Fall Softball
Believe it or not, before this past August – I had never photographed any of Greater Atlanta Christian School’s many softball teams in the past four years I’ve worked with Martin Photography. So it was a new experience – although my photography at Midway Park has given a wide range of softball experience.
Soccer, No Vuvuzelas
Looking back over my work from the spring, I found a couple of photos from Greater Atlanta Christian School’s playoff match against Eagles Landing Christian Academy. Good action, no vuvuzelas.
I’m also pleased to announce I’ll be working with the Athens United Soccer Association (Athens, Georgia) this fall to photograph games during their three tournaments this fall. More details to come on this relationship and the events!
Defensive Baseball
When your feature team is getting no-hit, there’s far more time to focus on the defensive game and work additional angles in the field and for the pitcher.
Buford’s Heddinger Throws No-Hitter
Buford Junior Josh Heddinger through a no-hitter against AA rival Greater Atlanta Christian School Friday. Heddinger was perfect until giving up a fifth-inning walk.
The game was called after five according to GHSA rules for margin of victory. Buford prevailed 12-0.
Back Outdoors!
Last week was not only the official start of Spring, but was also what I mark Spring with: returning to Outdoors sports after several months of indoor sports. My first assignment this spring was back to Greater Atlanta Christian School to photograph a Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer doubleheader.
Finding Artistry in the Pool
In my second outing for swimming this year, I wanted to find some of the beauty of the sport.
In this example, I used the 300mm lens. At the right distance, it compresses items and makes them appear closer together – in this case, making the lane dividers appear stacked.
Four Looks for Swim
Swimming is a challenging sport to cover. Held indoors under usually dim lighting, with the added difficulty of constant splashing, the photographer is challenged to find the swimmer’s face and freeze the motion. The photographer needs to think more conceptually in some cases to find the best images. The techniques can vary based on stroke.
Backstroke: Waiting for the start
Backstroke actually has an advantage in the pool – the swimmer is face up, with light falling directly on their face and usually swimming at a slower pace. However, a great photograph can be found at the start – with the swimmers anticipating the start. There’s great repetition that helps frame and isolate my subject.
Warm Ups are For Photographers, Too
This time of year, I make it a point to reach the field early for high school games to catch as much of the pre-game warm ups as possible. With sunsets around 7:20 PM this past week, getting to the field early meant catching the last rays of daylight (although cloud cover late Friday meant less sunlight than expected).
Warm-ups give me an opportunity to get pictures of players who may not see as much playing time, or whose positions are more difficult to get clear shots of in action – like receivers.
Looking for Special Light
Beyond capturing great action, it’s always challenging to find the best light, and light that will help set off the subject from everything else in the image. It also brings variety to what is available showing a single athlete.
The sun moves across Greater Atlanta Christian School’s pitch from the spectator side to the bench side and then drops behind the trees. With the thin foliage of March, this lets the light filter through the trees. Take the right angle, and your subject is fully lit, and the background in the shadows.
Ball!
It’s common in Girls Lacrosse for the defenders to verbally assault a player with the ball. In this case, the Northview defender repeatedly screams “BALL!” at the GAC ball carrier:
First Glimpse of Spring (Part III): Boys Soccer
The February weather was in full effect by the 7:30 PM start time of the Boys Soccer match with The Walker School. Temperatures were in the forties and destined to be in the 30′s by the end of the game.
Regulation ended after eighty minutes with the teams locked at 1-1. Several rounds of penalty kicks later, Senior Chris Thomas scored the fourth and decisive goal to put away the victory (4-2).
The Student Section
GAC’s student body has taken well to the new Long Forum’s student seating at the end of the floor. They have brought a new enthusiasm to the basketball games that was missing at the old gym.
The umbrellas disappeared this week against Westminster, but was replaced by a lot of banter traded with the visiting team.
It’s Open: The Long Forum at Greater Atlanta Christian School
Saturday I worked the day’s events at Greater Atlanta Christian School. After starting the day with the Spartans Hall of Fame Inductions, followed by the crowning of the Homecoming court, I photographed a pair of Varsity Basketball Games.
The Long Forum is Greater Atlanta Christian’s new 3,000 seat multi-purpose arena. With video screens, real seating, high tech lighting the building is the ultimate in high school sporting facilities. Game day finally arrived after years of planning.
From the Cold to the Sauna: Swim and Dive
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.
Firing on All Cylinders – GAC Defeats Avondale
It looks like the Spartans have managed to turn around their early season difficulties with another win, this time against DeKalb County’s Avondale High School. At the same time, I felt like I was starting to hit a rhythm with camera and flash coming together to pick up the action in another Spartans’ win.
