Iowa Hawkeye Women Move to Sweet 16 Round at NCAA 2015

 

Just a few photos from this afternoon's NCAA's second round action from Iowa City. Host team Iowa played the Miami Hurricanes before 7,220 fans at Carver Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won after being up by 5 points at halftime.



 

 

While the weather was good, the UI men's team didn't play until evening against Gonzaga, which meant there was opportunity for Hawk fans to come Iowa City and cheer on the team plus say goodbye to four senior players. The UI men lost to Gonzaga later in the evening.

 

 

Each team was allowed to bring a pep band to the match. Iowa's band played some classic Iowa songs including the perennial Iowa win favorite, "In Heaven There Ain't No Beer."

 

 

While the Hawkeyes are a team, senior guard Samantha Logic put on another tremendous balanced game. That's why she is a second team All-American as named by ESPN. Sam established many other records and received several honors this season.

 

 

Since this was Sam's last home court game before continuing to Oklahoma City for the Sweet 16 round, I thought to focus a bit more on her than the other members. During a free throw, Sam listens to Coach Lisa Bluder. The win puts the Hawkeyes in the third round of the NCAA, the first time in the Lisa Bluder era of 15 years.

A Player and Her Coach

March is an exciting time for college basketball. In order to participate in post season tournaments players need to do their part and win games. The University of Northern Iowa Panthers have done a great job this season so far with two games left, both are home on March 6 and March 8.

UNI's Tanya Warren closely watches her team's performance against Missouri State on Valentine's Day 2014.

Photographing Panther Basketball and Senator Grassley

Yesterday at the women's basketball game between University of Northern Iowa and Saint Louis University, media coverage was sparse. Only two photographers covered the game in which the UNI Panthers won 74-65 over the STU Belicans. This Canon equipped photographer was most likely a student covering sports for the university's website. 

The pro photographer, who also sported video gear, was mostly likely from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier newspaper. He shot the game with Nikon equipment and spent a lot of time editing shots between action. An account of the game can be found here.

Behind the UNI team, Iowa's senior U.S. Senator, Charles Grassley (standing right in scarf), family and friends were also in attendance. Senator Grassley lives a few miles miles to the northwest of Cedar Falls. When back in Iowa on weekends he and his wife (left) attend many of these games.

Basketball Photography Lessons Learned

Inspired by a recent blog posting from Mrs4444 about photographing a local basketball game I decided to post a few images from a local high school basketball team. Photographing a fast moving game in a dark gym is a challenge. Talking to the professionals present at these games has led to a compilation of a few things to consider when photographing basketball.

• The faster the lens the better quality the image. The pros, whose camera bodies list for thousands of dollars, use low f-rated lenses, both telephoto and wide angle. Don't fret if you don't have a professional lens. You can still get magnificent photos by using your skills and photo instincts.
• Some pros use two cameras to get all phases of action, especially when time is critical.
• Shoot at a high ISO like 1600 or higher. But if the ISO is too high you can get an image with a lot of electronic noise. Some of this can be addressed in image production phase (Photoshop.) 
• Important. Be sure to get a white balance before shooting the event.
• Shoot in RAW if you want to fully manipulate the image in Photoshop.  Otherwise a high quality jpeg format is okay.
• Use burst mode to help capture all the action. 

• Experiment between A (aperture) mode and S (shutter) mode for best results. In A mode set the shutter on the lowest f number. The camera will compensate with various shutter speeds. In the S mode set the speed to 1/125 or faster. That's enough to stop the ball. Switch between both modes to find what works for your situation.

• Get close to the game. Watch where the pros situate themselves to get the best shots. Get out of the stands and get a position close to the baseline and underneath the basket while being professional about it.
• Be sure not to interfere with the operation of the game. Most people will suspect that you are connected with the team or a pro yourself. They will not hassle you.
• Smile, throw the ball back to the ref if it comes to you. Respect any space that may be reserved for trainers or refs at the ends of the court. You'll be rewarded with great shots and you'll be able to hear the players and coaches a whole lot better than from the stands.

• Know the game. Shoot scenes when you know the action will be intense or quiet.
• Don't forget to get team bench scenes, crowd shots, cheerleaders or pep bands. They are all part of the game and can add dimension to the event photo album.

These are photo tips that I learned from years of shooting in this gym. The team, Cedar Rapids Washington High School won this particular regional game 11 days ago against cross town Linn Mar.

WHS went on to capture the regional final and qualified for state. Cast as the tournament Cinderella team for knocking off a highly ranked team, the unranked Warriors lost this afternoon in first round tournament action. Their season ended at 17W-7L. No doubt I will be back next fall to photograph many of the same players.

Maryland Coach Brenda Frese Honored at Cedar Rapids Washington Basketball Game

Cedar Rapids Washington High School alumni, Brenda Frese (under the red arrow) is honored before the start of the women's basketball game between #13 CR Washington and #1 Linn Mar on January 22, 2009. Brenda is currently the basketball head coach of the University of Maryland Terrapins. She still holds many basketball records at WHS including the highest career free throw percentage. Listen here or download the file as Coach Gina (Greene) Rogers announces Brenda's accomplishments since graduating high school in 1988. Know that.