Grid Iron Gladiators
For the past four years, I have been making (end of season) stylized images for some of the Casa Roble (Orangevale, CA) Varsity football players.
For the past four years, I have been making (end of season) stylized images for some of the Casa Roble (Orangevale, CA) varsity football players. I started making high contrast images on white and expanded to some on-field images two years ago. My goal was to make the type of images I wish I had as a player. These guys work very hard all year and it means a lot to me to make an image of this part of their life.
This year due to a scheduling conflict, I couldn't use the school's field, so I moved the shoot to my studio.
I wanted to continue with the white background style and didn't want to give up on the field look so after a quick trip to home depot and a purchased 12 by 8-foot section of artificial grass, I had a field style look in the studio.
I made two sets with two cameras. Set 1 had a white background, while Set 2 had the artificial turf. I wanted to be able to shoot them against the white background and then go straight to the turf set.
Set 1 was designed with four alien bee lights. For this set, I used grids and snoots to highlight different parts of the players. This style translates well with the high contrast black and white.
The camera for this set was the Nikon D810 with a Sigma 105 art lens.
For field set lighting, I wanted to replicate the look of a stadium light, so I started with 1 Indra 500 with a wide-angle reflector with grid high and directly behind the players. The second and main light was to camera left for that I used the Solas Strip Softbox with Grid. That was positioned fairly high and angeled down to minimize the spill on the ground. For the 3rd light, I used a 7inch dish with a 20dgrwe grid to camera left; I wanted that light to skip across the front of the players.
The last part of the look was a little smoke from the fog machine; it just seems to give it the depth I like.
All images were edited with the new Luminar 4
The camera was the Nikon z6 with the Sigma 85 art lens.
It's December and we just finished playing in the championship game.
The football season came to a close on Saturday, December 1. It was a very long, but rewarding season. The team started conditioning on January 30 at 5:50 AM and continued training every morning until late November. This season was special to me for many reasons, the biggest being that it was my youngest son's last season in high school.
I’m so happy to have these times with Ryan. Photo by @s.kip
The football season came to a close on Saturday, December 1 for the Casa Roble RAMS they ended the season with an 11 wins and 2 losses. It was a very long, but rewarding season. The team started conditioning on January 30 at 5:50 AM and continued training every morning until late November. This season was special to me for many reasons, the biggest being that it was my youngest son's last season in high school. I have spent the past 16 years working with my kids in all of their athletic endeavors. From coaching volleyball and track with my girls, to football and track with my boys. One thing I told my wife when our kids were young was, I would never miss any of their sporting events or activities. When I was a kid, my parents were always there to pick me up after a defeat or pat me on the back after a win. I had teammates that never had a parent go to a game and I always felt bad for them. Having family support meant so much to me. I feel fortunate that photography as a profession has allowed me to control my schedule so I could coach and be a part of everything my kids have done.
Ryan- all 4 years of football, starting with Freshman year.
If you know me, you know that I loved playing football! Football to me is a brotherhood, it's given me the tools that I've used throughout my life. I wanted so much for my boys to have a similar experience. I have to say that this season exceeded all of my hopes and expectations. Sure they were very successful and won most of their games, but they ultimately lost the championship. The season was more than wins and losses. The lessons the boys took from this season will help mold the rest of their lives.
I am so proud of my son Ryan. He faced a big uphill battle during the first part of the season. He had a significant quad tear in his left leg that occurred during track season, it took months of therapy and rehabilitation before the season even started. He was fortunate that it only affected the first few games and by the end of the season, he was playing his best football. Ryan really took training and preparation seriously and the results showed. He was the fastest, strongest combination on the team and was able to take the punishment of the season and stay relatively injury free. He is physically and mentally ready to continue playing after high school if he desires.
6am workouts 4 days a week since January.
My involvement with the team started with me helping with weight training and conditioning in the mornings. I was more than happy to give my time (5:50 am) and knowledge for the betterment of the entire team. As the season approached I took on the additional responsibilities of handling the technology and operations needed to help make Friday night games happen. Let's just say, it is like putting on a mini-concert every Friday night. I also helped with minor bumps and bruises after game days to help get them ready to play the next week
Getting Ryan stretched before the game. Photo by @s.kip
Over the years I've been able to watch different groups of coaches work with my kids. I have to say that the coaching staff that Chris Horner put together was the best I've ever been part of. I believe that one of the marks of a great head coach is to assemble great assistant coaches and let them do their job, this is certainly what Chris did with his coaches. I've spent a lot of time these past three years with Chris, and one thing that is totally clear is his desire to develop outstanding men. Sure he cares about wins and losses, but he cares more about how his players are doing. He makes sure that they make good choices, are good citizens at school and good citizens within the community. I know these boys will look back with nothing but admiration from their time with Chris.
Chris congratulating Ryan after a big sack. His enthusiasm was contagious!
Ryan's team was a great group of boys! I have been able to watch many of the kids grow up, in some cases from elementary school. Watching how well these kids got along and how close they all are, was really special. To watch them all play on Friday nights was just icing on the cake. The time they spent with each other working out, practicing, and playing will mean a lot to them later on.
