Category Archives: Football
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA JV Football vs. North Judson
This evening, the Culver Academy JV Football team traveled to North Judson for one of the last games of the season. The weather was a little cool but much nicer than the weather that they’ve played in recently. The Eagles played well and made the Academy proud. The game started out with Culver Academy returning the first two kicks that they received with touchdowns. I was busy taking photos of the game and forgot to note the final score, but I believe it was 26 to 8. I’ve posted some of my favorite photographs here; there are several hundred more at www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Indiana Photographer: Culver Community Youth Football
What a fun game to watch and a beautiful day to be outside. I always enjoy watching the younger kids play sports as it is often more interesting than some of the sports with the older kids. Young kids make all the fun mistakes, and they are so full of energy and enthusiasm. The Culver Community Youth Football team didn’t fare well against the Lancers, but it was still enjoyable to watch. I think both teams played well and I was actually surprised that these youngsters played as hard as they did. There were several tackles that I would not have wanted to be a part of, and certainly at the bottom of the pile of… I’ve posted my favorites here; there are a couple hundred more at www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA JV Football vs. John Adams
Today, Ginny and I photographed the JV Football team’s game against South Bend Adams. The Culver JV team played hard in rainy conditions, and I have to admit that it felt a lot colder than upper 50s. I wore four layers of clothes and could have used another layer. We got wet, but we enjoyed watching the game. We saw the Culver Eagles’ quarterbacks get hit pretty hard into today’s game, as Adams is a physical team. The Eagles weren’t successful, but they played hard. One of Ginny’s favorite players is Austin Pegg, number 11. I’ve given Austin the “front cover” of this blog entry because Ginny thinks the drive he led in the third quarter was the best one of the game. Austin may look small, but “he is big on talent,” as Ginny would say.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA Varsity Football vs. John Adams
Another Friday night, another rainy night. What can I say? This Fall has not been good to Friday night football. This evening, the CMA Eagles traveled to South Bend to play the Varsity football team at John Adams High School. It was a great game with a tied score of 14 to 14 at the half. Unfortunately, Ginny and I only stayed for the first half of the game as it started raining about 7 minutes into the 2nd quarter. (For those that have seen us at the games, you know that we carry a whole lot of delicate equipment that doesn’t like water or rain.) For fear of destroying our gear, we decided that it was best for us to leave at the half. We felt confident leaving that the Culver Eagles had worn down South Bend Adams and would prevail in terms of physical endurance. We could tell South Bend Adams was tiring. That, and the Culver Eagles seemed to be reading the Adams offense by the end of the second quarter. As it turns out, we were right. Culver won by a large margin.
As a photographer who has shot many photos at many games this season, I can say that I was not happy with most of our photos. Some people at the game might have noticed that the lighting was sooooo much different in the Adams’ staudium than just about any we’ve played in this season. It was very dark. I think this may be because the staudium is old (and kind of a cool vintage stadium). Unfortunately, this meant lighting that would please only a photographer who could use off-camera lighting…something we might have been kicked off the field for trying. To us, it was like shooting blind. The field was still lit and you could see the action of the play, but the lights were not as bright as we are used to or as bright as we are fortunate to have in Culver. Looking through a high-end camera that measures EXACT light readings showed the world of difference between our stadium and others we’ve been in. I found myself pushing the camera settings beyond my comfort level knowing that even if the shots turned out, they would still result in grainy photos when enlarged. I’ve posted my favorites here and the rest at www.culverphotos.com. As you might be able to tell, I’ve posted some photos that I normally wouldn’t have posted. I simply wanted to tell the story of the game. For the parents who were unable to attend, I decided that showing the game was more important.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA JV Football vs. John Glenn
Today’s Culver Academy JV football team played John Glenn at home. The photographs from today’s game reflect how hard both teams played. There was a lot of action on the field, and the game was tied until the last minute of the game when John Glenn scored. As you can in the photos, players were in the air and all over the football. The Culver defense fought hard all night and caused John Glenn to make several turnovers. As photographers, we had a lot of opportunity for action shots tonight. We had a hard time picking our favorites, so check out more photos of this exciting game at www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA Varsity Football vs. Brebeuf
It is a proud day to be an Eagle. This evening the Culver Academy Eagles varsity football team hosted Brebeuf High School. The Eagles played a great game and won the game with a final score of 28 to 13. The highlight of the game was when Culver returned a kick for a touchdown after allowing Brebeuf’s first score. This quickly quieted Berbeuf’s crowd. Both teams played a hard-fought game with some great passes, blocking, and running. As hard as the opposing team fought, I thought it would have been an even closer game, but Culver’s defense didn’t give much up. Ginny sat in the stands for a few minutes of the game and commented on how involved the crowd was in the game. It was a great game! To see more photos, visit www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA Varsity Football
Tonight was a good night for the Eagles. With a score of 50+ to 0 at the half, it was obvious that the Eagles were on fire. Ginny and I spent most of the evening on the Eagle’s offensive end, as they scored one goal after another.
