A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

wrestling

Foto Friday: Hipstamatic can give wrestling a funky look

Using Hipstamatic at a recent wrestling show gave some really wild images.

A few weeks ago, a couple of us attended a professional wrestling event inBinghamton. The company – Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) — we went to see is one we’ve seen many times and it’s great action.

This time, however, we decided to get front-row seats for the first time.

With that comes some good things and some bad things.

The good?

The sharpness isn’t always there, but Hipstamatic gives you some cool looks.

You are up close and personal with the action. Several times, wrestlers ended up on the floor near us and some brawling ensued. Brawling at a professional wrestling event – shocking, eh?

The bad?

Sometimes, you are too close. That comes more from the photography type of things for me. I don’t mind sitting back when I am taking photos because I can utilize my zoom lens. When too close, even my “walk-around” lens (a 17-40) is a little too short. But the zoom – a 70-200 is too long.

That makes it frustrating when trying to take photos.

Now, if I had something in between (maybe my 50, but I didn’t bring it with me), it might not be so bad.

I still got a few photos I liked out of that event, but one thing I decided to do was to utilize my iPhone a little. More specifically, I decided I’d see what Hipstamatic could do.

For those who don’t know, Hipstamatic is a really cool photo app. What it does it gives you many different “films” and “lenses” to be able to get different looks and textures. It’s basically the attempt at giving you some cool “old-school” looking images, as if they were taken with film.

I love this app. Especially because you can shake your iPhone and Hipstamatic will give you random pairings of the film and lenses (and, if you are using it, flashes).

Now, I realize that the app wasn’t going to capture action well. It’s not an app for that. But, I thought if the right amount of random combinations occurred, there would be some interesting results.

I wasn’t disappointed.

What is extremely cool about this is the different feel you get with each image. Each lens and film does something different. So, if you have the same film with three different lenses, you’ll get three different images – even if it’s the same exact setp.

The films vary, too. From black and white, to color, to old-school Kodak feel. All the lenses are interesting. They differ from blur to crisp to canvas looking. None are the same, which makes it quite fun.

With Hipstamatic, you get a certain amount of lenses and films free with the initial purchase of the app ($1.99). Then, you have the chance to buy other film/lens combos, usually at a cost of 99 cents each.

This image me think of the old days of wrestling and boxing!

Unfortunately, I don’t have all the combos as I started late with Hipstamatic and some of the ones available for a limited time are no longer able to be purchased. I have 21 films and 23 lenses available to me.

That’s a whole heap of available combinations.

By doing this, it also gave me a different creative outlet. I have done a lot of different things with my photography when it comes to professional wrestling. Yet it will, at times, get old. I find myself looking for the crazy things – chairs, tables, blood etc. I don’t want just the regular old shot.

So, the Hipstamatic feel gave me that chance.

Through this post, there are a few of the shots I took. Below is a handful more of my favorites. I probably took 75 or so shots total, if not a bit more. There were others I liked, but I didn’t just want to have this be a post full of nothing but images.

If you have an iPhone, I would highly encourage you to get this app. Beyond that, there are a bunch of excellent photos apps on the Droid as well. Even if you are as attached to your normal digital camera – as I am – it’s worth a try to put it aside once in a while and see how creative you can get with something else, such as with Hipstamatic.

In the end, you might get some items that make you drop your jaw or smile knowing how cool it worked out.

Here are a bunch more of my favorite shots from that night:

After going through the table!

Using the ref as a shield.

Squaring off

The lighting here makes it kind of cool.

One of my favorite shots from the night.

Arm lock.

Foreshadowing?

Atomic drop!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

For better or worse, old-school pro wrestling is still around

ECPW at an old roller rink in Sidney — felt like the 50s!

If you are a fan of independent professional wrestling — no matter the skill level — this area of Central New York is pretty spoiled.

There’s the best — 2CW (Squared Circle Wrestling, based in Syracuse), a group voted by readers of PWInsider.com as the top independent wrestling federation in the country. Several of us watch this as often as we can because it’s always an incredible form of entertainment. And never seems to disappoint.

