Zach Sanderson

Tuesday afternoon I was back at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion shooting women’s college basketball.

Nnemkadi Ogwumike tries to rebound around Ta'Shia Phillips of Xavier during Stanford's victory over Xavier, 89-52.

Stanford’s women were playing a big game against Xavier. Not as big as the upcoming game against Connecticut on Thursday, a team that as of tonight have a 90 game win streak. But Xavier is still tough. Going into tonight they were ranked 4th while Stanford was ranked 8th.

Sara James looks to work the ball inside against Xavier during Stanford's win.

Stanford crushed them though, 89-52. They dominated inside first and then later in the game turned on some of their three point shots. Last season I saw them play Iowa in the NCAA tournament at Maples and the three pointers were where they killed Iowa. It was very frustrating then and I’m sure it was frustrating for Xavier when it seemed like every three pointer they heaved up went in.

Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford women's basketball, drives the ball underneath against Xavier.

I wasn’t supposed to shoot on Tuesday or at least wasn’t needed but I emailed and asked if I could still get in. I would have done the same for the Connecticut game but chickened out. Actually on our flight back to the Bay Area from Cincinnati on Sunday, Jayne and I were on the same plane as Xavier’s women. It was interesting to see the same faces on the floor as I saw in the airport in Cincy.

Jeanette Pohlen eggs on the crowd while she prepares to throw a toy ball at the end of Stanford's victory over Xavier.

Here’s hoping the Cardinal can put an end to Connecticut’s win streak. Of course, if they do, then I’ll really regret not begging to get in.

Friday night I shot Stanford’s wrestling team for the first time.

Lucas Espericueta of the Stanford Cardinal wrestling team during his decision over Brandon Wright of UT-Chattanooga at Burnham Pavilion. Stanford won 20-17.

Jayne and I were juggling time with the car and I definitely needed a ride since I’d be shooting with the 400mm so it worked out that I showed up to Burnham Pavilion really early. We had originally planned to light the meet with some strobes but that didn’t work out. I wasn’t too worried until I showed up and saw the gym was considerably darker than Maples Pavilion. I was getting around 1/250 at f2.8 and ISO5000. So since I had plenty of time, I actually wandered around to see if I could stumble on some strobes, but how often does one run into a couple studio strobes and Pocket Wizards?

Ryan Mango of the Stanford Cardinal wrestling team during the team's dual against UT-Chattanooga at Burnham Pavilion.

So I went back to the Pavilion ready to shoot available light. I think because I had a fairly disappointing available light outing at basketball last time, I had myself all prepared to be disappointed this time around. But I embraced the grain and just pushed things as much as I could. Plus without having to wait for a strobe to refresh, good or bad, I was able to take a lot more shots. Of course, that left a ton more images to flip through to find good ones but with a slow refresh I probably would have ended up with a lot of well-lit butts and very few faces. And even though wrestling is a very active sport, most of it has the wrestlers pushing against each other so they are technically pretty stationary, allowing me to slow the shutter speed down a little.

Nick Amuchastegui of the Stanford Cardinal wrestling team during his pin against Levi Clemons of UT-Chattanooga.

I used to wrestle in 8th grade. I was terrible but I was light so I was probably the top points earner on my team due to teams forfeiting the 80 pound weight class. Yes, 80 pounds. So being back in the gym and seeing the bleached mat and mat burns and hungry faces caused the memories to flood back. All the chicken wings, wall sits, crossfaces and Rice Chex diets. I saw some wrestlers come in and they just looked like they would kill for a hamburger.

Justin Paulsen of the Stanford Cardinal wrestling team during the team's dual against UT-Chattanooga.

They were all very polite dudes and after they beat UT-Chattanooga 20-17, they held an autograph signing for the fans. After staying late for the autograph signing and talking to fans, they all came together and cleaned up the gym, chairs, bleachers and mats. Seems simple, but I wonder how many varsity sports do that. The coach also came over afterward and introduced himself to me. He said he appreciated having media here. Classy dudes.

The Stanford Cardinal wrestling team sign autographs for fans after the team's dual against UT-Chattanooga.

And there was some good wrestling too. One guy, fourth-ranked Nick Amuchastegui, pinned a dude halfway through the first period. I think that was the only Stanford pin. There was another ranked wrestler, #10 Ryan Mango, who was very dominant. I could hear the fans behind me saying things like “Oh man, you’re done now” and “He’s just playing with you.” For all my submitted images, go to StanfordPhoto.com.

I’ve been debating writing about this guy Patrick Smith for a while. Not because he doesn’t warrant a post on my very prestigious blog, but because I’m afraid I’ll just come off as a weirdo or stalker (a word Jayne and I decided is used too loosely, too often). But “weirdo” moniker be damned I gotta say it: This guy is my favorite photographer, probably of all time.

