The team both lifted weights and had a practice out on Finley Field today. The practice could not come soon enough for me. The weight lifting routine was for me getting, well, routine. While the strength and conditioning staff does an excellent job of mixing up the sessions with different workouts, I was getting to the point that I felt maxed out creatively on what I could do in there. I knew that would going to be a challenge: To find new angles in a repetitive environment. But I have been pushing myself to come out at least once a week regardless and push myself to find something new to do. The first couple days of weight room I took the machine gun approach and took a ton of photos. Now however, I take way fewer photos — taking them now more deliberately after studying the environment and trying to think outside the box. It’s not unusual now for me to just watch the players do a few reps on an exercise before even picking up the camera.
Today broke up the monotony as it was my first practice to photograph. The team started last week but I missed it while I was out of town. Even without the benefit of a calendar to tell me that outdoor practice had started last week, my olfactory intuition would have clued me in. The locker room typically had a neutral smell to it. But when I walked in today, the equipment and padding worn out to practices brought a certain, well, striking scent to the air.
It was great to see the lacrosse team in lacrosse gear. I was freshing to be in a new environment and feel like a kid in a candy store. So many photo opportunities…so little time. It was also a relief to be away from the terrible lighting in the weight room.
I split my time during practice taking the “sports photographer” approach and the “creative photographer” approach. As the sports photographer I took action photos of them practicing and running drills using a lens with a long focal length. The creative photographer in me took photos with a wider lens and focused on the human aspect rather than the action.
