Hell of clever, I know, I’m not really even sure what to say ’bout it. Get on my level, world!
Per request, some selections from my photo work the past few months.
Also made sense to post this because I realized that you can’t hire me (you see what I’m getting at now?) without seeing my “portfolio”, so here ya go.
Vanessa DiBernardo
Shayla Mutz
Megan Pawloski flip throw-in
Illinois vs. Iowa: Shot with a Nikon D300 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Rough, rough night of shooting. Dark conditions –> crazy ISO –> unbearable noise. The photo of Vanessa DiBernardo was the first shot snapped on the night and it turned out to be my best/favorite. It also helped that the photo was taken at the north end of the field, which was much better lit than the south end. The latter two photos were taken at the south end, or the deep end of darkness and sadness.
Despite how dark and horrible it was that night, I had a good time. VDB is so fun to shoot, as are Shayla Mutz and Marissa “Human Crash Test Dummy” Mykines. They’re all very fluid movers (that sounds creepy, but I couldn’t think of a better phrase to describe it), very quick and agile. And all three of them are always all over the place. Just a fun team to watch. Y’know, just plugging for Illinois Soccer, one of the more under-appreciated teams on campus.
Colleen Ward
Spike Squad, or perhaps the Wolfe Pack would be more accurate
Courtney Abrahamovich
Jen Bonilla (3), Courtney Abrahamovich (18)
Illinois vs. Michigan: This was my first solo shoot. I was still trying out cameras at this point, and I borrowed and experimented with a lot of equipment from my uncle. Actually shot this with two different cameras. The third photo of Courtney Abrahamovich was shot with my Olympus e-510 and a 40-150mm f/4-5.6 lens. The other photos were taken with an old Canon Rebel XSI and a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens, both borrowed.
Michelle Bartsch
Colleen Ward
Rachel Feldman, Colleen Ward (4), Hillary Haen (8)
Michelle Bartsch (6), Erin Johnson (12), Hillary Haen (8)
Annie Luhrsen, Courtney Abrahamovich, Jen Bonilla (this was Halloween, by the by, thus the costume), Taylor Onion (16)
Illinois vs. Michigan State: Don’t worry, your eyes aren’t failing you — the photos are sickeningly orange. Call it my lesson learned in white balance. Without boring you with details, I ended up helping Cary shoot from the floor/bleachers while he shot from the balconies. It was a hurried exchange that occurred just before the National Anthem, so neither of us looked at any of the camera settings and just dove right into shooting (rookie mistake, I know, don’t come at me reckless, alright?)
I was shooting with a Nikon D700 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. What pains me — pains me — is that I really liked a lot of my shots from this game. It was a fun one and the team and crowd were really pumped. Kills me to look at these shots and see nothing but orange 🙁
Michelle Bartsch (6), Erin Johnson (12)
Jo Bangert
Illinois vs. Iowa: First event I shot with my very own Nikon D300. Rented a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for the occasion. Not much to say about this; didn’t get very many shots on the evening because I was trying stuff out with my new camera, trying out new angles, new positions and whatnot.
Colleen Ward (4), Jo Bangert, Jen Bonilla (3)
Jen Bonilla (3), Colleen Ward (4)
Colleen Ward
Illinois vs. Minnesota: Nikon D300 with the same rented 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I shot this one solo. Again, not much to say. Great match, lots of emotion (as it was Senior Night), but the fifth set was hard to watch and hard to shoot because everyone was on their feet, and I kept getting stray heads or arms or hands in my shots. Not fun.
Colleen Ward, Jen Bonilla (3), Jazmine Orozco (15), Michelle Bartsch (6)
Jackie Wolfe
Colleen Ward
Illinois vs. Austin Peay, 2010 NCAA Tournament Rd. 1: Shot this one with my Nikon D300 and a borrowed lens from Cary — he told me that it’s older than I am and I believe it — an old, old 70-200mm f/2.8 that looked (and worked) almost more like a pump-action rifle than a lens, dead ass. Fun match to shoot. I got a sick layout photo of Rachel Feldman, she’s legit horizontal and never brought her knees down — ultimate photo if I ever saw one — but it’s blurry *le sigh*.
Also, that last photo of Colleen Ward? This is what I aspire to one day. I just really, really like that shot.
