<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Home on Jeff Self Photography</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/</link><description>Recent content in Home on Jeff Self Photography</description><generator>Hugo</generator><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Sun, 05 Oct 2025 17:27:06 -0400</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title>Portraits</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/portraits/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/portraits/</guid><description>Individual portraits, couples, and portrait sessions.</description></item><item><title>Wildlife</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/wildlife/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/wildlife/</guid><description>Wildlife images and nature-focused selections.</description></item><item><title>Landscapes</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/landscape/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/landscape/</guid><description>Scenic images, places, and wide-open views.</description></item><item><title>Sports</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/sports/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/sports/</guid><description>Action, sideline moments, and game-day imagery.</description></item><item><title>Places</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/places/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/places/</guid><description>Travel, city scenes, and images with a strong sense of place.</description></item><item><title>Macro</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/macro/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/macro/</guid><description>Close-up studies of small details, textures, and subjects.</description></item><item><title>Concerts</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/concerts/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/concerts/</guid><description>Concert images.</description></item><item><title>Film</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/film/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/film/</guid><description>A home for work that involves the use of film.</description></item><item><title>Moments</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/moments/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/portfolio/moments/</guid><description>Interesting frames that do not fit neatly into the other galleries.</description></item><item><title>Coastal Carolina vs Old Dominion</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-10-05_coastal_carolina_vs_odu_college_football/</link><pubDate>Sun, 05 Oct 2025 17:27:06 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-10-05_coastal_carolina_vs_odu_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54834517245_187b14e013_h.jpg" alt="ODU Monarchs" title="ODU takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://odusports.com/sports/football"&gt;Old Dominion&amp;rsquo;s&lt;/a&gt; first conference home game of the season took place October 4, 2025 at &lt;a href="https://odusports.com/kornblau-field-at-sb-ballard-stadium"&gt;S.B. Ballard Stadium&lt;/a&gt; in Norfolk as they hosted the &lt;a href="https://goccusports.com/sports/football"&gt;Coastal Carolina Chanticleers&lt;/a&gt;. It was a 6pm kickoff and it was a beautiful evening for football with temperatures in the low 70&amp;rsquo;s at kickoff. I was bringing along my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-8/1695/overview"&gt;Nikon Z8&lt;/a&gt; along with my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-400mm-f45-vr-s/20112/overview"&gt;Nikkor 400mm f/4.5 VR S&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-70-200mm-f28-vr-s/20091/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S&lt;/a&gt; lenses.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>North Carolina Central vs Old Dominion</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-25_ncc_vs_odu_college_football/</link><pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 20:13:48 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-25_ncc_vs_odu_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54776171362_cdb4686557_h.jpg" alt="ODU Monarchs" title="ODU takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://odusports.com/sports/football"&gt;Old Dominion&amp;rsquo;s&lt;/a&gt; home season kicked off September 6 at &lt;a href="https://odusports.com/kornblau-field-at-sb-ballard-stadium"&gt;S.B. Ballard Stadium&lt;/a&gt; in Norfolk as they hosted the &lt;a href="https://nccueaglepride.com"&gt;North Carolina Central Eagles&lt;/a&gt;. It was a 6pm kickoff but it was still a very warm evening to start as the day&amp;rsquo;s high temperature was 95°F. I was bringing along my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-8/1695/overview"&gt;Nikon Z8&lt;/a&gt; along with my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-400mm-f45-vr-s/20112/overview"&gt;Nikkor 400mm f/4.5&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt; lenses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Old Dominion was coming off a 27-14 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers and were looking for their first win. Trequan Jones of Old Dominion had a monster game gaining 163 yards on only 5 carries. Three of the carries went for touchdowns including runs of 93 yards and 39 yards. Complete coverage of the game can be found &lt;a href="https://odusports.com/news/2025/09/6/colton-joseph-and-trequan-jones-shine-as-odu-football-rolls-past-nc-central-54-6-in-home-opener"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>First Look at the Nikon 800mm PF lens</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-22_nikon_800mm_pf_first_look/</link><pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:40:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-22_nikon_800mm_pf_first_look/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;I ordered my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-800mm-f63-vr-s/20108/overview"&gt;Nikkor 800mm PF&lt;/a&gt; lens from Nikon on Friday night and it was delivered late Saturday evening thanks to priority delivery from &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/content/nps"&gt;Nikon Professional Services&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I went out to the &lt;a href="https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/facilities/facility/details/Great-Bridge-Lock-Park-97"&gt;Great Bridge Lock Park&lt;/a&gt; on Sunday morning to put it through its paces. The first thing I noticed was how light it was. It&amp;rsquo;s pretty amazing that a 800mm lens is light enough to be hand-held. It&amp;rsquo;s only September, so the winter migratory birds have not arrived yet. The Brown Pelicans that were so abundant in February were nowhere to be seen. All in all, the pickings were very slim.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Nikon F6 with Ilford Delta 400</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-03_nikon_f6_delta_400/</link><pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 13:48:15 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-03_nikon_f6_delta_400/</guid><description>&lt;h2 id="exploring-with-ilford-delta-400-and-the-nikon-f6"&gt;Exploring with Ilford Delta 400 and the Nikon F6&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For this roll, I loaded Ilford Delta 400 into my Nikon F6 and carried it across several locations in Chesapeake and Norfolk between December 28, 2024 and February 14, 2025. Delta 400 is one of my favorite black-and-white films because of its fine grain and wide tonal range, which make it a good fit for different subjects and lighting conditions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id="battlefield-park--great-bridge"&gt;Battlefield Park – Great Bridge&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I caputured a couple of images at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens after changing film on my F6. From there I moved to Battlefield Park in Great Bridge, where the film’s tonal range really stood out. The mix of open spaces, tree lines, water and the Great Bridge bridge made for varied scenes, and Delta 400 delivered consistent results across them.
