What It’s Like Being an SSN Photographer

What+Its+Like+Being+an+SSN+Photographer

David Woods, SSN Photographer

You never know what the future holds because sometimes you’ll end up in places that you never thought you’d be. Before this semester I had never picked up and used a DSLR camera. I had been to a few high school football games but I had never been on the sidelines. I had never been to a high school basketball game. Now I was finding myself with a camera around my neck and access to the sidelines of any games that I wanted to go to.

This is my story about my experience as a photographer for the Southeastern Sports Network, something that you can do too next year if you will be a student at HSE.

I think back to freshman year when I was sitting in Leonard Auditorium being told that there were many opportunities here at HSE and what I would get out of high school would depend on what I put in. I’m a senior now and I can say that that was absolutely true. I decided to take Sports Broadcasting not knowing exactly what I’d be able to do and I can say that being an SSN photographer has been an incredible experience.

The first time that I was set to shoot a game it was a football game at home against Westfield. I “learned” how to use the camera that day in class and soon enough I was on the sidelines figuring it out as I went. Being on the sidelines with the freedom to roam around and be right there with the players and coaches was a very cool experience. I could basically go wherever I wanted to. I had a lot of fun and I knew that this was something that I wanted to continue doing. After the game I went home and edited the pictures and then decided to post them on our SSN Instagram page. It was definitely harder than I thought to get good action pictures but at the same time I had a decent amount of pictures that looked good and people liked them so it was a good start.

Every time that I would go to a game to take pictures, I would try to do something different to improve the quality of my pictures. I would make sure that I get low so I’m at the right angle and I also explore different places of the sideline to get some unique shots.

Sometimes I won’t do anything different than before but I won’t get as many good pictures as I do other times and that’s just because there is definitely luck involved in sports photography. I can’t control what is happening on the field, the moments create themselves and I just do my best to capture them.

The most important thing that I learned from taking pictures at the football games is to shoot often and be able to see what is about to happen. The more pictures you take the better chance you have of getting those 5-10 good ones that you can use to post. Also, being able to see what is about to happen is a big part of being a successful sports photographer because when you know what’s coming, you’ll be ready to capture the moment. A good example of this is in football when the ball has just been thrown be ready to get the shot of the wide receiver catching it. There’s not much time to set up the shot mid play but if you are quick enough and you can read the game you can make it happen.

After football I moved on to basketball shooting both Girls and Boys games and that’s what I’m currently doing. Like I said I had never been to a high school basketball game before and now my first experience was being on the court, which was pretty cool.

Taking basketball pictures and taking football pictures are very different experiences so that is something sports photographers have to be aware of and be ready for.

That goes for any sport, they are all going to be different and require different strategies and techniques. Some aspects will translate but for me I felt like a complete rookie just trying to learn again. That being said, remember that you will always be in the learning stage because there’s always something that you can do better. Never become satisfied with the way you take the pictures, always look for ways to improve.

What you should get from my story is that being an SSN photographer is something that I didn’t know was a possibility and it has been a wonderful experience. If you have any interest in photography, I would highly recommend that you look into this opportunity. I’ve had a lot of fun doing it and if you will be a student at HSE next year you can do it too just by taking the class. Make sure you look for unique opportunities and experiences because they exist, you might just not know it yet.