Doube Celebration

Jubilation in the background can greatly enhance a foreground celebration photo.

Bowdoin's Zoe Ryu (10) celebrates as teammate Chloe Snyder (18) on the bench leaps for joy during volleyball win over Tufts.

The Photo
Volleyball players provide numerous opportunities to capture happy faces and celebrations, as players react and cheer one another after almost every play. Players on tne court will be ecstatic, as well as teammates on the bench who are constantly yellng encouragement and reinforcement.

In this match, Bowdoin was the home team, eager to beat Tufts, then sitting much higher in the NESCAC volleyball standings. Throughout the contest, individual Bowdoin players in the game would congratulate one another after each point, and teammats cheered just as hard from the bench. I was able to capture multiple photos of passionate and happy faces, but so far these weren't anything overly special or unique. Instead I began to concentrate on one of Bowdoin's most active players, who was scoring many of her team's points, and I expected to get a nice action shot. However, she quickly scored scored a key point and raised her arms in a "V" for victory sign, which I quickly photograsphed.  Meanwhile, one of her teammates on the bench in the background celebrated with the same "V" while jumping up and down.  I changed my focus to capture them both in the same image, giving me a terrific conbination of foreground and background celebrations.

The foreground player was happy and in focus, while the bench player's "V" and leap off the bench, although not in sharp focus, added more emotion to create a powerful celebration photo that encapsulated Bowdoin's 3-1 win over Tufts.

3 Tips
1. Always capture the foreground celebration first.
2. Reframe the photo to include visible happiness by other players, fans, or coaches nearby or in the background.
3. Even if the background celebrations aren't fully in focus, the multiuple levels of joy make the photo much more powerful.

Nowhere to Go

Great defense can make powerful basketball photos.

Colby's Liam O'Connor (0) leaps high to block a shot by Bowdoin's Alex Halpern (3).

The Photo

Basketball season provides many wonderful opportunities to capture both great sports action and sports feature photos, with numerous scoring plays and reactions to each, especially in a close game or battle between rivals.  I usually prioritize the action early in the game, and after getting my action shots, switch my focus (no pun intended) to player actions and facial expressions.

In this New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Basketball contest between Maine cross-state rivals Bowdoin and Colby, Bowdoin was ahead until Colby rallied with under 5 minutes to go in the game, using a tough defense and bulls eye shooting to eventually win the contest 72-62. Throughout Colby's rally, I sat under the basket, capturing game action of Colby players driving to the hoop and frequent rebounding collisions, but also kept an eye on Colby's tight defense at the other end of the court with a long lens. On this play, the Bowdoin player leaped high to shoot, but the taller Colby defender also jumped high to smother the shot.

3 Tips

1. Basketball defensive plays can happen anywhere on the the court -- under the basket, near the sideline, at center court, at the far end of the court, etc., so stay vigilant.
2. Photo opportunities include leaping to block a shot, diving for a loose ball, colliding on a drive to the basket, fighting for a rebound, or something completely different, and you can choose different vantage points that makes each photo more powerful and dramatic.
3. Spectacular feats or action are the best photos, but intense facial expressions can transform a good action photo into a truly great shot.

I Got This

It's unusual to have a clear shot of a volleyball player diving to make a great play, but you always want to stay ready.

Bowdoin College volleyballer Anna Yeh dives to tip the ball to a teammate, helping her #10 ranked team upset #2 seed and cross state rival Colby College in the NESCAC playoffs.

The Photo
Volleyball is a wonderful sport to photograph, with impressive athleticism and fast action, but the most common photo opportunities are the terrific emotional reactions and expressions from players celebrating practically every good play.  Great volleyball action photos are tougher to get because the playing area is small, you often have to guess who will hit the ball because there's not enough time to react, and players frequently block the clearest view of great plays.

In this NESCAC Conference quarterfinal playoff match, the #10 ranked Bowdoin Polar Bears were the underdog playing at the #2 Colby Mules. After Colby won the first game, it looked like the home team favorite would win the match easily, but Bowdoin quickly rallied to win 2 games and take a big lead in the next game, putting them on the verge of a tremendous upset match victory.  When Polar Bear defensive specialist Anna Yeh dove to tip the ball to a teammate, the other players miraculously moved out of the way to give me a clear view and a great photo, and Bowdoin went on to score the match-winning point and advance to the conference semifinals.

3 Tips

1. Great volleyball action photos are challenging to get because the playing area is small and players often block out a photographer's view of the best action.
2. Expect powerful emotional reaction photos, since volleyball players react intensely to practically every positive play.
3. Always stay ready to react quickly and capture great volleyball action shots, because they can be spectacular.

