Tag Archives: sports

So LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and I were there together hanging out and….well, there really isn’t going to be a time I get to say that again, so I’m going to take advantage now.

I was lucky enough to be part of the huge team that the fine folks at ESPN the Magazine put together for their latest One Day, One Game series. The point is to give fans a glimpse into everything that it takes for one single game to be put on with vignettes from every angle imaginable. It was one of my most fun shooting days ever, and I don’t think I can really go back to “normal” access after this. Of course I will, but now will at least have a hard time wondering why I can come back into the locker room and photograph a player in the ice bath.

Sports Photography: Breaking the waves

July 13, 2011Amazing LinkssportsTrent Nelson

While mainstream sports photography has become blunted by the controlling instincts of administrators and the ubiquity of same-brand digital SLRs, a select band of shooters – often focused on “adrenalin” sports that offer greater co-operation and freedoms – are finding new perspectives on the action. Diane Smyth talks to six of the best.

Jazz vs. Nuggets, Body Check

May 1, 2010Photojournalismbasketball, chris anderson, deron williams, nba, NBA Basketball, sports, utah jazzTrent Nelson

Denver’s Chris Anderson slams into Jazz guard Deron Williams in the final minute of play.

Birdman Dunks, Chris Anderson, Denver Nuggets

May 1, 2010Photojournalismbasketball, chris anderson, nba, NBA Basketball, sports, utah jazzTrent Nelson

Lost the game, but this was a cool play.

Season's Over for the Denver Nuggets

May 1, 2010Photojournalismbasketball, chris anderson, nba, NBA Basketball, sports, utah jazzTrent Nelson

Bountiful vs. Sky View Football

October 17, 2008PhotojournalismAndrew Welling, bountiful, Bountiful High School, Braden Compton, dereck wolfe, Drew Miner, football, high school football, high school sports, Jarom Ioane, Lane Smith, sports, sports photography, Thomas Hamilton, utahTrent Nelson

A selection from last week’s Bountiful vs. Sky View high school football game. Edited with photographers in mind.

Bountiful Captains

Pre-game

Coin Toss- My wide-angle is tweaked.

The Mosh

Banner Bust

Bountiful fans: “Take Our Picture!”

Bountiful fans: “Take Our Picture!”

Touchdown run

Touchdown run

BYU vs. Utah State Football – Sack

October 10, 2008Photojournalismbrett denney, brigham young university, byu, diondre borel, football, logan, sports, utah, utah state universityTrent Nelson

Logan – BYU defensive lineman Brett Denney (92) sits on USU QB Diondre Borel after sacking him. BYU vs. Utah State University (USU) college football Friday, October 3, 2008.

I’m getting way behind in posting, so here’s a quick one until I put up something else.

Utah Jazz – The New Hotness

October 5, 2008Photojournalismbasketball, gabe muoneke, nba, ronnie price, salt lake city, slam dunk, sports, sports photography, utah, utah jazzTrent Nelson

Salt Lake City – Utah Jazz guard Ronnie Price (17) goes up for a slam over Gabe Muoneke. Utah Jazz scrimmage Saturday, October 4, 2008.

Kind of weird to photograph Jazz basketball in a nearly empty arena. Just felt different without the usually atmosphere.

The great news for the upcoming season is the new lighting. The ambient light will be twice as bright this year. Looks pretty good to me.

BYU vs. Wyoming Football- Action!

September 29, 2008PhotojournalismAndrew Rich, barf, Brandon Bradley, Brandon Howard, brigham young university, byu, david nixon, Devin Moore, football, Fui Vakupuna, Greg Bolling, Josh Biezuns, O'Neill Chambers, rick egan, Russell Tialavea, salad, Shawn Doman, Shiloah Te'o, sports, Tashaun Gipson, vomitTrent Nelson

Over a week later, my edit…

Brandon Bradley brings down Devin Moore

David Nixon, Shawn Doman, Russell Tialavea bring down Devin Moore

Fans watching Max Hall in action

Andrew Rich and Shiloah Te’o lift Josh Biezuns and slam him to the turf

Brandon Howard watches Greg Bolling pull down a reception

Wyoming players shove BYU’s Fui Vakupuna

Neill Chambers leaps over Tashaun Gipson

After a hard hit, a Wyoming player vomits

BYU – Startled Salad Man

September 29, 2008Photojournalismbrigham young university, byu, david nixon, football, rick egan, salad, sportsTrent Nelson

Sorting through 1300+ photos from the BYU vs. Wyoming football game last weekend, I noticed a few things. Like when David Nixon returned an interception for a touchdown. It was a tough shot from where I was, but Trib photographer Rick Egan had the good angle so all was good. The sequence is filled with colorful characters standing on the sideline in the background.

