Tag Archives: CMA
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 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 Children Photographer: Lucy Quinn Martin
You’ll see a lot of blog entries for Miss Lucy Quinn Martin, our niece and daughter of Angie and Darin Martin. It’s obvious we love shooting our nieces and nephews. Lucy is one of our favorite subjects to shoot, as she has so many great expressions, and she is such a happy child. Lucy is full of joy and expresses it so freely among those she’s surrounded by; she also seems to express what I can only describe as her “brilliance.” As Ginny likes to say, “Lucy is a brilliant child,” and her way of exploring the world shows how how quickly she learns. Capturing her childhood moments on camera is a lot of fun and makes you feel like you can have a little bit of that childhood joy again.
Ginny and I like to use a long lens when photographing candid moments, as kids will forget you are there if you don’t intrude on their playing time and what they decide to explore in those moments when they don’t realize you are there. Lucy will give you ample opportunity to shoot her every expression of childhood joy if you wait patiently.
In these shots, Ginny and I captured her as she wandered about while the adults played a baseball game in the backyard of Ginny’s parents’ house. There is also one of her trying to figure out what is going on with her shoe after a trip to the beach. A thin string was coming out of her shoe, so she stopped in the middle of this field to see what that was about. You can tell she was really tired in the picture. It has turned out to be one of my favorites, as I’ve seen this pre-nap look before, and it seems like Lucy will fight sleep just to figure something else out. Here, the simple thread of her shoe was fascinating enough to take a moment of rest in the field on the way back to the car.
Culver Indiana Photographer: Boys and Girls Club Charity Auction
This year, Ginny was in charge of the Boys and Girls Club chairity auction. They went with a “Fabulous 50s Night” theme. It was a fabulous night, as they not only had a great party, but they raised over $40,000 for the Culver Boys and Girls Club. Ginny was thrilled with the turnout. My favorite part of the event was the hula hoop contest. The auction committee planners recruited well-known people from town to participate in a hula hoop contest that raised several thousand dollars. Chief of Police, Chief of Fire, the president of the town council, and many others hula hooped for money for the big event. They also had singer Quintin Flagg, a 50s singer, perform. He did a great job. The silent auction portion of the event was successful, and all seemed to have a good time. I captured a few pictures for the board, so that they could remember the evening.
Culver Academy Baseball Photos: CMA Varsity Baseball
For this baseball game, the coach invited me into the dugout to shoot the pictures I captured. Shooting from the dugout is a great experience, as you get much better shots than you would trying to shoot over the fence, and you get to hear the team and coaches interact. You feel as though you are right in the middle of the action. In a few of these photos, you can see where the ball appears to float in the air. I try to get shots in which you can see the ball and the action in the scene. This is a challenge, as the speed of your camera must keep up with the speed of play. I hope you enjoy this selection of these first-rate athletes. Thanks to the coach and team for letting me be part of the dugout. It was an honor.
