SSA VIII, Recovering

Boxers sparring at LeHabra Boxing Club

For the last five days I have been in Orange County, CA for "the coolest sports event of the year", the eighth edition of the Sports Shooter Academy. This intense, four day course is instructed by some of the best names in Sports Photography. Names like the founder, Robert Hanishiro, USA Today photographer,  John McDonough, SI Staff Photographer, Rob Mar, Seattle Seahawks team photographer and cover designer for EA Sports games, Matt Brown, Southern California Photographer and Co-Founder, and many more SI assistants.

The impetus behind this event is that folks like Bert want to educate those with a passion for sports photography. He surrounds himself with photographers/instructors that have the same drive and they come together for the semi-annual event in Southern California. 

Each day is setup with several tracks for one to follow. You can stay in the classroom and learn about issues like copyrights, working with SID's or shooting sports portraits. Or if you prefer you can head out on the street and choose the sport that you wish. This years included, water polo, boxing, beach and indoor volleyball, football, soccer, cross country running and surfing. 

During each shoot instructors wander around and help students and participants with choosing angles, camera settings, choosing backgrounds and so many little things that play such a key roles in creating a good photograph. 

Sports Illustrated Staffer John McDonough

After the shoot is when the magic begins. Each student convened on the Avalon Room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and ingested the thousands of photos that were shot during the day. Again, the instructors made themselves available for each photographer, sitting with them and offering assistance with choosing the right photos, making the right crops and choosing clean backgrounds. For those that look to take this to the next level, this is where they start to understand what editors are looking for. For someone like me that has never had formal training/education on sports or any photography for that matter, this really helped to bring it together.

Editing began around 7PM each evening and at the end of the editing time (usually 10:300-11), each photographer submitted their four best edited, captioned and cropped photos. The staff then put all the photos together for an end of the evening gallery, in which the faculty then chose the best photo of the day. This was a long and intense process as we had 48 shooters, all with three to four shots a piece. The work submitted for the end of the day galleries were amazing. It is so motivating to see the work of all of these people that have the same goal, nailing that perfect composition, one that tells a story. 

From the start of this event for me at water polo, I knew that I was up against some really good sports photographers. I could see them climbing for that special shot, rolling around in the dirt, standing up to their knees in a murky pond, hanging from a tree and so many I cannot describe. The enthusiasm was thick as the morning California fog. It felt good to be able to help some of the students with questions around remote setup, shooting football or soccer, since I had done this at a pro level.

A Santa Ana receiver catches a pass during the second quarter

We closed the event on Saturday afternoon with a match up between two community college level teams from the southern California area. The game was amazing as the teams traded the lead several times but ended up tying at the end of regulation. The game went to two overtimes and the intensity was unreal. Bert said this about the game "Rod, Matt, Wally and I all agreed that the Santa Ana College double OT win over Palomar College that ended the shooting schedule was THE best football game any of us have witnessed in our careers". 

Special thanks to Bert for his tireless efforts to pull off eight of these great workshops, all while having a family and a great job. I hope to have the opportunity to do this again next year as I know that I will have the opportunity to learn more from this great staff.