Bluelens

This past Sunday I went out to shoot a charity lacrosse game. I had never really given a try to sports photography but was intrigued enough to give it a try - I try not to limit the type of photography as I feel it is always a new challenge to me. Admittedly this isn’t something I would just wake up and say, “Hmm, I wonder if I can find a sport which I have no knowledge of and go take pictures.” But since an acquaintance of mine is one of the founders of the foundation for which this event was being held for I jumped at the opportunity. He asked if I would be interested in coming out to snap off a few pictures for them. How could I say no to that? Why wouldn’t I want to go out and give a hand for a charity event? So once Mark showed up at the house off we went .

I have never been to a lacrosse game. I don’t even know the rules of the game, how the time is broken down or anything. All I knew was that the game involved a ball, some sticks with baskets on the end and some goals. But hey, I like watching sports - live is way better than on the screen - so I was ready for a crash course in lacrosse.

The two teams for the game were comprised of college players from across the country - what I was to find out later was that they were basically the all-stars of college lacrosse. Not only was there to be a game held but the players were also doing little workshops with younger players. After doing some catching with the kids a radar gun was brought out to record the speed at which players were launching the ball to the goal. I was impressed because I saw speeds ranging from 45-95 mph.

After the sessions and just before the game there was an honoring ceremony for people with cancer and those who lost the battle. The yellow sticks (shown above) had names of survivors or those who have passed on. As a player was mentioned they took a knee and laid the stick down. After this there was a large huddle in the center of the field where all the players gathered around Matt Miller - the cancer survivor the event was named after. Some words were spoken and the game was ready to begin.

The game was fun to watch even through the lens (which was how I saw most of it). I noticed it was mostly like soccer (which I expected) but once I saw the players smack each other with the sticks I understood the hockey aspect that people were telling me about.

But I have to admit, for me the best part was the third quarter of the game. During this quarter kids who won a raffle were able to get on the field and play the 15 minutes with the college players. The teams were paired evenly with older and younger kids and when the whistle blew the little kids became machines. Sure most of them only came up to the waist of the older players but that didn’t stop them from being ferocious.

After that quarter ended the kids left the field and the last quarter was played with the older players.

There was a box of unused lacrosse balls for the kids to grab so they could get the autographs of the players. Of course the kids went wild with this but also had all sorts of other items signed. I can kind of understand this. When you are 8 or 9 and are interested in a sport that doesn’t have the audience that something like basketball, baseball and football have the people you just saw are almost the next best thing and is where I’m sure they draw a lot of inspiration from. As I was talking to a sports reporter that was there I told him this was not only the first ‘real’ sports shooting I have tried but that it was also the first lacrosse game I have been to. He smiled and said, “Well, you started at the top for lacrosse then These guys are the cream of the top.”

I am glad I went out to the game and gave it a go. Not only did I learn a little more about the game but I was able to give some time and effort to a good cause and see some kids have the time of their lives playing alongside the older players.

For more information on Millerstrong click HERE

For all the images I took of the event click HERE