&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54367448278_4a4305132a_h.jpg" alt="Great Bridge Bridge" title="Great Bridge Bridge"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Nikon F6 with Kodak Portra 400</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_nikon_f6_portra_400/</link><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 17:51:30 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_nikon_f6_portra_400/</guid><description>&lt;h2 id="fading-malls-and-coastal-light-with-kodak-portra-400"&gt;Fading Malls and Coastal Light with Kodak Portra 400&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This roll of Kodak Portra 400, shot on my Nikon F6, gave me a good mix of subjects to work with—abandoned malls, lakes, bridges, and gardens. Portra 400 handled everything well, showing why it’s such a versatile film. The colors came out natural and balanced, the grain stayed fine, and the film’s wide exposure latitude made it easy to manage both tricky lighting indoors and bright conditions outdoors.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Nikon FM2 with Ilford HP5+</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_nikon_fm2_hp5/</link><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 10:53:50 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_nikon_fm2_hp5/</guid><description>&lt;h2 id="city-streets-quiet-trails-and-wild-marshes-with-the-nikon-fm2n"&gt;City Streets, Quiet Trails, and Wild Marshes with the Nikon FM2n&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This roll carried me through a mix of urban scenes, quiet parks, and wild marshland—an excellent showcase for what black-and-white film can reveal in such different environments. Shot entirely on my Nikon FM2n with Ilford HP5+, these images reflect a season of exploration between August 1, 2024 and November 3, 2024.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;HP5+ is one of my favorite black-and-white stocks. Its slightly more pronounced grain and high latitude give it a grit that feels at home in both city streets and natural landscapes. It rewards careful metering but also forgives a lot, making it a perfect companion for wandering with the FM2n.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Nikon FM2 with Ilford Delta 400</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_nikon_fm2_delta_400/</link><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 10:23:03 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_nikon_fm2_delta_400/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54364195274_a3c87606f1_h.jpg" alt="Marc Basnight Bridge" title="Marc Basnight Bridge"&gt;
It&amp;rsquo;s been a long while since I posted my film photography. I developed several rolls in March and I&amp;rsquo;m finally getting around to blogging about them. This roll of film was all about slowing down and letting the Nikon FM2n guide the experience. The FM2n, fully mechanical and as dependable as they come, has a way of making you think about every frame before you press the shutter. No screens, no autofocus—just pure photography.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Towson vs Norfolk State</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_towson_vs_norfolk_state_college_football/</link><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 09:53:39 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-09-02_towson_vs_norfolk_state_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54752579015_e6a07e5a56_h.jpg" alt="Norfolk State entrance" title="Norfolk State takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The 2025 football season kicked off at &lt;a href="https://nsuspartans.com/sports/football"&gt;Norfolk State&lt;/a&gt; last Thursday night as Norfolk State hosted &lt;a href="https://towsontigers.com/sports/football"&gt;Towson University&lt;/a&gt;. It was a 7pm kickoff so I parked at MacArthur Center and hopped on the Tide to take me over to Norfolk State. I was bringing along my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-8/1695/overview"&gt;Nikon Z8&lt;/a&gt; along with my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-400mm-f45-vr-s/20112/overview"&gt;Nikkor 400mm f/4.5&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt; lenses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Michael Vick’s debut as Norfolk State’s head coach drew plenty of attention in Norfolk on August 28, 2025, but Towson spoiled the occasion with a decisive 27–7 victory. Freshman quarterback Andrew Indorf stole the spotlight, completing 14 of 26 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>One more visit to the Great Bridge Locks</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-23_great_bridge_locks/</link><pubDate>Sun, 23 Feb 2025 15:36:37 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-23_great_bridge_locks/</guid><description>&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54346473694/in/album-72177720324021007" title="20250222-Great Bridge Lock Park-Z9-089"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54346473694_77b1d76be9_h.jpg" alt="20250222-Great Bridge Lock Park-Z9-089"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


&lt;p&gt;After Winter Storm Kingston came through, I knew it could be an interesting time at the Great Bridge Locks. So once again, I headed out with my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and brought along the &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-180-600mm-f56-63-vr/20117/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.4 VR lens&lt;/a&gt; because I wanted a little more reach for the eagles, and I felt I hadn&amp;rsquo;t used it much since getting it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There was a lot of ice on the water, along with a lot of dead speckled trout due to the recent cold snap that brought arctic temperatures to our area. It was kind of funny to watch the pelicans come down and try to get the trout that were dead below the ice.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-22_gsu_vs_odu_mens_basketball/</link><pubDate>Sun, 23 Feb 2025 09:20:26 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-22_gsu_vs_odu_mens_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54346039371/in/album-72177720324040084/" title="Georgia State vs Old Dominion"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54346039371_e33ab2f69b_h.jpg" alt="Georgia State vs Old Dominion"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


I had the opportunity to shoot a Saturday night Sun Belt matchup basketball game in Norfolk between the Old Dominion Monarchs and the Georgia State Panthers. The Monarchs came out strong in front of their home crowd at Chartway Arena, playing with energy and intensity on both ends of the court. Georgia State made a push in the second half, but ODU held firm down the stretch to secure a 73–66 victory.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Winter Storm Kingston</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-19_winter_storm_kingston/</link><pubDate>Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:37 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-19_winter_storm_kingston/</guid><description>&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54341038932/in/album-72177720323996288" title="20250220-Snow storm-Zf-016"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54341038932_46d056aba2_h.jpg" alt="20250220-Snow storm-Zf-016"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


