops had multiple runners waiting to get their photo taken.  The most amazing moment for me: photographing a woman who was 5 months pregnant and still completed the race!   The weirdest/funniest moment was the two girls who came up for a photo together, and they couldn't decide which was their good side.   Really??? You just finished running 13  miles.   Your "good side" disappeared 10 miles ago!

Things were going smoothly for the first three hours, then the wind started to pick up, amplified by the concrete canyon we were in.  Our backdrops were attached to PVC frames, which were zip-tied to the temporary crowd-control fences that were set up.  The backdrops were like giant sails, and one by one they blew over, until only two of the original ten were still standing.

Thus ended my day photographing the Pittsburgh Marathon.  All in all, a great time, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Dynamo Soccer Holiday Weekend Sale

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday. I spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing our feast. No one complained about the results (and no one got sick!), so I judged my efforts a success.

Today is, of course, "Black Friday". Tomorrow is "Small Business Saturday". And then there is "Cyber Monday". It is a little hard to fit all of that in the title of an email, so I decided to simply call it my "Holiday Sale". Now through Monday you can save big on photos from the Fall 2012 season:

-- Save 20% on all Prints.
-- Save 20% on all Packages.
-- Save 20% on all Digital Downloads.
-- Save 50% on an In-Home Family Portrait Session. Call this weekend to schedule your sitting and save $35. (The photo session itself does not have to be this weekend)

These are the largest discounts I offer all year, but you must act by Monday to take advantage of them.

2012 "Propel for Peace" 5K Race

Last Sunday (November 4) I was photographing the first "Propel for Peace" 5K Race and Fun Run, which was sponsored by the Propel Charter School in Homestead.

The race started at the Pumphouse at the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead, and run out-and-back on the Great Allegheny Passage trail. Over 250 people showed up, in spite of the cold cloudy weather (fingerless gloves are perfect for shooting in that kind of weather!).

Photos from the race can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/2012_propel_for_peace

Dynamo Soccer Photos: An Extra Hour to Save This Weekend

As a public service reminder, don't forget to turn your clocks back Saturday night. You get an extra hour to sleep.

It also means you get an extra hour to save if you order your soccer photos this weekend. From now until next Tuesday, purchase 4 items at the regular price, and get the 5th one for free. That's equivalent to a 20% savings. This offer applies to my most popular items: 3.5x5 prints, 4x6 prints, 5x7 prints, and digital downloads. The 5 items must all be same size, and the discount will be automatically applied in your shopping cart. It is NOT necessary to order them from a single image. For example, you can order 1 4x6 print of 5 different images, or even 2 4x6 prints of one image and 3 4x6 prints of another. Either way, the discount will show up in your cart.

As another public service announcement, don't forget that Tuesday, November 6, is Election Day. It's also the last day for this sale.

Race for Pace/Paws for Pace 2012

This is the second year I've photographed the Race for Pace/Paws for Pace fundraiser for the Pace School in Churchill. Pace is a school for kids with autism, so it is a cause near and dear to my heart. It was a cold start to the morning, and some of the dogs definitely looked like they would rather have been in a nice warm bed. Even so, there were over 650 participants. As in previous years, WTAE's Mike Clark and Kelly Frye hosted the event.

Photos from the Pace race can be found here. There is an "Early Bird" 15% discount on all orders placed before October 31.

In other racing-related news, I've signed on to photograph Propel Schools' first Propel for Peace 5K Fun Run/Walk. Propel Schools is a charter school system here in the eastern suburbs, and proceeds from the race will go towards anti-violence education.

Myron Cope-Foge Fazio Memorial Classic for Autism

This past Monday I had the opportunity to photograph the Myron Cope - Foge Fazio Memorial classic for Autism at the Montour Heights Country Club. This is an annual golf outing that is a major fundraiser for the Autism Society of Pittsburgh. We had donated a gift certificate to their auction (my oldest son has autism), and they contacted me at the last minute to get candid shots of the golfers on the course and at the dinner afterwards.

