Photographing High School Sports

So over the last couple weekends I covered a number of high school football games, I took thousands of photographs but I also tweeted news and photos of the action. I got some good, but not great, shots that I quickly tweets with news of the action. I got many quick retweets from news outlets and reporters; a lot of people saw my photos.

But . . . I noticed that the quality of my photos has suffered. I have not been concentrating on the game and being in the best position to get good photographs. I been much too focused on “impressions” and “retweets.”

I had a nice conversation with a very talented photographer who is one of two or three sports photographers in the Chicago area. He said, “Sports photography is 90% luck, 10% skill and the rest being in the right spot.”

Very true.

The 10% skill part is paying attention to the game and concentrating on taking photos. Tweets and talking to reporters and spectators have gotten in the way. I gave up being a sportswriter because it’s hard and I am a better photographer than sportswriter.

I think I am going to get back to making good pictures and leave reporting to the reporters. What little I know about good sports photography is anticipating the action and getting the exposure and shutter speed right.

Except I love Twitter, so I guess we shall see what happens.  

[I planned this post for last Monday or Tuesday but I didn’t have the right photo available, so it is going up now.} 

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Marmion Academy Defeats DePaul Prep 27-0 in Opener

DePaul Prep's 2018 football season opened Saturday afternoon with the Marmion Academy Cadets defeating the Rams 27-0 at DePaul Prep’s new home field, Chicago Academy.

Big plays made the difference in the game. Marmion’s scores all came as a result of long pass or run plays. The DePaul Prep Rams struggled on offense much of the game, particularly containing the Marmion pass rush. There were some bright spots. Sophomore running back Remick Ware shows considerable speed on some long gainers. Senior quarterback Robert Clark ran well and showed off his big arm.

But it was the ability of the Cadets to connect on play action passes for big plays that proved the difference.

The meeting with Marmion also featured the return of DePaul Prep’s highly respected former athletic director Paul Chabura. Coach Chabura became Marmion’s assistant athletic director in June but retains his leadership role with the Chicago Catholic League. He will be missed at DePaul.  

The Rams’ schedule does not get any easier. The Rams open the season with three straight Chicago Catholic League games, Marion, Hope and Leo. Next Friday (Aug. 31, 2018) DePaul takes on Chicago Hope Academy at 4:15 p.m., again at Chicago Academy, 3400 N. Austin. Chicago Hope Academy comes off a 42-7 defeat at the hands of perennial powerhouse, Mount Carmel.

The Chicago Catholic League's Red Division has changed since last year. With the addition of Montini to the Catholic League’ Blue Division, Mt. Carmel has been relegated to the Green Division and consequently, St. Ignatius has been moved to the Red Division. The CCL Red now contains DePaul Prep, St. Ignatius, Chicago Hope, Leo and St. Joseph.

As for the photos, I got some good ones but I found myself chatting too much instead of concentrating on taking pictures. I take much better pictures when I am not interested in what happens on the field. I changed my typical settings. I continued my auto ISO setting that I started using this past basketball season. It doesn't seem to make that much difference. 

2018 Chicago Air and Water Show

It had been some years since I went to the Chicago Air and Water Show so I went this year. I couldn't spend all day at it. I went from about 12:00 until 3:00. I weaseled my way down front right outside the beach house. 

I got some good shots with my 300mm. The Thunderbirds move fast, one has to be paying attention and anticipate which direction the planes will be coming from. Now that I have a little practice I will be able to get some better shots next year. The low cloud ceiling helped because the planes had to do the "low" show which meant they were much closer. 

Posted some photos to social media after some quick processing in Lightroom Mobile on my phone. They looked okay but I wasn't very happy with them right there on the beach. But when I got back home and did some processing on my computer and big monitor I was surprised to see how i could pull the color out of the RAW images. And the high megapixels camera allows tight crops. To all those people that say, "the camera doesn't matter.," try shooting the Air and Water show with a crappy camera. 

 Hope you like the photos.

DePaul Prep Basketball Season 2017-2018

I thought I might put together a gallery of photos from DePaul Prep mens basketball last season, 2017-2018. Last year's Rams were the best group in many years. Very fun to watch. It has only been a few years and Tom Kleinschmidt and the rest to the DePaul Prep coaches and staff have brought the Rams back to the top of the Catholic League and rest of high school basketball. Interestingly, moving up from 2A to 3A improved the Rams playoff chances. This next season with this formidable group of seniors will be fun indeed. 

