Wednesday, April 27, 2011
As I sometimes do before a portrait shoot, I turned to Google’s image search for some ideas. My assignment was to photograph a local high school keeper. Initially I wanted to do a low-angle shot of her diving for a ball, but as I looked through the results of my “soccer keeper portrait” search, I noticed that there were no overhead angles. All of the portraits I could find were either low angle or eye level. I love a good overhead shot so I thought I’d try something a little different. I borrowed a six-foot step ladder from the photo editor and shot an action portrait wide from above. It’s definitely not an angle you see often in soccer photography. At this particular high school, it’s extremely hard to get a clean background because of stadium lights, bleachers, a small building, fencing and – believe it or not – a windmill behind one goal. Shooting from a high angle down gave me a clear background that doesn’t take away from the subject.
I talked to the subject on the phone around 6 p.m., drove out to the school at 6:30 p.m. and started the shoot around 7 p.m. Unlike magazines and larger newspapers, we don’t enjoy the luxury of time when it comes to a lot of our shoots. In this particular case, I found out who I would be photographing at noon on Monday and had the entire shoot done by 8 p.m. The lighting setup was extremely simple. I used one Canon 550EX speedlight shot through an umbrella at 1/8 power above the subject on camera right. That light was held by one friend from work while a second friend lobbed the soccer balls to her.
Cheyenne Central keeper Kelley Fisher is the WyoSports Cheyenne prep athlete of the week.
Categories: Portraits, Sports | Tags: Prep Athlete of the Week, Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (3)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Cheyenne East's Rachel Erickson (6) reacts as she falls to the pitch after contact with Kelly Walsh defender Rachel Franke during a high school girl's soccer game on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, at Cheyenne East High School. Erickson connected on the free kick as East cruised to a 5-0 win.
Cheyenne East's Rachel Erickson (6) plays the ball in front of Kelly Walshdefender April Taylor (14) during a high school girl's soccer game on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, at Cheyenne East High School.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (0)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I decided to do something a little different with this week’s prep athlete of the week portrait. After photographing a soccer player outside last week, I decided to take this week’s subject in studio. The subject is the keeper so I thought I’d try to show him reaching out to save goals. Due to the confines of our studio at the paper, I wasn’t able to get him to stretch out too far. The frame below is not a composite or a multiple exposure. It’s a 10-second exposure. After opening the shutter, I used PocketWizards to trigger three different lights with each light on a different channel to allow me to trigger them in a specific order.
In this single-exposure photo, Cheyenne East keeper Ben Harnish poses for a portrait on Tuesday, April 5, 2011, in Cheyenne. Harnish is the WyoSports Cheyenne prep athlete of the week.
Categories: Portraits, Sports | Tags: Prep Athlete of the Week, Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comment (1)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Here are a few frames from a photo shoot of Cheyenne Central’s Christie Schiel. Schiel was our paper’s prep athlete of the week after scoring multiple goals in a game against cross-town rival Cheyenne East on Friday evening. I had never shot a soccer portrait before, but had a couple concepts coming into the shoot. I got out to the pitch early, and had everything set up ready to go in time for the shoot thanks to help from a couple friends. The third shot was a happy accident when one of my speedlights didn’t fire.
Cheyenne Central soccer player Christie Schiel poses for a portrait on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, at Cheyenne Central High School. Schiel is the WyoSports Cheyenne staff's prep athlete of the week.
Cheyenne Central soccer player Christie Schiel
Categories: Portraits, Sports | Tags: Prep Athlete of the Week, Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (0)
Friday, March 25, 2011
Cheyenne Central's Makena Cameron, left, celebrates with teammate Halee Moore after Cameron scored a goal during a high school girl's soccer game on Friday, March 25, 2011, at Cheyenne East High School.
Cheyenne Central's Cori Bagby (6) heads the ball during a high school girl's soccer game on Friday, March 25, 2011, at Cheyenne East High School.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (0)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Cheyenne East's Alex Cowen falls to the pitch after missing a shot on goal in the final seconds of stoppage time that would have tied a game against Scottsbluff on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at Cheyenne East High School. Scottsbluff won 1-0.
Scottsbluff's Shane Weyrich (3) reacts as Cheyenne East's Clay Casey (13) kicks the ball away on defense with teammate Raz Lavalais, middle, during a boy's soccer game on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at Cheyenne East High School.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (0)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Cheyenne Central's Cori Bagby, left, celebrates with teammate Halee Moore after Bagby scored a goal during a high school girl's soccer game on Saturday, March 19, 2011, at Cheyenne Central High School. Palmer Ridge won 3-2 in overtime.
Palmer Ridge's Haley Fisher (6) collides with Cheyenne Central keeper Kelly Fisher, bottom, during a high school girl's soccer game on Saturday, March 19, 2011, at Cheyenne Central High School. Palmer Ridge won 3-2 in overtime.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (0)
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Cheyenne South goalie Oxsanna Beltran hangs on to the leg of Cheyenne East's Anna Kingston to prevent Kingston from scoring during a girl's soccer junior varsity game on Thursday, March 17, 2011, at Cheyenne South High School. Kingston scored and Beltran was injured on the play.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Prep Sports, Soccer, Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Comments (0)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Bradley keeper Brian Billings reacts after making a save during penalty kicks in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game against SIU Edwardsville on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010, at Shea Stadium. Bradley won 4-3 in penalty kicks after playing two overtime periods.
Bradley keeper Brian Billings dives to make a save in penalty kicks overtime in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game against SIU-Edwardsville on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010, at Shea Stadium.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Peoria Journal Star, Soccer | Comments (0)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
I got lucky. My main assignment Friday was the Bradley-Creighton Missouri Valley Conference semi-final soccer game. For most of the second half, I shot from the roof of the press box at Bradley’s Shea Stadium. With about 5 minutes left, I leisurely climbed down and started walking around the field toward the exit. (Yes, I was going to leave early since I was cutting close to deadline.) At the corner of the field, I decided to stay a bit longer. Sure enough in the 88th minute, Keith Mach broke free and scored his first goal of the season, sending Bradley to the conference finals. In celebration, he ran right towards me with his teammates. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good I guess.
Bradley's Keith Mach celebrates with his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal against Creighton on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010, at Shea Stadium.
Creighton's Ethan Finlay (16) reacts as he falls to the pitch between Bradley's Christian Meza (22) and Tommy Fritze (15) during a game on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010, at Shea Stadium.
Categories: Sports | Tags: Peoria Journal Star, Soccer | Comment (1)
