Category Archives: Sports
Indiana Sports Photography: CMA JV Baseball vs. Pioneer
Last week, the sun actually came out for a bit as the Culver Academy JV Baseball team hosted Pioneer High School. Having the sun shining was a little deceiving as it was still very cold. I struggled to stay warm, so I’m sure the fans were cold.
Both teams played well considering it was very early in the season as several games have been canceled this season due to weather and other factors. Culver ultimately won with a score of 6-to-5. I’ve posted some photos here. Other photos are located at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/4_21_11
Indiana Sports Photography: CMA Varsity Baseball vs. CCHS
Earlier this week, the Culver Academies Varsity Baseball Team hosted the Culver Community High School team. Both teams played very well and managed to keep the score close. The CMA team won with a score of 3-to-2. I’ve posted some photos here; there are several more posted at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/4_14_11_baseball
Photos from Culver Academy’s Basketball Win at Semi-State!
Ginny and I traveled to Huntington to see the Culver Military Academy’s basketball team play in the semi-state game. This was one of the most intense experiences we’ve had as photographers. We were so caught up in the game, in the noise from the fans, and by the close score throughout that we had a hard time maintaining our focus on taking pictures.
We saw so much class and heart on the basketball court during this game, and we also felt that the coaching on both sides was impressive. The Columbia City Eagles played well. They were especially good at the three-point shot, but any time they came within giving the Culver Eagles a threat, the Culver team would step up the defensive intensity and show great patience and team play on offense. They simply wouldn’t give up their lead in the fourth quarter.
We were also impressed by how many students showed up after a long bus drive to show their support for the Culver Eagles. They never stopped cheering throughout the game, and they never lost faith in the team. They chanted often, “We believe that we can win.” It was remarkable to see so many people in the stands. Faculty, alumni, and parents showed in great numbers.
For the first time ever, the Culver Eagles captured a semi-state win to take the team to the state event next weekend. We captured this game and plan to attend the state event. All of the photos are free to anyone who wants to download them. If you know a player, be sure to let him know that he can have any of these shots for free. Congrats Culver Eagles! You made your school and town proud!
I’ve posted some of my favorite photos here. There are many more photos from the game posted at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/2011semistatebasketball
Indiana Hockey Photographer: Culver Academy Prep Hockey Tournament
Wow what a busy schedule! Last weekend, Culver Academy’s Prep Hockey Team hosted a tournamanet with six visiting teams from the U.S. and Canada. I attended (with my camera): 4 games, 1 locker room parent’s open house, a party, a ceremony for the seniors, and an awards ceremony. For me, it meant close to 15 hours of shooting, 3000+ photos to sort through, and at least 12 hours of editing. I was tired by Sunday night, but I can’t forget that there were others who probably worked harder over the weekend than me. A big shout out to Keith, Greg, and Rosie, the trainer. All three were there at the rink every time I was.
The last game of the season is always a little sad for me with any team, as I get to know many of the parents and kids. For the seniors, this is especially true as it was their last game with their team and most likely the last time that they’ll play in the Henderson Ice Rink. After the last game of any season, you can see the emotion on the kids’ faces as most realize this fact.
Culver played well in the tournament taking second place overall. They played against UCC, Ridley, NSA, and St. Louis. Culver easliy won their first three games, but they struggled in the final game on Sunday with St. Louis.
Following are a few of my my favorite photos from the four games. I’ve posted additional photos seperated by game at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/cma_prephockey
Indiana Sports Photography: Culver Academy Prep team Banners
A few weeks ago, I photographed the ten seniors on Culver Academies’ Prep Hockey team. Using their photos, I created senior banners that the team hangs during their senior recognition night. In the past year, I’ve done similar banners for some of the other sports teams. When printed, these really are sharp and life-sized!
Let me apologize if the image quality doesn’t appear as crisp as one would expect. I had to shrink my original files (3 foot by 7 foot) to an image size that would actually load by most browsers.
Indiana Sports Photographer: St. Louis Lady Blues
I’m sorry if the title for this blog is confusing. I’m an Indiana-based photographer who was asked to do the team photos for a St. Louis based hockey team. But… I did this while the team was in Indiana playing a U12 hockey tournament at Culver Academies.
