A Big Win and an Equally Big Loss
Greater Atlanta Christian School took a big win in the Boys match up and a big loss in the girls matchup last Friday.
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.
Volleyball: Cross-Training for Photographers
I’m a big fan of using different sports to expand my photographic horizons and improve my skills. When you look at it in the broad view, there are a lot of things across sports that are very similar.
Consider a header in soccer. It’s photographically similar to a reception in football, and to a spike in volleyball. A fast moving ball that you are trying to predict where it is going. That judgment carries through to any sport you photograph.
High school volleyball is difficult to shoot because of the light levels in most gyms. Without extremely large aperture lenses (f1.8 or f2.0) it is difficult to get good stop action.
Thursday’s match at Wesleyan was picked for coverage because Wesleyan has a great field house, with a better than average lighting system and the advantage of being able to get above the floor to catch faces in action.
Baylor Catches GAC From Behind
Greater Atlanta Christian School hosted Chattanooga’s The Baylor School. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the long distance traveled by Baylor to Norcross did not tilt the game in their favor.
Despite starting off with a scoring drive on the first possession, Baylor ultimately caught GAC 44-22.
Greater Atlanta Christian’s strongest play came on their first possession. The Spartans drove the ball to the goal line, and then Colton Chapple tried (unsuccessfully) to dive in and then Blake Southerland capped the drive with a powerful push into the end zone.
A Tough Way to Start the Season
After last week’s loss to Hart County, Greater Atlanta Christian hosted Atlanta’s St. Pius X for the home opener. St. Pius, like Hart County, was a AAA class school. Unfortunately, it ended in another loss – this time 31-10.
Just like when you play sports, you need to follow through when you photograph sports. This means that as the action continues, and after the play you keep shooting.
The first example is quarterback Colton Chapple’s first quarter run out to the sidelines.
And when the St. Pius defender catches up…
Game Faces
Sometimes, the photos with the most impact aren’t the ones with the big header or game winning kick.
Without further delay, I introduce game faces.
A Good Night for Baseball
Tuesday proved to be a good evening for Baseball. The weather cooperated (unlike recently for Norcross Soccer) and the light was great as the evening progressed.
I took the opportunity to do two different things with Baseball this time. To really personalize the coverage, I added my 1.4x teleconverter to my 300/2.8 to shoot at 420mm. From down the third base line, this gave me a tight frame at home plate (that proved very useful later). I also spent a couple innings shooting from a platform in left-center field.
Lacrosse Senior Night
Lacrosse Senior Night turned out to be almost a non-event, as the combined girls and boys teams had one senior. However, both teams turned out to be dominant against the visiting Gainesville squads (who have a similar level of experience to GAC’s squads).
Lacrosse quickly became a favorite sport to shoot over the past two seasons. The action is constant, and the sport begs to be shot tight.
Girls Lacrosse: Athletic Growing Pains
Before the game story, I’ll mention was scheduled to shoot an evening of Norcross Soccer but the recent rain (over the weekend) forced the parks department to close the fields and cancel the games. Seeing that it was unlikely to rain that evening I looked for other opportunities – and landed at Greater Atlanta Christian for a Girls Lacrosse Doubleheader.
Lacrosse is still in its infancy in Georgia and the Atlanta Metro area. The state organizes all participating high schools into a single division for competition, where as in football there are five different designations (A being the smallest and AAAAA being the largest, with Greater Atlanta Christian in AA).
This year is the first year Greater Atlanta Christian has fielded varsity girls and boys lacrosse teams. So when they meet up against a powerhouse team from one of the North Fulton high schools, it makes for a one-sided game. Tuesday night against Centennial actually was two one-sided games.
The standard in photographing games is taking what you get. You can’t create the action yourself; you just have to be able to find it. In games with little offense, there are plenty of compelling defensive stories.
I spent some time working on goalkeeper photos before and during the game. I make it a point in a lot of field sports to shoot warm-ups. Shooting warm-ups gives you the ability to shoot from angles not available during the game, like right in the middle of the field facing the goalkeeper. Sometimes the shots compose themselves.
In game, a view from the sidelines and a fast shutter let me capture the ball in flight towards the goal. Working with a wider view of the field keeps the attacking playe in the frame.
Working defense in lacrosse is an important part of the game’s flow.
I did get a chance at some offense, which coincided well with the light turning beautiful and GAC attacking towards the sun. It was like a switch was flipped – then there was great golden light after several hours of overcast weather.
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.
Friday Night Lights, Spring Edition
Soccer is as close to a full-school gathering for athletics as Greater Atlanta Christian comes in the spring. While it doesn’t reach the levels that football does in the fall, it is a well-followed sport.
Friday night GAC honored the Seniors on the Soccer team, and took the field against Decatur in a pair of matches. Both teams handled their opponent well.