He’s a twenty-something guy who I’m pretty sure is a couple years younger than me who is doing the photography thing from the ground up. He’s not some rock star punk kid who got lucky. He’s not the son of some other famous photographer, that I know of at least. He’s just a dude that went to college, worked at the college paper, interned at a local paper and got a staff job at another paper after graduation. He’s from the East Coast and he took a job in Utah. And he’s, in a word he throws out a lot, “slaying” it. He’ll go to these mundane sounding assignments and just kick the shit out of them.

The reason I feel like a weirdo saying it is because I pretty much read all of his blogs (he has quite a few), tweets and whatnot hoping he’ll announce someday a “Be Like Patrick Smith” photography workshop or something. The dude doesn’t know me but I friended him on Facebook. I’ve emailed him. I tell people about him all the time. Because he’s in my Google Reader, I normally start the sentence with “This photographer I follow…” The sad thing is most of the time I start that sentence and someone can interrupt me and say “…Patrick Smith?”

I appreciate a photographer who creates great stuff and tells a good story (he does) but also I like one that shares. My favorite “famous” one to follow is Joe McNally. He’ll share a story and won’t sugarcoat it. Patrick Smith is a lot like that. The dude loves his job but will tell you what makes him grumpy. He seems like a cool dude. He’s definitely interested in a lot of cool things. Who knows, maybe he’s an asshole, but so is Joe McNally probably, and I am too probably. I love me though.

So what pushed me to finally do it? To let my Patrick Smith flag fly? Well his most recent post on his main blog was the final push. He’s doing his year-in-review and posted his sports images. My focus has been very sports heavy lately so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t totally jealous. Now I’m just getting my start and have a lot to learn but I looked at his stuff and it was too good. Sometimes I’m inspired but this time I was basically just disheartened. Patrick had to go and remind me how good he is.

But beyond his year-in-review post, another reason Patrick’s been on my mind is I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am right now. I feel like I’ve sort of fallen into my internship. I sent Stanford Photo a letter early this year with no response. I figured, “They don’t want a novice like me.” Then I take this class and I’m getting some decent results and on top of that the instructor is the new guy in charge of Stanford Photo. I would have bugged him for a year to get some extra shots at Stanford-caliber games. But a few good shoots and I’m getting to call my shots. Tomorrow I get to do wrestling (a sport that Patrick has covered well). I feel lucky and want to keep it going.

Patrick has worked from the beginning and seems like he’s always worked himself into a spot that he enjoys. But recently, that’s been temporarily taken away from him. He injured his back to the point he had to fly back to the East Coast and rest it off. I was really excited for him when he came back. He came back and shot the Utah-BYU football game like it was nothing and like he hadn’t been laying at home for over two months. Then soon after his back was re-injured. So much so that he passed out from the pain and the paramedics had to bust his door down. He had to fly back and have surgery and will be out for a while to recover. His stories away from his camera have me hoping he can get back behind the camera soon.

As an Internet-savvy guy, he’ll probably be reading this himself so as long as he’s not calling the cops: here’s hoping for a speedy recovery, Patrick. And when that happens, maybe you’ll consider that workshop?

I wasn’t planning on shooting basketball tonight but I did anyway. I knew there was a men’s game but I didn’t shoot the one on Sunday and Jim was lined up to be the main StanfordPhoto shooter for tonight. But in an email conversation, John mentioned I was going to shoot with available light. I figured no need to question him because I was more than willing to go.

Josh Owens of the Stanford Cardinal men's basketball team during Stanford's victory over North Carolina A&T at Maples Pavilion. Stanford won 76-59.

So again, another lower pressure shoot because I wasn’t going to be the guy submitting the strobed images. Although, I like being that guy too. I’d been toying with the idea of a 400mm on the baseline or really inside the cramped arena at all. I knew a 400 wouldn’t do me a whole lot of good when the ball was on my end but it could provide a different angle from the other side. This is dead week at Stanford so the crowd was on the smaller side. So I thought I’d take advantage and try a couple different angles throughout. I actually spent no time on the baseline besides introducing myself to Jim.

Andrew Zimmermann of Stanford men's basketball fights for position against North Carolina A&T.

Unfortunately going up higher only really gave me the feeling of snapshot taken by someone in the crowd. In fact there was a fan behind me a couple times whose motor drive was going crazy the whole game. All I could think was, “I’d hate to have to edit those later.” It’s an angle that doesn’t really conjure up the superheroness or intimacy I’m looking for. Unless of course I was able to go really high. I’d love to end up in the rafters somehow someday.