The St. Louis Lady Blues U12 AAA Hockey Team has kids that participate from six different states. Because of this, the girls do not practice together. Additionally, all the girls belong to local teams in their own home towns and often have to miss games. Because of this, the 13 girls almost never play together. Given that the season is almost over and everyone was able to attend the Culver tournament, they decided it was time for a team photo and individual shots of the players.
With limited time on the ice, we rushed through and managed to take three seperate sets of photos. We took team photos (players and then players with the coaches), individual shots, followed by individual action shots where the kids sprayed ice as I photographed them. Considering that each set required moving lights, backdrops, and getting the kids posed, I am surprised that we got through it and things turned out as well as they did.
I’ve posted some photos here. Other are located under the Lady Blues Team photos at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/2011_u12
Indiana Photographer: Culver U12 Tournament
Last weekend, Culver Girls Academy hosted a U12 Hockey Tournament for three of the best AAA U12 teams in the country with the St. Louis Lady Blues, the Ohio Flames, and the Compuware U12 team from Michigan. As this was a U12 tournament (kids 12 and under), Culver did not participate. Culver was merely a host for the tournament.
Watching the U12 girls was a lot of fun for me as I have never watched a non-high school or pro hockey game. The kids did very well and truly have some great skills that I’m sure will take them far if they stick with hockey.
I’ve posted some photos here. The rest of the photos that I took during the games are located at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/2011_u12
Indiana Hockey Photography: CMA Prep vs. Lake Forest Academy
On Sunday afternoon, I watched the Prep Hockey Teams from Culver Academy and Lake Forest Academy play one another at Culver’s Henderson Ice Rink. There has always been a rivalry between these two hockey programs, as the schools areonly a couple hours away and each school often gets kids that might have gone to the other school. (I recall that 25 years ago, I had friends at LFA and it was one school that I considered when looking at Culver.) As one parent described the rivalry to me a few days before the game- “We are their Shattuck”. What he meant by this was that Culver Academy is one of Lake Forest’s hardest compititors and the team that it strives to beat each year. It is the game of the season that defines how well their program is this year.
As expected, the game was high energy and fast action. It was a little on the brutal side with a lot of penalties and a few injuries. Overall, though, it was a lot of fun to watch both teams play their hearts out. Culver did not disappoint. Though they gave up the first goal of the game, they took the win at a score of 5 to 2.
I’ve posted some photos here. Other photos are located at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/2_20_11_hockey
Indiana Sports Photography: CMA Regional Swimming and Diving
Saturday morning, I traveled to Warsaw, Indiana to cover the Sectionals Swimming and Diving competition that Culver Military Academy participated in. It was a long day with 12 events, but I enjoyed it quite a bit as I’ve had difficulty covering Culver Academy’s Swimming and Diving Teams in the past. (Culver’s natatorium is very dark, which limits the quality of photos that I’m able to take on campus where flash photography is prohibited during meets.) I didn’t have to use flash for these photos. My low-light lens and a higher ISO worked well.
Culver did well with a few students progressing to the next level of the state competition. The highlight of the afternoon was when Culver Academy Senior, David Devries, a student whose Senior Pictures I took in the Fall, broke two school records. While breaking the record in the 500 Yard Freestyle, David actually lapped the field.
I’ve posted a few photos here. Other photos are loacted at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/2_19_11_sectionals
Indiana Hockey Photography: CMA U16 vs. West Michigan
This past Friday night, the CMA U16 hockey team hosted West Michigan at Culver Academies for a game. Surprisingly, the attendance was good considering that the Academies were on a long weekend break and there were few students left on campus.
During the game, Culver Eagles proved again the reason why they are ranked #5 in the country at this level. West Michigan played their hearts out, but they couldn’t challenge Culver. Worth noting, however was that even when faced with a huge deficit in goals, the West Michigan team never gave up or played as though they were defeated. The game was quite fun to watch and both teams appeared to play very cleanly. (There were few penalties.)
I’ve posted some photos here. Other photos are located at:
http://www.culverphotos.com/2_18_11_hockey