It's been a lot of years since I've photographed golfers (back in high school!) so I was a little concerned about it. I used my long 80-200/2.8 zoom so I could keep my distance (and minimize any distractions I caused). Fortunately the course was quite hilly, which made it easy to get great high or low vantage points for shooting the golfers.

This year's event was hosted by WTAE's Bill Hillgrove (the Voice of the Steelers and Panthers) and legendary local weatherman Joe DiNardo. There were a lot of former Steelers and former Pitt players in attendance, including Andy Russell, Dwayne Woodruff, John Banazak, Robin Cole, Joe Walton, and Sam Clancy. Of special note was American Junior Golf Association Tim Novik (pictured above) who donates to autism for every birdie he makes in amateur competition.

CHAMPS

Status
Currently I have the first 19 events posted. I do have images from all 70 events, and do plan to post them online. I'll update this as more events are posted.

Background
This was my first year shooting CHAMPS, and it was definitely an experience! The one thing I wasn't prepared for was just how many photos we would end up taking. A month earlier I had shot a two-team meet in the same venue, and had taken approximately 750 photos. Based on that, I had figured we would shoot a total of 3000 to 4000 photos for the entire meet. In the end, I ended up with a total of over 7500 photos. That's a record for me, and twice as many as I've ever done on a single assignment. Besides have that many photos to go through, the sheer quantity takes up a lot of space on the computer

Photo Gift Card Codes are Still Available for a Limited Time
At CHAMPS I had a $20 Photo Gift Card Available for $18. This gave you a chance to save an additional 10% on your photo order. To make up for the delay in getting the CHAMPS photos up, I'm making Photo Gift Card codes available for purchase online. For a limited time you can purchase a $20 Photo Gift Card code for $18, or a $40 Photo Gift Card code for $36. Because these are online purchases, you will be emailed the code you use when you make your purchase, rather than mailing you one of the cards I had at the table at CHAMPS. Please note that your savings with the codes are in addition to any discounts or sales that may be going on.

The codes work the same as a store gift card. When you make you purchase, there will be a space on the payment screen to enter the code. When you enter the code, the amount will be deducted from your balance. If the amount of your purchase is less than the code value, then the code will have a balance remaining that can be used on a future purchase. Note: You can only use one code per purchase. If you have multiple codes, please contact me directly (before your purchase) and we can consolidate them into a single code.

If you wish to purchase a gift card, select your amount and click on the button below. You will receive your gift card code via email within 24 hours.

Save 10% on Photo Gift Cards

$20 Photo Gift Card $18.00 USD $40 Photo Gift Card $36.00 USD

If you have any questions about the gift cards codes, please don't hesitate to contact me.

What About the Early Bird Discount? Will it be Extended?
Typically when I first post an event online, I set up an "Early Bird" discount of 15% for the first one to two weeks. Currently the CHAMPS discount expires April 15. I will keep extending it until the last of the photos are posted.

To go to the CHAMPS photo gallery, please click HERE

"Frostbite 5K" Race

As some of you may be aware, my oldest son (now 19 years old) has autism. My wife and I are both involved in the Pittsburgh-area autism support groups (my wife more than I...). So when we found out about a 5K race that was an autism fundraiser, I naturally wanted to be involved.

The race was held this last Saturday. Leading into the weekend I was concerned that the weather would put a damper on the event. They were calling for rain and snow, with falling temperatures, for the day of the race. Fortunately the actual weather wasn't nearly as bad as they had predicted, and over 300 runners showed up to participate.

Photos from the race can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/frostbite_5k

Race results can be found here:

http://smileymiles.com/2012Results.html

2011 Race for Pace/Paws for Pace Event

Last Saturday I photographed the 2011 "Race for Pace/Paws for Pace" event, sponsored by the Pace School in Churchill. The was a 5K race for people, and a 1 mile walk for dogs (and their owners). Besides the usual race awards there were also awards for Biggest dog, smallest dog, and best costume. As in the past, this year's event was hosted by WTAE's Mile Clark and Kelly Frye.

