Baseball Practice

Hung out with the Mustangs at baseball practice earlier in the week and took a few pictures. It's definitely a different experience than photographing games because the games are totally unpredictable. And if you're not careful, you just might miss the few spurts of action that occur. But at practice, you can count on a few good frames. Shout out to repetition.

New Year, More Basketball

I rang in the new year (the 3rd and 4th of the month technically) with back to back days of basketball. I don't think it gets any better than that. I was in on a practice session with the Monterey Trail Mustangs of Elk Grove, CA full of drills, drills and more drills. Just when I thought the drills were over and practice was winding down, the basketballs went on the rack and out came the sprints. I guess it all paid off because the Mustangs walked away with a 14 point victory over rival Florin High School the very next day. 

We're Still Talking About Practice!

Monterey Trail has played two actual football games this season but you wouldn't know it if you relied on this blog for Mustang updates. The first game was an ESPN televised opener against Pleasant Grove and the second was an away game at Nevada Union. I was out of town both games (both losses) in San Francisco and Vancouver respectively. This Friday, I will finally be able to attend and shoot my first Trail game this season! But until then, yes, more practice. Shout out to the 50mm lens and California's blue sky.

Field of Steam

FieldTurf is the surface that a lot of high schools have installed on their athletic fields. FieldTurf is also a bed of tiny scorching pebbles when it's 95 degrees out. Do you know how I know? It's because I spend a good amount of Monterey Trail's football practice laying on it.

Practice is all about repetition and while the players try to repeat their awesome technique play after play after play, I try to photograph something a little bit different practice after practice after practice. Sometimes I'm successful and pleased with my variety, but sometimes I also end up taking the same photograph that I did two practices ago. The moral of the story is...there is no moral. I just wanted you to know that I roll around on that burning cookie sheet of a field so you won't be bored when you visit blog.michaelstarghill.com.

Shout out to competition among teammates. You could lose your starting job on Tuesday afternoon but earn it right back on Thursday before the game at the end of the week.

Full Pads, Heat and Terrible Light

Last Wednesday marked the first day of full pads and hard hitting practice just south of Sacramento in Elk Grove, CA. The forest green and gold of Monterey Trail drilled, blocked, hit and ran with one goal in mind...winning games. The Mustang offense and defense is geared around hitting and hard work. The last man standing wins.

But I think I might need to talk to the coach about those 130p practice times. The high sun might be great for conditioning but the light contrast...not so good. Shout out to high school athletes. Six times a week these kids are running, lifting, hitting and practicing. I wonder if I could get through just a week.

McKinley Tech Football...and so it begins.

August is here and football practice on the local high school scene has started. For the past four football seasons, I'd been reporting live from 6315 5th St. NW aka Calvin Coolidge High School. It's like I graduated! Some things went down in March and former Coolidge coach Jason Lane is now leading the helmeted high-schoolers at McKinley Tech. Now I'm shooting them. Colt no more. Trainer for now. Shout out to the Maroon...or Burgundy...I should probably figure that out.

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O-Lineman : No Love

They are the most important component of an offense, yet we have no idea who they are. They never score touchdowns, they never touch the ball (except for the center, but that doesn't really count) and they flat out get no love, until now.

Last Wednesday, I shot yet another Coolidge High School practice. But this time I wanted to make it interesting. I spent the whole practice with the O-Line. It's hard work and no one wants to do it. They line up and clash with the biggest, strongest guys on the other team play after play after play -- all in the name of their more recognizable teammates' feats. They don't want the glow. They want the glory. And in a game of inches, every yard earned is their satisfaction. Shout out to the blockers.