An Eye For Sports Action

Please join the entire Kauai Midweek staff in offering hearty kudos to Ron Kosen of Photo Spectrum Kauai. On May 15, during the statewide Hawaii Publishers Association Pa‘i Awards luncheon at The Plaza Club in Honolulu, Ron was awarded first place in the Excellence in Sports Photography category.

The image, originally published Jan. 1, 2014, in Kauai Midweek, shows two Lihue Pinto League baseball players going for an infield pop-up. The caption reads: “Dodgers’ shortstop Joshua Guarin and pitcher Aukai Arruda collide going for a pop fly. Arruda hangs on to make the catch.”

Contest judges, who were Mainland journalists, commented:

“You really can’t go wrong shooting photos of kids. In this case, I love the facial expressions and the intensity of the kids. Good exposure, great cropping.”

Ron has been shooting for Kauai Midweek for nearly five years, and what I like most about his work is that every week he takes Sports Illustrated-quality photos of the island’s youth and amateur athletes. They, we and our readers are fortunate for his professionalism.

Ron’s typically modest response when informed he’d taken first place:

“Well, I guess my company is overdue for a Facebook update.”