Covering pro and amateur bodybuilding, figure and fitness contests over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that sometimes the crowd favorite doesn’t place or win as expected. Possibly because they are the hometown and/or crowd favorite, they have a little more sparkle in their performance. On the other hand, the competitor who is the best on that day and wins normally pumps out the best routine. With this being said, sometimes the winners don’t produce the best photos or there isn’t that sparkle, “stage presence” as Ruth Silverman puts it.

I’ve decided to create an award for bodybuilders, figure and fitness competitors who I feel gave a great photographic performance. I have decided divide them into two awards; the “Lensworthy” award for men and the “Pixelicious” award for women. My “Lensworthy” and “Pixelicious” awards are bestowed upon the competitors who gave a great performance, had excellent eye-to-lens contact, allowed me to capture some great images and were physically competitive. Those being chosen as “Pixelicious” also have characteristics such as sexy, sultry, visually appealing and basically classified as being “hot.” Do I need to say more?

If I had established the criteria for the Lensworthy and Pixelicious awards prior to the three New York City shows on May 10th, the following competitors would have received the following:

Lensworthy: David Henry and Kai Greene

Pixelicious: Cathy LeFrancois and Tina Chandler

My Lensworthy and Pixelicious awards for the 2008 Junior National Championships in Chicago on June 20th and 21st go to:

Lensworthy: Alan Watari, 1st Place Bantamweight; Sean Allan, 1st Place Super Heavyweight and Men’s Overall Winner; and Kenneth Jackson, 1st Place Light Heavyweight.

Pixelicious: Amber Defrancesco, 1st Place Women’s Heavyweight and Women’s Overall Winner; Justine Dohring, 1st Place Women’s Light Heavyweight; Stephanie Irick, 1st Place Fitness; Jacqueline Skibba, 7th Place Figure C; and Terri Turner, 1st Place Figure D.

Congratulations to all! My next Lensworthy and Pixelicious awards will be given out at the Europa, Team Universe, Atlantic City, Olympia, and Nationals.

To view all contest images and videos, go to the www.ironmanmagazine.com contest page.

On a final note, all competitors are lensworthy and pixelicious. Are you lensworthy or pixelicious? See you at the next show!

I put together an audio/slide show containing about 540 pictures from the 2008 IFBB New York Men’s Pro Bodybuilding Championships on May 10, 2008. If you get about half way through the slide show and the buffering kicks in, wait about 20 seconds and reset it back to the beginning. Play it again and it should not buffer anymore. I’m working on getting the right format down so it won’t buffer. Enjoy the slide show!

Hello from New York City! I arrived at Penn Station on Friday, May 9th around 2:45 PM in the middle of a monsoon; actually it felt like a Nor’easter for those familiar with east coast weather terminology. Silly me, I forgot to wear or pack a waterproof jacket even though I watched the weather reports for NYC for this weekend. I was more concerned about having all the right photo equipment packed.

After standing in the rain waiting in the taxi line at Penn Station, I finally got my soaked-butt into a cab. Riding in a NYC taxicab is one of those things everyone should do at least once in their life; let’s just say it’s an experience you either will like or dislike. I like. The only other thing I can compare it to is a 1988 Panama City, Panama taxi ride I had with about five friends packed into a beat-up Toyota Corolla. I think the horn was wired to the gas petal; we didn’t stop for anything or anyone. My latest taxi ride not quite that exciting but it did take almost an hour to get from Penn Station to the Millenium Hilton across from where the World Trade Center buildings used to stand.

So after getting settled in, I had to go shopping for a Mother’s Day gift. I not saying for who, what or where but what I can say is that I accomplished my goal. Instead of taking a taxi, I decided to venture out using the wonderful subway system. This is another one of those “life experiences” everyone should partake in. Besides it is cheaper and faster to get around the city; $2 for a one-time ride or $7 for four rides. I’m seriously thinking of taking the subway to Penn Station when I leave Sunday morning. Nothing against NYC taxis but it comes down to a matter of simple economics, $2 versus $24 one-way; it’s a no-brainer. I can’t wait for the Team Universe in September!

After accomplishing my shopping goal, hunger sat in. I got back on the subway and got off at 7th Avenue and 53rd Street. Do you know where I’m going? Two of my favorite dining establishments sit side-by-side, the Carnegie Deli, 854 7th Avenue at 55th Street, and the China Regency, 850 7th Avenue. I opted for Carnegie Deli due to the fact it has been a long time since I indulged myself in the best corned-beef sandwich in the world. I was in heaven!

The Carnegie Deli is another “life experience” one should savor. I can’t tell you everything about the place in this blog; you just have to go there. I almost ate the whole sandwich that was stacked 3+ inches high with corned-beef. Pictures of dignitaries, movie and stage stars, sports stars, and other famous people line the walls of this establishment. No room for dessert; they have an awesome selection to choose from and the servings are huge. It’s now 9:30 PM and time to leave.

I walked around Mid-town a little before getting back on the subway. The walk helped settle my dinner and burn off some calories; yeah right. New York is a beautiful city, day or night. The reason why I say this is because after leaving Carnegie Deli, I looked down 7th Avenue and saw all the beautiful signage. Even though it was still raining, it made the night more interesting with the low clouds slightly above the tallest buildings.

