Monday, September 03, 2007

August 2007 - 3

Volleyball

The water polo tournament was 6 days in a row. I also had 3 photographers working for me so the amount of photographs to process was incredible. I had 2 days to catch up on all the water polo work before jumping right into the Ann Kang Invitation Volleyball Tournament.


The Ann Kang Tournament is a wonderful, pre-season volleyball tournament that attracts some of the best volleyball teams in the country. This year there were 20 teams, 10 local, 10 from the mainland. The tournament is held at Iolani school, using both the upper and lower gym constantly.


I enjoy doing this tournament because it gives me a good idea of how good my beloved Lady Raiders are in relation to many other very good teams. This year it looks like Kamehameha (Oahu) has the State Championship firmly in it's grasp. A lot of things can happen between now and States, but if they stay healthy they are going to be very, very tough to beat.

Indoor volleyball is one of the toughest sports to photograph, especially when the light is marginal. There are really only 2 venues where I like to shoot indoor sports, Stan Sheriff (UH) and Kamehameha. There may be others that are this good but I haven't seen them. Most indoor high school gyms have very marginal lighting. If you've tried to shoot volleyball or basketball in marginal lighting, you know what I'm talking about. I've had a lot of practice so am able to get quite a few very good photos, but it sure would be more fun if the lighting was better.


Kamehameha, by the way, won this tournament with a pretty dominant victory over Redondo in the final. Redondo is ranked in the top 20 in the nation. Kamehameha is now ranked number 5. Wow!

No comments: