How We Got The Photo: Capturing the action at state finals for sports

High school sports are full of emotion and excitement, which makes for great photographs.

The end of each season for some teams means a chance to go the IHSA state finals and a chance for us to cover their success. A newspaper photojournalist has the chance to cover all sorts of stuff, including of course sports.

Each assignment offers its own opportunities and issues, and logistically the state finals are no different. When the competition ramps up so does the pressure. I know how important it is to get the pictures that tell the story of our athletes.

This year, I was lucky enough cover the competitive dance competition finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington and the girls gymnastics state finals at Palatine High School.

Both of these events had many, many athletes from our coverage area. A bit of planning on my part made sure that I was able to get photographs of as many of our athletes as possible.

Unlike football, basketball and plenty of other sports, the athletes in competitive dance and gymnastics don't wear numbers while they compete. This adds a new level of complexity as we strive to identify each participant correctly.

Each sport requires different tools.

Big heavy lenses, special step stools to get just the right angle, lists of competitors and even a camp chair to help stave off back pain are among the tricks of the trade.

The bulk of the 12,000-plus pictures that I took at gymnastics and competitive dance were made with my Canon 1DXii camera body and my trusty 70-200 mm f2.8 zoom lens. During gymnastics, I also used a 300 mm f2.8 lens to reach some of the events further away from my shooting location.

One of the big plusses about shooting indoor state final events is that the venues usually have pretty good light, especially when compared to some of the smaller local gyms we frequent. And of course, being indoors means no rain or snow.

Covering the state finals in any sport is fulfilling, and I am often rewarded with some great images.

It is a privilege to see these athletes perform and compete at the highest level as they pour their hearts into being successful.