Francis

Pro hockey player, Chris Francis, a center for Las Vegas, momentarily locks eyes with me as he sends the puck my way.

Tonight was a bad night. Not just for my home team, but for me. Those who know me know I have a severe and chronic disability of my nervous system which has crashed most of my upper left quadrant including my left arm. I am, for lack of a better description, a one-armed professional sports photographer and I have no monopod. Some days I have use of my left arm. Tonight I did not. It got so bad in the second period I had to leave and cry in the tunnel for twenty straight minutes over the pain. But because I don't want to lose my job, I did what many people never see me do: I wrapped the strap around my left arm tying it tightly to the lens and went the third period treating a very heavy 200m F2.8 like a prime for the most part, very carefully managing the zoom. It is how I got this shot. And I'm proud of it.

_{I love my job, and I'm very fond of the athletes I work with. All images are ©copyright 1pen and my sports media company.You may NOT use, replicate, manipulate, or modify this image without my permission. All Rights Reserved.}