Dwight Powell of Stanford men's basketball blocks a North Carolina A&T shot after Josh Huestis (#24) attempted.

This time around though I tried out the empty student section and in the second half I settled on an empty corner of the lower upper deck. This actually got me in a bit of trouble. Not serious trouble because as one of the greatest literary characters, Ray Smuckles says, “Being in trouble is a fake idea.” But a gentleman from the usher staff did come over and tell me in the future that I’m “not to be wandering around the stands.” He let me stay put for the half which I appreciated. Ultimately, I don’t know what that means. I’m always looking for the different shots and the “scene setters” as John calls them. And it is my job as an intern with Stanford to cover athletics and make good images that make the school look good. I will do my best to make that happen. The interesting thing is I was trying out different things because this game was pretty empty (and to the guy’s credit, he acknowledged this). Mainly I wanted to know where to go in the future. I was basically crossing places off my list. The place I was at was certainly nothing spectacular. I’ll see how things unfold at later games. I certainly don’t want to be pissing people off but I also don’t want to be missing good shots. In basketball, it seems a lot of the better ones come from the floor/baseline anyway but I know several of my favorite volleyball images came from up in the stands.

Aaron Bright cheers on his team before the start of Stanford men's basketball's game against North Carolina A&T.

Anyway, not the main point. The main point was I tried some different things and wasn’t super excited about them anyway. I need a good sharp wider lens (my best “wide” lens for available light basketball is my 100mm 2.8) or I need to be using the strobes. It would still help to have a better lens under 100mm even with the strobes. I gotta get out of these Sigmas someday. I don’t know if that will be into some Canons or some Nikons, but that’s a post for another day.

Josh Huestis of Stanford men's basketball checks into the game against North Carolina A&T.

Another struggle was post-processing. Shooting available light creates grainier pictures, even though Stanford’s gym is pretty bright, and white balance is tricky. In-camera white balance does not satisfy me. Auto white balance in Lightroom doesn’t satisfy me either. In my editing, I spent a lot of time with the color and I still don’t know how I feel about it. It’s either really awesome (considering the lighting) or way off. I guess the way to find out is post them and have people yell at me if I’m burning their eyes with some cold-ass picture.

Coach Johnny Dawkins instructs the Stanford men's basketball team during a timeout.

I don’t mean to be listing all my struggles but I hate to also just say, “Shot basketball. It good.” I love shooting all the different sports and, seeing as men’s college basketball ranks as one of my favorite sports at all, this is a great one to cover. It’s so good to get to know the players and their playing styles.

I shot the Stanford women’s basketball game against Fresno State today. I was joined by Rick of StanfordPhoto.com and Kelley. Kelley shoots with John sometimes so I’ve run into her at a few football and soccer games.

Jeanette Pohlen of the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team during their victory over Fresno State. Stanford won 77-40.

I’ve been to one Stanford women’s basketball game before. Last time it was as a fan but, I have to admit, not as a Stanford one. My buddies Grace, Tony and Annie and I all went to a tournament game between Iowa and Stanford last year. We were some of the few rowdy Hawkeye fans. We were the only ones we met that were under 70.

Fans of the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team watch the scoreboard during Stanford's victory over Fresno State.

This whole shoot seemed hectic to me for some reason. Some of it was I got there later than I wanted to be. I was still there with plenty of time but I wanted to get there earlier because I was going to be using the strobes and some borrowed camera bodies and because I’d be helping Rick with the transfer process. I ended up spending way too much time figuring out parking. The volleyball shoot I did last, I just rolled up and got some “Doris Day parking”, as my uncles call it. The batteries on the borrowed bodies didn’t last long, which didn’t help either. Plus, I just don’t have the basketball touch down yet. Volleyball seemed a lot more natural for me.

Chiney Ogwumike of the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team during their victory over Fresno State.

One great thing is Stanford’s women are unstoppable, so we’ll be seeing a lot of wins. I remember being really frustrated when they played Iowa because they could make the three if they needed to but most of the time they just needed to dump it underneath, to Jayne Appel at the time. This time around, it was the Ogwumike sisters, and they dominated. It’s nice to be on the winning side.

Chiney Ogwumike lines up a foul shot during Stanford's victory over Fresno State.

Next thing on the schedule is some wrestling which we’re going to light with some strobes that I’m really excited about.

Today there’s some Stanford action going on that I have to mention.

