The Sports Workshop in Pictures
July 27 – Aug 1, 2016 | Denver, CO
For one week in the Mile High City, a group of elite instructors and eager students gathered at the 2016 Summit Sports Photography Workshop. Students came to learn and better their sports photography skills from an all-star cast of instructors, but they came away with so much more — new directions, ideas, and lifelong friendships.
With an absolutely talented cast of instructors, students were able to utilize a multitude of different learning opportunities from lighting classes with Joey Terrill and Dave Black, to remote camera setup classes with Mark Terrill and Andrew Hancock, to classroom instruction with Deanne Fitzmaurice, John McDonough, Bob Smith and so much more!
2016 Sports Workshop Faculty
Learn more about our talented faculty at our Instructor Page.
Rich Clarkson / Deanne Fitzmaurice / Dave Black / Brad Smith / Joey Terrill / John McDonough /
Lucas Gilman / Mark Terrill / Andrew Hancock / Jeff Jacobsen / Nate Gordon / Jamie Schwaberow / Bob Smith
But what would a Sports Photography Workshop be without sporting events to photograph? Nothing! That is why this year’s Sports Workshop had one of the most diverse selections of sporting events to photograph. Whether it was horse racing, motocross, skateboarding or Denver Outlaws lacrosse, students all had the opportunity to capture stunning pictures at fun and exciting sporting events.
Follow along for Behind-the-Scenes and Student-Taken Photos
from Classes, Sporting Events and Workshop Activities.
ON-LOCATION CLASSES
Tennis with High Speed Sync
Instructor: Dave Black
To say that Dave Black is a master with high speed sync doesn't even do his abilities justice. Heck, Dave is so good with Nikon speedlights that Nikon had him come to Japan and do the campaign for the new SB5000 lights! Now Dave gets to use his knowledge to help students capture incredible tennis action shots where the tennis ball is perfectly frozen in the sky. Thanks to high shutter speeds, high speedy sync, and Dave's famous 'triangle' method of lighting a subject, students can come away with some portfolio-ready images and a better understanding of lighting.
Baseball with Strobes
Instructor: Jeff Jacobsen
In addition to their tennis courts, Metro State University's Regency Athletic Complex is home to a beautiful all-turf baseball field with an even more beautiful background -- the Denver Skyline. It was only natural that Jeff Jacobsen, the man who photographs every single sport for the University of Kansas Athletic Department, be the one to help students create stunning portraits and action shots of college baseball models.
Portrait Lighting
Instructor: Joey Terrill
Haven already given a class on how to create and shape light in portraits, Joey now gives students an opportunity to apply the principles of portrait lighting with a model, Francessa. Armed with Profoto lighting gear and a cosmic-looking background, Joey and his students are able to create portraits that mirror the night lights of a busy city.
Lacrosse Action with Strobes
Instructor: Dave Black
Lucas Gilman
After already working with high speedy sync and tennis, Dave Black is joined by fellow Nikon Ambassador Lucas Gilman to work with students on Profoto strobe lighting with lacrosse athletes. Even in broad daylight, the Profoto B1 lights are able to overpower the sun and produce amazing, lit action shots. Dave and Lucas are able to utilize multiple lacrosse models to create several different, posed looks. Students take shots from all sorts of angles, from just feet away from the lacrosse models with a wide-angle lens, to far away from the models with long lenses.
Lightpainting Baseball
Instructor: Dave Black
The master of lightpainting, Dave Black, takes the class out to the baseball fields at night to capture stunning lightpainted portraits in the dugouts. Using long exposures and flashlights, students literally paint in where they want the light to be. Although the ambient light of the downtown Denver skyline partially lit up the baseball field, students were still able to capture stunning lightpaintings.
Lacrosse Portraits with Strobes
Instructor: Joey Terrill
Like Dave Black's strobe lighting class, Joey Terrill takes a group out to photograph lacrosse players but with an emphasis on lit portraits. Using Profoto B1 lights, Joey helps students work on their exposures while capturing our lacrosse model, Luke, in the perfect light. Unlike action shots of the lacrosse players, taking portraits allows Joey and the students to do more with the lighting and move it on the fly.
SPORTING EVENTS
Motocross
Instructor: Mark Reis
Instructor: Lucas Gilman
Motocross is a staple at the Sports Workshop. Every year, students capture incredible portraits and images of athletes flying through the air and doing amazing tricks. And every year Mark Reis and Lucas Gilman are there to help students capture those pictures. Through there experience with lighting and photographing the sport and track, Reis and Gilman are experts in helping to capture great motocross moments.
Sunrise at the Racetrack
Instructor: Andrew Hancock
Students woke up early in the morning and headed out to photograph horses on the track at sunrise alongside Nikon Ambassador Andrew Hancock. Andrew has photographed countless sports including horse racing, and he's done things with remote cameras at race tracks that no photographer has ever done. His creativity and know-how in the sport makes him a great instructor for experienced students and students with little experience photographing horses, alike.
