Sports Photography

My high school graduation present from my parents was a Canon AE-1.  They never imagined in their lives that I would be a photographer for 36 years.  The first subject for my camera was my best friend Paul Hudkins who just so happened to motorcross.  Our weekends were spent traveling around Arkansas and nearby states going to motorcross races.  Sports photography has been in my system ever since.  My studies took me to Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Massachusetts where I studied portrait photography and commercial photography.  I graduated with a Portrait Portfolio and my career has mostly been as a people photographer whether it be for advertising, commercial, editorial or stock photography.  People have always been my favorite subject.  I think of my sports photography as people in action photography.  Sports photography is thought of as, shooting athletes at peak moments in their lives.  But sports is also about shooting the personalities, the people.  Athletes without uniforms, in uniforms, warming up, talking, full length in uniform, with and with helmets, tight head shot, athlete with logos, etc.  No matter what, it goes back to the person.  I feel that being a sports photographer helps me with being a better commercial photographer and being a editorial photographer helps me be a better sports photographer and so on.