I wish I knew how to make a nice photo out of a basketball player shooting a free throw. I really do. But, I don't. Free throws rarely lend themselves to appealing photographs. So, during those moments, instead of focusing on the players, I look around. Sometimes, I see photos like this. Othertimes, I don't see a thing.

Her name is Sophie and she's 3 years old. When Sophie gets "big," she wants to be a cheerleader, she says. But for now, she's perfectly happy as the mini-mascot for the Muskego High School cheerleading squad. For the first half of last night's boys varsity basketball game between New Berlin Eisenhower and Muskego, Sophie shook her poms, grinning from ear to ear, all while staying within arm's reach of the girls she looks up to oh-so-much.

As photographers, we're inherently people-watchers. Not a day goes by where I don't see the world through a viewfinder, whether my camera is physically in my hands or not.

This photo was shot with a "long" lens (telephoto zoom) at 200 mm. I was sitting on the opposite end of the basketball court. If I had attempted to take this picture with a wider lens, chances are, I wouldn't have gotten the shot. The further away (and less obvious) the photographer is, the more natural people will be.