The Port Townsend girls soccer team won one match this year. This shot of Savanna Hoffman and Macy Smith celebrating after the final whistle blow from the ref, says it all. If I am not mistaken, Hoffman had just scored and the buzz in the air was electric. I was beginning to pack up when out of the corner of my eye I could see way across the field Smith running toward her teammate with arms wide open. I flicked the power on to my camera, ripped the lens cap off the front of the lens, and fired off three shots. The players were so far away that the auto-focus struggled to lock on. But I got it! Enough to tell the story at least. There isn’t a whole lot going for this photo aesthetically, but the story is palpable and raises it to the top of the pile.

One of the things I have enjoyed most about photographing sports is learning how to describe what is happening in each shot. When it came to volleyball I had to learn not only the rules, but each position and its role in the various strategies that get deployed on both offense and defense. This helps me to understand the game as it unfolds and predict what is going to happen next. Then, there is the lingo. Volleyball jargon includes words like; ace, attack line, back set, campfire and cut shot, in addition to dig, dink, and dump. The name of the athlete in this photo is Stormie Elkins and she is by far the most qualified setter not only among Quilcene’s girls volleyball team but, in the entire league - in my humble opinion. Let me explain what is happening in this photo. It is indicative of Stormie’s brilliance as a setter. The ball was passed to Stormie by one of her teammates in the back row (out of frame on the left). With her back turned toward the net, her job as setter is to pump the ball up high directly above her in order to provide the hitter enough time to swoop into position and leap into the air and spike the ball across the net. Why? Because that’s what setters do. It is what is expected of someone in that position and exactly what the opposing side had predicted. However, Stormie had other plans. As the ball arced toward her, she followed it with her eye until her back was arched such that when she gave the ball a final pump, it didn’t go straight up into the air but rather it was accelerated over the net and the unsuspecting heads of the opposing front row before bouncing untouched in the enemy’s court. They didn’t even know what hit ‘em! I called it, “Stormie’s Backward Dump.”

The through-line in all of these photographs is the story. This one of Nathan Cantrell shadowing the lead runner sums up almost the entire race. Nathan kept the leader on a short leash during the two laps around the track until the very final downhill sprint toward the finish line, at which point Nathan inched ahead in the final seconds to win the championship. This image has a number of elements working in its favor aesthetically as well. First, the diagonal line formed by the string of runners leads the eye across the entire frame, with a little space in front for breathing room. The focus falls off from front to back which emphasizes where the viewer should look and who the story is about. Finally, the smattering of leaves on the ground helps tell the story in terms of the time of year and gives a sense of depth to the ground as the leaves are larger in the foreground and smaller toward the back. Without them, the grass would have appeared as a flat, dimensionless void of green space.