What a Day of Baseball!

Some days when you’re behind the camera you just don’t know what you’re going to see. Today I got charged by a groundhog, witnessed incredible wind gusts, saw an acrobatic catch over the outfield fence, and photographed the East Stroudsburg Warriors’ Baseball Team sweep a doubleheader against Lock Haven!

The bullpen catcher, during the game, said, “Here he comes.” A groundhog charged his way from the outfield, down the line toward me, jumped over a piece of trash, ran along the dugout, behind home plate, and slipped under the visitor’s dugout! The rodent stole the show and gained the attention of the amused fans, players, and umpires for a few moments!

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The wind gusts stopped the game momentarily at one point so the players could regain their visibility.

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A defensive play in left field was a game-saver. Left Fielder, Casey Saverio, went back to his right, on a long-hit ball deep into the outfield. It looked like the ball was going to clear the fence and be a homerun, but Saverio leaped up and snagged the ball out of the air as he toppled over the top of the fence! It was an absolutely incredible play! And there was still more to come!

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Both games of the doubleheader were well played by the Warriors. Strong pitching, consistent defense, and aggressive bats made the difference, and resulted in the two victories.

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All-in-all, it was quite a day of baseball at ESU!

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September Photo of the Month

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For a few years now, I highlight one photo each month as “The Photo of the Month.” It typically features one of my favorite shots or one that stands out in some way above the others.

This concept gained some momentum even among the players I photograph. Some of them even mention one of their goals is to be featured in my photo of the month! I enjoy getting to know these athletes both on the field and the sidelines. They are real people who do some amazing things that I am fortunate to capture with my camera.

This month’s photo of the month was captured at an East Stroudsburg University football game. It includes some of the goals I aim for in sports photography. You can see the description of this photo here.

ESU Football Kicking Record Broken!

Lock Haven v. East StroudsburgEast Stroudsburg University kicker, Taylor Groff, broke the school record for most points kicked in a career! The record-breaking kick took place in Saturday’s Homecoming Game against Lock Haven–a game which ESU won handedly!

Lock Haven v. East StroudsburgGroff was poised to potentially break two kicking records this week. He was inline to best the most points kicked in a career and top the total number of field goals made by an ESU kicker. He accomplished the first one and is still on track to accomplish the second one before the season ends. Both remaining games are at home, so if he breaks this record it will also be in front of his home crowd.

Lock Haven v. East Stroudsburg

Lock Haven v. East Stroudsburg

 

My First College Game Photo Assignment

Lock Haven v. East StroudsburgSaturday I photographed the Lock Haven v. East Stroudsburg college football game–my first college photo assignment. It was a thrill to be on the college scene and it was Homecoming to boot!

I arrived early enough to obtain my credentials at the gate. This is definitely a different scene than my usual Friday night high school football games. I also had just enough time to watch both teams in their pre-game warmups. I like to do this in order to determine who the main go-to players appear to be for each team. I also like to determine whether the quarterbacks are right or left-handed.

The National Anthem was sung and both teams took the field to much enthusiasm in the stadium. Being on a college field on a Saturday afternoon was almost surreal! I quickly gathered my composure and settled in to photographing the game. As expected, I found the daylight shooting time to be much easier than my typical high school Friday nights under the lights. It was cloudy at times, which did cause some different problems. The clouds would open up and bright sunlight illuminated the players. Then, as the game progressed, dark shadows from the bleachers draped onto the field. I concluded after the shoot that in those conditions I might have been better off using the Auto-ISO setting.

Lock Haven v. East StroudsburgNevertheless, I was able to capture some quality photographs of the game. I enjoyed the abundant and glowing light, which appeared through the clouds at times. I also prefer to compose the action photos tightly. Backgrounds were a problem, even at a college game. Some empty bleachers, vehicles at the one end of the field, and other distracting backgrounds came into play at times for me. Backgrounds are critical for a quality sports photograph and I was successfully able to work around these problems some of the time but not always.

I also found myself better able to capture the eyes of the players in the daylight. This is one of the three main criterion for a “What makes a football photo great,” according to Peter Read Miller in his book, On Sports Photography. I highly recommend this book as a resource for sports photographers. It is chock full of great info and tidbits of information to shoot sports more successfully. I am finding it extremely useful in my current photo endeavors and re-read the football chapters again before going out to shoot this college game on Saturday afternoon.

One thing I quickly agreed with Peter Read Miller about was the struggle to photograph a football game between all the officials. There are more referees at a college game than in a high school game. They were all over the place! I found myself having to move upfield ahead of the play more than typical for me. I also agree with Peter that the end zone was the sweet spot much of the time as the teams were driving for a score. Using my 200-400mm f/4 lens was invaluable. I was proud to sport my Nikon cap from my position alongside the field because my Nikon equipment was helping me capture some amazing photographs!

Lock Haven v. East StroudsburgThe college game is longer than a high school game, so endurance was more of a consideration than I originally imagined. My knees were more achy than typical as a result. Wearing kneepads certainly helped, as I prefer to keep a low profile in my shooting position. I just think this makes for a much better perspective when shooting football, and just about any sport for that matter. Take a knee (or two) when shooting a game and you will see a big difference!

The college game is also faster than a high school game. I found it more difficult to track the receivers and be on time when they caught a pass from their QB. I did get better as the game progressed, but it was definitely a challenge. In the future, I need to learn more about the QB’s tendencies and who his main go-to guys are in important downs. Knowledge of the game and the teams’ tendencies are invaluable.

All-in-all, my first photo assignment at a college football game was successful. The newspaper printed one of my photos of the ESU quarterback who had a big day. He passed for 462 yards and four touchdowns in this game! My tight photo of him winding up to pass down field was the winning photo picked by the editors.

Now, I cannot wait for my next college day assignment! It was an absolute blast and I can’t wait to do it again! I am sure I will learn more and keep perfecting my sports photography skills.

Lock Haven v. East Stroudsburg