By Jane Gershovich

(Note: Second in a series)

I had heard a lot about Sports Shooter Academy from many colleagues. I was nervous, excited, and anxious to see what was to come. I was at the point in my photo career I was ready to really push myself, and what an opportunity than to learn from some of the best in the business.

I’ve never photographed lacrosse before, and when the opportunity during the workshop came I was excited. We arrived at University High School in Irvine, CA and photographed the high school’s baseball game and followed up with the lacrosse game across the way.

University High School lacrosse player celebrates his goal the end of the game Friday, April 27, 2012. Photo by Jane Gershovich

Not knowing the rules of the game made shooting interesting. The energy from the players was exciting and I tried to focus on capturing the action and reaction as much as I could.

At around 6PM and the sun was beginning to fall near the end of the lacrosse game and that golden light started to shine through. Matt Brown, Sports Shooter Academy co-founder, was nearby and was consistently reminding me to not zoom in and out and just focus on what’s going on during the game and most especially, not to “chimp”. I was shooting with a Nikon D3 and a Nikon 200-400 zoom lens. Matt had me stay at about 400mm.

Jane Gershovich has her hands full as she balances two cameras while covering the Belmont Shore rugby playoff match during SSA IX. Photo by Robert Hanashiro, Sports Shooter Academy

No “chimping!”  That was a huge part of Sports Shooter Academy IX; keep shooting, keep shooting – you’ll see what you got later. The more you focus on the situation around you and really try to capture the “moments”, the better your photos will turn out.

Near the end of the game University High School scored. I immediately tried to focus on the all the reactions on the field. I concentrated on the player that scored and finally caught him celebrating with his teammate. I positioned myself to get the opponent, with the dejected reaction in the background.

This picture is an example of that. As one of the teams scored to take the lead, I searched for reactions after the goal from both sides. I captured this image, finding jubilation and dejection in one shot. The epitome of sports and what we as sports photographers aim to accomplish, telling a story with our photos.

I shot this photo using a Nikon 200-400mm f/4 zoomed in all the way at 400. I shot at ISO 400, f/4, and at 1/2000 of a second.

(Thanks to SanDisk and Nikon for sponsoring the prizes for the photo of the day.)