Last month I went down to Colorado to photograph an amazing group of young Canadian freestyle skiers. I am still going through thousands of images to put together an edit, but here are a couple of teasers for now. Keep an eye on these guys. They are all going to be future stars!
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#halfpipe #freestyle skiing #competition #copper mountain #canada #winsport #skiiers #future star #sports #documentaryMore you might like
Here is the link to watch Sportsnet’s documentary on the Canada Uganda Baseball Series that took place in January. Thank you to everyone who was involved. This is incredibly inspiring and touching.
ESPN’s Steve Wulf on the day when the Ugandan and Canadian little league players finally met.
Fair Ball, Sportsnet’s documentary on the Canada Uganda baseball series premeres tomorrow April 1st! It’s going to be amazing to re-live the experience through the documentary. I cannot wait!
It will also air repeatedly during the month of April.
For the first airing it will be titled “MLB SEASON PREVIEW” on your TV guide.
Thereafter your guide will say “FAIR BALL”.
For those of you in BC:
Sunday April 1st
Sportsnet Pacific channel
1pm-230pm pst (a one-hour MLB Preview followed by the half-hour Fair Ball doc)
2pm pst (Fair Ball doc)
8pm-930pm pst (a one-hour MLB Preview followed by the half-hour Fair Ball doc)
9pm pst (Fair Ball doc)
For those of you in Ontario:
Sunday April 1st
Sportsnet Ontario channel
4pm-530pm est (a one-hour MLB Preview followed by the half-hour Fair Ball doc)
5pm est (Fair Ball doc)
8pm-930pm est (a one-hour MLB Preview followed by the half-hour Fair Ball doc)
9pm est (Fair Ball doc)
The first solo airing of FAIR BALL (without the MLB PREVIEW SHOW) will be on Sunday April 8th on all Sportsnet channels at 12pm est, 9am pst.
Steve’s article on the big game. Can’t miss! I am so grateful for these articles.
Today is another day full of moments I will remember for a long long time
- The morning new conference when Jay, Ruth, Coach Dean, and Coach George told the inspiring story of how this beautiful baseball journey became reality
- A “Little Miss Sunshine” moment when the Canadian players jumped on the stage to dance, then the coaches, then the Ugandan players. I loved it!
- Olyotya? Webale! How are you? Thank you. The brief moment of connections gifted to me when we walked through the slums on route to the practice field
- Greg Zaun, Jimmy Rollins, and Derrek Lee were so personable and happy to share when they ran the practices in the afternoon heat.
- when we were about to leave for the day, a little girl came by, holding my hand, and asked me in her sweet little voice “ Can you give me a remembering? Because I want to remember you”.
I want to remember you, too.
If you are inspired by these children, please consider donating to Right to Play: http://righttoplay.akaraisin.com/YouthBaseball
Jan 21st was our last day in Uganda. So very quickly the trip was coming to an end. Although I had been exhausted from photographing during the day and editing/filing the images at night, my spirit could not help but pick up when I see the kids. They have so much joy on their faces, especially when they play. On this last day we played at Kyambogo, Ivan’s home turf. It felt like a picnic and party. Tents and BBQ were set up by the field. There was music blaring. Right to Play came to lead some games for all the kids. Of course by today the kids were best friends. They sat together, fooled around, played some really good baseball, and finally, it was time to say good bye. There was a little bit of tears ( mostly the adults… ), but if I had to describe it in one word, I think without a doubt it’s “hope”. The kids are going to be just fine, and I am excited for them for their bright future. Baseball is not the magic bullet to solve all the problems. Nothings is. But through baseball, I see enormous strength and wisdom in these kids. Uganda, Canada, the world. We are in good hands if we create more experiences like this for our future generation. Our kids don’t need us to hold their hands. They just need the opportunity to go out and play. They are more than capable of figuring things out on their own. More often than not, there are many things we can learn from them. Thank you guys for allowing me the opportunity to be part of this amazing journey. I am very fortunate to be inspired by you all. The sincerity, curiosity, and joy. I am learning, but I hope one day I will be like you guys, always running at full speed with so much joy.
This is the end of my diary for my Uganda trip. Sportsnet also came along to Uganda to make a wonderful TV documentary. It’s airing this Sunday on Sportsnet at 2pm PST and 5PM EST. Here is a link to the preview: http://righttoplay.akaraisin.com/YouthBaseball. If you are inspired by these kids, please consider donating to Right to Play.
Sportsnet Magazine is also running an iPad special on this story this month with my photo essay. Here is the link to purchase the magazine on iTunes.
It’s finally online! Here are a few screen grabs from Travel Alberta’s new site http://www.remembertobreathe.com. Working with talented Art Director John Halliday from Karo Design, I shot some of the still images for their winter campaign. It was an absolutely amazing experience. This winter I am definitely going back to Alberta to snowboard. Seriously the best powder I have ever seen anywhere.
Wow I cannot believe it’s been such a long time since I last updated my blog. Time just flew by like that. I have been very busy working. In between, I got engaged with Annie, opened a new studio, and now getting involved in the very exciting Pearl of Africa Series II. Life moves really really quickly!
Here are some images from an aerial I did recently for Pacific Sands resort in Tofino. Hopefully this is a start of more consistent updates to this blog!
Here so some of my friends in Uganda. Each of them has a story they can tell through baseball. I am really fortunate to have met them. The very talented but shy Taiwanese Canadian brothers who pushed other to become the best Gingo the first Ungandan cowboy. Cole and Gingo best buddies. Edgar my little photo assistant. Ivan who lives in the equipment shack. Coach George who created this strong baseball team despite all kinds of challenges. Abooki the smallest player who won the big game for Uganda. "Kid" who lost a finger in an accident but would not give up his baseball journey…
I am really fortunate to have met you all. Thank you for allowing me to tell your stories through these photographs.
If you have ever been inspired by sports, I think you might be interested in this little documentary I made. Tugende Baseballer is a story about baseball in Uganda. It’s about 8 minutes long. Please have a watch, share it, and perhaps consider supporting this great cause.
rileymaclean