&lt;p&gt;Winter storm Kingston made a visit. Having snow just a week before, we weren&amp;rsquo;t expecting another snow storm in the Hampton Roads region. We normally get maybe one a year. But Kingston was going to be different. And it turned out to be the biggest storm we had since 2010. When it was over, we had almost 12 inches of snow.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But the crazy thing about it, this snow was gone in a couple of days. The texture of the snow was unlike what we usually see. This snow was dry and light. Almost like what you would find out west. Usually, our snow is wet and heavy. It makes a mess as it thaws and refreezes. Within 48 hours, this snowfall was mostly gone. And it wasn&amp;rsquo;t even because of the temperatures. It&amp;rsquo;s like it just evaporated.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Another morning at the Great Bridge Locks</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-15_great_bridge_locks/</link><pubDate>Sat, 15 Feb 2025 15:36:37 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-15_great_bridge_locks/</guid><description>&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54342148628/in/album-72177720323996003" title="20250215-Great Bridge Locks-Z9-552"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54342148628_1b498f80d4_h.jpg" alt="Brown Pelican"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


&lt;p&gt;I had such a great time the week before, that I went back to the Great Bridge Locks again. Once again, I headed out with my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-100-400mm-f45-56-vr-s/20106/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5–5.6 S lens&lt;/a&gt;, hoping to catch the local birdlife—and once again, the Locks didn’t disappoint.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I arrived about 45 minutes earlier than the previous week and started at the boat ramp. The Brown Pelicans were still there. Probably numbered around 100 or so. And they were busy.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Fun morning at the Great Bridge Locks</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-09_great_bridge_locks/</link><pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2025 10:16:23 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-09_great_bridge_locks/</guid><description>&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54341939145/in/album-72177720323977106/" title="20250209-Great Bridge Locks-Z9-083"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54341939145_3c1397971e_4k.jpg" alt="20250209-Great Bridge Locks-Z9-083"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


&lt;p&gt;I love mornings at the Great Bridge Locks, especially in the winter when the air is crisp and the wildlife is active. I headed out early with my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-100-400mm-f45-56-vr-s/20106/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5–5.6 S lens&lt;/a&gt;, hoping to catch some local birdlife—and the Locks didn’t disappoint.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I didn&amp;rsquo;t arrive until almost 10am, much later than I would have liked. But almost immediately, I spotted a immature Bald Eagle flying over the water. It was looking for a late breakfast, right in front of a squadron of Brown Pelicans. There’s nothing quite like locking focus on an eagle in flight—the grace, the wingspan, the power.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School Basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-04_western_branch_vs_hickory_girls_basketball/</link><pubDate>Tue, 04 Feb 2025 09:39:42 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-02-04_western_branch_vs_hickory_girls_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Girls/2025-02-04-Western-Branch-vs-Hickory-Varsity-Girls-Basketbal/i-fvTBK8w/0/KwXBmDs7FvvZ2xm7h5kL54DnsnLPRd6Xw6vb68Q9W/X5/20250204-untitled%20shoot-untitled-037-X5.jpg" alt="Hickory" title="Great Bridge vs Hickory"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A Southeastern district game took place at &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory&lt;/a&gt; on Tuesday night as the Hickory girls took the floor against &lt;a href="https://www.cpschools.com/o/wbh/athletics"&gt;Western Branch&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I used my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-70-200mm-f28-vr-s/20091/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 70-200 f/2.8 S&lt;/a&gt; lens to shoot the action.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was a hard fought game by both teams but Western Branch was able to come away with a close victory in the end.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You can purchase images from the game on &lt;a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/photography/gallery/western-branch-at-hickory/?id=d2807c17-bc0b-4d13-9ba6-7e258344eeb0&amp;amp;photoid=b695d0ed-6810-4f01-8abc-7402b053e205"&gt;MaxPreps&lt;/a&gt; or my &lt;a href="https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Girls/2025-02-04-Western-Branch-vs-Hickory-Varsity-Girls-Basketbal"&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School Basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-31_kings_fork_vs_indian_river_boys_basketball/</link><pubDate>Sat, 01 Feb 2025 09:39:42 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-31_kings_fork_vs_indian_river_boys_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Boys/2025-01-31-Kings-Fork-vs-Indian-River-Varsity-Boys-Basketbal/i-sC97KGf/0/NH7QZd5vM68VV2k23RWZLBtdQXWsxL9S6ZbQhnqPS/X5/20250131-untitled%20shoot-untitled-455-X5.jpg" alt="Dunk" title="Jeremiah Morris of King's Fork with the massive dunk"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="https://www.cpschools.com/o/irh/athletics"&gt;Indian River&lt;/a&gt; gym was packed as the Braves hosted district rivals &lt;a href="https://kfhsathletics.com"&gt;King&amp;rsquo;s Fork&lt;/a&gt; on Friday night. King&amp;rsquo;s Fork came into the game ranked #4 in the area while Indian River was ranked in the top 15.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I used my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt; lens to shoot the action.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;King&amp;rsquo;s Fork proved to be to much for the Braves and won the game easily. Even with the loss, Indian River is destined for the playoffs.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School Basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-28_great_bridge_vs_hickory_basketball/</link><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2025 09:39:42 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-28_great_bridge_vs_hickory_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;Rivalry game at &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory&lt;/a&gt; on Tuesday night as the Hickory girls took the floor against their rival &lt;a href="https://greatbridgehsathletics.com"&gt;Great Bridge&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I used my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-85mm-f18-s/20090/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8&lt;/a&gt; lens to shoot the action.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hickory jumped out to an early lead, but Great Bridge started chipping away in the 3rd quarter. Great Bridge took over in the 4th quarter to grab the victory.