Tennis media day at Sierra Canyon
Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth is a program we photograph in every season, from fall tennis and volleyball through the spring sports. Girls tennis is one of the first teams in front of our lights each year, and it asks for a different kind of media day than a gym sport. The court is outside. The sun is high. The team wants photos that look like a varsity program, not a school picture taken on a bench.
Four strobes against the Valley sun
Everything here was shot on a Canon R5 with four Westcott FJ400 strobes, two rim lights behind the players and two mains in front. Outdoors the fight is with the sun. We read the ambient light off the camera first, pull it down about a stop under a normal exposure, and then bring the strobes in on top. That keeps skin soft and even at midday and keeps the sky from washing out behind the team. There is no light meter on set. The camera meter and a good look at the back of the screen do that job.
Most of the day lives on two lenses, the 70-200 and the 24-105.
Team first, then every player gets her own frame
The order of the day does not change. Team photo first, then the seniors, then the coaches, and only then do we re-rig the lights for individuals. Every player gets the clean, straight-on portrait the yearbook needs. After that we open it up and ask for real movement, a serve toss or a follow-through that actually looks like tennis. We are photographing the athlete, not the jersey, so each player gets room to show who she is.
Book your program's media day
If you run a tennis program or a whole athletic department in Chatsworth, Northridge, or anywhere in the San Fernando Valley, see how our high school media day works, or look through team and athlete work on our sports portraits page. Fall calendars fill early, so reach out once your season dates are set.
