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Archive 2015 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs

  
 
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Utah dominated the field last night (UCLA, Stanford and Oregon State also competed in the evening session) to win its second consecutive Pac-12 Championship, but not without some late drama of the sort you never want to see. On a night when the men’s basketball team earned a spot in the Sweet-16, and the gymnastics team continued its climb to the top in front of another record crowd, it was heartbreaking that one of its senior stars suffered a career ending injury. It happened late, and emotions that already were high took a sudden, unexpected and rather intense turn. But the remaining seniors showed their poise by stepping up and closing out the meet with a bang. It was a bittersweet night.

Here are some photos. A few things of note: First, I didn’t have floor access and was limited to the first two rows of seats in a limited number of sections in the arena. Moving from section to section was a major PITA, but necessary. Second, from the position I chose for shooting bars, it seemed that using the Zone AF option might serve me well, so that’s what I did. I’ll let the images tell the story from there.

C&C welcome. (Blog post here.)


1.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.1.JPG


2.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.2.JPG


3.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.3.JPG


4.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.5.JPG


5.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.8.JPG


6.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.9.JPG


7.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.10.JPG


8.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.18.JPG


9.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.24.JPG


10.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.25.JPG


11.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.26.JPG


12. This is what you never want to see. A high-powered all-around gymnast who scored a 10 on vault earlier in the night. Her Achilles gave out as she launched into one of her tumbling moves and it's a wonder she managed to find her way back to the mat without doing a lot more serious damage. The meet was well in hand by this point as she was third in the (last) floor rotation, but when one of your superstars scores a 1.0 and three more suddenly grieving athletes are still to compete, nothing is certain. The three seniors scored 9.90, 9.95 and 9.925 to leave no doubt of the outcome, and, no surprise, each became quite emotional upon completion of their routines.

http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.38.JPG


13.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.40.JPG


14.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.42.JPG


15.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.44.JPG


16.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.46.JPG


17. The genius behind all of it, Greg Marsden, who with his wife who is co-head coach, received the PAC-12 Coach of the Year award.

http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.51.JPG


18.
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/Gymnastics2015/PAC-12.52.JPG






Mar 22, 2015 at 02:11 PM
CW100
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Russ Isabella wrote:
Here are some photos. A few things of note: First, I didn’t have floor access and was limited to the first two rows of seats in a limited number of sections in the arena. Moving from section to section was a major PITA, but necessary.



good shots for being in the stands and not having floor access






Mar 22, 2015 at 05:13 PM
jcnemy
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Russ - as always, thanks for providing great examples of what gymnastic photo coverage should look like. I have yet to cover such a sport but when I get the chance, you have provided some excellent material on what you should strive for....

#'s 5, 7, 8, 11, and 15 are my favorites. Great DR, sharpness, and WB management....I need to review my interior WB management process because these rock!

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to capturing gymnastics in the future,\.

JC



Mar 22, 2015 at 06:18 PM
picboy
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


amazing!


Mar 22, 2015 at 06:19 PM
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Thanks, CW

jcnemy wrote:
Russ - as always, thanks for providing great examples of what gymnastic photo coverage should look like. I have yet to cover such a sport but when I get the chance, you have provided some excellent material on what you should strive for....

#'s 5, 7, 8, 11, and 15 are my favorites. Great DR, sharpness, and WB management....I need to review my interior WB management process because these rock!

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to capturing gymnastics in the future,\.

JC


JC: Hey thanks, man. I hope you get the chance to cover gymnastics. It's a great sport to photograph, challenging and rewarding. Good luck.

picboy: Glad you liked 'em.




Mar 22, 2015 at 07:19 PM
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


This video gives a feel for what it was like to be there, and you get a pretty good idea of the speed with which these routines happen. Georgia Dabritz's final tumbling pass on floor is eye-popping. She defies human physiology and gravity and I can't even count the number of rotations she manages. I think it's a triple.




Mar 22, 2015 at 07:30 PM
rsartin
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Russ, I see quite a bit of your work and respect it all...but your gymnastics stuff is out of this world good!


Mar 22, 2015 at 07:37 PM
schlotz
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Even great work from the seats, pretty damn impressive Russ

You captured her perfectly in her routine re:#15

Matt



Mar 22, 2015 at 08:42 PM
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Many thanks, Randy. I appreciate that!

Hey Matt, thanks buddy. I checked out one of the practice sessions to work out my strategy, and every decision came with its pros and cons, but overall I was satisfied with what I was able to do.



Mar 22, 2015 at 09:45 PM
robby521
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Freaking awesome shots.great job.


Mar 22, 2015 at 10:56 PM
kateman
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


just... wow.
anyone that is able to describe and capture the images of the story the way you have...well, there should be a Pulitzer prize type of recognition of that/this particular ability.
out of a superb body of work, this is seminal.(hope that is the correct use and spelling.)
thanks for the sharing.
B



Mar 23, 2015 at 02:57 PM
EyrePhoto
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Great photos Russ,

Granted I am an Oregon State supporter, but your images tell such a great story that I might be ok with a Utah win.

Thanks for sharing.



Mar 23, 2015 at 03:36 PM
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Thanks, Robby.

Bret: I've been called a lot of things, but seminal is a new one. You've always been too kind, and all I can say is keep it up! Thank you.

Scott: I enjoyed watching Oregon State, with one or two gymnasts in particular whose enthusiasm was exciting to see. Thank you for your comments.



Mar 23, 2015 at 07:29 PM
gschlact
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Would never had known these were from the stands. Great emotional captures.


Mar 23, 2015 at 07:48 PM
lhryshko
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Outstanding coverage again Russ. Winning the Pac-12 Championship is huge but bittersweet is a remarkably accurate description. Hope Tory recovers fully.

Your vantage point for bars when banished to the stands is actually superb. Some wonderful captures. Great shots all around as we've all come to expect.



Mar 24, 2015 at 06:24 PM
Pyrat
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


Once again, you take away all of our excuses - shooting from a non-preferred location - extremely intense event, with extraordinarily complex backgrounds and challenging lighting - and you deliver work that any of us would give up valuable portions of our anatomy just to approach.

You define professional in ways that we all aspire to. Thank you again for sharing and setting standards. There are no excuses.



Mar 25, 2015 at 12:10 PM
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Utah Gymnastics - Pac-12 Champs


gschlact: Thank you.

Larry: Yeah, there isn't enough space on the floor to shoot bars from that vantage point, and I always have been interested in trying it out. The seats worked out well. Thanks for your feedback.

Pyrat: Thank you for your very kind words.



Mar 26, 2015 at 01:49 PM





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