LEFT: Jupiter’s Logan Heiser reacts after hitting a two run walkoff homerun to defeat Mexico 5-4 in the Ripken World Series championship game. RIGHT: Cal Ripken prepares to present the championship trophy to the team from Jupiter, Florida / August 16, 2008

Just when it looked like Mexico would win another Ripken World Series championship, Logan Heiser of Jupiter, Florida quickly dashed any hopes of that by smashing a two-run walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to capture the crown.

Jupiter had a chance to win it in the 6th inning, with a 2-1 lead, but a two-run home run by Mario Rodriguez put Mexico up 3-2. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Pavin Smith of Jupiter hit a solo homerun to send the game into extra innings.

Mexico added a run in the top of the seventh, but Heiser’s two-run homerun in the bottom of the inning ended the game sending the team from Jupiter onto the field to congratulate Heiser. The team grabbed an American flag and ran a lap around the stadium prior to receiving their trophy from Cal Ripken.

A player from the Bel Air Braves slaps the hands of teammates during player introductions during the Cal Ripken World Series Tournament. / August 10, 2008

Little league teams from all over the world traveled to Aberdeen to compete in the Cal Ripken World Series. The representative team from Harford County was the Bel Air Braves.

Unfortunately Bel Air failed to win any of it’s games, but the boys gained a great deal of experience from playing some very excellent teams.

2008-2009 John Carroll Wrestling Team

This is the continuation from Part 1 of the wrestling team poster project done using a green screen. In part one, I explained how I used a green screen to put together a team picture.

The next stage was to provide some sample background images to be selected for the final poster. I submitted for review, ten different images, from pastures to buildings, for potential candidates for the final poster. Coach Watson and his staff settled on the stormy clouds version. In addition, he let me know that one of the original wrestlers has transferred to another school and would need to be removed. With the removal of that wrestler, I then rearranged the other guys to balance it out.

Coach Watson wondered if I could add a bolt of lighting to the sky. I played around with Photoshop after Googling for help inspiration and technique from others. I personally like the poster without the lightning, but the coaches loved it, and wanted it included.

The final step was to add the text, and get the final OK. Once approved, it was time to send the final image to the lab to print the posters.

This was a fun learning experience, and would gladly accept another project that could utilize the green screen.

In fact, I am going to start utilizing this technique for doing T&I (team and individual). No more ugly bleachers or gym stages in the backgrounds. Another benefit is that there is no need for everyone to wait around for the entire team to show up — I’m sure the parents will appreciate that aspect.

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If you are a sports photographer and frequently shoot high school night games of football, soccer, or lacrosse, you have probably experienced poor lighting. Some of the newer fields have decent lighting, but a majority of the ones I visit are marginal at best.

Prior to Bel Air High School being remodeled, if I shot a game without flash on the old football field, I would usually come away disappointed with my results. The light reading on that field was ISO 3200 f/2.8 1/250 on the best lit areas of the field. The team wears dark blue uniforms and shots from the endzone and sideline would be horrible, unless you shot at 1/60.

If you shoot at night with a flash sitting on-camera, you will end up with a majority of your subjects with red eye or ghost (white) eye. Pupils are dilated and the light from your flash is so close to the lens axis that red eye is unavoidable in that situation. To use flash without getting red eye, the flash needs to be distanced from the lens axis. One way would be to put the flash up high above your camera. Well, in doing that, you being nimble and having the ability to move up and down the sidelines quickly is probably hindered. What I do is put my flash below my camera. This allows me to move up/down the sidelines pretty much the same way I would without flash. The flash below keeps the weight low to the ground and doesn’t affect my shooting ability.

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Go to any high school or recreational league where sports are being played, and you’ll find parents, grandparents, and friends with cameras.

From my observations, I see many folks whip out their pocket camera or digital SLR and just snap away when “Little Johnny” hits the field, most likely capturing many pictures of his back, or becoming unrecognizable because he is so far away and just shows up as a blip on the picture.

With some planning and keeping in mind some of my tips below, you can transform yourself from a sideline snapshooter into a quality sportsshooter, and create photographs worth looking at over and over again. Creating better images will not only make you proud of yourself, you will have cherished images to complement your memories.

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