Shut Down the Ryan

I was out this morning so I thought I would drive down to 79th and the Ryan and see what was going on. I found a place to park right near the northbound entrance ramp to the Ryan 

I ran into one of the usual suspect sports photographers Patrick Gorski. Patrick is very talented and very nice. I look forward to seeing his shots.

I was struck with just how well planned this all was. Extremely so. To the credit of all concerned. I was out of place for many good shots. I ought to have stayed at the ramp entrance where I was initially. 

Interestingly, I did not see many newspaper photographers, only John J. Kim (@jkimpictures) from the Tribune. Looking forward to seeing his photos. 

I learn a lot every time I go to one of these things. Stay close to the action. Don't over think it. 

I hope you like the photos.

 

Robert Murphy Campaign Kickoff

I have been taking some photos for Robert Murphy in recent months. He asked if I could take some more photos at his campaign kickoff event at his house. He lives in that lovely little neighborhood tucked in the Forest Glen neighborhood just behind Foster and Cicero. 

It was something of a challenging shoot, bright sunlight and shadows. I knew I would need to use a flash to fill in the shadows. I haven't really done that before. I watched some YouTube videos on how to do it. I practiced a little and knew how to work the flash. What I didn't know is how strong to make the flash. I set it on 1/16. I could have used it stronger. But for the most part it worked well. It's going to take more practice. 

The photos are nothing special, technically competent and meeting the assignment but nothing inspired. Except for the photo of the sign. I like that one. That one can be used in campaign materials and social media. It's one of my best political photos. 

Maggie O'Keefe Fundraiser

I took some photos at a fundraiser for Maggie O'Keefe yesterday. I got some good shots but I struggled mightily trying to get the proper exposure with my speedlite flash. I need a lot of practice with that damn thing. 

Evanston Takes Down Lane Tech 9-7 in 4A Sectional Semi

Evanston played Lane Tech last Thursday (May 31, 2018) at Loyola's Munz athletic fields campus. It was a great game. Evanston jumped out to a two run lead. Lane rebounded with seven runs a couple innings later. Then Evanston put up seven runs of its own an inning later and took a 9 - 7 lead. The Indians were unable to make up the difference. Evanston won 9-7 and advanced to play Loyola on Saturday. 

The  photos were high shutter speed and high ISO. The Loyola announcer was gracious enough to let me shoot photos from the mobile press box which helped me get some great shots. 

Lane Tech Comes Back to Defeat New Trier 7-3 to Win Regional

Lane Tech Indians came back from 2-0 deficit to the New Trier Trevians going into the fourth with one run in the fourth and five runs in the sixth to hold to win the Regional Championship. It was a very entertaining game. It was a close game. There was some good baseball played--very few errors and walks.

As for the photography, I pushed the shutter speed even higher to 1/2000, 1/2500, 1/3200 and 1/4000. At 5.6 on the 300mm, the photos were too dark even with high ISOs. I think I found the outer limits of shuttter speed for day baseball with a telephoto lens. I got some more great shots of a play at the plate. Best play in sports.

I also worked much more on positioning. Inside the bags is tough because of interference from the base coaches. If you pay attention to the game, you can instinctively get good action shots. 

I hope you like the photos.

Lane Tech Defeats Glenbrook South 6-2 to Advance to Regional Final

Lane Tech Indians defeated the Glenbrook South Titans 6-2 at Kerry Wood Field Thursday evening (May 24, 2018). The Indians manufactured a lead in the bottom of the first with aggressive base running. With one out, Lane center fielder Mason Peterson walked then stole second. After a strikeout, Mason Peterson stole third. When the ball got away on the throw to third, he dashed home. The throw beat him but the Glenbard South catcher lost the ball and Peterson was safe on a close play. See the photos below.

The Indians added three in the bottom of the fifth on two walks, two infield singles and a hit batsman. Lane added two more in the bottom of the sixth all after two outs aided by some questions calls at first and the Titans through errors. 

After giving up a run in the top of the seventh, Lane held on to defeat the Titans 6-2 and advance to the  4A Regional Championship game against New Trier on Saturday at 4:00 pm at Kerry Wood Field.

As for the photography, I continued to stretch the ISO to see what results I would get shooting a night game at very high ISO and fast shutter speeds. The photos came out fine despite the noticeable graininess. Tack sharp focus shows up great on internet publication; graininess not so much.

I hope you like the photos.

40th Ward Sustainability Pop-Up Event at Gross Park

Maggie O'Keefe, candidate for 40th Ward Alderman, asked me to shoot an event she was putting on and inviting MWRD candidate Cam Davis to speak. Cam Davis is very impressive. We are lucky to have him as a public servant. And Maggie is always great. Another great citizen working to make our City better.

