Learning to develop a quick eye in sports photography

Owens Express women's basketball team surrounds coach Michael Llana during a timeout against Lake Michigan in the final NJCAA D-II tournament at Owens Community College on Saturday, November, 16. (PHO245 Photo by Nicole Green)

Alyssa Lassey 22 from Owens Express fumbles the ball while Eboni Adams, 11 tries to regain possession during the NJCAA Division 2 Women's Basketball game against Lake Michigan at Owens Community College. The Owens Express wins 74-71 against the Red Hawks on Saturday, November, 16. (PHO245 Photo by Nicole Green)

   This past week in photojournalism class, we were taught how to shoot a sports feature. As part of my assignment we were to attend any sporting event and cover it. I attended my first ever college women's basketball game played at Owens Community College. The Owens Express faced off in the tournament against Lake Michigan's Red Hawks this past Saturday

 There were a few problems while shooting an action sports game. First was the lighting in the building. There were some spots that were very well lit and I had really good correct exposure photos. Some of the pictures I took of people in the stands had bad lighting which came out underexposed and a  little dark. The other pictures that had dark lighting I figured out by bumping my f-stop up would give me more light to play with.
   The second reoccurring problem was my ability to focus on the subjects while in action. I had a lot of really good shots, but when the picture is amplified it had a lot of fuzz making the picture not acceptable to use.

   I had a lot of fun shooting the fans, the coaches’ reactions, and the intense action shots of each member of the teams during the game on court. Even though I enjoyed myself, I was overwhelmed with everything that was happening during the game. I had a very hard time trying to multitask every moment I captured in picture, while still trying to be aware of what was going on everywhere else in the field house during the game.

   Overall this was a good experience for me to learn on what not to do on capturing photos during live action sporting events. 

A fan shows her support during the women's basketball game between Owens Express and Lake Michigan held at Owens Community College.

The difference between portrait and candid photography

Ray Woods poses with the drum set in Jazz Expression music class at Owens Community College. (PHO245 Photo by Nicole Green)

   During portraits week, I was to find someone interesting within my beat and photograph them in their natural environment. I also needed a head shot on each of the subjects I photographed. I decided to visit a few music classes at Owens Community College for inspiration on this assignment. 

Zach Music

   The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was realizing portrait photography is much different than capturing candid photography. While both are used in photojournalism, shooting portraits of people can become somewhat difficult. It makes the photographer connect directly with the subject. Usually most photojournalist shoots a natural event or an interesting feature. With portraits you have to communicate with you subject and make them feel comfortable to get the perfect picture the subject exudes.
   Another minor obstacle was the position of lighting in the room. Since some of the instruments were to big and not portable, I was not able to move my subject under the light so there wouldn't be shadow and dark spots in the face and background. Instead, I had to work around the situation and have my subjects stand under the light using the capabilities my camera had along with basic knowledge I required in this photojournalism class.

   I want to thank Mr. Eric Wallack and the students in the Pop Music Ensemble class at Owens for granting me access into the classroom and helping me participating in this assignment. I also, want to thank the Jazz Ensemble music class at Owens for letting me come into their familiar territory as well.