Category Archives: Sports
Culver Academy Volleyball Photos: CGA Freshman Volleyball at Culver Academy
The CGA Girl’s Freshman Volleyball team played a great match on Thursday night. I regret that I was only able to watch the first two games. They won both games. The first game was an easy win, but the second game turned out to be a nail biter with a very close score. Though the girls have only been playing together for a few weeks, I think they played well as team. I’m curious to see how they did against the second school they were scheduled to play. I’m looking forward to catching more games in the future. I’ve posted the rest of the photos at www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Academy Soccer Photos: Rainy Afternoon For Soccer
Things do not always work out as planned. Today, I was intending on shooting both Culver Academy JV and Varsity Soccer games followed by the CGA Varsity soccer game. The weather had other plans for the afternoon. The first game started on time despite the pouring rain. Three and a half minutes into the game, the game was stopped for 30 minutes because of thunder. Once the game resumed, the teams played for another 20-30 minutes before being called again for thunder. At this point, I’m not sure if the game was canceled or delayed. Between being cold from the rain and there no longer being any natural light, I decided to call it a night and head home. I’ve posted some additional photos at www.culverphotos.com, though I wasn’t able to get as many as I had hoped.
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 Photographer: Busy Afternoon
Today was a very busy afternoon in Culver with four different sporting events going on at the same time. Instead of focusing on any single game, I tried (and managed) to get photos at all the events. I have no idea what the final scores were, but I decided that it was more important to get photos from as many games as I could instead of focusing on a specific game. The four games that I have photos from are: CMA Varsity Soccer vs. Culver Community School Coproration, CGA Varsity Soccer, CGA JV Soccer, and CMA Varsity Tennis. To avoid cluttering the blog, I posted all of the photos at www.culverphotos.com.
Culver Indiana Photography: CCHS Girl’s Soccer
It was a beautiful day for Culver’s High School Girls Soccer team. Today, we had to shoot into the sun, but it was nice that the sun was out, as it’s starting to get cold in Culver. The Lady Cavs didn’t win their first home game, but they gave the game heart. For more pictures of the game, go to www.culverphotos.com.
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.
Culver Academy Soccer Photos: CGA Soccer vs. Warsaw
I really was looking forward to this game as it was the first game that I covered for the 2009-2010 school year. It may have only beeen a scrimage, but the girls played as though it were a championship game. The game didn’t start until 7:00 p.m., so I was faced with a setting sun that made more warm photos. In the beginning, I was able to get fast shutter speeds with my 70-200 mm f2.8 with a 2x duplexer, but as the game progressed, I was fighting the lack of light. For this game, I had a difficult time choosing my favorites. I ended up with a lot of photos that showed great action. If you’d like to see more after viewing what I have posted here, please visit www.culverphotos.com. There, I’ve posted 187 photos from the game under the Culver Academy, Sports section.
Culver Indiana Photographer: The Little Leaguers
I was out and about in Culver with my camera. I stopped to shoot this youth baseball game. Shooting kids in this setting is a blast. These kids are at the age that they don’t really know if they are winning or losing yet. They just play to have fun and play their hearts out, they do. It’s fun seeing kids play a sport while they are still learning it. You’d be amazed how well they do listen to the adults. So, be warned adults… kids hear you. Be kind, keep the pressure off, and consider their age when you speak loud enough that they can hear you. As you can see from this selection, kids truly can concentrate on the task at hand.
