Behind the scenes of a sports action senior photoshoot.
Meet Mike. Mike's a senior at a local high school in my area in northern Minnesota. As a senior photographer, it is easy to tell when seniors are "into" their senior session and when, well, perhaps they would rather be doing anything else. Mike was all into his sports action pictures. His session was one of the few that was rescheduled multiple times due to weather. I am pretty sure we were on time #4 when we finally met for the first time. I had talked to his mom on the phone during the consult call I do with all my cleints. It was there I learned that he wanted some action shots of him on his mountain bike. As a freelance sports photographer, I couldn't wait to get this session started.
We met up at a local state park and got some of the more traditional shots out of the way.
This local state park is commonly used for its backdrop for senior photos in northern Minnesota. As a senior photographer, I suspect I used this location by request at least a dozen times this past summer. With it's rock buildings, iconic swinging bridge and natural backgrounds such as the St. Louis river and tall trees, it checks the boxes for a lot of seniors. We took our pictures and knew we were battling the daylight hours and headed over to a nearby mountain bike trail in Cloquet, Minnesota.
Senior photo taken at Jay Cooke State Park
The Mountain Bike Shots
With about an hour of daylight left, we made our way to his hometown trail. With my trusty Westcott Fj400's lights, light stands and camera, we hiked just shy of a half mile up the trail. The heat of the summer kicked in, carrying my gear I was already starting to sweat and with dusk approaching the mosquitoes started to come out. My failproof mosquito spray was back in my car. This started the hour-long battle of getting into the photographer zone and ignoring the elements of the bugs.
For senior sports action shots, it is all about the setup of the lights and the position of not only the athlete but also the photographer. What I could not control in this specific example was where Mike would be biking, i.e. the trail. I had to find a spot where I could capture him on the jump with the lights hitting him just right. Pushing the button to take the actual picture is the easiest part of being a photographer. It is the accurate setup that makes the shot. We did several test runs before I found my ideal spot for me and for the light stand. Luckily, his mom was with and could hold the lights as it was not even ground in that particular location. While I am not a rookie at this, I made a rookie mistake that I should have anticipated, I failed to bring something to sit on. So now not only was I trying desperately to ignore the mosquitoes, but I was also trying to ignore what bugs, ticks could be crawling on me. As a country girl, I am used to bugs but prefer not to have them on me if possible.
Mike had two spots scoped out that he wanted to get some action shots. One had more daylight and worked well for a few still shots with him and his bike. The other was pretty secluded, and that dark backdrop made for some unique action shots. I like to show my seniors the action shots so they can see themselves and how the picture is framing up. If you have ever seen anyone play a sport or bike with intensity, it is common for the face to tighten up or for the athlete to make facial expressions that they are not even aware they are making. While I personally like the shots, Mike wanted to keep trying for his perfect shot with the right expression and angle of the bike. In the end, I think we got close to 50 shots. I lost count how many times we went over that jump and biked back up to the top. Oh, if I didn't mention, he did all this while wearing dress clothes and a tie. End result- he nailed it. I kept on showing him the pictures I was capturing, and he saw what he wanted to see. That perfect shot.
The gear I used on cover image: 1-Fj400 light with the Westcott Beauty Dish Switch by Manny Ortiz 36", Nikon Z9, Lens 14-24 2.8, Settings: ISO 400, 22MM, 1/200 shutter.