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You can purchase images from the game on &lt;a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/photography/gallery/great-bridge-at-hickory/?id=240adec5-3f02-4101-9a46-f217a493b879&amp;amp;photoid=db1a57c5-5397-426e-ab0a-bc508fdd9059"&gt;MaxPreps&lt;/a&gt; or my &lt;a href="https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Girls/2025-01-28-Great-Bridge-vs-Hickory-Varsity-Girls-Basketball"&gt;website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School Wrestling</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-15_great_bridge_high_wrestling/</link><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jan 2025 22:18:52 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-15_great_bridge_high_wrestling/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Wrestling/2025-01-15-Grassfield-vs-Great-Bridge-Varsity-Wrestling/i-G69rrLV/0/MgGwsZVXxMfXfQhj4qmjcMP9fdHpJ7shWXwN9qkG9/X3/20250115-Grassfield%20vs%20Great%20Bridge%20Wrestling-Z9-1563-X3.jpg" alt="Great Bridge" title="Grassfield vs. Great Bridge"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was senior night at &lt;a href=""&gt;Great Bridge&lt;/a&gt; on Wednesday night as the #2 ranked Wildcats hosted a tri-meet with &lt;a href=""&gt;Hickory&lt;/a&gt; and #1 ranked &lt;a href=""&gt;Grassfield&lt;/a&gt;. Grassfield cruised to an easy win over Hickory. I wasn&amp;rsquo;t able to get any images of this match. But I did shoot the match between Great Bridge and Hickory followed by the match between Great Bridge and Grassfield.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I brought my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt; lens. I love how the Plena lens renders the backgrounds, but sometimes the wrestlers definitely get too close for this lens.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School Basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-10_great_bridge_high_vs_hickory_high_boys_basketball/</link><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jan 2025 22:18:22 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-10_great_bridge_high_vs_hickory_high_boys_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;It was a packed house at &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory&lt;/a&gt; on Friday night as they took the floor against their rival &lt;a href="https://greatbridgehsathletics.com"&gt;Great Bridge&lt;/a&gt;. It was the first time that I&amp;rsquo;ve been shooting games at Hickory that they pulled out the bleachers on the other side of the court.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I used my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt; lens to shoot the action.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hickory jumped out to a commanding lead, but Great Bridge started chipping away in the 3rd quarter. They cut the lead to 3 points with less than two minutes to play but they were unable to get any closer.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Happy New Year!</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-01_battlefield_park/</link><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jan 2025 22:17:01 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-01_battlefield_park/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54240976904/in/album-72177720322904291" title="Great Bridge Bridge"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54240976904_083421d760_b.jpg" alt="Great Bridge Bridge"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


Happy New Year! I started off 2025 with a morning of photography. I went to Battlefield Park in Great Bridge and walked around a little. Nothing like blue skies to quell my photography enthusiasm! But I captured a few images there and then moved on to Stumpy Lake Natural Area to see if anything was happening there. It was dead too. A few birds off in the distance. But other than one Great Blue Heron that I grabbed a couple images of, it was not much of a success. Hope the rest of my photographic journey is better in 2025!&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-09_hickory_high_vs_greenbrier_christian_high_school_basketball/</link><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jan 2025 22:16:08 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2025/2025-01-09_hickory_high_vs_greenbrier_christian_high_school_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Girls/2025-01-09-Hickory-vs-Greenbrier-Christian-Girls-Basketball/i-c4LQkhC/0/LPNnqwKJQ4Dfd96pksBSPNnxddKZMR3Dp4H6W9DVr/X4/20250109-HHS%20vs%20GCHS%20Girls%20Basketball-Z8-051-X4.jpg" alt="Greenbrier Christian" title="Hickory vs. Greenbrier Christian"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was doubleheader night at &lt;a href="https://www.gcagators.org"&gt;Greenbrier Christian Academy&lt;/a&gt; as both the girls and boys took on &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory High School&lt;/a&gt;. It was my first time in their gym and while it was a decent size gym with a food court upstairs that overlooked the floor, there was about six feet of space between the ends of the court and the walls. The good news with that is I could rest my back against the wall.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School basketball</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-10_norfolk_academy_vs_hickory_high_school_basketball/</link><pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 08:42:12 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-10_norfolk_academy_vs_hickory_high_school_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Girls/2024-12-10-Norfolk-Academy-vs-Hickory-Varsity-Girls-Basketba/i-pXz2Wf6/0/NfNNNCGMvVf3rzxVPj7CPS8hBZMtHzhKJ628wLgwT/X5/20241210-NA%20vs%20Hickory%20Girls%20Basketball-Z9-287-X5.jpg" alt="Norfolk Academy" title="Defense"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was doubleheader night at &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory High School&lt;/a&gt; as both the girls and boys hosted &lt;a href="https://www.norfolkacademy.org/athletics"&gt;Norfolk Academy&lt;/a&gt;. The girls game was a very competitive game that Hickory looked like they had control of going into the fourth quarter. But Norfolk Academy got the momentum and dominated the fourth quarter to win.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Hickory boys took a 20 point lead to halftime and looked to be in complete control of their game. But Norfolk Academy fought back in the second half and even took a 1 point lead with a couple of minutes to go before Hickory finally got control of the game and won.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Pea Island NWR 12/07/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-07_pea_island_nwr/</link><pubDate>Sun, 22 Dec 2024 21:24:04 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-07_pea_island_nwr/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54190851971/in/album-72177720322454569" title="Tundra Swans"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54190851971_de2e4eba1e_b.jpg" alt="Tundra Swans"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