Women’s Basketball
Instructor: John McDonough
Students had the rare opportunity to go out to the nearby Metro State Gymnasium and photograph dozens of women's basketball teams as they competed in a tournament. They also happened to be accompanied by one of the best basketball photographers in the nation and the world, John McDonough. Alongside John, students explored different angles to capture action shots, team shots, reaction shots, and much more.
Denver Outlaws Lacrosse
Instructor: John McDonough
Instructor: Mark Terrill
Many students had never photographed lacrosse before, so who better to introduce them to the sport than John McDonough and Mark Terrill, the two men who have photographed just about everything. John is an expert from the sideline, finding different angles and shooting positions for the students to utilize. Mark is an expert with remote cameras, giving students insight into where cameras can be mounted and tethered within the stadium.
Rodeo / Dock Dogs / Mutton Busting
Instructor: Jeff Jacobsen
Instructor: Andrew Hancock
The knowledgable and charismatic photographers Jeff Jacobsen and Andrew Hancock make a perfect team for leading a group out to photograph rodeo events. With events like dock dogs and mutton busting, this group photographs everything in a rodeo setting from the animals to the cowboys. These were perhaps the most fun sporting events to photograph, and when the images were shown during the image critique they brought smiles to everyones faces.
Horse Racing
Instructor: Andrew Hancock
For the second time in the week, students were able to head out and photograph horse racing alongside Nikon Ambassador Andrew Hancock. Horse racing had not been an event at the Summit Sports Workshop for quite some time, but when it became available this year it did not disappoint. Students captured breathtaking photos at the race track, and during image critiques instructors had nothing but constructive critiques and good things to say about them.
Skateboarding / Rugby
Instructor: Mark Terrill
Instructor: Andrew Hancock
Mark Terrill joined students at the downtown Denver skatepark and helped them organize separate shoots with Profoto lighting. Meanwhile, Andrew Hancock joined a group of students down to Lowry Sports Complex to photograph a rugby practice. In both cases, students were able to come away with well-composed and creative photographs that the instructors really enjoyed.
WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES
Portfolio Reviews
At every Summit Workshop, students have the opportunity for their portfolio to be reviewed by several of the greatest editors and photographers in the industry. This year’s Sports Workshop was certainly no different, as students were able to get instant feedback from the likes of Brad Smith, Deanne Fitzmaurice, Nate Gordon and many more instructors. Through portfolio reviews, students are able to expose their work to some of the nation’s top hirers and top talents — which in many cases leads to new opportunities for students in their careers.
Final Banquet
The final banquet is a fun night for everyone. After a long week of classroom instruction and photographing countless sporting events, both students and instructors have a final night to socialize, have dinner, and reflect on the great week. Additionally, instructors pick the students who they believe were the most determined to learn, network and improve their photography — and those students walk away with prizes!
Sheila Haddad and Mark Brown won G-Tech hard drives from the vendors, and Catherine Thuaux and Cyndi Chambers won G-Tech hard drives for winning the Workshop Innovator Awards – awards given to the students who try the hardest to capture great shots and improve their skills. Todd Michalek and Logan Bowles won ThinkTank Photo bags from Deanne Fitzmaurice for being exemplary and charismatic students.
Finally, the three students who personified everything that the workshop stands for won the Spirit of the Workshop Award – one of them receiving a free workshop tuition and two receiving paid sports assignments. Sara Hertwig, a photography student at Metro State University, won the first Spirit of the Workshop award and a free tuition to Dave’s Lightpainting Workshop. Mark Brown won the second Spirit of the Workshop award, a paid sports assignment from Brad Smith and Brad Smith Creative. Finally, our Summit Photo Contest winner Mel Lyons won the 3rd Annual Bill Eppridge Memorial Award – a paid sports assignment from Nate Gordon and The Player’s Tribune.
Bill Eppridge was one of the world’s finest photojournalists and a very close friend of the Summit Workshops. Every year, we’re thrilled that we can honor Bill by giving away such a prestigious award in his name.
Swipe Left for the Original // Swipe Right for the Goofy Version
Deanne Fitzmaurice with the women of the 2016 Sports Workshop. Every year there are more and more women at the sports photography workshop, and this year we were happy to have two women fly out from Australia to attend.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS
Faculty and staff agree that the students from the 2016 Sports Workshop were a very unique bunch, and that the photos they captured were some of the best photos ever captured at Summit Sports Photography Workshops.
For the first time being held in the Mile High City, the Summit Sports Workshop was a Mile High success. We’d like to thank everyone who attended and helped make it an incredibly fun learning experience.
We’d also like to give a special thanks to Julio Aguilar and Jessi Dodge for assisting the workshop staff and for being a joy to be around during the workshop. Additionally, we’d like to thank Julio Aguilar, Sara Hertwig, Marcus Gipson, Mark Brown, Sheila Haddad, and everyone else who provided behind-the-scenes images and footage.
Thank You
© 2016 Joey Terrill