Basketball in Friday Harbor

I recently decided to stretch myself and try photographing some basketball at Friday Harbor High School. Basketball is considered one of the more extreme challenges of both a photographer and his gear, and I can now attest to that personally. But I enjoy a challenge, so I'm having fun and learning a lot. (Plus, I managed to get a number of photos from the first weekend into the San Juan Islands Journal and the San Juan Island Update.)

The photos below are favorites of mine from the few games I've shot so far. They include Boys and Girls Varsity, and all are home games, starting with the Third Annual Tip Off Classic Basketball Tournament on December 2 and 3. The competing high schools you'll see are Seattle Lutheran, Meridian, Coupeville, Shoreline Christian, and Nooksack Valley.

Truthfully, it was hard to whittle down the selection, as the Friday Harbor boys and girls are so photogenic on the court. But if you want to see lots more, you can head over to my new store at islanderimages.smugmug.com.

As in all my photography, I'm aiming to capture emotion, interaction, and the telling moment. Also, to me, part of the joy of this photography is that basketball is a kind of dance, with all the physical grace that implies. I don't understand basketball photographers who mostly zoom in to the upper bodies in landscape mode, because, just as in dance, an essential part of the story is in the feet! (I just wish someone would hire me to shoot some actual dance -- hint, hint.)

For photography buffs, I'll mention that most of these photos were shot with various combinations of Nikon cameras D500 and D750 and Nikon lenses 24-70mm f/4 and 70-200mm f/4. Shutter speed was mostly a steady 1/1000. I'm now setting my auto ISO to a maximum of 51,200 for safety, but with my f/4 lenses and no exposure compensation, it has stayed between 6400 and 12,800 anyway. Just a few years ago, photos at such high ISO settings would have been too noisy to publish!

2016 Hill of Thrills Soap Box Race

The Hill of Thrills, held on May 21, was to be the first of an annual old-fashioned soap box race sponsored by Island Rec. It was good fun, and I got to photograph it for our local print newspaper, the San Juan Islands Journal. The race course ran along Park Street between Marguerite and Price, just west of Friday Harbor Middle School. There were divisions for several age groups, including adult!

Longswords in Sunken Park

Mattias Anderson and Ellery von Dassow take a break from longsword practice in Friday Harbor's Sunken Park. Photo by Aaron Shepard.

One Saturday afternoon last October, I was hurrying downtown in Friday Harbor to photograph the annual Farm Parade when I came upon the following scene in Sunken Park.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

I knew at once this was something new to me. The swords and protective clothing were too heavy for normal fencing, and the movements too aggressive and disciplined for fantasy reenactment or role play. But I only had time to snap a few shots before hurrying on.

Luckily, a woman walking the same way tipped me off that these two young swordsmen were regular visitors to the park. So, I went back two weeks later and found them again.

Their names are Mattias Anderson (pronounced ma-TEE-us) and Ellery von Dassow, and they're practitioners of an art called medieval longsword. It's part of an international revival movement called Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). Though their swords are blunt, their movements are authentic, based on manuals written by German and Italian masters of the Middle Ages. The bouts have rigid rules, and protective gear is required!

Mattias and Ellery are both San Juan Island residents, though Ellery goes to university in Bellingham. The longsword events they attend are in Bellingham and Seattle. So far, they say, they're the only two longsword fighters in the San Juan Islands, but they hope others will join them. Weather permitting, they meet in Sunken Park every other Saturday at 2:00.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.

Photo by Aaron Shepard.