Last spring, I was commissioned to produce an action video for a high school lacrosse player. His parents wanted a professional video that they could send to college coaches along with his school application.
Most of the time, parents just use the existing school video footage and highlight their son or daughter with a circle or an arrow. I wanted to make something that was more “NFL Films” than “Public Access.”
I brought in two other photographers – Rob Tringali and Mike Ehrmann – and we covered 15 matches over the course of the season.
We shot with the Canon 7D hybrid HD-DSLR at 60 frames/second and then slowed it down to 24p in post to give it a cool slow-motion look. I bought a Canon-Nikon adapter so I could use my Nikon lenses – including a 400/2.8 for the action shots.
That also meant everything had to be shot using manual focus.
I occasionally shoot manual during a game these days, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to follow-focus 100% of the time. It was not easy, but that muscle memory slowly came back, allowing me to get enough shots for the completed video.
The final piece for the client was three minutes long, but editor David Szarejko and I also produced the one-minute sample below.
The music is “King Louie” by Taddy Porter (off their new self-titled album) and is used with permission.