Preparing for the free throw

I must admit that I am not really a basketball fan.  I simply have zero interest in watching NBA games; I can tolerate college games, but do have some interest in high school games, when my students are playing.  True, it’s really more of an interest in supporting the students than it is the basketball.  It’s a tough season for this photographer, because the typical high school gym is very poorly lit.  I don’t have the time or funds to invest in remote strobes and also don’t want to use a flash court-side.  Which means that I am stuck using a very high ISO (sensitivity) and wide-open aperture, often resulting in noisy and out of focus photos.  When I get a good one, though, the effort pays off.

This weekend, our freshman team had their first scrimmage–they got off to a slow start but once warmed up played pretty well.  I must admit, I’m very biased as many of them are my advisees (and my favorite athletes).  With our Winterim adventures the past month, they’ve not had too many practices where all have been present.

These are my favorite captures of the morning.  I didn’t get very many keepers, though.  I was feeling a bit lazy, to be honest, and didn’t work too hard at getting in the right spots. Just like the guys, I was gearing up for the “real” season, I guess.

In the first shot, the defender blocks some of the free throw shooter (Jonathan), but I think he adds some context to the scene.  The look of concentration on the Jonathan’s face as he lines up the shot caught my eye.  With the poor lighting in this gym, the non-motion shots such as this came out a lot better than anything else.

Out of my way!

Basketball is supposed to be a non-contact sport.  In shot number two, Jonathan (again) is climbing all over the defender as he’s driving to the basket.  I have a few more in this sequence, but I’m missing the ball in all of them.  I managed to capture the action with some sharpness, complete with lots of contact.

Many more photos to come.  It’s a long season and I am looking forward to working on my techniques and sharing my photos with the athletes, their parents, and all of my friends.

More photos from the scrimmage are available in this gallery on my photography website.