Then you have some promotions that are not quite to that level — 3DW (which, apparently, has undergone some restructuring and is coming back in March with a card that looks quite solid). There’s also ECPW, a New Jersey-based federation that holds cards in New York and appears to use more localish workers for the bulk of the card.

When you deal with lower federations — such as the ECPW — you really get an interesting look at the world of professional wrestling.

I’ve seen ECPW twice — this is from the first and was one of the best matches of the night.

I’m a fan of pro wrestling, overall. I like really good shows and I like the bad ones. It’s two different worlds, but inside the zany world of the wrestling ring, there are so many story lines, either between wrestlers or federations or promoters or whatever else.

I’ve had the chance recently to watch ECPW twice. The cards were very different from one another, but enough the make you realize that this level of pro wrestling is quite different.

And interesting.

Being out of full “reporter” mode at this point, I forgot a pen both times and a forgot a notebook a second time. Thankfully, I had the phone and took notes that way — so I could accurately describe some of the things I witnessed.

Again — the two shows were night and day — so keep that in mind.

The first show was at a Legion hall in Binghamton. It’s a place where all these federations seem to use. But this was different. The back door was left open so people could go in and out to smoke. That got annoying after a while because nobody seemed to care. People came in later in the night who hadn’t been in there all night.

The ring is old school. It’s definitely a wood-based ring and really has a great sound. The turnbuckles that looked like they were towels (with electric tape) gave the feel of some old-school wrestling. The sag in the middle also gives that low-level independent feel. The odd part was the four gallon-sized water jugs hanging in each corner. But that was probably for the advertised flaming tables (which, apparently, is a bit illegal in New York. More on that later).

I love this stuff. I really do. It’s old school. It’s entertainment. But, there’s something I need when I pay to watch professional wrestling. I need a level of belief. Not that it’s not “scripted” or however you want to refer to it, but I need to be able to believe the stories being told. I need to believe in the performers.

The eliminated would later become a referee!

This wasn’t the most successful card at doing that.

Referees were out of place, had no idea what was going on and were all dressed different (outside of the striped shirts). One had wind pants on. Another had black jeans. They had regular sneakers, and not even black. The one ref, 10 minutes into the first match, was sweating more than the wrestlers and was having problems getting to the mat to count a pin. By the time he got to the mat to make the count, it had already been a five count. Even the crowd was making their distaste known.

And it seemed like they didn’t know what they were supposed to do.

That makes the pace of the match work slower. Close kickouts don’t have the same “feel” as they should.

Take this video I shot for an example — does this ref seem to know what’s going on? (Let me set this up, the heel [bad guy — smaller guy] set up the chair in the opposite corner and then walks into the picture.) This is what unfolds.

See what I am saying?

And the part that tweaked me was in the middle of matches, referees (and some wrestlers) were out talking to their friends and such. It’s hard to believe in the product when they aren’t “selling” it to the fans.

I realize wrestling, too, isn’t necessarily cheap to do. The reality is some of these guys might not even get paid to perform (though I don’t know with this fed… it happens that way in some places). Talking to people who have promoted, some of these smaller federations actually have a certain thing where performers have to sell a certain amount of tickets or “pay to wrestle” sort of thing. I don’t know if that’s true here, but I imagine it’s possible.

Former ECW champion Justin Credible made a surprise appearance at the second show.

Some of these guys just used normal sneakers to wrestle in. Ripped sweats. Maybe that’s the “persona” they play, but it doesn’t always show.

Then it’s just silly things.

A no disqualification match that ends in a countout. The video guy standing in front of the crowd and acting as clueless as can be (and he was using one of those plug and play recorders) when he never moves and people in the front rows try to ask him to move around and not always block the same people. The ring announcer never stood still and announced someone from somewhere in New Jersey (I can’t remember if it was Charlotte or something like that, where it was evident it was supposed to be North Carolina) and mis-pronounced things. The best of that, though? At the end of intermission when he announced for all wrestlers to report to the locker room.