Ryan and some of his teammates.
There is certainly going to be a hole in my life with no more high school football, but I'm excited to see what is next with all my kids!
Pre game runout. Ryan carried the Navy flag at each home game.
Football Life
I've been photographing my boy's football teams for the past six years. It's totally a labor of love. Watching them on the field is about as good as it gets!
I've been photographing my boy's football teams for the past six years. It's totally a labor of love. Watching them on the field is about as good as it gets! I try to create images that I wish I had when I played. My youngest son is in his senior year and the last season he'll play football in high school. I've really been trying to the document this season in different ways.
On a recent away football game, I rented a Sigma 24mm art lens from my local camera store (Action Camera). I really wanted to get into the boy's space and not artificially. What do I mean by artificially well we all have a personal space that's probably an arms distance from the other person. If you enter the space with the zoom lens from a distance it doesn't feel as intimate, when you physically move into that space something changes and the image has more connection. It's something I try to do in my portrait work and wanted to bring that over to some of my sports images. I think is something that has roots in my early days with newspaper photography.
I have to say the Sigma 24 mm lens was a dream to work with it was very fast and I'm extremely happy with how it rendered the colors and tones. I think it's a lens that'll add to my bag permanently in the next year.
End of the season..
Well the season came to an end on Friday night with a 1 point loss to Center High School. I felt terrible for the boys.
Well the season came to an end on Friday night with a 1 point loss to Center High School. I felt terrible for the boys.
My boy is #17, and has 1 more year on the team.
This year we had an entirely new varsity staff. We knew we had a good team, but they're all very young. The season certainly had its ups and downs. Through all of it I made images of the good times and the bad. We ended up having a good run at the end of the season, and were seeded number 2 in the playoffs, which was very exciting. We won our 1st round playoff game. This was further than any of the Casa Roble teams had gone in the past.
I had been thinking about making portraits after the games for a few weeks and figured this would be a good chance win or lose. So I pulled out the generator, set up my lights, and was able to make these images after the game.
The team should be extremely competitive with this many returning kids. Already looking forward to next year!
Friday Night Lights
I’m so excited to have football back! Along with photography, fitness has been another huge part of my life. This year I was asked to help with strength training for my son's varsity football team. I grew up in the gym starting at age 13, picking up weights for a membership and am still there several times a week. So, I was very happy to help the team and share some of my experience. It's funny, because when I was in high school and training for football, we used medicine balls, climbing ropes, and pushed my friend's truck in a parking lot. Fast forward to today and we are using the same stuff, except we switched the truck for a sled.
I’m so excited to have football back! Along with photography, fitness has been another huge part of my life. This year I was asked to help with strength training for my son's varsity football team. I grew up in the gym starting at age 13, picking up weights for a membership and am still there several times a week. So, I was very happy to help the team and share some of my experience. It's funny, because when I was in high school and training for football, we used medicine balls, climbing ropes, and pushed my friend's truck in a parking lot. Fast forward to today and we are using the same stuff, except we switched the truck for a sled.
My boy #17
Anyway, I was very pleased to see the boys come out on Friday's game and dominate physically! I hope it keeps up. The big test will be in the next few games.
Final score from Friday was Casa Roble 56 - Bella Vista 0.
Friday Night Lights
Another football season has come and gone. My youngest, Ryan (#32) is a sophomore and on the JV team, who won the league with a 10 and 0 record. My oldest son, Ethan (#40) is a senior on Varsity. Varsity was 3 and 7, which made for a tough season.
I always struggle with the written word. I feel as if I can never do my thoughts justice. Hopefully this reads well.
Another football season has come and gone. My youngest, Ryan (#32) is a sophomore and on the JV team, who won the league with a 10 and 0 record. My oldest son, Ethan (#40) is a senior on Varsity. Varsity was 3 and 7, which made for a tough season.
This high school football season was very special for me. I had both my boys playing on Friday night for the first and last time. The pride and excitement I had on Friday nights was unbelievable. You would have thought I was playing. Several times I had to take a deep breath and relax.
Yeah thats me from high school.
A select few know the struggles I had growing up with severe dyslexia. In middle school I was placed in a different class, different recess, and different P.E from the rest of the kids. This lead to fairly heavy bullying and very low self esteem. I never participated in social or group activities until I played football in High School. Football was the one thing that kept me in school and led me to college.
I’m very fortunate I could document their actions and enjoy every game from the sidelines. As a photographer I get one of the best views on the field, roaming free. I tried to capture the whole team’s efforts. I approached photographing the games, by trying to get the kind of images I wish I had when I played. The only downside to shooting from the field is not sitting with my wife in the stands. I truly wish we could have shared our excitement together, but I can’t be in two places at once.
I took the opportunity at the end of the season to make some images for them and a few team members. I pulled out the full setup. 4 lights and the fogger. I wanted to give them something a little more "hero" feel.
I have two more years of Varsity football with Ryan. I’m not sure how I’ll manage when its all done, but I will enjoy every moment until then.
