"...With all the news about school shootings, it is VERY politically incorrect to call any in-school, on-campus photography “shooting” anything. Some school teachers and administrators can be very rigid about this..." burkphoto speaks with rather poignant and germane wisdom...

I primarily collaborate with 14 to 21 year old talent... nearly all are in academic environments... most have expressed a heighten level of concern about firearms in general. To this end I will no longer allow any narratives involving firearms in the studio or on set (absolutely no exceptions). Those who don't seem to understand magnitude of trauma "mass shootings" has caused on today's young adults might be wise to speak with members this age group to better comprehend the issue.

Sadly the media has dramatized the issue for their own agenda... as one of my commercial (newspaper) photographer colleague pointed out to me... "If it bleeds it leads" the number of "copycat" incidents are shocking... Yet all attempts to rein in the media rhetoric fail... To this end I avoid the subject (save for this post)...

Many decades ago a very young social poet nailed it... seems the cycle continues unbroken...

Come gather 'round people where ever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come writers and critics who prophesy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a' changin'!

The line it is drawn the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a' changin'!

I have been shooting high school sports for years and am not familiar with any such arrangement. Maybe it exsists in some schools but I highly doubt it is universal. I have shot at every single Prep school in New England and Many High Schools in Massachusetts. As well as all NESCAC and NE10 colleges. The laws are the same throughout the US. Schools fall into a quasi public area. They are considered public space so you can shoot freely unless the school asks you not to. They do reserve the right to not allow photographing. Most will welcome it. No permission is needed and releases are not needed. However if the Principal asks you not to you must abide. No most companies that shoot yearbook pictures do not shoot all athletic events they only show up to one game for each sport and get a couple of shots to put in the yearbook. Chances are there will also be photographers from local newspapers at some of the bigger sports like football and basketball maybe even baseball. You most likely will blend in with them. Take note of where they shoot from and shoot from those same areas.
Here is the big thing very few parents will be willing to even pay a nominal fee for the images some will even try to “right click steal” them if you post them online. So if you do set up an online place to post them make sure right click saving is not allowed. I suggest licensing the digital downloads. I also suggest knowing your rights to shoot in public places and maybe even print them out and carry them with you because their will always be some mother who thinks she is a philidelphia lawyer to tell you you can not photograph children. This is not so!
As far as the actual shooting. Get Faces in the shots! People are more likely to want pictures with their kids faces then they will shots of their backs. This is the biggest mistake novices make. I have had countless parents ask my why they can’t “great” shots like I get and when I look at what they have shot it is all backs and they don’t even realize the difference. Try to get as close to the action as possible. Also shoot opposite from the crowd. Usually in high school sports the crowd is on one side. The crowd makes a better back drop than a plain wall or a parking lot if you are outdoors. Don’t forget the emotion shots. In football for example the amateur stops shooting as soon as a play ends. A pro keeps shooting to catch a celebration or emotion. High school kids show tons of emotion after every play. Have lots of memory cards. Most sporting events I shoot i shoot anywhere from 300-600 shots or more to get about 100 keepers. I know that ratio sounds bad but for sports it is pretty good, it’s the nature of shooting sports.
Good luck have fun.

"...With all the news about school shootings, it is VERY politically incorrect to call any in-school, on-campus photography “shooting” anything. Some school teachers and administrators can be very rigid about this..." burkphoto speaks with rather poignant and germane wisdom...

I primarily collaborate with 14 to 21 year old talent... nearly all are in academic environments... most have expressed a heighten level of concern about firearms in general. To this end I will no longer allow any narratives involving firearms in the studio or on set (absolutely no exceptions). Those who don't seem to understand magnitude of trauma "mass shootings" has caused on today's young adults might be wise to speak with members this age group to better comprehend the issue.

Sadly the media has dramatized the issue for their own agenda... as one of my commercial (newspaper) photographer colleague pointed out to me... "If it bleeds it leads" the number of "copycat" incidents are shocking... Yet all attempts to rein in the media rhetoric fail... To this end I avoid the subject (save for this post)...

Many decades ago a very young social poet nailed it... seems the cycle continues unbroken...


As sung so eloquently by Bob Dylan in 1965 while my generation wrecked America as we knew it back then. What a mess we made of morals and social responsibility. And the US did not and probably will not recover because we spawned a new generation that had no forward responsibility and no care for building a more stable future, just a grab-it now mentality.

Come gather 'round people where ever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come writers and critics who prophesy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a' changin'!

Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a' changin'!

The line it is drawn the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a' changin'!