On Saturday, December 7th, I got up early and took a cold drive down to &lt;a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pea-island"&gt;Pea Island NWR&lt;/a&gt; on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was 19°F when I left and my heat was not working too good in my Jeep. I definitely need to take that in and get it looked at! In fact, it was still about 26°F when I started crossing the &lt;a href="https://www.outerbanks.com/wright-memorial-bridge.html"&gt;Wright Memorial Bridge&lt;/a&gt; to get over to the Outer Banks. But once I crossed, it was 36°F on the island and my heat started pumping a little more hot air.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School basketball 12/04/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-04_hickory_vs_currituck_county_high_school_basketball/</link><pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 12:22:41 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-04_hickory_vs_currituck_county_high_school_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Girls/2024-12-04-Hickory-vs-Currituck-Varsity-Girls-Basketball/i-HC7g4pH/0/LPxdSqZWBjxDRjjJLC5xTwzZLf2SrwPWmdrsNQRGF/X5/20241204-HHS%20vs%20CHS%20Girls%20Basketball-Z9-207-X5.jpg" alt="Currituck County" title="Defense"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was doubleheader night at &lt;a href="https://www.currituck.k12.nc.us/cchs"&gt;Currituck County High School&lt;/a&gt; as both the girls and boys took on &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory High School&lt;/a&gt;. The gym lighting had not been updated to LEDs so it was a bit of a throwback to the past. Both games were very competitive, which makes for better opportunities for shooting.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I brought my new telescopic stool but noticed that some of the pegs on it were already broke. It still worked mostly so my back was thankful. I brought my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-70-200mm-f28-vr-s/20091/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 70-200 f/2.8 S&lt;/a&gt; lens. I hadn&amp;rsquo;t used this lens for basketball in a while, so I wanted to use it here. It&amp;rsquo;s the standard go to lens for basketball, but I think I still prefer a prime lens.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School basketball 12/03/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-03_grassfield_vs_deep_creek_high_school_basketball/</link><pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:53:40 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-12-03_grassfield_vs_deep_creek_high_school_basketball/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Basketball-Boys/2024-12-03-Grassfield-vs-Deep-Creek-Varsity-Boys-Basketball/i-2gtxD4r/0/KftcWXWw7khNNTBwzSMbQPTVFNJbLjv6tTQpHmgXX/X5/20241203-GHS%20vs%20DCHS%20Boys%20Basketball-Z9-414-X5.jpg" alt="Deep Creek" title="Half court shot at the buzzer"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I started my high school basketball season off with a game between Southeastern District rivals Grassfield High and Deep Creek High. Sadly, I was going to have to shoot this game sitting on the floor since my telescoping stool got messed up from baseball season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Grassfield controlled nearly all of the first half of this game but Deep Creek went on a row in the last minute to actually take the lead at halftime. Deep Creek then went on to dominate the second half.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Stumpy Lake Natural Area 11/17/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-11-20_stumpy_lake/</link><pubDate>Wed, 20 Nov 2024 08:13:35 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-11-20_stumpy_lake/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54149509524/in/album-72177720322014087" title="Canada Goose"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54149509524_08d5496927_b.jpg" alt="Canada Goose"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


I went out to &lt;a href="https://dwr.virginia.gov/vbwt/sites/stumpy-lake-natural-area/"&gt;Stumpy Lake Nature Area&lt;/a&gt; on Sunday morning to look for some birds to photograph. It&amp;rsquo;s been a bit slow this Fall. Actually, it&amp;rsquo;s been a bit slow for me since I&amp;rsquo;ve hardly done any bird photography. But the 40 days of no rain wasn&amp;rsquo;t helping either. Stumpy Lake was actually a puddle. But we did manage to finally get some rain last Friday. I brought along my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-180-600mm-f56-63-vr/20117/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR&lt;/a&gt; lens.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-11-19_jmu_vs_odu_college_football/</link><pubDate>Tue, 19 Nov 2024 20:20:26 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-11-19_jmu_vs_odu_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54147320139_764444d066_b.jpg" alt="ODU entrance" title="ODU ready to take the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://jmusports.com/sports/football"&gt;JMU&lt;/a&gt; traveled from Harrisonburg to take on their in-state rival ODU in Norfolk for a 4pm kickoff. It was another beautiful day for football and the stadium was packed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I brought my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; body with my Nikkor 400mm f/2.8G lens and my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-8/1695/overview"&gt;Nikon Z8&lt;/a&gt; body with the &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikkor Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt; lens. But just before ODU took the field, I realized the 400mm wasn&amp;rsquo;t going to stay on the monopod. The screw holes in the footer collar were stripped. This was the same issue I had at the Norfolk State game a couple weeks earlier, but I thought I had fixed it.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-11-19_william_paterson_vs_cnu_college_football/</link><pubDate>Tue, 19 Nov 2024 20:20:04 -0500</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-11-19_william_paterson_vs_cnu_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54113405987_a2d1e5d92e_b.jpg" alt="CNU celebration" title="CNU player celebrates touchdown"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;CNU hosted &lt;a href="https://www.wpupioneers.com/sports/football"&gt;William Paterson&lt;/a&gt; in a &lt;a href="https://njacsports.com/sports/football"&gt;New Jersey Athletic Conference&lt;/a&gt; D3 football game on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Newport News, VA. This was my first &lt;a href="https://www.ncaa.com/sports/football/d3"&gt;D3&lt;/a&gt; football game of the season and I found it to be just as fun to watch as FBS and FCS football games. In fact, I think I liked it more. No media timeouts! I didn&amp;rsquo;t even have time to take my phone out of my pocket to check scores after a touchdown because they were already lining up for the kickoff.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Pleasure House Point 10/27/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-28_pleasure_house_point/</link><pubDate>Mon, 28 Oct 2024 19:23:07 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-28_pleasure_house_point/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;I decided to venture out to &lt;a href="https://dwr.virginia.gov/vbwt/sites/pleasure-house-point-natural-area/"&gt;Pleasure House Point Natural Area&lt;/a&gt; in Virginia Beach on Sunday morning. I hadn&amp;rsquo;t been there since late May. I figured the ospreys have moved on but I was hoping some of the migrating birds would have started arriving by now. The first bird I was spotted was a Great Blue Heron who was roosting in a pine tree.

