SSA day 2 Saturday, April 07, 2007

Andrew Martin, 9, works on the speed ball at the boxing gym in La Habra, Calif., Apr. 5, 2007.

For me, Day 2 at Sports Shooter Academy IV included a session on arena lighting, followed by photographing boxing at the gym in La Habra and baseball at CSU Fullerton.

Art Bojorquez, aka Bruno Franco, tapes his hands before a work out at the La Habra gym in La Habra, Calif.

The boxing gym was really cool. It was inside a little, old church, barely wider than the boxing ring. It was dark, though, so faculty member Matt Brown set up some lights on the ring for us. That helped, but the area around the speed balls and heavy bags was still dark.

At least initially, the photographers--about a dozen plus two faculty--outnumbered the athletes. A couple of pro boxers who compete out of the club were working out, and there were a few other men around. The pros sparred for a couple of rounds under the lights, so we shot some of that. Later, some kids and a few women arrived for their session.

After boxing, it was off to baseball, UC (Irvine) at CSU Fullerton. The two schools are natural rivals, just a few miles apart. Fullerton was favored, but UCI prevailed, 2-1. It was a night game, so the light wasn't very good, and as I was limited to my 200mm lens*, my shots were somewhat limited. I shot some action (right), but mostly I played (below). And yes, Gary, I was thinking about Tanya Tucker when I shot that.

(right) Matt Morris of UC Irvine (OF) dives back to first base before the Titan's Matt Wallach can apply the tag in the second inning of the Anteater's game at CSU Fullerton Apr. 5. Morris scored the game's winning run later in the inning.

I have more images I want to post from Day 2, but I've been up since 5 a.m. ... I'm tired, I'm going to bed.

CSU Fullerton pitcher Wes Roemer recorded 10 strikeouts and allowed just two runs in a complete game against UC Irvine Apr. 5. The two runs were all the Anteaters needed, though, as they beat the Titans 2-1.

*Canon is sponsoring the workshop, and providing a lot of loaner gear to participants, such as 300mm and 400mm lenses, which are better suited for shooting sports like baseball ... but I shoot Nikon, so I'm stuck with the equipment I brought. Do what you can with what you brung, right?