It felt more like a high school wrestling tournament.

Then you had a lumberjack match with six lumberjacks and only two of them were wrestlers.

The thing that easily irked me more than anything? The swearing. Kids were there. There’s no need for an in-ring promo to have F-bombs flying all over. One wrestler was spitting beer in the crowd — again filled with kids. And in the end, all of this helped create a couple skirmishes with the crowd, which is never a good thing.

Seriously, if you can’t get over in a promo without swearing, you’re not going to get over anyway. Now, if it’s an adult-only crowd and there’s swearing, so be it. But this ECPW, on its website, note it’s a family friendly form of entertainment. A low-level bit of swearing (ass, damn etc.) I can deal. But if it’s F-bomb after F-bomb, it’s a total turnoff.

And one thing I got a kick of is when a wrestler called out the state athletic commission guy who stopped them from setting a table — in the ring — on fire. Now, that could have made for cool photos. Especially because I was near a fire exit. But I can’t see calling out the state commission when the guy was doing his job and you were preparing to do something you weren’t supposed to do. Especially IN THE RING. (I would have seen the issue if it was in a safe spot with some fire extinguishers and people nearby — then hey, it’s part of the show. But in the ring with only the wrestlers and some gallon bottles of water? No way!)

Now, it wasn’t all bad.

It’s just that the bad things are easier to point out and stand out in my mind more.

Some of the matches were pretty solid. There were some good workers. I wasn’t upset that I paid the money — remember, I am a fan of any level of this because it is always entertaining — but I would have liked to have seen a little more work on making the product crisp and not look like a backyard wrestling federation. Make me believe, even if just for a few hours (or charge me less money). Tell a story without profanity-laced promos and things like that. The best about the top independent promotions is they can tell a story in the ring by doing their thing, not acting as if people understand everything going on. Remember that this isn’t on TV every week and people “outside” the circle have no clue what has been going on elsewhere.

The same group was then coming to Sidney. A short drive for me. And at a roller rink. So a small place, dark — 50s style wrestling. My kind of show.

To quote Harry from Dumb and Dumber…

“Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!”

The second card was much better… and worked out well.

Not that this show was perfect. It wasn’t close to 2CW quality. But oh what an improvement. (It probably helped that the big cheese of the federation was here and on the card).

The matches were stronger.

The swearing was much less. In fact the one person I expected to have many, only had a few F-bombs (which I still think weren’t needed) and the whole card was pretty solid.

Don’t get me wrong, there were still some things that made us laugh. Such as…

  • The announcer proclaiming a fatal four-way match… and then only giving three people.
  • An advertised 20-man battle royal becomes a nine-man battle royal.
  • Silent chest chops.
  • A little over-selling on some missed moves.
  • Someone who participated in the battle royal who then reffed a match.
  • A punch to the shoulder was the finisher in a match between two big guys.

Overall, however, it was a better show. And an unannounced appearance by a “bigger name” in the world of pro wrestling (Justin Credible) was nice, too. He was booked late for the show, hence no advertising. But still cool to see him.

And, as I said, overall the show was much better.

So yes, I’d go see this crew again. I’m not sure how far I’d travel to do so, but I would see them again for sure. It’s a throwback to the old dusty halls and such from an era no longer seen in professional wrestling.

In the end, I can’t complain.

The prices were decent. The crowds were fun to watch (this really is the best with independent pro wrestling… fans can get wicked crazy), and, despite some of the things I pointed out earlier, it was some good entertainment. What I liked the most about it was that when you go to a pro wrestling show, you never know what you’ll get. You have an idea, but you never know.

Hit up something like 2CW and know you’ll see amazing action, a crisp show, a few “big names” and some stars who could easily be on your television with the big guns in a few years.

See something lower than that — such as an ECPW — and never know what you’ll see. Some good, some bad, some wacky and some crazy. All mixed into one show.

In the end, it all depends on what you are seeking.

For me? I like zany. And I like good. I’ll choose 2CW over anything for the most part.

