Today we highlight an all around good dude (fantastic pinball player and great photographer) - James Kunz.
James lives in Pittsburgh, PA. He's currently ranked 1583 out of over 55000 in the IFPA WPPR rankings. If you remember I outlined the IFPA ranking system before. James is also a die-hard Steelers fan, so he has that going for him as well. In fact, we've seen James play on video before. He was the opponent of the dancing man Peace in this video:
James is player 2. So when the dancing ends, the James begins. I have set the video to start with James, but if for some reason it doesn't work for you and dancing pinball isn't your thing, jump to 3:31 to meet or remember James.
Today however, I would like to introduce you to the way James photographs pinball. I'll tell you how I see these photographs. I'll tell you why James wants to photograph. And I'll tell you that I think pinball photographs might be the best way to introduce people to pinball, if they are done well (and these are).
METEOR (1979 by Stern)
Background information: The artwork on the backglass and flyer was derived from one of the advertising posters made for the 1979 movie 'Meteor'. The original painting for this poster was by noted space artist Robert McCall (1919-2010).
Source IPDB (Internet Pinball Database)
James's Photographs of METEOR
The METEOR targets are quite important for scoring, whatever strategy you employ. As a player they are off-set and angled right, but here they are front and center. I really like this shot as it captures them in a way that I never get to see them.
This is a beautifully well-timed shot! Our player has just knocked down the last meteor target and the ball ricocheted through the backside of the spinner and sent it whirling. You can see the ball moving just to the left of the three 3's. If you drew a line where the ball came from (it is moving down the playfield) you can see that it came down that lane and the spinner that we can normally see is raised (because it is spinning). I love this one.
Finally I love this shot of the ball on the flipper. Most likely this is the result of a perfect "live catch." We have a great definition of a live catch on Steve Bowden's Fun With Bonus blog. I urge you to check out the rest of the blog - it's fantastic!
LECTRONAMO (1978 by Stern)
Background: All I was able to learn about this game is that it was the first Stern game with electronic sound. Again, this is thanks to the IPDB. It's a fun one, and gets really high scoring if you're able to combine the bonus building with regular bonus collects. Let's take a look at how James sees Lectronamo, shall we? I will save commentary until after all the images.
Wonderful images! I wanted to save my commentary, but in truth - the images speak for themselves!
Thank you James, for sharing. One more thing - James says "I can do more for pinball through creative routes like this than try and win the PAPA World Championship," but I say - don't sell yourself short! You can do it all!
This has been a Boooooooom News exclusive look at the pinball photography of James Kunz. Signing off.