Jazmine Orozco (15), Jo Bangert (13)
Colleen Ward
Jo Bangert (13), Hillary Haen
Jazmine Orozco, Michelle Bartsch (6)
Illinois vs. Cincinnati, NCAA Tournament Round 2: One of my prouder moments — my photos on IllinoisLoyalty. Nikon D300, same borrowed 70-200mm f/2.8. Very fun to shoot. I thought I’d get more reaction shots (their win sent them to the Sweet 16), but I guess they kind of expect to make the round of 16 by now so it was a little subdued.
Scott Kingsley
Jahlil Okafor
Gabriel Snider (5), Jordan Smith (3)
Nate Brooks
Whitney Young vs. Austin: Nikon D300, that old borrowed 70-200mm f/2.8.
If you thought my shots from Huff Hall were dark … you’d HATE “The Pool”, or the Whitney Young gym (we’re the Dolphins … get it? A-ha, a-ha). Shooting there was ROUGH. The lighting situation was horrendous. I didn’t need to take any photos to know that they’d all turn out terrible. At one of the boys games I introduced myself to the Trib/Sun Times/Maxpreps (I don’t even know who he was shooting for) photographer and asked him some questions about how he dealt with the darkness. He said he uses a PocketWizard, but also he doesn’t fret about the noise too much because since they only print small photos in the newspaper, the grainy effect doesn’t look too bad. Well, mine aren’t getting printed in no dang newspapers so I do worry about the grain.
Oh, for any Illinois Basketball enthusiasts, Jahlil Okafor is a major 2014 target. Get at me if you want to know more, but the kid is good.
Jahlil Okafor
Gabriel Snider
Luke Hager
Jordan Smith
Whitney Young vs. Manley: Nikon D300, that old borrowed 70-200mm f/2.8. Had a little better idea of what settings I needed to shoot at so all my photos wouldn’t come out like I had taken them in the dark underneath a blanket or something.
Sam Thompson
Luke Hager
Tommy Hamilton
Whitney Young vs. Farragut: Nikon D300, that old borrowed 70-200mm f/2.8.
More rough times and rough shots at The Pool. Experimented with shooting RAW. Didn’t like it. Meh.
Illinois Basketball Fans: Tommy Hamilton, another recruiting target (2013). Liked this kid’s game, too. Inside and out game, saw him put the ball on the floor a couple times, too. Should grow into a dominant post.
Sydney Snower
Chanise Jenkins (I used to hoop with her older sister!)
Whitney Young vs. Marshall: Nikon D300, rented 70-200mm f/2.8, which was newer than the one I borrowed from Cary.
While I had an easier time with the camera, The Pool was still murky and dark as ever, and I had to deal with a pretty sizable crowd, as we were playing rival Marshall (or at least they were our rivals when I played? Could have changed by now). They’re also coached by Dorothy Gaiters, a big name in Chicago coaching and I think she’s gonna be the coach for the McDonald’s All-American team this year?
Jahlil Okafor
Paul White
Jordan Smith
Sam Thompson
Whitney Young vs. Orr: Nikon D300, rented 70-200mm f/2.8
Another tough one to shoot. The lighting was a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle better because there were about 5 different TV cameras there with their own lighting, so that lightened the gym up a little bit, but not much. Also, it was the Comcast Game of the Week or something of that nature, so there were tons of cameras and tons of people. It was hard to get a good shot without blurry fan appendages in it somewhere.
Illinois Basketball fans: Jah looks good, no? Paul White is another 2014 recruit. Reeeeeally nice wing player. He’d be a great fit for Bruce’s motion offense. I really like the kid’s game on both ends of the court. I can’t wait to see what he does with more weight/muscle, more strength, and more experience. Also, take a look at Sam Thompson, cause the kid’s gonna be giving us headaches over at OSU soon. I am the furthest thing possible from an OSU fan, but I’ll cheer for a Dolphin. Sam’s filthy good, one of the most athletic players I’ve seen in a long time. He’s going to be a really, really nice player for the Buckeyes (unforch for the rest of the Big Ten, great for Sam).
No hockey shots quite yet — there are literally thousands of those. No concrete plans to shoot again quite yet, although I’m hoping I’ll get invited to shoot the boys and girls teams at State (fingers crossed, y’all!), and I’m also hoping to head down to Champaign soon to shoot Illinois tennis, track, gymnastics, and wrestling, and baseball and softball in the spring. In the spring I’ll also be shooting Whitney Young boys volleyball, girls soccer, baseball, and softball. Amped.
Also, in all legitimate 4srsly, if you’d like to hire me to shoot your sporting event and need to see more photos (more variety, higher resolution stuff, as opposed to the garbage I have up on the ‘book), holler at ya girl. (I stay self-promoting, but that’s how it be sometimes. *le shrug*)
