Wayne State Warriors help to channel my inner-warrior

Members of the Wayne State Warriors finish their warm-up and head towards a pre-game huddle.

Head coach Ryan Kelley gathers the team after their warm-up to prep them for their first game against Grand Valley.

Wayne State Warrior Kyle Zimmerman scoops around first base on his home field after a great hit, as the umpire races in to witness it.

   I have to admit, I was very intimidated to do this assignment. Thankfully, some of my classmates were there to give me a leg up. At first, I couldn't get (what I thought was) my ISO correct. Then, my classmate helped me to figure out that the white balance was set to fluorescent lighting, so  I switched it to outdoor lighting. Then, the issue was fixed and I could continue to shoot their warm-up with a much better turnout. 

   The action and distance shots seemed clear as I was shooting them, but when I went to edit them, they had a grit. I want them to be sharper and I know that would improve with a better lens. I would like to know what else I could do to improve the quality of the pictures, even with the lens I have. The coach was hard to capture, because he hid back into the dugout. The only way I could have gotten a clear picture of him would be by going onto the field and looking down into the dugout. 

   Shooting sports wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, although I do have much more of a clear understanding on the difficulty of a "perfect shot." Sometimes, just when I thought I was going to capture something, my one second delay would somehow be just enough to miss the moment entirely. Someone would have shifted from a perfect point on my frame, to an imperfect stance with one of their limbs in the way, or glanced in the total, opposite direction. 

   The reason I felt like a bit of a warrior during this game, is because I was faced with several challenges and I didn't give up. I had a strong urge to psyche myself out when I was struggling with the meter, but I became determined to find a way to fix it and that's what I sought out. I wanted more angles of the players than the cards we were dealt with, which was simply the sidelines, so I went after the scorekeepers inside the game and asked them if I could step to the inside of the fenced in area for more shots. Surprisingly, he said no, even though I had my TSE pass with me. But I didn't give up there and continued to circle the field, looking for opportunities to get int closer. I found an opening in the fence where the netting formed  a whole, just behind the catcher at home base. I squatted down and rested my knees in the mud just to be able to get a different field angle. After that, I wrapped up my shoot. I felt proud that I pushed myself to try new things, remain calm and try to establish some confidence, and honestly- I just had fun.  

   

   

   

Fans accumulate in the stands while a videographer captures footage of the game to broadcast.