My wife is part of an unconventional local sports team... the Mo-kan roller girlz. Roller derby- never something I would have predicted she would take part in, not in a million years, and that intrigue and unpredictability of my lovely lady is part of what I love about her. 

For those who don't know the sport well (which is almost everyone, including me a year ago), roller derby is not quite the stereotype it is sometimes thought to be. Yes it can be a rough sport but it's not a violent one, as there are a billion referees and more penalties than you can imagine to keep it from turning into a wrestling match on wheels. 

The ladies in the group are also beautifully diverse... some are (self) admittedly a little crazy, but most are schoolteachers and moms and bank managers and the like who band together and skate as an outlet from normal life. 

I can't say how proud I am of Autumn for tackling something incredibly intimidating, in spite of scheduling difficulties, chronic pain issues, and the fatigue of her already crammed day-to-day. 

That's her in the middle down there.

Derby players have ridiculous names they play under (I think it's the best thing about the sport). Her name is "strychnine"... the "nine" comes from our last name, and hey it's a poison so it sounds tough. 

Favorite derby names: I've seen so far:

Hotbob buffpants

Luna Shovegood

Crush Limbaugh

Tramp O’Lean

Princess Slaya

Viking Barbie

Invada Yerspace

Davey Blockit

Deadgar Allen Poe

       ....and so on. 

Mo-kan turns 10 this year, thanks to founder Brandee Reed. Time was of a premium , so we kept this shoot short and sweet- one concept (cake smash!) and one light, set up with the most ridiculous umbrella I had. There was already a small backdrop set up in the space from another event, so I took advantage of it even though it was probably harder to cram the entire team onto the tiny backdrop than it would have been to go get my own... ah well. We got it done, starting with this shot of Miss Brandee herself, blowing out the candles...

cake smashing chaos

This last shot was pure chaos (20 balloon tosses and not one where everyone's face is clear), but it seemed fitting. 

-Mark