Bad Call, Ref!

Reactions of players on the bench can give you some of the best photos of a basketball game.

  

Bowdoin College basketball player Kate Kerrigan (5) scowls after a foul call against her team, before the Bowdoin women defeated rival Colby College

The Photo

Basketball players frequently show a range of reactions, and players on the bench are even more emotional as they intently cheer for and support their teammates on the court. Thus, some of the best pictures from basketball games will be emotional expressions from passionate reactions by players watching from the bench.  To capture these, stand close to the bench, perhaps under the nearby basket or on the sideline, and focus on the bench players with a long lens.

Even though Bowdoin was heavily favored in this women’s basketball game against intrastate rival Colby, both teams played with great intensity and emotions ran high throughout the contest. After one play, Bowdoin was called for a foul on a Colby drive to the hoop, and players on the Bowdoin bench couldn’t believe it, so they all jumped up and shared their displeasure with the officials. Most Bowdoin players quickly sat back down, but one remained standing and scowled at the referees the entire time Colby shot their free throws.

3 Tips

1.     Basketball players on the bench can often strong reactions, emotions and facial expressions, even more than players competing on the court.

2.     Position yourself with a long lens, and focus more on the bench players than the game action.

3.     Close games, intense rivalries, and numerous foul calls will often provoke the strongest reactions and expressions.

Tongue Wagging

Basketball provides some of the best sports photos because you can get close ups of the players’ faces and reactions.

Bowdoin's Rachel Norton (12) wags her tongue like Michael Jordan as she races down court in a women’s basketball win over Colby College.

The Photo

Basketball is one of the very best sports to photograph. You are physically close to the players and they don’t wear any head gear, which enables you to get close up pictures of both the action and players’ faces.  Too often, basketball action photos look the same -- jumps, leaps, dribbles, rebounds – but highlighting facial expressions can transform routine hoop action into a memorable image.  However, no need to limit yourself to basketball action pix.  Watch players on the bench as they react to the game, and follow coaches guiding the players or attempting to influence referees. 

For this photo, I was sitting under the basket at the opposite end of the court, as a Bowdoin player received a long inbounds pass and quickly dribbled up court.  When she immediately stuck her tongue out, I thought it was a great photo, but she was too far away. To my happy surprise, she kept her tongue out for the entire time as she dribbled straight toward me to the basket, so I photographed her repeatedly, giving me a sequence of great shots. I thought of Michael Jordan’s tendency to stick out his tongue out, but I don’t believe he ever had it hanging out for as long as this player did.

3 Tips

1)    Seize the opportunity to shoot close-ups of basketball players’ faces

2)    Watch players on the court and on the bench

3)    Remember that coaches arguing with referees are also strong photo ops

Spin Move

A simple college arts and dance show can surprise you with great photo opportunities.

Charlotte Rutty is spun upside down during a Bowdoin College dance show.

The Photo

Every Fall, Bowdoin College invites parents and family members to visit on Family Weekend and experience the variety of activities the school has to offer.  My daughter Megan helped organize a dance performance, so we didn’t want to miss the chance to see her perform on stage.  Yet while Megan was very excited about her own dance number, she said we absolutely should not miss a dance where her friend Charlotte would be spun around her dance partner’s arm. 

Thanks to that tip, I was confident a perfectly-timed photo would capture something special.  However, the dance hall lighting was far from ideal, as performers moved in and out of alternately bright and dark spots on the stage. This required perfect timing to shoot photographs only when dancers appeared in the lighted areas.  In addition, because the dance photos required freezing fast motion, the image quality would be sub-par, since I had to set my shutter speed to between 1/250 and 1/500, use a very high ISO, and set my lens f-stop to a wide-open f/2.8.

When Charlotte and her partner began the dance, they moved rapidly around, side to side and front to back, but I kept focusing and shooting.  At times, they were in the shadows, and I knew those pictures would not be usable, but when they danced in the brightest lit spots, those pictures looked great.  The first time she was spun around in the light, I missed timing the the shot for when she faced forward upside down.  Continuing to follow the dance, they did the spin again, and I timed everything perfectly.  It was a good thing, too, because they didn’t do it again. 

3 Tips

1. College dance shows can provide unexpectedly great photo opportunities.

2. Be ready to compensate for frequent changes in lighting or inadequate lighting.

3. Use a shutter speed that freezes the action, even if you have to lose some image quality by using a high ISO.