What does it mean to Invest into your Internship?

We will continue the 2nd part of our Internship paperwork next week.  I wanted to confirm that nothing had changed in the process before we went on to part 2.

While my actual internship doesn't start til May 14th it was very important to me that I start to make good connections with my team.  Most of these players I have never met  before at the Silverhawks have almost a completely new team this year. Shooting early also gives me a chance to warm up my sports shooting skills that I haven't used for the last year.

Football Camp

Football camp was my first actual chance to see our players.  Camp was a 2 days.  The players were a bit weary of me as they really weren't sure what I was doing.  The players I did know from last year were excited to see me but in some ways, I had to prove to the team that I'm on their side.  A photographer could be there taking photos of their flaws to point out to the coaches.  My job is more the team cheerleader. I take photos that highlight the players skills.

                        Practice makes perfect for the player and the photographer 

In this shot it is a good action shot or is it?  The ball is just out of the shot the player has slipped on the grass so his feet have slipped out of the shot.  I like it. The player might like it but does it really show what a good player he is?  No.  Would I suggest he use it to show his skill? Maybe.  The point is he has better shots and not only do the players need practice but I need practice. If I had just had my lens a little farther back it would have been a better shot.  

I posted most of the Day 1 shots where the team could see them before Day 2.  It was still about getting them to trust me.  They now can see there maybe some opportunity shots like this one but there are many more shots that make them look good.  I went into Day 2 of the Football Camp with a more relaxed team. Did they all trust me yet?  Not yet but they were warming up.  This is one of the reasons I choose to shoot some before my internship started.

In many ways this shot is a much better shot.  While I still need to work on getting used to framing for sports again, clearly this plays caught this ball. The ball is in the shot and you can see the determined look on his face.

Good shot for both player and photographer but a closer cropping would have eliminated the guard rail.

Now that the team has started to get my purpose for photographing the games they can't wait to see the shots and I giggle about how many questions I get on when the newest shots will be posted.  At this point about half the team has added me on Facebook and part have liked my FB page.  We haven't yet decided where we will post all of our pictures so I posted some on my FB page and some on my regular page.  The team links to whatever place I post pictures.  These Camp Pictures were only posted on my actual FB photography page.

Going into our first pre-season game I had already decided to post all Pre-Season game pictures on my personal Facebook page.  One of the reasons that I had 5 teams ask me about shooting last year is I always share pictures with teams that we shoot.  The reality is while I'm shooting my team I'm also getting great shots of the other team. I don't care if the other team has a photographer or not I share my shots with the players on my personal Facebook page,   I then put any shots I love on my FB photography page and my website.  I had 5 teams ask me to shoot because they players asked the owners to try to get me as their team photographer because I did that last year.

Pre-Season Game 1

Our first pre-season game was with the Cleveland Patriots.  I didn't know very many members on that  team but there was at least one former Silverhawk on the team.  

Each time I shoot I am refreshing my skills getting me ready for the our first real games.  This field was a very small field where the goal posts were actually in the right location.  However the team made it work. Here is one shot I took of our team.

                                Warming up you get a glimpse of the new uniforms.

While I very carefully choose this angle so we could see the backs of several players uniforms and the woods behind us I will actually be cropping out the first player whose feet you only see.  I would rather have had the front of our really cool uniforms but sometimes shooting in the city you have to take the shot that looks the best.  The forward shot shows express way ramps and a comfort inn sign.

I also took action shots of both teams as they played. Here is a shot where my team wasn't winning but it was a great shot for the other player.

                    The Cleveland Patriots run with the ball but Our Hawks are close behind.

That shot while it shows the city which is a bit of a distraction is still a good shot for both teams. The Patriots have the ball but my Hawks are right on them. It is also a good shot of our new uniforms.

When this game was over I talked to one of the coaches and let her know that I would post all photos and the Patriots were welcome to tag or grab shots of their team.  They were surprised but they thanked me. She made sure my former Silverhawk player knew how to add me.

After these pictures were posted I added 30 or more new contacts and had a lot of players thanking me for giving them the shots.  My photos were added to my team and the other team's Facebook pages giving me a huge amount of exposure on each photograph.

The reality is your internship is going to be what you make of it.  What did it cost me to shoot these 3 days? A few hours each day with some very light editing for light only.  What did I gain. A team that knows they can trust me.  A new team that knows that not only am a I a good person and photographer but our team the Jackson Silverhawks also appreciate their hard work when they play us.  Plus I am filling my sports portfolio with a variety of teams not just my own.

You invest in yourself when you make sure your internship isn't just a way to get 3 credits!  

I hoped you enjoyed a glimpse into the coming weeks!