For the second half, the coaches decided to play some of the JV players. It was nice seeing some kids on the field who don’t always get to play varsity, and they did their team proud. As with all of the evening games, lighting was not on our side and caused many shooting problems. Ginny says that we need to get the best lens made for action or she will start taking pictures of the fans who aren’t usually in motion. I wouldn’t be opposed to that (getting another lens)! We had a full moon on this particular evening, so Ginny took a few shots of the cheerleaders with the full moon in the background. We’ve posted our best at www.culverphotos.com. Here is a selection of some of my favorite action shots. Go Eagles!
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA JV Football Vs. Nappanee
Ginny and I headed to Culver Academy’s campus to shoot the first JV football game of the year for the Culver Military Academy’s Eagles. There was a lot of action on the field for this game, and the sun decided to show up for some of the shots, making it easier to catch some of the action. They ended the first half with an interception, which seemed to inspire them in the second half at which time they scored their first goal. Had the game lasted another two quarters, I think they would have won, as they seemed to gel more and more as a team as time clicked away. Unfortunately, they didn’t win, but we thought they did a great job for their first game. Some people don’t realize that these kids haven’t been playing together for years, through little league. They came from all over the country and world and started playing as a JV team just a short while ago. We thought they did a great job and have a lot of potential. These pictures are a selection of our favorites. There are more CMA football pictures at www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA Varsity Football vs. Nappanee
The CMA Eagles came out strong against the Nappanee Panthers in their second game of the season. Ginny and I drove up to Nappanee early in the day, as we were going to shoot the tennis match before the football game, but tennis had been canceled because of earlier rain. The evening turned out to be cloudy, but we managed to get a handful of shots before it got dark.
Shooting evening games is a real challenge because not only are you dealing with a lack of light, but you are also dealing with action shots that require higher ISO settings, a lens that can handle the speed, and the ability to see what is going on with the ball. Football coaches talk about protecting the ball at all times. Ginny and I were just trying to see it to anticipate the action. That’s a challenge when you are standing in the dark shooting into a stadium that is lit up with articial light. The problem is that if you set your ISO setting too high, you start to get grainy shots. We tend to shoot in Aperture Priority mode for these events because the camera does the work when it comes to the action; it knows how quickly to get the shutter speed and what to do about other settings. However, when you lose the sun, you have to switch to Manual mode, which means adjusting your settings continuously as you gauge what you are getting with each shot. Attempting to get these atheletes in action is worth it, however, as these kids play with heart and class. Ginny and I were impressed with the coaches and the kids, as they work well as a team. The Eagles never gave up and they gave their best efforts at all times. Though they weren’t successful in winning, they did prove to give the Panthers a challenge right up to the last minute.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA Varsity Football Game
It’s a great day to be an Eagle! Culver Military Academy’s Eagles had its first 2009 football game today. Unfortunately, it was raining and I didn’t want to damage my camera, so I got off only a handful of shots. One of my favorite things to do as a photographer is shoot sporting events at both Culver Academies and Culver Community schools. Parents are rightfully wrapped up in watching the game and seeing their child play that they are often without a camera or the patience to shoot the game. I love shooting just about any sporting event and have met some great coaches and parents in the process.
Recently, I started shooting the sporting events with Nikon’s 70-200 mm F2.8 lens. It’s built for action, and I’m absolutely addicted to using it. Ginny and I will be shooting a lot of sporting events this school year. Catch up on any games you miss at www.culverphotos.com. In this set, I did catch Zach Deery as he scored a touchdown after an amazing return kick. He went the full length of the field and had some great blocks from teammates to make the score. It was impressive, even in the rain.
