The Beautiful Spike
(Photo by Jay Keenan)

One of the players from the Schoolcraft College women's
volleyball team slams a spike past her opponents in NJCAA
Regional Tournament at the SC gym in 1981.  Though Keenan
normally used available light to take his indoor sports photos,
Keenan felt compelled to use a flash for this particular series
(not to mention the fact that the SC gym was often poorly lit
for photography).  This photo appeared in the SC Campus
Globe on November 23, 1981.  The picture was also picked
up and published by the Observer and Eccentric Newspapers,
a regional chain of Michigan suburban publicaions covering
much of he Western Wayne County (two other photos from
that series also appeared in various O & E city publications as
well).  The phooto were published in the O & E on November
19, 1981.  Nonethless, this photo did receive an Honorable
Mention Award at the 1982 Michigan Community College
Press Association Contest in the sports category.  In most
cases, flash photos for sports do not get the highest
consideration by judges when it comes to contest awards.
When it comes to taking photographs, most flash photos have
a lower degree of difficulty because the flash allows the
photographer to use a larger aperture, creating a greater
focal depth.  Also, flash photos usually do not give a picture
the same 'realistic appearance' that an existing light photo
does.  However, many sports photographers are recommended
to take a few flash photos for poorly lit situations in what photo
editors call a 'safety shot,' which almost guarantees that the
photographer will come up with at least usable photo.  One
regular comment that Keenan would hear from some of his
colleagues when it came to flash photos for sports was,
"blah, flash photos."  But in this situation, that wasn't the case.