Well, I made it back to the Hilton as you can tell by me writing this blog. I’ll try to make a blog entry tomorrow regarding the NY Men’s Pro, Women’s Pro and Men’s 202 and under contests at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

It’s taken me about a six months to digest my research and analyze images taken with my two new Canon EOS 40D’s; both professional and personal. I’m just going to put it out there for what it is worth. So here it goes!

Back in August 2007, my dad told me about a new camera Canon was introducing in September. It was the EOS 40D and all of the technical specifications made me want to get one. So on September 4, 2007 I ordered my first 40D. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to be comfortable using the camera at the 2007 Olympia but I brought it to Las Vegas anyway.

Sharing my new toy with Merv Petralba, my partner in crime and IRON MAN’s west coast contest photographer, we found out that my new 40D had a serious focusing problem. Luckily, I made the decision to still use my Nikon D200 as my main camera to cover all of the Olympia. As soon as I returned to Delaware I sent the 40D back to where I purchased it with no problems and received a new one in about a week. Wow, what a major difference.

After shooting test images for about a month, I made the command decision to go over to the dark side. The image quality between my 40D and D200 falls in favor of Canon. Color, white balance, lens quality, battery life, etc. has this former Nikon-user switching over to the point of making another command decision: shoot all contests in 2008 with Canon equipment starting with the Arnold Sports Classic. I bought my second 40D body prior to leaving for the ASC to keep from having to switch lenses between individual posing routines and comparisons. Life is good with this set up.

Being a Nikon film and digital camera user for numerous years, switching over to Canon was a big step for me; both financially and technically. The financial aspect should be a no-brainer; two camera bodies, 24-70mm f/2.8 and a 70-200mm f/2.8 Canon lenses, extra batteries, and a few other things.

The technical aspect of my endeavor was a little more challenging. The most obvious for me was attaching the lens to the body; totally opposite from a Nikon. The Canon had a few more knobs and menus to learn but nothing too overwhelming or mind-boggling; that’s why they include an owner’s manual with your new camera. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t figure it out, read the book.”

When I started shooting for IRON MAN, the 2006 Team Universe was the first contest I covered, along with Bill Comstock. It was “baptism by fire” as my dad put it. He told me “either you will like doing this type of photography or you won’t.” It is a total different beast to what I do day-to-day as a photographer. I was hooked. I know I went off on a tangent but what I wanted to say, the camera I started out shooting contests with was a Nikon D70. I shot the 2006 Atlantic City Pro with that camera, too. The 2006 Excalibur was the end of the D70. Prior to entering the building, my camera bag strap broke and the bag hit the ground. Nothing came out and all looked good. Once in the building, I started getting ready to shoot when I realized the lens mount had separated from the camera body. Now I have an semi-expensive 6 Megapixel paper-weight.

Right before the 2007 Arnold Sports Classic, I ordered my D200. I used it to shoot all of the contests I covered in 2007. It did me good, even shooting at 800 ISO. Above 800, the “digital noise” was very noticeable. It’s still a good camera but I have put it to the side as a backup or something.

Between October 2007 and now, using the 40D, I have shot non-contest events using available light and at 1600 ISO. My images had very little digital noise. In my opinion, the 40D is a great camera for the money. To my surprise, my dad showed up in Columbus with his own 40D. He took some amazing shots backstage using a 85mm f/1.2 lens. See all of our ASC pictures at www.ironmanmagazine.com.

Now comes 2008 and the Canon 40D. What a step from my D200! I was total Canon at the 2008 Arnold Sports Classic this year as I planned and I’m totally happy with my decision to go Canon. I still need to fine-tune my exposure and white balance settings but that’s the only area of concern I have at this point. The next contests I will be covering is the New York Men’s Pro, New York Women’s Pro, and the Shawn Ray 202 & under on May 10th in New York City.

See you at the Tribecca Performing Arts at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007. For contest info, go to www.bevfrancis.com/shows.html. See you there! Roland B.

I just got done watching the new American Gladiators.  I was surprised to see Venus Ramos in the competition.  She was a replacement for the female contestant that got injured in the first event.  Venus started out slow but gained momentum throughout the events.  She was in the lead 12-11 going into the Eliminator, the last event.  Venus earned a half second lead which did not last long after the first obstacle.  She gained the lead back after the swim but lost it climbing up the cargo net.  Her competitor, Koya, had a substantial lead all the way up to the reverse escalator.  Koya was almost to the top of the escalator but was too tired to get to the top and continue on to busting through the wall.  She tried three times before Venus made it to the escalator.  Venus was still on the beam when Koya made her first attempt at the escalator.  When Venus made it to the escalator, she made it up the escalator in one attempt and passed Koya.  Exhausted and fatigued, Venus busted through the wall for the victory.  She could barely talk to Hulk Hogan during her interview.  She earned a spot among 8 to return next week.

She did well but I think if she was to move on, she’ll need to work on her endurance.  She was a tired puppy.  Venus has great spirit.  Her parents were in the crowd too. Sorry if you haven’t seen it and spoiled the ending for you since I’m 3 hours ahead of you. It’s good to see a fitness/figure competitor during the off season.

I know, I know… three months is an awfully long time to wait for a post. But I’ve been spending far more time behind the camera than originally anticipated and it’s been one long, crazy summer traveling from one end of the continent to the next.

Witness the latest Olympia Predictions from our trio of experts, Teper-Avidan-Hinds, cornered on a hot, cement roof of a two-star hotel….These three were a handful (but exceptionally fun) after a long weekend of emceeing, videotaping and photographing.

 

 Experts' 2007 Olympia Preditions: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download