The Rock Star Quality of Roller Derby

I will probably never photograph rock stars. That is far away from what I am currently doing. I do however have the pleasure of photographing the local roller derby team the Lafayette Brawlin’ Dolls. The personalities here really make the photos more so than the photographer. I really enjoy shooting their games (formerly known as bouts) because the pictures just seem to make themselves.  Like I said before I may never shoot rock stars, but shooting the Brawlin’ Dolls makes me feel like I am. I may have another photo from the shoot next week after things die down a bit.

Coming a Long Way

When I shot my first head shots about two years ago for the Brawlin’ Dolls I did not have the equipment, and barely the knowledge to do things the right way. I lucked out and made some good images which I put on the girls in front of the camera more than myself. Now I have studied a lot over the last couple of years to hone my craft a bit. I am not at the end of the road yet, but I have come a long way. I showed up the first time with one speed light in a soft box. Yesterday my one speed light was being used here behind the skaters to separate them from the backdrop a bit. For the formal portraits I used my 70-200mm to compress everything. After I had a few that I liked I switched to the 24-70 to get in close to show a little more personality of the skater. This is one of those 24-70mm shots.