&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/54101361618/in/dateposted-public/" title="Great Blue Heron"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54101361618_8daaa70d2f_b.jpg" alt="Great Blue Heron"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;


I then walked all the way to the Brock Center without spotting any more birds. It had just been high tide about an hour before I was there, so that was definitely going to limit the bird action. I was happy to see they built the bridge near the Brock Center. When I first started coming here 5 years ago, there was a cinder block that you had to step on to cross a very small runoff between the larger part of the creek and a little pond. You could literally step over it and didn&amp;rsquo;t even really need the cinder block. But over the course of five years, this had turned into a pretty big ditch between the two. They have built a really nice bridge for walking over the water now. It has grown to be about 20 feet wide and about 2 feet deep in just 5 years.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-28_howard_vs_norfolk_state_college_football/</link><pubDate>Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:46:01 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-28_howard_vs_norfolk_state_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54098809390_c446207981_b.jpg" alt="Norfolk State entrance" title="Norfolk State takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was homecoming at &lt;a href="https://nsuspartans.com/sports/football"&gt;Norfolk State&lt;/a&gt; this past Saturday as they hosted their MEAC rival &lt;a href="https://hubison.com/sports/football"&gt;Howard University&lt;/a&gt;. It was a 2pm kickoff so I showed up around 12pm and drove around campus looking for a parking spot. After realizing it was going to be hard to find, I changed my mind and drove over to Macarthur Mall to park there and then ride the Tide back to Norfolk State. There was a 10 minute walk from the train stop to the stadium and I was carrying my Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8 G lens, all 10 pounds of it, along with my Z9, Z8, and one other camera I&amp;rsquo;ll talk about in a future post.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School football</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-28_nansemond_river_vs_grassfield_high_school_football/</link><pubDate>Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:45:28 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-28_nansemond_river_vs_grassfield_high_school_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-10-25-Nansemond-River-vs-Grassfield-Varsity-Football/i-FF5TZCZ/0/M8Zdkwv4RXv8DSjxMK2HDppkcsn2tt6chFxGG4BSc/X4/20241025-NR%20vs%20Grassfield%20Varsity%20Football-Z8-036-X4.jpg" alt="Grassfield" title="Grassfield takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="https://www.grassfieldgrizzliesfootball.com"&gt;Grassfield&lt;/a&gt; hosted the &lt;a href=""&gt;Nansemond River Warriors&lt;/a&gt; on Friday night for their homecoming. A clear night with perfect temps. Another Chesapeake game with outdated lighting. I really hope they can get around to updating the lighting at the Chesapeake high schools.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Nansemond River was dressed in white while Grassfield wore their dark blue jerseys. Perfect color for a dimly lit field. Detect any sarcasm there?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I only shot the first half of the game as I wasn&amp;rsquo;t feeling great but at halftime Nansemond River built a 28-7 lead.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football 10/19/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-22_texas_state_vs_old_dominion_college_football/</link><pubDate>Tue, 22 Oct 2024 19:06:57 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-22_texas_state_vs_old_dominion_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54082568796_2e4c0cdbdc_c.jpg" alt="ODU entrance" title="ODU takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I finally got to shoot a day football game this year! Every game I&amp;rsquo;ve shot up until this one had been a night game or early evening game. This game between Texas State and ODU was being played at 3:30pm in Norfolk. And the sun was out!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Texas State rolled into Norfolk with a 4-2 record and were 10 point favorites against the 2-4 Monarchs. ODU jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half and would hold on to win 24-14. ODU has now won 3 of its last 4 games even though the offense is still struggling.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School football 10/18/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-22_grassfield_vs_hickory_high_school_football/</link><pubDate>Tue, 22 Oct 2024 19:06:28 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-22_grassfield_vs_hickory_high_school_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-10-18-Grassfield-vs-Hickory-Varsity-Football/i-bzqwgZM/0/K7TKqzq2X6xjHgrZjXz5dXgPjJxKXKtjWc6xj9Tzk/4K/20241018-Grassfield%20vs%20Hickory%20Varsity%20Football-Z8-012-4K.jpg" alt="Hickory" title="Hickory takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory Hawks&lt;/a&gt; hosted their city rival &lt;a href="https://www.grassfieldgrizzliesfootball.com"&gt;Grassfield&lt;/a&gt; on Friday night. Great night for football as I had to put on the hat and thin gloves.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hickory isn&amp;rsquo;t the best place to shoot football at night. The combination of outdated lighting and black jerseys make for some high ISOs in the images. Luckily, software has come a long way in the last ten years and the noise cleans up well.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School football 10/11/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-13_holmes_vs_currituck_county_high_school_football/</link><pubDate>Sun, 13 Oct 2024 21:10:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-10-13_holmes_vs_currituck_county_high_school_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-10-11-Holmes-vs-Currituck-County-Varsity-Football/i-SfkSCTq/0/KFFmp4d8CMXMKx8NQxzp226BhszpdvgsjkgWHz9Xx/M/20241011-Holmes%20vs%20Currituck%20County%20Football-Z8-021-M.jpg" alt="Currituck County" title="Currituck County takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I traveled 30 miles south into North Carolina on Friday night to photograph the football game between the visiting &lt;a href="https://www.ecps.k12.nc.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=4341681&amp;amp;type=d&amp;amp;pREC_ID=2536210"&gt;John A. Holmes Aces&lt;/a&gt; of &lt;a href="https://visitedenton.com"&gt;Edenton&lt;/a&gt; and the home team &lt;a href="https://www.currituck.k12.nc.us/cchs"&gt;Currituck County Knights&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was a very competitive game and Holmes took a 21-12 lead into the half. However, Currituck County came out on fire in the 3rd quarter and outscored Holmes 21-7 in the quarter. They added one more touchdown in the 4th quarter and won the game 40-28.