[aj*smile]

Hello, all!

Every once in awhile as I'm editing photos, I'll stumble upon an old file and rework a shot from years ago. This was taken in 2008, but I've given it a new 2010 twist. Feel free to right-click and choose "Set As Desktop Background." It looks fantastic centered @ regular size (not stretched or tiled) against a black backdrop.



Since His Royal Hotness isn't gracing us with his presence as often anymore, we'll just have to make do with him glaring at us on our computer screens!

Cheers,
A.

[monkey247]

Originally Posted by aj*smile

It looks fantastic centered @ regular size ... against a black backdrop.

Intense! What a great effect. Thanks, aj*smile.

[monkey247]

Wonderful pics, Ales Alessandra, thanks for posting! I love the zoom on this one ...

Originally Posted by Ales_Alessandra

PS: I'm very happy for the zoom on cameras!

Originally Posted by Ales_Alessandra

I wanted one! Oh well, I had the 100% Safinete experience after that. I'm kind of old to be a good stalker, I was so lazy to try to reach him to get a pic or autograph ...

They should just open a Marat Safin consolation kissing booth at these seniors events. Marat might start winning matches if he knew he had to pucker up for hordes of "sympathetic" Safinettes after a loss ...

Btw, I reposted the two flickr dubs pics on the previous page in XXL, after discovering if you tack "_o" or "_b" onto the end of the photo URL (before .jpg), occasionally the pic comes up in a larger size that's not always shown on the flickr page. (this is probably old news to seasoned flickr users)

[ad-out]

Great pics everyone - love the "re-work" aj*smile.

PS. Anyone else find themselves thinking of "what might have been" with Marat after Ivan L (at age 31 ) won IW yesterday??

[maratsmaiden]

Originally Posted by ad-out

Great pics everyone - love the "re-work" aj*smile.

PS. Anyone else find themselves thinking of "what might have been" with Marat after Ivan L (at age 31 ) won IW yesterday??

YES!!! I actually 'tweeted'(? lol) something to that effect yesterday while watching. I kept thinking that if he had stuck it out (well, had the drive to stick it out, not just shown up like he had been doing) perhaps he could have won another tournament before he retired... oh well...

[aj*smile]

All, thanks!

And, Maratsmaiden -- glad to see you liked the shot in your avatar. That one is my photography as well . Different setting, but same intensity. If only all my subjects were as photogenic!

Incidentally . . . I'm on a mission to find the next interesting photo subject for the US hardcourt season. Feli is pretty, but sometimes looks a little goofy on camera. Verdasco is a dream to photograph . . . a good mix of laughter and intensity from him! Haas is good, and Federer is striking in the right time and place. I like DelPo a lot as a player, but his charisma doesn't translate as well to the lens. Any other suggestions? Who is under-the-radar that I've missed?

[BlueLighthouse]

Originally Posted by aj*smile

All, thanks!

And, Maratsmaiden -- glad to see you liked the shot in your avatar. That one is my photography as well . Different setting, but same intensity. If only all my subjects were as photogenic!

Incidentally . . . I'm on a mission to find the next interesting photo subject for the US hardcourt season. Feli is pretty, but sometimes looks a little goofy on camera. Verdasco is a dream to photograph . . . a good mix of laughter and intensity from him! Haas is good, and Federer is striking in the right time and place. I like DelPo a lot as a player, but his charisma doesn't translate as well to the lens. Any other suggestions? Who is under-the-radar that I've missed?

Also I like your articles in the bleachers -- yes the one about his royal hotnessssss...

[smitty8]

Originally Posted by aj*smile

Incidentally . . . I'm on a mission to find the next interesting photo subject for the US hardcourt season. Feli is pretty, but sometimes looks a little goofy on camera. Verdasco is a dream to photograph . . . a good mix of laughter and intensity from him! Haas is good, and Federer is striking in the right time and place. I like DelPo a lot as a player, but his charisma doesn't translate as well to the lens. Any other suggestions? Who is under-the-radar that I've missed?

I find Feli to take interesting photos, they are quite "active" looking, unlike most players who have the same look every time you take a photo of them. Hmmm, let me think, I did some this past week and a half and I have the players I enjoy photographing because I would rather have varied photos instead of the same damn thing. Ex: Roddick, you take photos of his serve, they all look alike.

I'll have to get back to you once my jet lag wears off and I can think properly. I like Gulbis, he has great expressions. Verdasco, too. Djokovic is interesting, he is very flexible, makes for some great photos.

Edit: Simon, how could I forget?

[KarlyM]

Nice pic, aj*smile!

Originally Posted by ad-out

PS. Anyone else find themselves thinking of "what might have been" with Marat after Ivan L (at age 31 ) won IW yesterday??

Sometimes I think "what might have been" if he had more motivation the last couple years (08/09), but I usually snap back into reality fast. I think Marat got frustrated with the injuries over the years (particularly the knee that hindered him for some time), and was burnt out from all the traveling, matches, practices, trying to stay in shape, etc. He didn't have the motivation to continue. With Ivan, all I've been hearing from him the past week is how he's motivated over and over again, and how he works very hard to stay in shape to compete against the younger guys. Ivan also has a supportive wife (+ a son) who sometimes travels with him. Ivan's situation is different than Marat's -- Marat seems to want to get away from being on tour to start the rest of his life.

[Alya_C]

Originally Posted by ad-out

Great pics everyone - love the "re-work" aj*smile.

PS. Anyone else find themselves thinking of "what might have been" with Marat after Ivan L (at age 31 ) won IW yesterday??

They are different persons. Ivan was never a GS winner or nr 1 so he never had that type of pressure where the whole world expects amazing things from you. And he seems to be a more 'tunnel vision' guy (in the good sense), while Marat always said he never could live, eat and breathe just tennis. If Marat had managed to have a good result right after the knee injury, he might have gotten confidence to regain his top 10 rank, but his style of play was totally warped because of the knee and he only recovered it after he joined Gumy - and by then his confidence (which was never his strong point to start with) was totally destroyed. Just my 2 cents

Originally Posted by aj*smile

All, thanks!

Incidentally . . . I'm on a mission to find the next interesting photo subject for the US hardcourt season. Feli is pretty, but sometimes looks a little goofy on camera. Verdasco is a dream to photograph . . . a good mix of laughter and intensity from him! Haas is good, and Federer is striking in the right time and place. I like DelPo a lot as a player, but his charisma doesn't translate as well to the lens. Any other suggestions? Who is under-the-radar that I've missed?

An under the radar one, besides the ones you've mentioned, could be maybe Cilic, he can look intense I think... look forward to see more of your awsome work

[monkey247]

Some fab Sydney 2000 pics uploaded today on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdevinn...7623676745102/



... and for fun, an early pic of Marat that appeared in the September 2005 issue
of Russian GQ, for a "100 Most Stylish Men in Russia" feature.

[BlueLighthouse]

Originally Posted by monkeytattoo

... and for fun, an early pic of Marat that appeared in the September 2005 issue
of Russian GQ, for a "100 Most Stylish Men in Russia" feature.

Marat - stylish ???!!! since when?

[Iana]

Marat tonight was a guest in the transmission of channels in Russian Россия24.
Thank you,L'Dinka!

[KarlyM]

^ **drops dead**

Thank you for those, Iana!

Originally Posted by BlueLighthouse

Marat - stylish ???!!! since when?

Any time he wears a suit. Other than that, well...



I love the "boy band" hair from 2000.

[Alya_C]

Oooooh! Nice brazilian tan