As much as it may not look like it based on the work you’ve seen of mine over the past semester, I don’t always make athletes look the prettiest. This week’s column is in honor of all those “awkward” moments
where effort takes precedence over aesthetics. All these photos are untouched and exactly as they were straight out of the camera. As a disclaimer: I will be taking some non-journalistic liberties in making assumptions, analyzing facial expressions and interpreting the accompanying emotions possibly being displayed. Enjoy!
What better way to emphasize the importance of being aware of your surroundings than a picture of a football player bowling over someone? I feel for this ref, as I too have been personally victimized by an athlete falling into me. Also, I’ve mentioned it before, but while the main lens I use to shoot football (and literally everything else, my 70-200mm f/2.8) does a good enough job, it isn’t the greatest when it comes to getting medium composition shots or on-field features. This uncropped photo, taken at 200mm is a good example of the limits of any given lens and how it’s sometimes difficult to get the correct composition without cropping.
While it can be a little nerve-wracking to be crushed by an athlete, I consider it somewhat of an occupational hazard in my case. I don’t know how well that applies to fans, but I guess the people sitting closest to the floor could probably be included in that. I love that this photo shows two contrasting reactions/dynamics here with Marina Crownover throwing her body into the chairs to try to keep the ball in play while the people sitting there run out of their seats.
Similar to the way I try to get photos of the volleyball players when they huddle after each point, I try to get photos of the basketball players when they huddle. They usually make for good neutral-toned photos that can be used in various contexts later on, if not for the article covering that game. This photo was clearly not a good result from one of these attempts, because the ref and the floor cleaner (is that the official title?) are getting in frame on the edges, all three players seen have their eyes in various stages of closed or not visible, and the focus is more on Jacob Crews and Anthony Robinson II as opposed to Mark Mitchell, which it should be here based on the composition.
This photo is a good example of the power of editing (not to be confused with toning where I change the way the photo looks, but editing as in the act of selecting or not selecting a photo to be used). I swear Kennedy Griffin didn’t fall here, but it sure looks like it in this frame.(Editor’s note: she definitely didn’t fall, as she scored a 9.90, ha!)
It can be cool to get photos of gymnasts doing flips mid-air, but I chose not to tone and upload this photo because it’s not clear what’s happening, which makes it kind of awkward on top of her facial expression.
I’ll never get over how impressive gymnasts are when performing stunts and making them look effortless. At the same time, it’s obvious in photos like these that they experience a lot of physical stress while doing so, and controlling facial expressions is clearly not the priority. My favorite part about this photo is how Railey Jackson’s face kind of unintentionally matches the old tiger logo on the jumbotron next to her. I actually almost selected this photo for toning and to be included in “Photos of the Week” for that reason, but figured I had other more useful and visually appealing photos to use.
Much like fighting against the forces of gravity can cause weird facial expressions, the need to breathe – and not necessarily look great while doing so – can cause the same. Thus, we get this photo of a swimmer coming up for a breath while competing in the 100 yard breaststroke. Question for the class: does a not awkward way to breathe while swimming competitively even exist? (Editor’s note: as a former swimmer myself, no, it never looks graceful.)
I do actually feel pretty bad for including this one because it’s probably one of the most unflattering ones but it’s just too good to take out. Chloe Sotell’s eyes being so wide while passing the ball, and her body being in the position it is paired with her expression is hilarious to me.
A similar funny facial expression example is this shot of Jacob Crews during player introductions. His wide eyes make me think he saw something interesting or something that made him go, “yikes!” but who knows. The cool lighting during the introductions can usually result in some cool features, but this is certainly not a great example of a photo that makes a player look good.
I would consider this photo awkward on two parts: 1. Anthony Robinson II’s face and 2. my focus being off. Robinson appears to be mid-blink, which makes for an awkward expression that I wouldn’t choose to feature. As for the focus, it looks like my autofocus was a bit slow on adjusting here because the ball is in focus and not Robinson (which I’m not all that upset about because the photo would’ve been a throwaway anyways).
This last one is more of a bonus because I’m not sure how much it counts as “awkward” per se, but it makes me giggle. I almost never listen to music when I shoot because my personal belief is that it’s important to be able to hear what’s going on around you, both for safety reasons like I brought up last week, and for awareness reasons in case good photo opportunities arise. I noticed this bag(?) floating by between plays during the football game against Texas A&M and it made me think of the song “Firework” by Katy Perry (“Do you ever feel like a plastic bag / Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?”). It was definitely a moment I mourned my choice to not listen to music while working…
All this to say: I have a lot of power in how my work presents athletes, and my choices in taking photos, toning them, and selecting them to be used matter. These photos certainly didn’t make the cut, but sometimes the visual interest of the photo itself trumps the negative context of the moment (think: the blocked extra point, Marquis Johnson watching the ball go over his head, Johnson with his head in his hands after “fumbling”). These photos are kind of funny, but they wouldn’t necessarily make for the best content for my portfolio and I doubt the athletes would appreciate a tag on my Instagram page for them… Check back in next week for some outtakes from the past semester!
