Kona Start Picture Awarded by World Press Photo

I just found out last Friday that my Underwater Start Picture from the Kona Ironman World Championships received First Place Sports Action Single by the World Press Photo Contest 2012. I was stunned not only because I didn’t enter the photo as a single (was submitted as part of my sports portfolio entered in Sports Action Stories) but also because of all the fantastic sports images I had seen in the past year that it went against. Thanks for all the emails and phone calls my family and I have received in the last couple days, I’m really happy and honored to be included in this group. Kudos to all the winners especially Samuel Aranda who won the top honors with picture of the year.Learn more about the organization and view the winning photos at www.worldpressphoto.org. You can read about how I shot this photo on my blog post below or on the Lava website here.

KONA, HI – OCTOBER 8:   A general view of competitors swimming over a school of fish at the mass swim start for the 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship on October 8, 2011 at Kailua Bay in Kona, Hawaii. Considered one of the most grueling races in the world, nearly 2,000 competitors must brave 95 degrees temperature and 90 percent humidity to complete a 3.86 km swim, 180.2 km bike, and a 42.2 km marathon with in an 17 hour time cutoff to be called an “Ironman”. (Photo by Donald Miralle for LAVA)

It’s been about three months since my last post…

An aerial view of the start of the America’s Cup World Series, San Diego Match Racing Championship Fleet Race on November 16, 2011 at San Diego Bay in San Diego, California 

I’ve been getting emails from friends, family, and colleagues asking why I haven’t posted in awhile, and my apologies but it’s been a mixture of laziness, the holidays, and being busy with work and the boys. And to tell you the truth I didn’t think anyone was still reading this blog. But I had a really quiet summer but since then things have been going pretty nonstop. We had the fall campaign for the Washington Nationals, you can see some of the images here.

Phenom and MLB 1st Round Draft pick Bryce Harper vies to make the Washington Nationals roster this spring…(Photo by Donald Miralle for the Washington Nationals)

Covered some America’s cup sailing from a helicopter and boat in San Diego, you can see some of the images here.  Had a blast going to Miami to shoot IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan for the Lava Cover featuring the new Chevrolet IndyCars never before seen, you can see the outtakes here. Finished up the football season with a great college bowl game at the Fiesta Bowl, and watched the Chargers wind down a pretty dissapointing season.

IndyCar Driver Tony Kanaan of Brazil poses for a portrait during a LAVA Cover Photo Shoot on December 6, 2011in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Donald Miralle for LAVA Magazine) 

Disappointing season for the San Diego Chargers but at least I got to see Tebow in action…Quarterback Tim Tebow #15 of the Denver Broncos warms-up against the San Diego Chargers during their NFL Game on November 27, 2011 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California  (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) 

Shot a little Ultimate Fighting Championships in Vegas for Getty/Zuffa, which is always entertaining. And best of all went up to the mountains with my family for the holidays and Santa Claus did fill their stockings with toys and not coal…

I’ll post some more pics of these shoots shortly, thanks for looking…

 

LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 30: Alistair Overeem celebrates his victory over Brock Lesnar during the UFC 141 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 30, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)