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School football 09/26/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-28_great_bridge_vs_hickory_high_school_football/</link><pubDate>Sat, 28 Sep 2024 09:11:31 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-28_great_bridge_vs_hickory_high_school_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-09-26-Great-Bridge-vs-Hickory-Varsity-Football/i-rLDRPTP/0/MLqLhmd9sMwK8VWvMzv2FPcg8XBVCKnKCvjsRRVwD/4K/20240926-GBHS%20vs%20HHS%20Varsity%20Football-Z8-001-4K.jpg" alt="Hickory" title="Hickory takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Thanks to Hurricane Helene&amp;rsquo;s tracking, and the upcoming rains we were expecting on Friday, we had a football game on Thursday night. It was Military Appreciation night as the &lt;a href="https://hickoryhsathletics.com/"&gt;Hickory Hawks&lt;/a&gt; hosted their rival, the &lt;a href="https://greatbridgehsathletics.com"&gt;Great Bridge Wilcats&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The combination of high school stadium lighting, dark open spaces between the two sides of the stadium, and Hickory&amp;rsquo;s all black jerseys, make for a difficult night of shooting. It gets so dark out there. Even shooting wide open at f/2.8 on the 400mm lens, my ISOs were reaching my peak settings. Lets hope these schools can switch out to LED lights in the near future.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football 09/14/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-14_virginia_tech_vs_old_dominion_college_football/</link><pubDate>Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:41:10 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-14_virginia_tech_vs_old_dominion_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53997615311_dbcdf2615f_o.jpg" alt="ODU entrance" title="ODU takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I got to shoot my second ODU football game in a row on Saturday. This time, I was prepared. I would be shooting my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-9/1669/overview"&gt;Nikon Z9&lt;/a&gt; with the 400mm f/2.8G lens. And I would be using my &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/z-8/1695/overview"&gt;Nikon Z8&lt;/a&gt; with the amazing &lt;a href="https://www.nikonusa.com/p/nikkor-z-135mm-f18-s-plena/20123/overview"&gt;Nikon 135mm f/1.8 S Plena&lt;/a&gt;. This time it was against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Virginia Tech has had a rough time in Norfolk, losing each of the last two times they&amp;rsquo;ve played here. Virginia Tech has been notorious for getting their seasons off to slow starts under the current coaching regime, while ODU is struggling to find any semblance of an offense.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School football 09/13/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-13_oscar_smith_vs_great_bridge_high_school_football/</link><pubDate>Sat, 14 Sep 2024 21:50:09 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-13_oscar_smith_vs_great_bridge_high_school_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-09-13-Oscar-Smith-vs-Great-Bridge-Varsity-Football/i-jk7J5j4/0/K9SdnqbchhzLxcV6Vvrcv3VC6LhX6LR7Chtdqj36m/4K/20240913-OSHS%20vs%20GBHS%20Football-Z8-009-4K.jpg" alt="Great Bridge entrance" title="Great Bridge takes the field"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I made it out to Colon L. Hall stadium in Great Bridge for the Friday night high school football game between the &lt;a href="https://oscarsmithathletics.com"&gt;Oscar Smith Tigers&lt;/a&gt; and the &lt;a href="https://greatbridgehsathletics.com"&gt;Great Bridge Wildcats&lt;/a&gt;. Great Bridge&amp;rsquo;s stadium had undergone renovations and it was finally complete. I have to say the stadium looks really good now. I want to say it was originally built in 1962. Made completely out of cinder blocks and concrete, it had suffered from neglect and black mold for years. They gutted and ripped out a lot of the back wall and replaced it with steel beams.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football 09/07/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-08_ecu_vs_odu_college_football/</link><pubDate>Sun, 08 Sep 2024 21:01:57 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-08_ecu_vs_odu_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53983927926_f994ced40c_4k.jpg" alt="ODU entrance" title="ODU takes the field"&gt;
I had the opportunity to shoot Saturday night’s matchup between &lt;a href="https://ecupirates.com/sports/football"&gt;East Carolina University&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://odusports.com/sports/football"&gt;Old Dominion University&lt;/a&gt; in Norfolk, and let’s just say it didn’t go as planned. I came ready with my Nikon Z9 paired with my Nikon 400mm f/2.8G ED AF lens, along with my brand-new Nikon Z8 paired with the Nikon 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens for more close-up work. But, in all my excitement, I forgot the most critical piece of equipment—my Nikon FTZ II mount adapter. Without it, I couldn’t connect the 400mm lens to my Z9! So, I had to shoot the entire game with just the Z8 and 135mm lens.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Yashica Electro 35 GSN Review</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-04_yashica_electro_35_gsn_review/</link><pubDate>Wed, 04 Sep 2024 19:19:24 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-09-04_yashica_electro_35_gsn_review/</guid><description>&lt;h2 id="acquisition"&gt;Acquisition&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Back in 2022, I started thinking about getting into film photography. I began visiting thrift stores in search of the perfect film camera. But I was having no luck.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In October, I got a call from my daughter, who was away at school. She was in a thrift store and she called me to tell me about a camera she saw there. It was the Yashica Electro 35 GSN. She said they wanted $40 for it. I told her to get it for me.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>College football 08/30/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-08-31_norfolk_st_vs_ecu_college_football/</link><pubDate>Sat, 31 Aug 2024 21:35:22 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-08-31_norfolk_st_vs_ecu_college_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54001066173_26daac7c68_c.jpg" alt="ECU Scoreboard" title="ECU Scoreboard"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I went down to Greenville, NC (or as the locals call it, G-Vegas) to shoot the football game between &lt;a href="https://nsuspartans.com/sports/football"&gt;Norfolk State&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://ecupirates.com/sports/football"&gt;East Carolina&lt;/a&gt;. Opening game of the year for the Pirates. The Spartans had lost a close one the week before against &lt;a href="https://famuathletics.com/sports/football"&gt;Florida A&amp;amp;M&lt;/a&gt; in the &lt;a href="https://www.meacswacchallenge.com/"&gt;MEAC/SWAC Challenge&lt;/a&gt; in Atlanta.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was a pretty warm day with highs close to 90°F at kickoff. I entered the gates around 4:45pm for the 6pm kickoff. I wanted to get some shots of the players warming up.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>High School football 08/29/2024</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-08-29_currituck_county_vs_deep_creek_high_school_football/</link><pubDate>Fri, 30 Aug 2024 07:08:15 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-08-29_currituck_county_vs_deep_creek_high_school_football/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-08-29-Currituck-County-vs-Deep-Creek-Varsity-Football/i-mbftSCv/0/KcXDKpwGVdXszrv7c9vSmNgkTNd78HvrWZgR7QWbJ/4K/20240829-CHS%20vs%20DCHS%20Football-Z9-004-4K.jpg" alt="Deep Creek quarterback" title="Deep Creek quarterback"&gt;