The weather was a definite improvement over what I had to deal with at the "Tour du District" bike ride two weeks earlier. There was no rain, and we actually had sunshine towards the end of the race. The only problem was high winds, which blew over sponsor displays and prize boards.

As a parent of a child with autism, I was more than happy to help out a school that offers such an important service to our community.

Photos from the event can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/race_for_pace

2011 Tour du District

Saturday I photographed the 2011 "Tour du District" bicycle ride, sponsored by the Woodland Hills Foundation. I live in the Woodland Hills School District, so this was a great way for me to give back to my community (as well as getting my name out there). This is the second year for the bike ride, with is intended as a fundraiser for the foundation.

Unfortunately the weather really conspired against this year's event. In addition to the threat of rain, this year's riders had to contend with unseasonably cold temperatures (45 degrees when we left the house), which really put a crimp in attendance. Skies were so dark that I decided to use a flash in order to freeze motion. I was glad that I wasn't riding, and could go into the school building to warm up.

Photos from the event can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/tour_du_district_2011

All Fall 2011 Dynamo Soccer are Online!

This past weekend was the makeup weekend for the Dynamo Soccer Fall 2011 Recreational League. Other than a few random drops, the rain held off and I managed to get all of the teams photographed. All told, I shot over 3800 photos over this Fall. That's about 500 more shots than I did in the Spring.

All of the photos are online, sorted by team. The Fall photos can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_fall_2011

There is a 15% "Early Bird" discount for all orders placed by October 1 (that's this Saturday), so you still have a couple of days to order and save!

Dynamo Soccer Fall 2011 Photo Day

This past weekend was Photo Day for the Dynamo Soccer Fall 2011 Recreational League. I was at Schenley Park both days to photograph all 68 teams. As usual, the weather played a factor. Both days had a chance of rain and thunderstorms. Saturday we had sunshine and warmer temperatures until 4 pm, when the skies suddenly opened up (even though the sun was still shining) for about 30 minutes, killing my chances of getting any photos of the teams scheduled for 4 pm games. And all that rain on Saturday meant that the grass fields were a mess on Sunday. All told, I shot almost 2500 photos over the two days.

The makeup weekend is scheduled for the weekend of September 24 and 25, when I'll be at the field to photograph anyone who missed the first weekend.

I've started posting the photos online. Currently I have all of the photos from the Saturday games up, and I'm working on the Sunday games now. The new gallery can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_fall_2011

There is a 15% "Early Bird" discount for all orders placed by October 1, so order now and save!

By the way, a bit of explanation for the above photo is in order. Sometimes the players want to ham it up for the group photo. Since I usually shoot several group shots, I will tell them that if they give me two "normal" group shots, they can have some fun with the third shot. So the U10G California Blue girl's team decided they wanted to be "Drama Queens". The result is just plain fun!

"Last Chance Sale" for Dynamo Soccer Spring 2011 Photos

Mark your calendars. Photo Day for the Recreational League Fall 2011 season is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of September 10 and 11. I'll be at Schenley Park both days for both team/individual photos, and also for in-game photos. The makeup weekend is scheduled for the weekend of September 24 and 25, when I'll be at the field to photograph anyone who missed the first weekend.

Since I'll soon be posting new photos, I need to make room by taking down the current Spring 2011 photos. This is your last opportunity to purchase photos from the Spring 2011 season. As an added incentive, I've added an automatic 10% discount on all soccer photo orders placed from now through September 10.

The link to the Dynamo Soccer Spring 2011 gallery is:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_spring_2011

Dynamo Soccer Make-up Weekend

This past weekend was planned as a make-up weekend for shooting Dynamo Soccer photos for anyone who was missed the first weekend. The original plan was to spend a few hours each day at the field, so parents could just bring the player over for their photo, or a team could come over to have a team photo re-shot.

