My Favorite Basketball Photos Of 2023

This was a fun year of making basketball photos for me. I think that it was filled with about everything that you would want when you are making sports photos. I photographed Harrison winning their first women’s sectional title since I was in grade school. It was awesome to be there to see that run through the year. In the fall I was able to photograph the Purdue women’s basketball title team as they came back to campus. I don’t get star struck a lot doing this, but that weekend I was for sure.

This is why you have a remote at your feet. You never know when a moment that would look great wide will happen. Here a quick transition basket lead to one of my favorite images of the year. I have a tight image that I made with my 85mm lens, but it doesn’t show the sense of place that this 24mm image does.

As I said in the opening this year I was able to photograph the 1999 Purdue women’s championship team as they came back to campus. I was so star struck every time that I saw them around campus. It was really cool to get to make photos of them as they were honored.

Myles Colvin is one of those players that just makes for good images. He plays the game hard and athletic, and those are two things that make for good photos. Here is one of my favorites from this early part of the season.

The bench of Harrison was so much fun to watch last year. They were always rooting each other on. I have so many photos of them over the course of the year, but this was my favorite. The starters were on the bench here, but they brought the energy to the players on the court. There is something special at Harrison the way that the athletes support each other and the school. Here is a great example of that.

I will admit that I was never a big fan of Gene Keady when he was the coach at Purdue. My Purdue basketball fandom started with Matt Painter. I can recognize a moment though. When they honored coach this past year I made sure to make a wide to document the moment.

We are lucky to get to see Zach Edey play for Purdue again. He was the reigning player of the year, and he gets to come back to try and make that two in a row. Here are a couple of photos of Zach that I like from this year. I have been having fun trying to capture all of the parts of Zach’s game that make him so good. Sure he can dunk, but he also rebounds and blocks shots. He also is mugged every time that he has the ball so that is part of his story as well.

Late in the year I had another chance to photograph Indiana State again. The women’s team came to Mackey. I have photographed them many times over the years, and it is always great to get the chance to see some familiar faces again.

Speaking of teams that I have photographed a lot. Xavier came to Mackey as part of what is likely the last Gavitt Games this past fall. Over the years I have followed the Musketeers to some pretty cool venues to make photos of them. It was cool to get to photograph them in the cool venue in my backyard this time.

This photo is why I do this. These little moments that are fleeting, but amazing. If you get your tooth knocked out during the game why not have some fun with it?

The Harrison intros are always fun to photograph. I have been having some fun coming up with new ways to show them off. Here I got lucky with how the lights were hitting to make an interesting image.

A couple more photos with floor remotes. They don’t always pan out, but when they do I really like them. Here are a couple of remote images that I really liked from this past year.

Sometimes it is the little moments that make my favorite photos. Here you had a very fleeting moment that I was lucky enough to be close enough to capture.

This is a rebound photo, but I like it because it could also be a photo of a shot going up.

I don’t know why I like this photo so much, but I really do. You have a lot going on and your eye can travel in around the photo very well. Sports photos can be messy, but this one has always been very appealing to me.

Riley Whitlock is a fun player to watch. She is going to college to play volleyball, but she is a heck of a basketball player too. Here are a couple of photos of her that I like from this past year.

West Side has a very talented three sport athlete in Adrianne Tolen. She is a goalie, guard, and shortstop depending on the season. No matter the sport she plays it hard and with a tenacity that makes her hard to beat. Here is a photo from early on this fall.

I thought that I was done making photos on what would be my last game of the year. I had my gallery ready to send, but I wanted to try and make one more. I grabbed my wide angle and went out to the court to try and show exactly what was going on out there. It is something special when Zach Edey stays to sign for everyone who wants an autograph. I worked a couple of angles, and then realized that there were some phones out and ready for people who just wanted a photo with Zach. Zach has the perfect selfie arms so I knew what my photo would be. I really like how this photo turned out.

This might be my favorite basketball photo of the year. Harrison won their first sectional in years. This was a really fun moment just after the win as the emotion started to pour out. These are the moments that are fun to cover.

I am sure that I have missed a photo or two from this past year. I am lucky to get to do what I do for a living. Making these year end lists just reminds me of how lucky I really am. By the time this post goes live I will have already made some basketball photos this year. It will be hard to top this list, but the fun will be trying make a better list.