I shot my first high school football game of the season on August 29th. The game featured the home team &lt;a href="https://www.cpschools.com/o/dch/"&gt;Deep Creek Hornets&lt;/a&gt; of Chesapeake, Virginia and the visiting &lt;a href="https://www.currituck.k12.nc.us/cchs"&gt;Currituck County Knights&lt;/a&gt; of Barco, North Carolina.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Having just received my “new” &lt;a href="https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-400mm-f2-8g-vr"&gt;Nikon 400mm f/2.8G ED VR&lt;/a&gt; lens a day earlier, I was eager to try it out and since it was Labor Day Weekend coming up, most of the high school football games would be played on Thursday. Deep Creek High is not too far from my house, so I decided to go there and shoot. Did I mention I shoot for &lt;a href="http://www.maxpreps.com/"&gt;MaxPreps&lt;/a&gt; too? The gallery from this game is on both &lt;a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/photography/gallery/currituck-county-at-deep-creek/?id=939d094d-7cce-49b5-b0a9-2e4fa11b7502"&gt;MaxPreps&lt;/a&gt; and my own &lt;a href="https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/High-School-Athletics/2024-25/Football/2024-08-29-Currituck-County-vs-Deep-Creek-Varsity-Football"&gt;site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Surfing Photography</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-08-25_ecsc/</link><pubDate>Sun, 25 Aug 2024 09:05:29 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-08-25_ecsc/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53946945726_5c4f70d97e_c.jpg" alt="ECSC Surfer" title="ECSC Surfing"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I drove down to the Virginia Beach oceanfront on Saturday morning to catch some of the surfing action taking place at the &lt;a href="https://www.surfecsc.com"&gt;62nd annual Coastal Edge East Coast Surfing Championships&lt;/a&gt;. I arrived around 7:30am and got a good parking spot. I decided to walk around with my Nikon F6 at first and capture some images on film. I&amp;rsquo;m still working on that roll, so stay tuned for a post about it.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Nikon F6 with Portra 400</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-07-28_nikon_f6_portra_400/</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jul 2024 22:12:06 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-07-28_nikon_f6_portra_400/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;As my film journey progresses, I absolutely love the simplicity of shooting with my Nikon FM2n and Yashica Electro 35 GSN. But I have been thinking about getting into medium format at some point. I&amp;rsquo;ve really had my eye on finding another Yashica. Especially the Mat 124G. But then I was watching Youtube and and I saw Kai&amp;rsquo;s video on using the Nikon F6.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-QR10uRbVw8?si=wCBKt4hUinrEfZ8D" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="1" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;


&lt;p&gt;Watching his video got me thinking. I have the Nikon FM2n. The perfect, most simplistic 35mm SLR made by Nikon. It doesn&amp;rsquo;t even need a battery to function. But what if I paired it up with the most advanced 35mm SLR Nikon ever made? That would be an awesome complement to the FM2n.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Nikon FM2 with Portra 400</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-05-03_nikon_fm2_portra_400/</link><pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2024 22:12:06 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2024/2024-05-03_nikon_fm2_portra_400/</guid><description>&lt;a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffselfphotography/albums/72177720318758001" title="Nikon FM2n Roll 12"&gt;&lt;img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53854881481_c9a9773d05_h.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Nikon FM2n Roll 12"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</description></item><item><title>Iceland</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2022/2022-10-23_iceland/</link><pubDate>Sun, 23 Oct 2022 10:39:32 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2022/2022-10-23_iceland/</guid><description>We visited Iceland in May 2022</description></item><item><title>Walt Disney World 2021</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2021/2021-06-30_disneyworld/</link><pubDate>Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:20:42 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/blog/2021/2021-06-30_disneyworld/</guid><description>Vacation at Walt Disney World June 2021</description></item><item><title>About Me</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/about/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/about/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;I’m Jeff Self, a photographer with a love for sports, portraits, wildlife, landscapes, and the in-between moments that make a place or day memorable.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I am a MaxPreps sports photographer, and a lot of my recent work has come from covering games, action, and the energy around high school sports. Alongside that, I also enjoy making images that feel a little more personal, whether that is a family session, a senior portrait, wildlife encounter, or a scene from the road.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item><item><title>Contact</title><link>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/contact/</link><pubDate>Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.jeffselfphotography.com/contact/</guid><description>&lt;p&gt;If you’d like to get in touch about photography, email &lt;a href="mailto:jeff.self@gmail.com"&gt;Jeff Self&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For portraits, sports, concerts, or print inquiries, I’m happy to work with you directly to figure out the details.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I’m currently available for:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Family portraits&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Senior portraits&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Sports photography&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Concert photography&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You can also follow my work on Instagram at &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/jeffselfphotography/"&gt;@jeffselfphotography&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you are interested in purchasing a print, send me a note with the image or gallery you have in mind. I do not sell prints directly through the site, but I am happy to work with you personally on print orders.&lt;/p&gt;</description></item></channel></rss>