2011 Midway Football Services – How to Get Your Athlete Photographed
Photographs to capture your athlete at the peak of his performance, whether it’s their first year on the sidelines or they are a returning veteran are available as a service to Midway Football and Cheerleading families as well as other Forsyth County Youth Football families.
Step 1: REQUEST
In order to better serve interested families, I will only be photographing athletes upon request. To provide more choice in images to these families, I will not be photographing players who have not been requested.
The Moment Before Impact
What do you think goes through a six year-old hitter’s mind right before the ball hits the bat? Is he worried about whether he will make contact, where the ball will go, or what to do next? Is he running to first in his head?
Or are the team parents more worried, and it’s just a simple reaction to him?
Baseball Portraits
How do you make your 6 Year Old look like a star for his Baseball Portrait? Move beyond basic poses and spend more time in the portrait session than what a photo shoot with hundreds of kids allows.
During Spring break, my Son Aidan and I did some portraits in the setting sun at Midway Park.
Silly Bandz hit Cumming, Georgia
If you are a parent with kids in Forsyth County Public Schools, especially at the Elementary School level – you’ve probably seen, and tried to find Silly Bandz. It seems almost every kid is wearing them.
The State of Youth Sports, 2009
Rather than follow a lot of the normal “End of Year” highlight packages you see on ESPN, or the “Year in Images” that Sports Illustrated created so long ago – I decided to summarize what’s great about youth sports…but in images only.
We’re # 1
Good Light
It seemed like every week of the season was either rainy or overcast. On the last weekend before the Lanier Bowl – finally had that elusive “Golden Hour” game.
Getting Sideways
So much time in sports is spent photographing subjects vertically. There’s good reason for it – the subjects in sports spend a lot of time running, and in some sports are using their feet. In football, however, there’s a lot of action that happens only from the waist up – so in my mind it makes great sense turn the camera back to horizontal and shoot very tight on the upper bodies of players on opposite sides of the ball.
In this case, the wider view (horizontally) allowed me to see the defender trying to wrap up the ball carrier – where as a vertical of this shot, from the same position on the field would have lost the contact except for part of either.
Evasive Action
I thought this sequence of Sharon Springs War Eagles runner being pursued by a Midway Wolverines tackler had several great things working for it:
- Tight framing
- Great faces on the ball carrier
- A great backlight and rim light on the helmets
You Make the Call
There’s no replay in Youth Football obviously – but if this was a play in the College or Pro ranks it surely would have come under review.
The ball carrier (white jersey) is apparently stripped of the ball near the goal line.
Detail of the hands and ball:
Another detail from the above frame – looks like the ball has changed hands:
The Eyes Have It
I’ve always thought the eyes were very important in any sports image – it gives the best view of what is going on in the mind of the athlete. It’s why the photographs with the greatest impact always seem to have compelling eye contact with the subject.
Studio Portraits
As I blogged about last spring, I want to create unique portrait experiences for athletes that move away from the ordinary sports portrait that so many young athletes get.
I’m also now working on the studio experience – as the field of play is not always available, it makes sense to also provide a studio experience that has a twist versus the conventional sports portraits. I’m trying to do away with the well used looks and develop new ideas.
This is my son Aidan, who plays U6 Soccer at Atlanta Soccer Academy this fall.
On the Line
The offensive and defensive lines in football: None of the glory of the ball carriers, but lots of hard work and contact!
Ready for attack!
In the midst of battle individually…
And as a team, the chaos of the battle.
Giving the Stiff Arm
When the lone tackler comes calling – the runner responds with a stiff arm!
And the tackler has his own response!
Undampened Spirit
While I’ve often seen the football players slug it out in the wet and other weather, it’s always impressive to see the Cheerleaders stay in high spirit even through the rain and perform the “Wolverine Growl.”
Football on a Smaller Scale
Following up my photography at the Lanier Bowl last fall, I’ve been invited to photograph games at Midway Park in Forsyth County. The Midway Wolverines, formerly the Midway Packers, is the largest football organization in Forsyth County and has proven to be highly successful. The name change occurred earlier this year to align the park with the local High School, West Forsyth High School.
The game is still played the same at the younger level as it is at High School, but the ratio of equipment to player mass is a lot different at the youth level. At the Kindergarten-First grade level, the kids are just beginning to learn to tackle and what’s needed to take down an opponent.
Light and Shadow
One of the best tools in a good photographer’s toolbox is the use of light and shadow to help accentuate the subject, or create interest in the viewer.
I love the opportunity to take advantage of the light, or the shadow and create dimension to the photo. The three photos in this post all have their own lighting situation.
With the sun moving from third base, across to first base in the late evening, a left-hand pitcher gets lighting on the face as he opens up to deliver to the plate. With the sun being directional, the outfield and backdrop are in the shadow and much darker than the pitcher, and essentially fade to black.
A Different Spin on Sports Portraits
I’ve been working on the side, outside of my action photography, to develop a strong portrait offering. Several Sundays ago, I had the opportunity to photograph eight-year old Softball pitcher Jessica on the field to create a set of images for a poster.
My goal in portraits is always to evoke the athlete’s natural personality, show their competitive side, and create some unique, powerful images that take advantage of what can be done in portraits versus what is available during a game.
The Gamer
The athlete who puts the team ahead of their own physical comfort is legendary. From Curt Schilling’s bloody sock performance in the World Series, to football player Ronnie Lott having his finger amputated – legends are built on players choosing to continue playing despite injury.
I had never seen this behavior manifest on the youth playing field – until now – in 8 Year Old Softball of all places.
Introducing the surgical boot:
How cool is that?
Pitchers II
Softball pitchers also make great subjects. There is a lot of opportunity to play with framing with the down-low delivery – by varying point of view between high and low, behind the plate, or outside the hitter.
…and Catchers
Catchers are part of that special breed in sports – not unlike goalkeepers in Lacrosse and Hockey, as well as the Offensive Line in Football. All are athletes who put their body in the way of a ball (or opponent) traveling at a high rate of speed.
Pitchers…..
I’ve enjoyed photographing pitchers since I started photographing Baseball. Even from a young age, there’s a lot to pitching a Baseball game – it’s a mental and physical challenge for the player on the mound.
At the youth level, the position also offers a lot of opportunities for capturing different “looks” at the position. Beyond the straight-on shot as shown above, moving to either side of the plate gives a different appearance. Having the reach that a long telephoto lens gives a great isolation on the Pitcher as he delivers.
Depending on the orientation of the field, and the hand with which the pitcher throws, the moving sun can create a great isolation of the pitcher on the mound as well.
With a steady hand on the part of the photographer, and a smooth delivery on the part of the pitcher, a slow shutter speed creates a great effect.
Coachable Moments
One of the great aspects of watching so much Baseball and Softball being played at a young age is seeing all of the instruction from the coaches to their young athletes.
Anticipation
The time at the plate is the most important in the mind of every five and six year old Baseball or Softball player. And when at the plate, all of the time is spent waiting for the pitch.
On the way…
Swing!
