Watching Sports from the Front
I don’t consider myself a celestial photographer - but during the fall I spent almost every Friday night under the stars (or rain clouds) and the moon.
I tried to grab a frame of the moon each week when possible. This was my best result - a quarter moon that generated a lot of visible texture. I found the quarter moon gave the right amount and direction of light - much like a backlight in a studio situation, it helped highlight texture.
After spending several cold and wet nights in the rain at GAC Football games, I switched gears to cover the Varsity swimming and diving team. GAC’s great Aquatic Center is my favorite current venue on the campus (although it will surely be eclipsed by the Long Forum when it opens next year.)
Swimming and diving is a good change of pace from most team sports I regularly cover. There’s a lot of athletes to cover, there is constant action, and there are opportunities to go different directions.
After working the high school football circuit for three seasons, I’ve come to acknowledge the fact that the light in your average high school stadium on Friday night will be of poor quality and quantity, with few exceptions.
When I get the odd opportunity to photograph a game during the late afternoon or early evening, I take full advantage.
North Forsyth High School’s Stadium’s west end zone sits in the shadow’s of the school’s Gymnasium and video scoreboard, allowing a small window of light to pass through and light one strip of field. The lit area is substantially brighter than the shadows and it creates a natural spotlight for the players to shine in.
Continue reading ‘Looking for Light in All the Right Places’
There’s nothing quite like football in the South.
I was introduced to Southern Football 13 years ago as a Freshman at Georgia Tech, when I watched Tech take down a favored Maryland team 31-3 on Thursday night. Several years ago I started photographing High School football in metro Atlanta and found the same fervor that happens on Saturday afternoon also happened on Friday night.
I’m excited to announce that I will be photographing the 2008 Lanier Bowl, the Championship games of the Forsyth County Youth Football Association. The event is occurring on Saturday, November 22 at North Forsyth High School in Cumming.
For three seasons I’ve photographed the cultural event that is high school football in the Southeast - so I’m excited to see the roots of it in an event that stretches from age 5 up through age 13. A total of 7 games will be played on Saturday morning, afternoon, and evening.
A full range of photographic prints, CD’s, and custom posters will be available through the website.
Greater Atlanta Christian traveled Friday night to Lagrange to face Region 5-AA champion Callaway High School. GAC earned entry last week to the playoffs with Westminster’s defeat of Blessed Trinity and was the #4 seed from Region 6-AA.
The weather followed last week’s trend - heavy rain Friday afternoon, however, this time, it cleared before game time and left heavy fog.
While it is easy to have expectations about what happens when at #1 seed meets a #4 seed in any sport or season, GAC largely defied expectations. GAC went up 7-0 on their first drive and kept pace with Callaway the rest of the evening. 
After Friday night’s weather, the skies cleared beautifully for the weekend. I felt lucky to have this type of weather for the 2008 American Road Race of Champions.
The scheduling for the ARRC helps create some improved photographic opportunities versus most races during the season. With the sun coming up later, and going down earlier, combined with nearly a full day of racing means the cars are on track during the best light of the day, the early morning and late afternoon.
The two photographs show the front straight and turn one in the early morning light, followed by the late afternoon light.
Since I’ve been covering Greater Atlanta Christian football for Martin Photography, the Buford Wolves have proved to be the toughest opponent, every year. Buford has built a winning tradition in football that is unmatched statewide in AA.
Buford entered the final game of the regular season undefeated since their playoff loss in 2006. GAC entered the game needing either a win against Buford or a win by Westminster over Blessed Trinity.
Did I mention the forecast called for rain?
With the time change, I knew I would miss all of the natural light during pre-game that I’ve enjoyed up until this week. The sun sets around 5:30 now, and with the rain there would be no great sunset to photograph. I made it a point to visit the GAC locker room to view the pre-game ritual. Quarterback Colton Chapple receives a few words from a coach before heading out for the Captains’ meeting at midfield.
And rain it did. The rain slicked ball caused several fumbles. Fullback Blake Southerland gives chase (and eventually recovers) a first quarter fumble.
I had my own experience as a parent in youth sports this fall. My older son, Aidan, played his first season of T-ball/Coach pitch baseball. Our team was newly formed this fall and many of the kids were in their first season of baseball.
During the season, I picked up the camera on a couple of occasions but the nights without the camera were the best of the season. Those were the nights that I had the opportunity to interact with eleven enthusiastic, fun kids.
