Telling the tale of a losing effort

Action shots at sporting events can often be misleading in telling the story of the game.  Photo editors look for shots that depict how the game went, but it is sometimes the non-action shots that really tell the tale.

Such was the case last night as Terrell (the team I was covering) fell behind early.  It was clear that the teams were badly mismatched and it would be a long night for the Tigers.  After several turnovers and no offensive movement of the ball at all, Terrell head coach Kevin Wilson called a timeout in the first quarter to rally the team a bit.  A short walk to my left and I had the team, coach and scoreboard lined up...


The action shots can be telling, of course, but that becomes a bit like singling out players in one instance of bad play.. A quarterback falling untouched in the backfield for example..

Or getting tossed at the line of scrimmage..

An interception..


Or being tackled by more than half of the opposing team's players at once. Not sure how that happens. Seven West Mesquite players got to the runner.


There were three Terrell highlights, only one of which I managed a photo of.  I was in a bad spot for a fake punt that worked for a first down.  Same an interception that went back for a long defensive touchdown.

A long (81 yard) pass and run for a touchdown was right in front of me, so of course, the receiver was facing the other sideline...

He turned my way after the catch, but alas, the moment was gone. It could be any play of the game.

Still, for me, the photo at the top tells the tale pretty well by itself.

Marching Band...

I am a bit of a band geek myself (drummer if you must know) so photographing the band is a lot of fun when I'm at football games.

Last Friday found me in Kennedale, TX, and they have good lights in their stadium...

There was a great glow in the sky as the band filled the stands and started to prepare for the game...


While in the stands, I could use lower ISOs (800 and 1000) with IS lenses to get much better sharpness and color than when I shoot at 3200...

Then came UIL marching contest... in the rain.

Maybe I should review the Kata rain cover. It worked great but has a few quirks.

Warming up...


Drip, Drip, Drip


Such a dreary day... so I decided to have some fun in Lightroom. This is a slightly modified version of one of the "300 Look" presets from the Lightroom Killer Tips blog.

Shooting in the rain definitely gives you rare shots.. other than the folks who were making videos of the competition to sell, I did not see any cameras out there.

Don't be afraid of the rain, just be careful.

Happy Shooting,

Don J.

Shooting Soccer is Hard!

Thanks to a heads-up from Christina over at the Kaufman Herald I had the fun of shooting both KHS soccer playoff games at Richardson Pearce HS last week. I did not make it out to any of the regular season games, but from what I understand, both teams have played very well in a rigged-up 4A district.

With the girls starting at 6PM, there was plenty of light. OK, so there was so much light that it made for really contrasty shadowy faces for a while. But I will not complain... light is good for shutter speeds, remember?


Kaufman was playing the Highland Park Lady Scots...


Unfortunately, it did not take long to see that the Lady Lions were a bit overmatched in this one. Most of the action was happening on the defensive end of the field, so I headed down there.




There were some nice shadows forming from the bleachers which helped a little with the harsh sun


There wasn't much help for the ugly car background though.
From the side of the field...




One gets by..


With the game winding down and the score 8-0, the Lady Lions held tough for the last four minutes.


It would be easy to make excuses playing against a much larger school with a more experienced team. After all, the HP squad was making substitutions of three or four rested players at a time. And they made sure to park their big black charter bus in plain view. Impressed? Hardly. The Lady Lions took the loss pretty hard, and I got the impression that they will certainly come back with something to prove next year.

Then it was time for the boys to play Richardson Pearce. This was a home game for Pearce, but the Kaufman crowd matched them for volume. Especially with some less-than-favorable officiating. Nice sunset happening back there somewhere...


As you can tell, this is not much of a stadium. I suppose you don't need light to play soccer, but it sure helps for photographers. To make matters more interesting, there were dark and light spots in the field. I just under-exposed and hoped for the best. There was still a lot of motion blur to ruin shots.


Or maybe it is just artistry? Yes, that's it, artistry.

It is hard to decide where to shoot from in soccer. I wish had been closer to this collision.


The Pearce crowd and announcer seemed pretty proud of their goalie...


But at halftime the score was tied at 2. (do they call it halftime in soccer?)

The Lions' goalie got some knee reinforcement


And overall the team was in good spirits.


The second half was a tough battle, but the Lions had no answer for two more Pearce goals.

My timing was way off. It was a lot like shooting basketball in that you always have to be watching and anticipating. It took well into the second game to get close to a header-on-the ball shot, and there were plenty of opportunities.


The closest I got for the Lions was way out of focus.


There was plenty of mid-field action.




Did I mention it was dark?








Soccer will not likely become my favorite sport to shoot anytime soon. It is, however, quite a challenge, which makes it fun.

Prints are available, as always, at http://www.doncjohnson.zenfolio.com/

Happy Shooting,

Don J

Fun Photo Stuff from the Web

Point and Shooters... tips on getting the most for portraits here...

I have mentioned before how much thought and effort pro photographers put into their work... a great illustration of this is the level of critique they give to students trying to get into the field. Read the pros' comments below each shot in the gallery and you will see what I mean.

My favorite quote from that is "What do you consider your responsibility to society? Your subject? You are responsible to your subject when you take a photo." I suppose that is not as important when taking snapshots, but a photograph can certainly tell a story, and it should be a truthful one.

I hope to make it out to a HS powerlifting meet this weekend... I wonder if I can put up a remote camera for something like this?!

Shooting motorsports events is high on my "want to do" list... Mark Rebilas is a master of this, Even on days as miserable as last Sunday in Daytona...

Of course, he pulls off great shots at most any kind of sport... (Is UFC a sport or some other category of competition? Just checking)

Ok, one from me too, even after seeing how the pros do it! The challenge in basketball is to catch unique moments, like a player going up and hitting the bottom of the backboard instead of getting in front to the basket...

Canon 40D, 85mm, f2.2, 1/400, iso1250

Basketball - KHS vs Venus 2/13

I was happy to make it out to the last regular-season home-game for the Lions vs. Venus Bulldogs match-up. (Boys)

With a 77-37 home win, you can certainly expect plenty of highlights, which is good for photographers! I am a bit saddened that the season is ending right when I feel like I am finally getting some nice shots.

One thing I have been playing with at previous games was slow-shutter panning type shots... these turned out nicely I thought...

Canon 40D, 50mm, f2.8, 1/60, iso800


Canon 40D, 50mm, f7.1, 1/30, iso800


Canon 40D, 50mm, f4.5, 1/30, iso800

The game action was fast and furious all evening, with lots of photo opportunities.

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/500, iso3200


Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/500, iso3200


Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/500, iso3200

Lucky catch... a Venus player using his face to block a pass down the court..

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/500, iso3200

As I was leaving, the KHS vs. Royse City varsity soccer game had 10 minutes remaining... got a few shots in..

Canon 40D, 85mm, f2.2, 1/500, iso3200


Canon 40D, 85mm, f2, 1/500, iso3200

Time for some new lights at the stadium, you know, for better photos.

Happy Valentines and have a great weekend!

Don J.