Tag Archives: sports

Jazz vs. Kings – Getting Bugged

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The Utah Jazz hosted the Sacramento Kings the other night. I was expecting a good shoot, but it seemed like the jumbotron photographers and their cable-pullers were getting in my way all night long. The cameraman kept leaning out in front of me, and his hefty cable-puller buddy took up 1.5 floor spots. It felt like I was photographing with tunnel vision: on the left I had the refs and on the right I had these guys. It was so bad I had to get up and move to another shooting position. But if I hadn’t been so ticked off, I never would have captured this fine moment:

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BYU vs. SDSU – Storytelling

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I’ve talked a lot about storytelling in sports photography. The best sports photos to me are of the big play or a key moment. The other night at BYU vs. San Diego State, my key shot was when BYU’s Trent Plaisted took a charge, giving SDSU’s Ryan Amoroso his fourth foul. As you can see above, Plaisted let out a yell and Amoroso is, like, “What?”

After a moment like this, you realize that it will be worthless if the game ends up otherwise. BYU held on to win, so to me the photo told the story of the game perfectly. I sent it in but sadly it wasn’t published until now.

For you basketball fans, a couple of action shots. Everyone else can stop reading.

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(Sam Burgess, above. Trent Plaisted, below.)

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BYU vs. SDSU pre-game

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During the pre-game introductions, you make a choice: Sit and watch, or stand and shoot. Above: Brigham Young’s Michael Loyd (left) and Sam Burgess.

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Above: Trent Plaisted.

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Above: Michael Loyd leads the BYU basketball team in screaming inside a swirling, chanting mosh-pit huddle.

Red Rocks Gymnastics – Beam

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Above: Katie Kivisto

The first time I shot gymnastics was when I was sixteen. I was enlisted to videotape my younger sisters’ routines in an annual gymnastics showcase called the “Flip Fop Follies.”

I did a horrible job. In fact, I’m still taking heat for how horrible my camera work was. My sisters are still mad about it.

I think I’ve come a long way from the (and I love saying the name) “Flip Flop Follies.” The Huntsman Center, home to last year’s second-best college team in the country, is a long way from Diablo Gym where my sisters rocked the beam. In fact, I’ve photographed two NCAA Gymnastics Championships and the USA women’s team taking gold at the Olympics.

Above and below: Kristina Baskett

Red Rocks Gymnastics – Bars

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It always takes a day or two after a long vacation for things to start clicking. The rest and relaxation that comes from being away from the job clears out all of the deadline-caused tension, stress, and toxins: the very ingredients needed to create art (or in this case, creative photographs).

For me, the clicking resumed last night at the University of Utah gymnastics team (Red Rocks) preview. I was stuck with a 400mm lens (the 300′s were out on other assignments) and I tried to push my equipment to the limit.

Above: Katie Kivisto on the bars. 400mm lens.

Above: Nina Kim dismounts the bars. 70-200mm lens.

Shooting the dismount is often a waste of time. The athletes are spinning so fast that you can’t freeze the action in the low light. I got lucky.

The light in the Huntsman Center is so top-down that it can be rough on your take. Many images end up being discarded in the editing process from the poor light, especially when an athlete is looking down. These were all shot at 1/500, f2.8, ISO 1600. White balance at the Huntsman Center: 3600 Kelvin is perfect; just expect the blue cast coming up from the mats and pads.

More pictures next post…

BYU vs. SUU

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Above: Brigham Young’s Trent Plaisted (top) and Southern Utah’s Tate Sorenson look up for the rebound. BYU vs. Southern Utah Univeristy (SUU), mens college basketball, Friday, December 21, 2007 at BYU’s Marriott Center in Provo.

Just a few photos from the game last night.

Above: BYU’s Trent Plaisted runs into a forest of defense.

Forest of defense? I didn’t send that caption in for publication. Maybe I should have – it might have attracted some coveted young readers.

Just a thought: what if I got paid based on how many clicks my photos got on the Trib site? I could start creatively inserting popular search terms like “thong” into all of my captions to drive up the traffic. You know, if we got paid by hits, it might start a rash of creative captioning. But I guess the reality would be this- whenever I photographed a high school girls basketball game, I would only shoot players named Britney or Paris (or Jamie Lynn) or other names that were popular with search engines. Okay, this idea is so over. There is no one named “Anna Chakvetadze” on any Utah sports team.

