MSU-Northern Skylights vs Emery Riddle in Chandler, AZ
My brother and I got to take some photos at the Cactus Classic women’s basketball tournament in Chandler, Arizona. My old friend, Chris Mouat, who is the head coach of the Skylights, was in town while I spent the Xmas holiday at my parents house.
Their 8 pm game against Emery Riddle, was the first Skylights game I have seen since before I moved to Saint Louis in 2019. So it had been awhile since I watched the women play. It’s pretty early in their season and according to coach, the girls are improving at a good clip. Their pace of play was a struggle tonight and they couldn’t seem to find their way into the bucket very often. They had great success while pressing Emery Riddle, but that fast paced play is hard to maintain early in the season.
Bryan and I took turn shooting the ladies. Lighting was decent in the gym. Shutter speeds sat around 1/640 and that was able to keep ISOs under 1000. I was pretty happy about that. My old ass hips didn’t like sitting on the floor, I can tell you that. Around halftime, my long time friend, Jeff Graham, who is the head coach for Montana Tech Lady Orediggers, stopped over and I got to BS him for most of the second half. His ladies were also in town to play in the Cactus Classic and it was really great to chat him up for a while. Bryan took over the camera duties for most of the second half.
I chose to bring only Prime lenses to the game as I was positive that the lighting would be garbage. While it didn’t turn out to the be terrible lighting, the prime lenses were able to keep the noise down. 85mm and 135mm are way to much lens for Basketball. I might have to add a 50mm prime to my arsenal if I continue to shoot basekeball. That would be nice in the half court.
Overall, my first game shooting basketball turned out okay. I wasn’t too thrilled with the shots I got, but I also made the best of the lenses that I had with me that night.
It was a great night of basketball and seeing old friends. Dave and Katie also bought some Maria’s Fry Bread (Bryan and I always eat there when we visit AZ), so overall, it was a great night in the desert!
Equipment used:
Sony a7IV
Sony 135mm f/1.8
Samyang 85mm f/1.4