Gabi Ailes, Alix Klineman, Carly Wopat, Rachel Williams, Cassidy Lichtman and Hayley Spelman of the Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team celebrate a point during the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

By the time I finish writing this post, the Stanford women’s volleyball team will be on the court in Dayton against USC. As you probably know from last post, I got to shoot the volleyball team last Saturday in the tournament against Colorado State. Stanford is really fun to watch. Their height and dominance might make for some boring, expected outcomes but they always play hard.

Andrew Luck, quarterback of the Stanford Cardinal football team, hands the ball off during Stanford's 38-0 victory over Oregon State.

Also, later tonight, we’ll find out if Stanford football quarterback Andrew Luck gets the Heisman. He’s a finalist and maybe not expected to be the winner. Either way, his skills are getting the recognition. I know a lot of Stanford football fans are afraid he’s not going to be with the Cardinal much longer. I was lucky enough to get to shoot him and the rest of Stanford football from the field against Oregon State. I hope to get to shoot more of Luck next year.

An Andrew Luck fan before the Cardinal 38-0 victory over Oregon State.

Another Stanford football player got some recognition yesterday. Owen Marecic, the guy who goes both ways, was appropriately nominated as a finalist for the Hornung Award. That goes to the “most versatile player”. I think as a man who plays both sides of the ball, that’s pretty versatile. Plus his hair could probably make some pretty versatile dos. I didn’t end up shooting any action of him (since I focused more on features) but I did get plenty of his fan club, the Mane-iacs.

Owen Marecic's fan club, Marecic's Mane-iacs, during the Stanford Cardinal football victory over Oregon State, 38-0.

Tonight I flew solo shooting the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.

Rachel Williams and Jessica Walker of the Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team during the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Stanford defeated Colorado State in three sets (28-26, 25-13, 25-15).

I had asked to shoot the First Round last night, forgetting that Jayne and I had made dinner plans for her birthday, which was the day before (I didn’t forget her birthday). So I had to cancel. John shot last night’s game and I had faith that Stanford would advance, so they asked me to shoot Saturday. I got really excited when I found out I’d be flying solo. Typically it doesn’t affect my images if someone else is there too but this time I would get the run of the equipment. Since no one else was there I got control of the house strobes to help light up a dark gymnasium (although Stanford’s gym is pretty bright).

Sam Wopat of the Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team during warmups for the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

I showed up very early because I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. I was going to be using some loaner 1D camera bodies. Basically the benefit of those versus my camera body is that they have a higher sync speed to the house strobes. Meaning I could set the cameras to use more of the strobe light and less of the ambient light. This would allow me to get sharper images with less blur from a slower shutter speed. Unfortunately I spent a chunk of time messing with one of the cameras that just wasn’t seeming to work. And the other body seemed to work but was pretty foreign to me even though it was a Canon. I’d used one before but not in a high stress situation where I’d need to be making changes and reviewing results quickly. So I got the working 1D and my 5D camera body set up and ran with both of them. I had two transmitters to fire the strobe but one of them had a broken foot on it so it wouldn’t sit right in the camera and I couldn’t get the contacts to reliably line up so that I could trust the flashes to fire every time. So I ended up carrying two bodies and one transmitter and just swapping transmitters when I needed. But because I am much more familiar with my 5D and I was in a situation where I didn’t really have time for “learning opportunities”, I ended up leaning on my personal 5D pretty heavily. Oh well.

Carly Wopat of the Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team during the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

I also was using a 400mm 2.8 lens. John had recommended for my first go at volleyball that I get higher. It would be easier to set my focus at the net and then not think so much about it and worry about getting the ball in the frame. I tried that from different angles for a little while. Because I wasn’t zeroing in on the technique though and I wasn’t finding clear shots at the players’ faces, I moved around quite a bit. Which was a workout but ultimately it helped me learn the positioning for the games and I got some different looking shots.

I even tried out shooting from the floor. Volleyball’s tough because there’s no real out of bounds. There’s the court that they are trying to hit the ball in to but the ball can sail in to the crowd or behind the court and players will still be chasing it. At one point I had to jump up with my equipment in hand and get out of the way. It was match point too. How shitty would I feel if I ruined a match point for Stanford because I was trying out shooting from the floor? Actually I was down there to make sure to get the celebration at the end.

The Stanford Cardinal women's volleyball team celebrates their win during the Second Round of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

Because I was the only one shooting, I was also called on to have my images ready to be shared immediately after the match. I got them sent off right away and I’m pretty happy with my process time. Lightroom is good for that. Maybe I’ll talk about that sometime. If you want to see my images in use check out gostanford.com. The scrolling news stories in the center will have one about Stanford’s win over Colorado State. My shot of the women celebrating is there and then if you click through to the story you’ll see another smaller image and you’ll be able to click on the photo gallery for more (or just go to the photo gallery directly by clicking this link).