My favorite is obviously Startled Salad Man. Let’s enjoy the closeup:

I’ll do something serious (or not) about the game shortly. Right now I’m going to get a slice of pizza.

Utah Football Takes The Field

September 10, 2008Photojournalismfootball, kyle whittingham, rice-eccles stadium, salt lake city, sports, university of utah, utahTrent Nelson

Got to Utah’s home opener the other night to try out some angles. Since I wasn’t shooting game action I had a little freedom to get creative. The Utes came out of the locker room to gather in this little inflatable tent thing.

Coach Kyle Whittingham came out. He’s a little soft in the shot, only because I don’t use the center-spot autofocus when I’m using the camera on a monopod (which lets me hold the camera as much as five feet up over my head). I switch it the mult-spot AF mode, since I never know where the center of the frame will be. Am I the only one who has noticed that there is so little depth of field with digital? This was shot at 16mm, which means everything front to back should pretty much be in focus. At least, they were in the film days. Maybe it’s just that patented Canon softness.

Before the team took the field, I put myself in what I thought was the best position for an overhead of the “run-out.” But as you can see things weren’t quite as organized as I had hoped. Not to judge, I wasn’t as organized for the first game either. I’ll be back to get it right.

Minor League, Baseball

September 9, 2008Photojournalismbaseball, franklin covey field, Jeff Kennard, matt brown, sacramento river cats, salt lake bees, salt lake city, sports, sports photography, utahTrent Nelson

I didn’t notice this photo until today, as I edited through Friday’s take from the Salt Lake Bees playoff game vs. the Sacramento River Cats. It’s the crowd reacting to a home run by Sacramento’s #17 (the roster’s in my car, and besides— it’s not like printing his name here would mean anything to anyone). Shot with a 400mm lens from the 3rd base photo well.

The game was pretty lousy. Salt Lake gave up 13 runs on 17 hits, and this is Salt Lake pitcher Jeff Kennard feeling it in the ninth inning (above).

There’s an old saying in newspaper photography: If you don’t want them to run it, don’t send it in.

But every once in a while I lose my common sense and send in a photo that has no business being published, like the one above that ran on an inside page. I’ll not make excuses. I had better stuff.

This is the sports front with another of my photos from the same play, with Matt Brown looking frustrated in a tough loss. Oh, it’s the photo to the right of the football.

Bad, Naughty Autofocus!

September 9, 2008Photojournalismautofocus, baseball, salt lake bees, salt lake city, sports, sports photography, utahTrent Nelson

I would have nailed this in the manual focus days, right?

Alta vs. Bingham football

September 1, 2008My Best Photos, My Best Work, Photojournalismalta high school, Ammon Olsen, bingham high school, football, high school football, Keith Sasine, Nate Girsberger, sports, sports photographyTrent Nelson

Four from Friday night’s big rivalry game, where Alta took down Bingham 27-19.

Bingham’s Nate Girsberger runs back an interception. His touchdown was called back on a penalty, but led to a Bingham field goal and a first quarter 17-3 lead. Shot with the 400 and teleconverter (560mm).

Equipment-wise I’m using three cameras. One with a 16-35mm wide angle, one with a 70-200mm medium telephoto, and one with a 400 or 600mm super telephoto lens. Also in the mix is a 1.4 teleconverter, which is on one of the telephotos or in my pocket.

Alta quarterback Ammon Olsen stretches for the end zone, but comes up just short. At left is Bingham’s Keith Sasine. Shot with the 70-200 (at 145mm).

Carrying all that gear for a full game gets a little tiring, but if I get a great photograph with each lens it’s worth it.

Alta QB Ammon Olsen celebrates the win as time expires. Shot with the 16-35 (at 27mm).

First Game Rust – Jordan v Northridge

August 24, 2008Photojournalismautofocus, bill vavau, chris washington, cory hunt, football, jordan high school, northridge high school, sandy, sports, sports photography, utahTrent Nelson

I can’t blame missing this split-second helmet knockoff on the camera’s autofocus like I usually do. My framing was off by just a bit. Screwy photographs like this are especially common from the first game of the season. After that, the rust clears away and we start to roll.

Sandy – Northridge’s Chris Washington knocks the helmet off Jordan’s Cory Hunt. Jordan’s Bill Vavau (50) looks on. Jordan vs. Northridge high school football, Friday, August 22, 2008, at Jordan.

trent nelson: photojournalist.

mood today: 50% calm, 50% tense