One of the harder parts of shooting soccer is the game flow is far more open than many sports (Football for example). The game quickly changes ends across a large open field. It makes covering all aspects of the game difficult.
I’ll usually work a rotation around the field – working from one end to the other along the end lines and the sidelines. Sidelines offer a different view of the game – you can watch the players working up the field, passing as they go. It’s also where the goal keeper’s kicks tend to land so it’s prime land for a header or other in-flight kicks.
Even so, working at the end line with a long lens and a high resolution camera gives you the ability to tighten up midfield action greatly with cropping.
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.
Soccer Doubleheader
Spring means Soccer. Luckily, since the change to daylight savings time it also means more light later in the evening on the Soccer pitch.
As always, the evening started with a girls game. The girls get the benefit of at least half of the field in daylight, and a beautiful rim light when shot from the spectator’s side of the field.
Starting out in photography, most everyone fears shooting a backlit situation. It means generally that you have too much light coming into the camera and the faces will be shadowed. However, it is very manageable and has the positive effect of creating a nice rim light that helps separate subject and background.
The header is the king of soccer action shots. So much to it – in many cases bodies crashing into each other at great heights, and great facial expressions on the players.
The Boys’ later start has the effect of less light and needing to push to a higher ISO equivalent. However, you can still get good stop action early in the evening.
Another header from the Boys this time – with the Providence Christian Academy defender trying to crash the party.
Golden Hour Lacrosse
I’ve said it before – golden hour is the greatest hour of light you can find, especially in the spring and fall. Thursday was no different. It really helps with a sport like Boys’ Lacrosse, where the helmets limit the amount of light that falls onto the faces normally.
However, golden hour means fully lit faces.
Lacrosse means action. The Boys game is quite aggressive, with the stick used not only to throw the ball but to attempt to dislodge it from your opponent’s stick.
The game seems to naturally lend itself to shooting tight, horizontal frames. The majority of action takes place above the waist, everything from passing to the previously mentioned stick checking and body checking.
There is good action down low though – so switching to the vertical orientation, or using another body can help.
I’ve said it before – golden hour is the greatest hour of light you can find, especially in the spring and fall. Thursday was no different. It really helps with a sport like Boys’ Lacrosse, where the helmets limit the amount of light that falls onto the faces normally.
However, golden hour means fully lit faces.
Lacrosse means action. The Boys game is quite aggressive, with the stick used not only to throw the ball but to attempt to dislodge it from your opponent’s stick.
The game seems to naturally lend itself to shooting tight, horizontal frames. The majority of action takes place above the waist, everything from passing to the previously mentioned stick checking and body checking.
There is good action down low though – so switching to the vertical orientation, or using another body can help.
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.
Welcome to Spring: Junior High Soccer
A great part of my affiliation with Martin Photography, and by extension, Martin Photography’s affiliation with Greater Atlanta Christian School, is the opportunity to shoot many different sports at several levels. In the fall, this means shooting Varsity Football all the way down to Eighth Grade Football. In the winter, it means Varsity Basketball down through Seventh Grade Basketball.
In the Spring, Soccer is king at Greater Atlanta Christian. The Spartans have a strong history of fielding competitive soccer teams at the Varsity Level, with Coach Jacquet’s Boys Varsity Spartans winning the A/AA State Championship in 2007. Participation in soccer is strong down through the Junior High teams, which were my subject Thursday night.
My goals in shooting soccer is action, and faces all while framing the subjects tightly. A lot of the action involves handling the ball, but there are some variations.
On a throw-in, the potential recipient and her defender help frame the thrower:
As always, I try to take advantage of the natural lighting and the shadows it creates.
The challenge with soccer is the majority of the time you need a full length shot – so when the action moves close you need to be ready with a shorter lens to catch it. My normal combination is the 300/f2.8 on my primary body, and a second body with the 70-200/f2.8 mounted. This lets me catch the closer action in full length.
Using the 300/f2.8 also lets you get some great shots further away – with plenty of separation of the player and his background.
Basketball Comes to an End
After a good run, the Lady Spartans ended their run Wednesday night with a five point loss to Coosa High School. The Lady Spartans played a tight game down to the last minute of the game, but Coosa was able to pull and maintain a small lead to the closing buzzer.
Lady Spartans Head Coach Chandler Means completed his first season as coach of the team. He took over this year after Head Coach Mike Mitchell moved over to assume the Head Coaching role for the Men’s team.
Coach Means always showed a lot of emotion from the bench this season – and was interesting to see in action.
He was also great at motivating the team at key moments of the game.
Soccer Teaser
After shooting indoors since January, I had a few minutes to spare before Tuesday’s girls basketball state tournament game at Greater Atlanta Christian and caught the last several minutes of a Junior High Girls Soccer match against Walton Academy. The weather was definitely not spring: windy and temperatures in the low forties. However, it was great to be outdoors under blue skies.
