2015 Year in Review

         2015 was a comeback year for me. I had been shooting professionally for one whole year at this time last year. My work had been published in ThisWeek News several times and had many features and editorials on the front page of many of the community newspapers in the Columbus, Ohio Area. I even had an internship with the Columbus Crew and shot for them. I had even began shooting the Columbus Blue Jackets and writing for The Pro Hockey News  I had big plans for 2015. Then one day it happened. One afternoon I came home from substitute teaching at Grove City High School. What was surprising was seeing my wife Tara on the steps of our front door. What was she doing there? She was home early. Something was wrong.
        "Brent," she said. "You need to sit down."
        "Whats going on hun?" I replied.
        "Someone broke into our house and stole all of your photo equipment." she said "It's all gone."
        I dashed into the house, and went where I kept all of my equipment. Gone; All of my bodies and lenses, gone, my computer, gone, and the drive with ALL of my photos gone. Everything was gone. I was devastated. I thought There goes my photo career. I'd better get started in ending something else. Thank God I had insurance, and thank god I had a supportive wife and who helped me and encouraged me to never give up and rebuild my business from the ground back up. I had lost some key clients and opportunities to meet new ones so this was going to be a challenge.
        With the insurance to go through, and replacing my equipment, I was back in business. I shot everything I could and did a lot of free work since I had nothing new to show new clients, and my website was out of date. Thankfully, ThisWeek News had mercy on me and gave me a lot of paying shoots. The most important thing was that I was back doing the thing that I am most passionate about.
         The comeback was on the GO!!! There were a HUGE bunch of firsts. I was back shooting Columbus Crew SC and Major League Soccer. Crew SC made the MLS Cup this year and I got to shoot that. Unfortunately, Crew SC fell 2-1 to the Portland Timbers. For the first time, I shot a Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox. I shot my first Ohio State Football Game and first Ohio State Women's Basketball game. Still, the BIGGEST thing for me was that I got to go to Houston, Texas to shoot the World Weightlifting Championships. To my surprise, an Estonian newspaper bought a couple of photos.
          I also began shooting portraiture for fitness and fashion. One of the most fun shoots I had been on was around Halloween. I went up to meet Betsy Shuttleworth and her troupe of contortionists. Shuttleworth is one of the best contortion trainers in the world and she lives right outside of Pittsburgh. How she teaches those girls to bend over backwards is amazing to me.
          This coming year, I have been hired to travel the country and shoot Dance and Cheerleading competitions. I also plan to shoot Senior Photos as well as Family Lifestyle Portraits. I will also be shooting Buckeye Football as well as various news events around Columbus.
          If there is anything I learned this year, it was to never give up on your dreams. We all have setbacks. This world can give you a beat down to the point where you are ready to give up. Never do that. Never allow yourself to give up. Never quit. Thank you to my parents, David and Shirley for helping me through this year and never giving up on me. Thank you to my beautiful wife, Tara, who believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. Finally Thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who made all of this possible.

Not Just About Sports and News

        Many people who have seen my work have seen a lot of sports and news events. What a lot of people don't know is that I also shoot portraiture and fashion editorials. This is Ryen Lilli. Ryen is a biology student at the University of Dayton. She plans on going to medical school after graduation. Ryen has a modeling contract with Heyman Talent based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here, Ryen is modeling some winter wear. ENJOY!!

Russian Weightlifters Test Positive For PED's

         Here in America most people, if they get glimpse of it, only see Weightlifting during the Olympics. They never witness a World Championship or National Championships on TV, and never see the beauty of seeing a lifter win on their final attempt or see a world record broken. This beauty gets ugly when there are people who win by doping or using drugs. Today the International Weightlifting Federation released the names of 17 lifters who failed drug tests at the World Championships in Houston, Texas.

        Among those who failed drug tests were the 105kg+ World Champion and World Record Holder, Aleksei Lochev, of the Russian Federation. Lochev lifted an impressive 264 kg clean and jerk on his final lift breaking the world record 263 kg. held by Hossein Rezazadeh of Iran. Although Lochev tested positive, the test will be disputed. Lochev's camp claim that the drug in question, ipamorelin, was declared legally to the IWF to aid in recovery for a knee injury.

Russian Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko shows his support for Lochev

        “This is a huge disappointment, but we will work on Lochev because his blood tests are OK. We must clarify it. The substance was declared. Lochev tore his lateral ligament. Maybe the concentration is wrong.Maybe we have a chance on him...Once again we will support Lochev until the sanctions are imposed. We believe in him. I repeat, the substance was declared. And it was submitted in the corresponding permission. There must be a presumed innocence for athletes, an investigation must be held and the B sample must be examined.”