It was a challenging shoot because the background was in bright sunlight and foreground was in shadows. I took a lot of photos and a lot of test shots. I got a few good ones. I confess I do not catch the name of the dark haired woman in the photos but the photos of her turned out very nice.

I played around with the white balance a little going for different looks. The photo of the woman at the door of the field house just presented itself. So I took it. I hope the composition works. This was definitely a learning experience for me. Next time I will shoot faster shutter speed and try to get a little more crisp look.

I hope you like the photos.

 

DePaul Prep Defeats Latin to Win 2A Regional

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the Latin Romans 8-1 in the IHSA 2A Playoffs this afternoon (May 19, 2018) at Kerry Wood Field. The Rams broke open the game with five runs in the bottom of the third. After the third, the Rams played excellent defense and held off the Romans. 

I should try my hand at sports writing about a game but not today. 

As for the photos, I remembered to bring my 300mm lens today so I could get in close enough. It was a late afternoon game and overcast. Light was an issue. I set the shutter speed at 1/1250th and the ISO on auto. The ISO was ranging from 800-3200. I also noticed that my 28-300mm, variable aperture was focusing a lot slower than I recall. I am spoiled by the 70-200mm, f2.8. The photos came out okay. Again, I was not concentrating on getting all the action. I was must mostly there to a photo of the Rams in the event they ended Regional champs. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the pictures. I think I have a handle on taking baseball photos now. It just confirms what Worsum Robinson told me about basketball--shutter speed is everything. So I am going to shoot as fast as I can. For internet publication, ISO does not matter.

I got that photo. Well done Rams!

Tremont Turks Defeat El Paso Titans 4-0 in IHSA 2A Baseball Regional

My brother-in-law Mike Souhrada is the manager of the El Paso Titans varsity baseball team. My nephew Jared Souhrada is his assistant coach. I took the afternoon off and drove down to Eureka to see Mike's Titans take on Tremont on Thursday afternoon.

Tremont's Turks (as is turkeys the animals, as opposed to people from Turkey) jumped out to an early lead on the Titans' star pitcher and University of Illinois recruit Nathan Lavender. Nathan gave up three in the first and one in the third. After that, he settled down but it was too late. The Titans could not get anything going against the Turks and were eliminated from the IHSA 2A playoffs 4-0. 

As for photographs, it was a clear, warm and sunny day with the sun low in the sky at the 4:30 start. The Eureka College field was in good shape except for the infield grass. The grass was so long that high hard hit ground balls barely made it to the infielders. High school and college baseball diamonds don't have spots for photographers. Generally, the only clean look one gets at a high school filed is either from a hole in the netting, an open doorway, actually standing on the field or inside a dugout. This day I had to stand in the dugout. It was not a bad spot but far from ideal with respect to the direction of the sunlight. 

I shot a high shutter speed at f2.8 most of the time with an ISO between 200-400. The photos came out pretty crisp. I did not have my 300mm lens so I shot the whole game with my trusty 70-200mm, f2.8. I had to crop in on most of the photos. The next day baseball game I do I am going to go much higher on the shutter speed and ISO. I want to see how that works. 

Hope you like the shots. 

2018 Ravenswood Run

The Ravenswood Run has been going on a couple blocks from my house for five years or so now. I have gotten some good photos over the years and learned how to shoot it. I switched things up a little this year. I boosted the shutter speed but kept a fast f-stop. The photos seem a little over exposed in spots but I got some good results.

The overall winner, Oscar Medina, set a record for the event with a time of 14:35, which is like 25 seconds faster than a prior record setting time I remember from a few years ago.

I enjoyed the event. Two hours of shooting and then a five minute walk home. 

Hope you like the photos. 

Lane Tech 10, Geneseo 3

I stopped over at Kerry Wood field last night and caught a few innings of the Lane Tech Indians against the Geneseo Maple Leafs game. (Geneseo is a town of 6,500 a few miles east of Moline.) It was a fun game. Not just walks and strikes outs like so many games. 

As for the technical photography stuff, I tested the limits of the my 24-300mm, f4.5-5.6 lens. As I already knew, it is a daylight lens. The f5.6 aperture is just too slow for night baseball. But what I did confirm is that 300mm is absolutely necessary for baseball. I am going to rent the 300mm f2.8 and see what I can do with that. 

Here are some photos. Not my best stuff, mostly just trying to find the limits of the gear. When it is a little warming I will set out to take a great set of baseball photos and we will see what I can do.