I wasn’t there with enough time to really shoot the game, so I spent some time experimenting with the light. GAC’s pitch is lined on the west with a tall treeline that creates uneven shadows across the field – which I did my best to catch the brightly lit areas against the dark shadows.
The result is a rim-lit subject as she moves from the darkness into the light.
Basketball in a Flash
After a month layoff after the end of the football season, Greater Atlanta Christian’s basketball’s regular season (for me, at least) started and finished in the course of one week.
On consecutive Tuesdays I shot a triple header of JV Boys, Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys games at GAC’s Bradford Gymnasium, first against Avondale and then against Decatur (both Region 6 AA Opponents).
Generally speaking, my lighting goal is to provide enough light to stop the action and help control the color (the natural light in the gym has a great deal of variability in intensity depending on location, as well as color differences under different lights).
My lens choice for basketball are one of three: 50/1.8, 70-200/2.8, or 300/2.8. I use the 300/2.8 primarily for action on defense in the far end of the court.
The near court action is captured either by the 70-200/2.8….
or the 50/1.8 to get a broader field of view.
End of the Line: Cook Defeats GAC
The Spartans run at the AA State Title expired Friday night against Cook County at Spartan Stadium. Cook, which entered the playoffs as the #4 from their region, defeated the Spartans 34-21.
It was a beautiful night for football. After a warm day, the sun set well before the game.
The Spartans’ parents help add a little bit Hollywood to the player run on during the pregame with smoke machines and streamer launchers.
Senior Ben Donald was again handed the ball in the backfield.
I’ve been trying to catch this play all season and this was the best I got. A second quarter Spartans touchdown.
The Spartans defense came strong all evening. In the second half the Spartans blocked a Cook extra point to help keep it close.
In the fourth quarter, Christian Robinson blocked and recovered a Cook punt for a touchdown to bring the Spartans closer. The punter was deep in his own end zone, which is always a dangerous situation. Good positioning as a photographer helps catch this play at the peak.
Coach Chupp spoke to the team after the game to console them in the loss. I dialed down the power on the flash here and used more of the ambient light, just using the flash to reduce some shadows.
Something Different: Swimming and Diving
Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve primarily been covering football. That’s part of the nature of living in the Atlanta area, and more generally the south – high school and college football is the king of sports here.
With the seasons changing, winter sports are starting. Among those is Swimming and Diving. Greater Atlanta Christian has a beautiful swim center that opened last winter for one meet. This year, it will host several. Among the best features of this building is the light. It has some daylight (although not today due to the time of day) but also excellent artificial lights that have a nice soft, diffused output (bounced off the inside of the roof) with a nice consistent color temperature throughout the building. And a rarity in high school structures – it has enough light to shoot natural light at good shutter speeds. It really gives color a great punch.
One more note on lighting – it generally is not accepted to use flash or strobes at swimming. One of the signals for the start is strobe flash.
Diving is a difficult sport to shoot. At this event, only the 1 meter springboard was used, which means most of the divers’ didn’t achieve enough height to clear the background. Some did – which greatly improved the results.
Some strokes photograph better than others. Breast stroke is great to shoot. The key is getting the swimmer with the head fully out of the water and mouth opening to breathe. You can shoot from head on or the side.
Butterfly also photographs well – but only from the front. The best swimmers get high out of the water. You have to be careful not to clip hands and arms.
Swimming also gives a lot of time for off-action shots – like waiting on the start. I liked the repetition here with the second swimmer in the background.
There’s also a lot of downtime for the swimmers – which is a great opportunity for candids as they interact with teammates. I’ll often use my 300/2.8 for candids – it keeps me out of the interaction but allows for tight framing.
Hitting their Stride – GAC over Holy Innocents
Tonight GAC finished their regular season with a victory over Holy Innocents. This victory earned them the #3 seed from the 6-AA division (and Holy Innocents the #4 seed).
The team continued to play well and much better than the first half of and middle of the season. Next week they will face Morgan County High School in Madison, Georgia.
Personally, I also hit my stride with timing on many shots and getting some good open field.
Pregame, the team entered the field from the West endzone down the aquatic center steps. I shot from the back side using the field’s natural light only, so the light fell off quickly from the field to where the team entered from.
Shooting the flash at half power has proven to be a positive improvement, but with some period of adjustment. I am learning to be more selective with my shots – waiting for the opening and learning to expect when the field will open. Of course, this is more easily accomplished from the endzone.
I shoot a mix of portrait and landscape orientations. Here, the horizontal is a lot more interesting than the vertical would have been because of the space given to the defender.
Likewise, blocking is an activity that happens above the waist – so it is better captured as a landscape versus a portrait. Moving the subject off center allows space for the opponent.
