Army vs Pepperdine Women's Volleyball

Wow, what can I say. I have shot middle school championship volleyball, high school playoffs, and now D-1 college volleyball. Last Thursday I got an email from a friend of mine in New York who runs his own sports action photography business called CSI Photo. He currently shoots for several colleges, one being WestPoint (Army). Well their women's volleyball team was participating in a volleyball tournament out here at Pepperdine University and he asked if I would be interested in shooting their game against Pepperdine on Saturday night. Well, how could I say no. So after a few calls back and fourth and then to the SID (Sports Information Director) of Pepperdine University all was set.

It was a great drive to Malibu and along the coast as I headed out to Pepperdine University. What a beautiful college over looking the coast. With a great location came some outstanding volleyball. Thanks Dave for the opportunity to shoot my first D-1 College and shooting one of your colleges.

Here are my favorites from these games.

Belmont Shores Women's Rugby

Not only is it time for football, but it's also time for some rugby. Fall marks the beginning of rugby out here and I try to get out to the Belmont Shores Women's Rugby games as much as possible. This Saturday was no exception, so here are some shots from today's game.

My Nephew and Cross Country

Today started with my nephews cross country meet. He is a freshmen at Torrance High and made the varsity cross country team, although he ran as a freshmen during this meet. His coach wants him to see how it feels to place, if not win, a meet, so he had him run on the freshmen team.

Before this meet his best time was 19min's. His official time was 17min's giving him second place with the boys freshmen team. Congratulations Draven, you did an outstanding job and are going to be an asset to the varsity team.

Prior to the start of his race I walked the course and found three spots to get some decent shots of him. This meet was held at a park, which made it rought to find a clear spot to shoot from that didn't give me a distracting background. All in all I was happy with my positioning and my shots.

This first shot was taken just about 1/4 mile into the race.

This next shot was taken at the half-way point.

And here are a few shots as my nephew approaches the finish-line.

Lakewood Varsity Football vs Peninsula

This Friday marked our second pre-season game, which was against Peninsula. For this game I tried something new with my flash. I've been reading about sports photographers who are attaching their flash to their monopod, which eliminates or at least lessens red-eye. I purchased a super clamp that I attached to my monopod about 2 to 2 1/2 feet below my camera and a stud to attach my flash cord to. I had my flash and camera set to manual. The flash was at 1/2 power and attached to a battery pack. My camera was set to ISO 3200, f/2.8, with a shutter between 1/400 and 1/620. When I took shots of the players on the sideline and the cheerleaders I adjusted my shutter to 1/1200.

So with all that said, here are a some of my favorites.

Lakewood Freshmen Football vs Peninsula

Week two finds me shooting the Freshmen game at Lakewood High against visiting Peninsula High. Last week's game against Crenshaw was a tough one for this Lakewood team with them losing 48-0. This week found them on the other side of the game with a win.

Here are some of my favorites from this game.