         According to the IWF in their Anti-doping Houston Wrap Up 200 of nearly 600 athletes were tested and 24 came out positive. The testing was conducter by the World Anti-doping Association and claims accuracy and clear proof of positive tests.

       “The testing was conducted in compliance with the WADA Technical Document for Sport Specific Analysis and resulted in two Adverse Analytical Findings of the group S2. PEPTIDE HORMONES, GROWTH FACTORS, RELATED SUBSTANCES AND MIMETICS. The new findings are clear proof how accurate the IWF Anti-Doping Program is. Growth hormone detection is quite new in the field of anti-doping and IWF praises the Montreal Laboratory for its excellent work.”

        Whether or not Lochev will be cleared of any wrongdoing is unclear. Lochev wasn't the only Russian lifter to test positive for doping. Three other lifters tested positive as well. Olga Zubova, who competed in the Women's 75kgs./ 165lbs. class won the gold medal in the clean and jerk with a lift of 156 kgs./343lbs.,and a bronze winning 276kgs./607lbs. total. Zubova tested positive for methenolone, an anabolic steroid that is found naturally in the adrenal glands of impregnated domestic cats. This isn't Zubova's first positive test. She tested positive at the 2013 World Championships in Wroclaw, Poland. Olga Afanasieva, who competed in the Women's 69kgs., or 151lbs., took 4^th place in the total tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a steroid that was used by East German athletes in the 1960's. This is Afanesieva's first positive test. Rounding out the bunch is Men's 94kgs./207lbs. Lifter Aleksei Kosov. Kosov, who took the gold in the snatch with a 181kgs./398lbs., tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, the same drug Afanesieva allegedly took.

       “What about the others?” asks Mutko. “This is complete irresponsibility.” The Russian Minister of Sport claims that the team all tested clean before leaving Russia for Houston. Mutko puts the blame on Russian Weightlifting President Sergey Syrtsov. “The team left clean and tested.” claimed Mutko. “We must deal with personal coaches and doctors, and with the Weightlifting President.”

        This all comes after leaked information of Russia's state sponsored drug doping scandal where the Russian government gave their athletes performance enhancing drugs. Many in the International Olympic Committee have called for Russia to be expelled from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ironically, the IOC has threatened to expell Weightlifting from the Olympic Program for decades due to the many positive drug tests the sport has produced. Whether or not Russia's athletes will be banned, or Weightlifting scratched from the Olympics is yet to happen.

       

           Many will see these positive drug tests as bad for the sport of Weightlifting. However, there is a silver lining. The positive tests is good for the sport of Weightlifting because it shows that the IWF is serious about keeping the sport clean. However, this leaves a black mark on the Russian Weightlifting Team and the Russian Olympic Committee. How this will all turn out is yet to come.

Classical Music

Cirque du Soleil

Lifestyle Family Portraiture; What is it?

Hi Guys,

            By now you have probably seen me advertise Lifestyle Family Portrait Sessions. Now, what exactly do I mean by a Lifestyle Family Portrait Session? Lifestyle Family Portraiture is not a posed photo session where you put on a favorite Christmas sweater or turtleneck, slap on a Santa hat, and pose next to the fireplace for a group shot. Wikipedia defines lifestyle photography as “A style of portrait/people photography which aims to capture and document real-life events, situations, or milestones, in an artistic manner or art of the everyday.” This is not your traditional posed shot.

            Lifestyle Portraits are something that you normally do on a regular basis that is captured through the lens. Mom, do you like to bake cookies with your children? I can photograph that in a photojournalism type style. Dad, do you like throwing the football outside in the backyard with your sons or shoot baskets with your daughters? Do you like to go to a particular restaurant with your family? A bookstore? A coffee shop? How about a nice relaxing day at home with your family? These are activities that you normally do, or as the definition says “...art of the everyday.”

           This is something completely different than a posed photograph. In a posed photograph, you get the smiles of your family. I'm sure your kids have beautiful smiles, but those smiles are not as genuine when your little ones are playing with their favorite toy or playing with their parents. It is not just the smile on your kids faces, but the enjoyment that comes across your spouses, or even yours. I can do this for you. I am offering 20% off of every Lifestyle Portrait Session. Get in touch with me today.

Brent Clark

Photographer

Brent Clark Photos

brent@brentclarkphotos.net

64-256-2317

World Weightlifting Championships: The Best of the Best