I attended to different caliber lacrosse games over the weekend, i've been trying to spread out my subjects over one sport, rather than just photographing one team. I had the opportunity to use a f2.8 400mm lens, along with a few other lens, which yielded some really great photos. I had the chance to photograph one of the biggest lacrosse games of the season when I went back to Charlottesville for the weekend, the Virginia Cavaliers took on the reigning National Champs, Johns Hopkins Univ. Eventhough Hopkins had already lost 2 straight games, they put up a real fight agains the Cavs in a heated battle that went back and forth in the scoring. The majority of the game consisted of either a one point lead, or a tie. The game went all the way into overtime until Uva overcame the obstacle, scoring, to give them the win in sudden death OT. I wanted to capture different perspectives of the game but because of the circumstances, I really couldn't get away from my "post" and walk around. The crowd was so intense and packed, I had to stay put and watch over my camera gear. There was just too many people there to go wandering off. I do think going to the game gave me some different levels of the game, ranging from club team to division 1 team. I also want to cover younger and older ages as well. Before the end of the semester, I plan to document youth teams too, giving a lot of diversity in age groups, hopefully images as well. I feel the change of faces and atmosphere could lead to interesting photos, but could also help point out stereotypes that are found around the game of lacrosse.
Here are some of the photos I gathered from the two games I shot this weekend.
Overall I was really pleased with the outcome of the photographs this weekend, I am just still having trouble with piecing everything together. At this point, I am just photographing different age groups and finding different aspects of the game that I can show the viewer to illustrate characters of the game that may not be obvious. I may even try just photographing one person, a 5-6 photo collection showing sides of a person that may not specifically relate to the sport of lacrosse, but show how their personality translates to the sport, how they dress, wear their hair, act around people. There are many parts of the game that could potentially change how a person acts. Personally, playing lacrosse made me exaggerate the athlete in me. I'd bring my lacrosse stick everywhere, always wear mesh shorts, grow my hair out longer. I think maybe these are the things I should focus on, but I'd also like it to contribute to the stock sports aspect, not linger in a completely different direction. I do want to focus on my abilities to create stories through images, but I don't feel that this is the right event to do it with. I am planning photographing the Richmond bike scene, which may be a little better, subject wise, I am not familiar with it, so I feel like I have a lot more to see and learn about the atmosphere and people I will encounter.
