Shooting in the Sunshine
DECEMBER 16, 2022
I have been shooting Lacrosse games for about 5 years now. I have been attending games as the kids get bigger and bigger. Lacrosse is interesting, because usually the two teams take up one side of the field. The end lines are usually dangerous places to watch, with some tournaments posting "Danger Zone" signs. When boys become men, they get muscles. Muscles with practice means they can throw a hard rubber lacrosse ball very fast (90-100 mph)! The last tournament I went to a person was hit in the head and started seizing. An ambulance was called, and I pray it was nothing permanent or serious.
So this leaves the sideline opposite the teams as a place to shoot. Or if you get in good with the tournament or one of the coaches, you may be able to go on the sideline, with the teams.
Sitting on the parents side can be just as dangerous, the projectiles are bigger but slower, and we didn't get a seizure!
As a rule, I prefer to keep my back to the sun on a sunny day, however, last tournament (Legends National Cup) I was at, I ended up shooting both into the late afternoon sun, as well as the early morning sun. Both are relative terms, but thanks to it being winter, sunset is at about 4:50 pm and sunrise about 6:50 am. Low angle sun also provides golden light due to the refraction of the rays through the earth's atmosphere, which is pretty cool, but it also cast long shadows, which potentially can also detract from your shot. It is also an interesting thought that many photographers like to shoot toward the light, so that the shadows on the faces is more uniform, their own shadow are not in their shot, and subjects are better able to keep their eyes open! Below are some of the unedited photos from the weekend.
I did get some interesting shots into the sun, which also present some interesting ways to edit. Some interesting details are hiding in some of the photos, like balls, and even faces. Lightroom's new masking capabilities are also interesting as they allow for the adjusting of both backgrounds and subjects, which also provides some interesting perspecitves. Feel free to let me know what you think of these edits. I like the action, but sometimes I think I may have over edited, washed some out, or possibly made weird colors! At the end of the day they are unique memories of the weekend! Not sure I would have kept these if not for the editing software.
If you'd like to see more of these shots, you can find them here.