Unfortunately, the lousy weather our first weekend (April 16 and 17) meant that a lot of teams were missed that first weekend, and in some cases the players were covered in mud for their photos. So I planned to stay the entire day this weekend to make sure I got everyone taken care of. Mother Nature, however, had other ideas. Saturday was gloriously sunny, so much so that I got sunburned. But Sunday was a rain-out again, with weather only fit for ducks (see photo). So there are still a number of teams I still need to shoot. I haven't figured out yet whether there will be ANOTHER make-up day, or whether I'll try to make it to some practices to get the remaining teams. I'll post an update once I know more.

Dynamo Soccer

The last two times I've photographed Dynamo Soccer, I've been blessed with really great weather. Well, I guess the law of averages caught up with me! I had scheduled soccer photos for the weekend of April 16 and 17. This had to be the wettest photo day since I started shooting Dynamo Soccer. Dynamo ended up cancelling all of the Saturday games that were being held on the grass fields (The artificial turf on the main fields has pretty good drainage).

Sunday the weather was better, although it was still extremely windy. And the grass fields where Sunday's games were played were still waterlogged and muddy from Saturday's downpours.

The gallery with the soccer photos from the first weekend can be found here:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_spring_2011

I'll be on the field this weekend (April 30 and May 1) to photograph the teams I missed that first soggy weekend. I'll update this post as more photos are posted online.

Last Chance to Order Dynamo Soccer Fall 2010 Photos

I'm getting geared up for the upcoming Dynamo Soccer Photo Day the weekend of April 16 and 17. As a result, I'll need to be taking down the current Fall 2010 photos.

This is your last opportunity to purchase photos from the Fall 2010 season. As an added incentive, I've added an automatic 10% discount on all orders placed from now through April 17.

I've also added the new 5x7 Dynamo soccer border that you will be able to order with the player's name and the Dynamo logo. I also added the Memory Mate Mug, which includes a player photo, player information, and a team photo.

The link to the Dynamo gallery is:

http://photos.paulrichardwossidlo.com/g/dynamo_soccer_fall_2010

Dynamo Soccer Spring 2011 Update

Spring 2011 Photo Day Scheduled
Mark your calendars. Photo Day for the Recreational League Spring season is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of April 16 and 17. I'll be at Schenley Park both days for both team/individual photos, and also for in-game photos. We will also schedule a makeup weekend when I'll be at the field to photograph anyone who missed the first weekend.

We're also planning to photograph the Travel League teams also. All of the details haven't been finalized yet; I will let you know once they are.

Save Even More with Prepaid Photo Vouchers
I've always offered special promotions and discounts to help parents save money. For a limited time, I'll be offering another way to save even more: prepaid photo vouchers. The voucher is good for $20 towards your order, but only costs $18. That's a 10% savings, which can be combined with other discounts that I offer for even greater savings.

Photo Vouchers work just like a gift card (except that you don't get double FuelPerks, sorry!). You purchase the voucher in advance, and then enter the voucher code during order checkout. The voucher amount is deducted from your order total, and you only need to pay for the remaining balance of the order. If your order total is less than the amount of the voucher, then you pay nothing; and the order total is deducted from the voucher balance. You can use the remaining voucher balance on a subsequent order, simply by entering the voucher code again.

Vouchers can only be purchased until March 11, and will only be available in $20 values for $18. You can purchase multiple $20 values if you choose. You will receive a single voucher code via email for the full value you purchased, since only one voucher code can be used per order. To order your Photo Voucher, please click below:

Edit: Link removed after sale ended.

New Sports Photo Products Coming
One of the new things I'll be doing is to offer a greater variety of personalized and gift products. There will be a new Dynamo soccer border that you will be able to order for your prints, and I'm also bringing back the Memory Mate Mug, which includes a player photo, player information, and a team photo. If you have any additional product suggestions, please email them to pwossidlo@aol.com. I'd love to hear your ideas!