But if nothing else is going on and I’m looking for some entertainment? I’d gladly return to watch federations such as this. As I said, we’re a bit spoiled around here when it comes to wrestling. That’s not a bad thing, though. And it makes for some excellent photos!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Foto Friday: Capturing emotion in the squared circle

A closeup in this shot allows you to get more emotion than if you had used a wide-angle shot to get the ring and all the ropes in the photo.

The reality of most sports fans is that when you go to a game, if you are going to take photos, you’ll have to think outside the box.

Not having the credentials, connections or ability to get right in on the action makes one have to look at how to take photos and what to focus on when capturing the event.

Remember, just because you don’t get all the action doesn’t mean you can’t tell a story with your images.

As a fan of professional wrestling, going to live events is an extreme blast. I really like it because it gives me a different outlet to shoot images. However, not being up next to the ring makes action shots harder. Not that one can’t do it, but you get the ropes in the way and shadows created by the ropes by lighting or a flash can make things harder.

A few of us went to an event last weekend and were close to the ring, which made it even better.

When wrestlers go back and forth with fans, closing in on the wrestler gives a more close-up feel to the action.

It was a place to capture more close ups and to see some emotion.

We’ve seen this federation — 2CW — before. It’s a good company with solid workers who know how to play to the crowd and utilize their roles. No matter how you look at professional wrestling, realize this — it’s entertainment. It’s a show and when done well, it’s highly athletic entertainment. That gives a photographer a chance to really hone in on several skills — action shots, closeups, emotion and reactions. You have the best of many worlds when you shoot pro wrestling.

If you’re lucky, you can capture everything in one shot.

So how to go about it?

Use a zoom lens. I used my 70-200 F4 with a flash. I was probably 20-25 feet from the ring and standing, so I had a pretty good vantage point. With a white ceiling, I was able to, at times, bounce the flash a little bit to get some better lighting. I’ve noticed in the times shooting wrestling that shooting the flash directly at the ring can be too much lighting, so play around with your flash and adjust as needed.

Snapping shots of personalities during down time can give you interesting images of the people outside the element of "action."

Though the way I shoot isn’t for everyone, it works well for me. Some of my techniques include:

  • Closing in on the action so I can see the focus of the wrestler(s). It makes for a tighter crop on the photo and brings out details in what’s going on.
  • Capturing people/personalities in down situations. You get to see different reactions and such by doing so.
  • Keeping an eye on turnbuckles or action coming toward you.
  • Watch your surroundings — you never know when something else or someone else could add to your photo.

This isn’t the only way I shoot wrestling, however. I use a wide-angle lens at times to try and capture the feel of the venue or what’s going on overall.

The best part of independent professional wrestling?

It’s usually a cheap ticket. So for 10 or 12 bucks, you can usually get 2-4 hours of interesting entertainment and a bundle of photograph opportunities. Many times, these independent federations will also bring in one or more older stars — those from yesteryear who are no longer affiliated with the WWE or some other big place. It’s cool to see them, too, for the most part because they can be very personable.

Bring several memory cards, your camera, a flash and a lens or two and snap away.

Here are some more of the shots I took at the last event I went to:

Keep an eye on the turnbuckle area because you can get some cool action and emotions and not usually be blocked out by anyone or anything.

Watch your surroundings -- sometimes something else can add to the shot. Such as this video guy and being able to see his screen as he films this wrestler.

Many independent federations bring in old stars, such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Getting closeups on these guys can usually be pretty wild.

The reactions and emotions you can get with closeups can help tell the story.

If you decide that you’d like to try shooting a wrestling event, check out this calendar. Though it doesn’t list everything possible, it’s pretty close and it’s one of the most comprehensive calendars for pro wrestling.

It’s a fun event to shoot though. Get out there and give it a try. You might get some wild images!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Notes from my Noodle: December 20 edition

There's nothing like a trip to the city during the holidays.

First, my apologies for a lack of a blog post the past couple of days. But it seems like, all of a sudden, I’m packed up with everything. I’m back, however, with some notes and such from recent things.