I’ll have a more in-depth look at flash in high school football next week after the match-up against Atlanta’s Lovett School.
Soccer at All Ages
After covering a lot of high school soccer lately, I started my engagement with Norcross Soccer Academy this weekend. My coverage Saturday included Under 6, Under 12 Boys, and Under 14 Girls Select. I had additional games scheduled, but thunderstorms moved through the area just after lunchtime and caused the cancellation of most games during the afternoon.
The morning was filled with three sessions of Under 6 soccer. The kids show a lot of enthusiasm for playing and the coaches do a great job of keeping the game moving and keeping everyone in motion for the full length of the game.
The other important shot at this level – celebration!
As the day went on, I moved over to the full size fields and worked two Under 12 Boys games. I worked some from midfield, as the fields had a significant crown to them which allowed the ball to be lost on the other side of the crest. I caught this moment as a pair of players went for a header, which I thought was a unique view.
After the storms moved through, one game was allowed by the county to be played – a match between the Under 14 Girls Select team and the Savannah Shockers. The girls on both squads showed a lot of talent and intensity in their play of the game.
Baseball Day Games
Talk about the traditional set up – Baseball played on a Saturday afternoon. I grew up in the era of the NBC Baseball Game of the Week on Saturdays with a classic voice like Vin Scully calling the game. I also spent many Saturdays on the diamond myself, either behind the plate or in the infield.
Like most of the other Varsity sports in High Schools in the Atlanta area, the majority of the games are either twilight or evening games. However, they do have many Saturday day games scheduled.
After finishing the Girls Lacrosse game, I moved across the Greater Atlanta Christian campus to the Baseball diamond for a few innings.
Baseball’s natural rhythm and play lead to looking for different types of image than you look for in your average field sport. You also spend a lot of time experimenting with angles and viewpoins to find a different look.
It’s not uncommon to photograph the pitcher from many angles. However, I tried to maintain the context of the relationship of the pitcher, hitter and catcher (and by default, the umpire).
The second example, with a right handed hitter, I used the hitter’s head and elbow to help frame the pitcher in his follow through.
The pace of the game also leads to a lot more time on the bench for the players engaging in conversation and bench jockeying of their teammates and opponents. The dugouts at Greater Atlanta Christian sit on field level with only a half fence in front, so the players spend a lot of time on the rail.
High Noon Girls Lacrosse
Many of the teams at the high school level only play evening games, often starting at 7:30 PM. Even with daylight savings time, this means most of the game is under stadium lights.
Lacrosse moves too fast usually for good capture under stadium lights, as well as all of the other problems inherent with stadium lighting. So when the schedule pops up with a game under daytime sun, I’ll accept the problems it brings (facial shadows) with the tradeoff of being able to stop the action.
Girls Lacrosse is a much different sport than the Boys’ game once you get beyond the basic game. It relies a lot more on a agility and quickness than power and physical play. However, the same techniques for shooting the Boys’ game translate well to the Girls’ game.
Positioning is important. I’ll usually work from the corner or even with the goal while shooting the offense.
The burst of frames is also important in lacrosse – especially on a loose ball.
Thursday Tennis
I’ve mentioned before that shooting at Greater Atlanta Christian affords me a wide variety of sports to shoot, and Thursday I hit several sports in the span of one afternoon.
Tennis is a sport I rarely get to shoot, but it offers some good creative opportunities as far as angles and shots. However, high school courts don’t offer a great position to shoot and you are often left outside the fence. With a wide aperture telephoto, you can eliminate the fence from view by putting the lens against the fence and using a wide aperture.
I started shooting around 4:30 in the afternoon, which meant lots of light left. I didn’t have a full choice of positions, so I shot some with the back light.
Rule of thumb – any sport with a ball the photos carry more impact with the ball in the frame. A burst of frames usually does the trick.
Good candids always work. The 300/f2.8 is a gem when it comes to getting candids.
9th Grade vs. Meadowcreek: Rain Again!
Thursday’s 9th grade game versus Meadowcreek High School in Norcross was delayed by one hour due to a thunderstorm.
JV and all lower teams give me a unique opportunity to shoot games where everything moves a little more slowly. I get more creative opportunities and more chances to catch a big moment in a play.
The downside is you usually don’t see players really selling out and going up for a ball or diving for a ball. But there are exceptions!
I usually make it a point to shoot tight – trying to isolate a player or two within the broader play. However, when action is across the field you make the best of it – and sometimes come out very well with some storytelling.
