The Week In Sports

This week started out hot with two games on Saturday. I had a decent game at Purdue in the afternoon, but I wanted to work on some things so I went to the West Side game that night. I had a reason to go, but I could also get a little practice in as well. On Thursday night I got some swimming work in during sectional prelims. Right now some seasons are ending, and others are ramping up to get going. It is always a fun time to make photos with more events popping up. Below are some of my favorite photos from the past week.

A Little Emotion

In the first half of the Purdue game on Saturday Fletcher Loyer was fouled and fell right in front of me. He made the basket so it was a chance for a huge three point play. I quickly looked for a teammate running towards him emoting. Nobody really was, but Fletcher sat up and gave me something amazing. For some reason it seems like these kind of plays and photos always happen at the other end of the court. Here I had a prime photo in the first half.

Winter Is Coming

I really liked the outline of Wisconsin on the Badgers uniforms. I was looking for the player with the right name to pair with the logo. Of course the second that I saw the name Winter I knew that I had a winner. It was a small detail photo, but I really like how it turned out.

When The Remote Doesn’t Work Out

In the second half of the game John Tonje of Wisconsin put down a monster dunk. I knew that I had a tight shot of the dunk from my handheld camera. It would look great, but the way that he swung his body would look great on the wide remote. Of course when I checked the remote I saw the ref in the frame. Because I was tight on the player I never saw the ref in the photo. This is a good reason of why you run two cameras, and why you don’t rely on your remote. I didn’t make the photo this time, but maybe next time I will.

A Legend

Over the years I have made a few photographs of Bill Raftery. This one might be my favorite though. On my way down to the Purdue end of the court I made a couple of portraits of him while he watched the action. As Purdue left the floor I was walking back to the media room to edit my pregame images when Kamari McGee came up to Bill to say hi. This might be my favorite photo of the night just because of the emotion.

A Game Of Inches

I love these moments during a game. The margin of error for getting a shot off in college basketball is so small. I always love it when the angles work out to where I can show that. This was the shot that Fletcher Loyer made as part of his three point play in the first half.

A Familiar Face

I went to the West Side game against Tri-County to work on some things, but I had another motive. The Tri-County coach is Trev Parker. Ten years ago I was photographing him as a member of the Red Devils. It has been fun watching him grow and move up as a coach. It was cool to see him back on the sidelines in Berberian. That senior class was a special one for me, and it is always good seeing another one of them succeeding. I covered nearly every basketball game that season for the team. Part of the fun of doing what I do is covering the athletes while they are playing. The best part of what I do is seeing what they become after I have made photos of them.

A New Group Of Faces

I don’t get to many West Side basketball games anymore. They have a photographer, and the baseline gets crowded quickly with all of the cheerleaders. I did have some fun in the gym on Saturday night. The lighting is much improved from when I spent most of my time in there. I wish that I had this lighting with my minimal kit back then. I was only planning on staying the first half, but the game was so good at halftime that I decided to stick around for the second half. I am glad that I did. I made some of my better photos in that half.

Making A Photo That Looks Like A Different Sport

There are some times in games when you make a photo that looks like it was made at a different sporting event. Here Benny Speaker could either be driving to the basket, or he could be breaking through the line of scrimmage in football for a big run. I really like these kinds of photos. They are something different.

Berberian Gym

This is a gym that used to be very familiar to me. It is always nice to get back in there every now and then to make photos. Here I tried to show some of the gym off with a wide angle during a free throw. Part of the reason for going to the game was to work on some of my remote work and firing. I have a new way to fire my remote, and I wanted some reps working with it. I never got that great remote photo from the game, but it was worth it to get a little practice in.

Back To The Pool

Thursday night I went to West Side for sectional prelims. I have some potential work coming up where I could be back in the pool so it is always good to get some reps in. I really was trying to fail as much as I could. I was going for the tightest photos that I could to try and hone things in. Every now and then it worked out, and I made a photo that I liked.

The Details

I love capturing details at events like this. I like these kinds of photos. It gives you something to look for during the in between moments. This might actually be my favorite photo of the day.

This was a week that was heavily loaded at the beginning. It is weird when the events are a week old, but I like the stories more than the timeliness. If the weather holds out this coming week will be a lot like this past week was. There is a slight chance to see some baseball in my future.