On Monday, I took my annual trip down to the city to New York City. I like to try and get down there during the Christmas season because it’s quite the place to be. From the lights to the decorations to everything else, it’s really quite magical.

For avid readers of the blog, you’ll remember I went out to Chicago earlier this year to see a friend, Brendan, graduate from the Navy’s basic training. He’s been in the Chicago area ever since, working through his schooling and such. He got liberty for a couple of weeks, however, and is home. So I took him with me to the city and met one of the finest guides one will ever have for the city — fellow geocacher Heather.

Brendan with his new buddy, Elmo!

Despite a delay in the train leaving Harriman, it was a fun day. A little colder than it was supposed to be, but still a fine day. We got to see a bunch of good things (including Rockefeller Center, as seen above). We had a couple of solid meals, saw some interesting things and I, of course, got a dirty dog on the street.

Why wouldn’t I, right?

With this season in full bloom, there were a lot of characters wandering around, looking to earn a few extra bucks by posing with people. It was quite funny to see. And, being it was Brendan’s first trip to the city in this time of year, he had to take advantage of this, no?

The hustle and bustle of the city was definitely there. That comes with people who still don’t have the thought of slowing down and peeking at things. But, I wouldn’t expect anything different.

We stopped and saw the building of the new skyscraper at Ground Zero and went inside and checked out the 9/11 memorial building. We were going to try and check out the new fountains and garden, but ended up having to look at it just from afar and above as the lines to get in were quite long and daylight was dwindling as we were thinking about that. I’ll hope to visit in the spring and see it closer.

We did, however, get to find a geocache this day. A regular-sized cache in the middle of the city, which was awesome.

Heather with Cirque du Cache.

Heather (and her husband, Jim, who met us later for dinner) are mega fans of Cirque du Soleil, mentioned a new cache. Of course, it has a Cirque theme — called Cirque du Cache.

This was a fun cache to do and it’s always nice to snag a cache in the city.

What was really cool about this cache was that once you opened the cache, you signed the log and all, but there was also this piece of fabric. And you could draw something on it. Very neat stuff and very well thought out. The best part is that it was in a high-traffic area, so it was pretty fun to retrieve the cache, walk away a little bit to check things out and then put it back. Fun times.

In all, it was a lot of fun to head down to the city and see things. I got to also see a former co-worker and catch up a little bit and it’s really nice to see things all lit up.

I even got one of the thickest hot chocolates I’ve ever had (thankfully it was small, because it was rich!) while we hung out a little bit at Bryant Park.

Bryant Park is a great little spot in the city.

***

Speaking of geocaching, two of us worked to organize and run an annual ornament exchange event. It was quite the success, too, which is always nice. Having halfway decent weather recently probably didn’t hurt us, either!

A large turnout at our holiday event.

We had about 55 people to the event, by far one the largest since this annual event started four years ago, and also one of the largest turnouts of any of event in our small area.

I co-planned the event with Beth, who had a successful game she created for the event. But, more than that, was her Toy Drive idea. It seemed that most people brought unwrapped toys and filled the large box her and her brother and sister-in-law brought. They then delivered the toys to the local Salvation Army, making sure that the toys would remain in our area.

So as fun as the event was (the spot we held it was excellent as well), it’s even better to know that our geocaching community was good enough to give back to the community during this holiday season and thought about others in need.

As this week continues, if you have the chance to give to an area Toys for Tots or something else, try and remember that there are people out there that have it worse than many of us. So if you can give at all, try and do so this holiday season.

***

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan delivered on a recent 2CW card.

For the final part of this Notes From My Noodle, I want to turn to 2CW, an independent wrestling federation out of the Syracuse area. Several of us have gone to a bunch of their events, but basically in Binghamton. We took the trek to Syracuse on Friday to see one of their biggest events of the year and to see a match that indy fans have wanted to see — Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan.

