The Week In Sports

As a kid nothing was better on Saturday morning during baseball season than watching This Week In Baseball. The voice of Mel Allen and the iconic music of the show made it must watch television. I have debated about how I should approach sports on the blog. The posts don’t get much traction, and I feel that a full week of them makes me lazier as a photographer. I came up with a way to still talk about some of the highlights of the week without having too many sports posts. One post a week looking at what I have done in the previous few days. This may not be a weekly thing as I could have light weeks. Next week for example I only have one game on the schedule as of right now. It is a fun way though to talk through what I was thinking at games. Below are some of the highlights of the last week in sports.

A Poole Of Talent

This year one thing that will be fun to watch is how Jordyn Poole improves as the season goes on. She started the year injured and has been working her way back. She looks like she could really help the Boilers when she is at full speed. She has some moves that will put opponents on their backs.

The Best In The Country

Ju Ju Watkins is the best player in the country. The crowd of photographers that don’t normally attend the women’s games would have told me that if I didn’t already know it. At one point in the game I thought that she really hadn’t done much yet. She seemed to kind of just be in cruising mode. I looked at her points though and realized that she was just effortlessly scoring. It will be interesting to see how she does at the next level.

Waiting In The Tunnel

On the way to the court there are a few different light sources to play with now. This one is a little ways down the hall from the court, but it is a fun one to use for photography. I really wanted to capture Ju Ju Watkins in this light, but she was elusive. I did make this photo though which I really liked.

Finally!

This is a photo that I have been trying to make for a couple of games now. I have never gotten the right angle though. Here the player was facing the other direction and still long enough for me to finally make this photo. There was something about the tattoo that made me want to try this when I first saw it. I am glad that I was finally able to see that idea come to fruition.

Getting Used To The 300mm

It will be a season long goal this year to get better with the 300mm fast games. I am trying to be faster switching to it to get more reaction photos. It is something that I never have done before so I have been trying to build the habit every game. The 300 has been amazing for basketball. It has let me get right into the action during the games. It has also let me have some reach for the other end of the court. I just have to be faster in switching to it. That is slowly happening as the season goes on.

Son Of Pippen

It is always cool to see the sons of players that I grew up watching play. I was lucky enough to live near Chicago and be a Bulls fan in the 80’s and 90’s. I had a lot of talent to watch. One of those players was Scottie Pippen. He helped the Bulls become a force in the NBA for years. Now his kids are playing ball. I never got to see his oldest play, but last night I was able to see Justin play. He is only a freshman so hopefully I get a few more chances to see him play at Michigan over the years.

Slowing Things Down

I normally don’t get to games so early anymore. The start times have not been kind with my schedule. The 8:00 start on Friday though is perfect for me. I was at the game early and had some time to kill. During pregame I saw another photographer using slow shutter speeds so I decided to join him. Here you have a dunk at 1/15th of a second. These types of photos are hard to get, and not for everyone. They are a great way to warm up for the game though.

Getting In Close

With the 300 I can get in closer than ever before at basketball. Years ago when I was third shooter for basketball I would bring my 400mm lens for some tight shots. It was almost too tight for basketball though. The 300 seems to work fine most of the time. When I saw the point guard with his name tattooed on his arm I knew that I wanted a photo of that arm and the ball. With the 300 I was able to get it.

The Cancer Game

Ever since I met Tyler Trent the cancer game has been a big one. The program raises money for a great cause, and we get some new looks with the jerseys. I look forward to this game almost as much as I do the t-shirt game. In a season where things can get repetitive it is nice to have something new to photograph.

A Tough Game

Monday night was a tough game for me. It should have been a great game from a photography standpoint. Both teams had their best half coming right at me. Some games though it seems like you are always blocked or the action is facing the other way. That is how this game was. It was just a hard game to get a handle on, and this might be the only photo that I show from the game. Hopefully I have more games like Friday the rest of the way and not like Tuesday.

So that was my week in sports. As I said I only have one game this coming week so I don’t know if I will do this again very quickly. I like the idea of just putting ideas into a blog post though. Maybe I will combine a couple of weeks for the next one.