In the second half, little worth watching was happening. But a couple of times guys were diving into the photo box, nearly splitting open their heads on 400/2.8′s.

This guy (Sam Burgess) just about took me out chasing down a loose ball. With a couple minutes to go and a comfortable fifteen point lead, Lee Cummard went flying into the fans diving after a loose ball.

Bobsled World Cup

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A few outtakes from the FIBT World Cup 4-man Bobsled Competition at the Utah Olympic Park back on the 8th. Above, the sled from Romania, piloted by Nicolae Istrate.

I covered bobsled during the Olympics. Here are the things to remember when photographing bobsled:

1. Never walk uphill. Get a ride to the top of the track and walk down.
2. It’s always too cold. Count on freezing.
3. The sleds are always faster than you think.
4. Figure out who is going to win so you can get creative with those who have no chance of a medal. If there is a team from a country without snow, that’s the perfect sled to try some crazy angle or risky technique on.
5. There are two runs in a lot of winter sports. Shoot action (on the track) on the first run, then head to the finish line to shoot reaction on the second run, like this one where the teammates of Steven Holcomb (USA) celebrate their gold medal:

Below, the sled from Monaco.

Below, Latvia. It’s a lousy photo, I’m just wondering what that photographer’s picture looked like.

BYU vs. Utah Football – Onto the Field

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Utah has a minute or so on the clock to run a few plays, and the photographers are all planning their post-game approach. Before the game we decided that two of the three Tribune photographers would focus on the winning team after the game and one would focus on the losing team. I’m assigned to the winners. I look around and see all these BYU security folk and cops with ropes around the field. I interpret this as meaning that no fans are going to rush the field and we’ll have a clear shot of the on-field celebration. I plan to sit tight and shoot from the sideline, rather than do a crazy run out onto the field.

I lean over to the photographer next to me, point to my super-telephoto 600mm lens, and say, “I’m going long on the postgame. Something tells me that’s the right approach.” He doesn’t say what he’s planning, but I’m feeling good about my choice.

A couple plays later the clock runs out and BYU has won the game. I start to take a couple of my long-view shots and immediately, something is blocking my view. The fans are loose:

A swarm of fans is rushing the field. Unless I do the same, I won’t be getting anything. So I get up with all my gear and start to run…shooting as I run…

In these situations, there’s always a big scrum in the middle of things. If you don’t get into the scrum as it forms, you aren’t getting a shot. As you can see, I’m not in the scrum.

After a moment I realize I need to find something else. There are two other Tribune photographers on the field and I’ll just have to assume that they are getting anything I’m missing.

To be continued…

BYU vs. Utah Football – The Winning Touchdown

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So BYU’s got the ball on the 11, down one point, about a minute left on the clock. I’m in perfect position for a game-winner. Put down the 600mm lens (above) and go to the 70-200. They’re that close. Check the exposure, white balance, how full my card is. It’s going to happen in a matter of seconds. I’m ready. Nothing can go wrong.

The ball goes to Harvey Unga, who runs straight through the Utah defense for the game-winning touchdown. I’m in the perfect position to capture it all. Here is my sequence:

I’ve got the perfect look at the play, until Mr. B steps in front of me. You can guess what B stands for.

I love how he’s still in front of me for the celebration. Keep in mind, there is no time to move to a better angle. This all took place in seconds.

Utah vs. San Diego State – Crops

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Utah quarterback Brian Johnson scrambles. Utah vs San Diego State (SDSU) college football at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Back to football. For the above image, I’m flat on my stomach, lucking out with that guy’s legs. That’s the full frame. I’m still trying to compute the best crop out of it.

Above is the full frame, below the crop. Notice the difference in impact.


A group of Utah defenders including Greg Newman (left), Stevenson Sylvester (bottom) and Joe Jiannoni (right) bring down San Diego State running back Atiyyah Henderson. Utah vs San Diego State (SDSU) college football at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Again, above the full frame and below the crop.

Utah defenders Koa Misi (left) and Alex Puccinelli sack San Diego State quarterback Kevin O’Connell. Utah vs San Diego State (SDSU) college football at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

This one really ticked me off. I was in the right spot to catch a wide shot of the touchdown dive, but there was a penalty called and the play didn’t count. Full frame above, crop below. I kept this one pretty loose.

Utah’s Derrek Richards dives into the end zone for what would have been a score, but a penalty nullified the play. Utah vs San Diego State (SDSU) college football at Rice-Eccles Stadium.