Each time we’ve gone to watch 2CW, I thought the federation has delivered some great entertainment, good matches and a well-planned event. But this event was really solid (seeing matches such as Brodie Lee vs. Jay Freddie was outstanding and many other matches were excellent). And it was capped by Edwards vs. Callihan, a match that made me really want to drive to Syracuse.

I have seen Eddie Edwards many times. He’s athletic and works stiff — in other words, believable beyond belief to the point where some of the things he does really make you wonder how these guys do it.

Callihan, well known among the independent fans, is also a top-notch talent.

A five-star match was predicted. And these two delivered. It was a high-paced match, full of athleticism and character. Say what you will about professional wrestling — no matter if the outcome is determined or whatever — you have to be athletic and be able to tell a story inside that ring. These two did it.

The card, overall, was excellent. I would make the trip to Syracuse to see these guys again.

A funny afterthought. We stopped at a convenience store down the road from Syracuse to grab something to drink and something to snack on. While there, Sami Callihan came in. I noted that we had traveled a couple of hours to see that match because everyone was talking about it.

He asked me if it was worth it?

I told him they delivered and it was worth it. We chatted with him for a few moments and he shook hands a couple of times and thanked us for coming. I’ve talked to a few of these others and they, too, are very friendly with fans. That’s a good thing. Independent wrestling survives on smaller fanbases and these guys have the hope to, one day, make it big. Being friendly and outgoing will hopefully help them in their quest to reach the top.

Until then, it’s my hope they keep working local promotions so, when I can get away and go, I get the chance to see this top-notch and affordable entertainment.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Hacksaw HOOOOOO!

Hacksaw says HOOOOOOOO!

There are things that bring you back to your childhood.

Whether it’s passing a house or a lot where you used to play ball. Or seeing an old friend. Or one of a million other things.

Or events.

I’ve always been a pro wrestling fan. As a kid, I loved the larger-than-life characters. As an adult, I like the storylines — it’s more like a soap opera for adults. But sometimes, you get to go back to what you loved.

Wrestling came to town this past Friday. Among the names on the card was “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. The WWE Hall of Famer and the 57-year-old who hails from Glens Falls was going to wrestle.

Awesome.

And he still has the 2X4!

See, though he’s not in the “big leagues” anymore, he’s a draw. People love him. Kids love him. He still marches around with his trusty 2X4, yells “HOOOOOO” to the crowd and leads them in “USA USA” chants.

He’s still Hacksaw.

Despite a smaller crowd numbering in the hundreds, they got excited when Hacksaw was out. And that’s good. It’s what wrestling is all about. It’s a show and they entertain.

Before the card, the older wrestlers sign autographs and take photos. It’s how they make a lot of their money. Hacksaw was out there with Carlito, Tommy Dreamer, Eugene, and a little later, Shane Douglas.

I took a moment to chat with Hacksaw and let him know I always got a kick out of it when I covered the state high school wrestling championships and see his photo in the past champs. He was a New York state champion in 1972 or 1973. We laughed a little about it when I mentioned his glasses that he wore in that photo.

He greeted fans with grace and smiled all along.

This is what wrestling was like to me as a kid. Seeing these guys was amazing. If I got to talk to them or slap hands? It was awesome. I got to see that look in many kids eyes Friday night when Hacksaw came to the ring.

He still has it.

He never was much of a technical wrestler, but he always put on a good show. He still does, albeit a shorter show. He smiles. Shakes hands. Leads the crowd in chants. In the end, he gets into his three-point stance, clotheslines his opponent and wins.

Take a peek at the finish from his match in Delhi:

It never gets old with Hacksaw.

Following the card, he left wearing glasses and a sports coat. He looked more like a college teacher at that point than a professional wrestler. He shook hands with people and made sure those he talked to had a good time at the show. He then carted off his suitcase and out the door he went, heading off to the next event he worked.

Life isn’t easy for a professional wrestler, especially not in the independent circuit.

Does Hacksaw need this work? Who knows. Some do, some don’t. But he still seems like he enjoys it.

And he still finds a way to bring out the kid in all of us.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! USA!! USA!! USA!! USA!!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!