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Northern - High School Action Sports

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About this event

Northern District High School Action Sports Program

Join us for an in-depth look at photographing high school action sports, followed by the opportunity to put what you've learned into practice on the football field!

We'll begin at the library with classroom instruction covering pre-game preparation, best practices on the sidelines, strategies for working with the challenging lighting found in high school stadiums and gyms, and what to do after the game, including culling and post-processing. Time and interest permitting, we'll also talk about the business of sports photography.

After the classroom portion, we'll head to a local high school to photograph live football action. The current schedule includes a freshman game at 5:30 p.m. followed by JV at 7:30 p.m. Participants are welcome to photograph one game or stay for both.

Please note: The football schedule is subject to change. If the school is unable to field a freshman team, there will be one JV game beginning at 6 p.m. instead. We'll update registered attendees with the final schedule and high school location before the event.

Canon users will also have the opportunity to try a 300mm or 400mm f/2.8 lens, as long as they promise to be very, very careful!

The high school location and additional game-day information will be provided to registered attendees before the event.

What to bring:

  • Your camera and the fastest lens in your collection. A 70-200mm f/2.8 is ideal, but we will work with whatever you have.
  • Extra batteries!
  • Rain gear if necessary. Keep an eye on the weather; the game won't be cancelled if it's raining!
  • You may want to pack a snack. There are some fast food options nearby, but the concession stand might not be open for a non-varsity game.

About Susan:

About 13 years ago, I brought my camera to my son's kindergarten soccer practice for the first time and discovered just how fun and challenging it could be to photograph a moving target. Fast-forward many years of practice and work on my craft, and now I have been photographing youth sports professionally for almost 9 years, on both the action and volume sides (team and individual portraits). In the past few years, I have started doing some H.S. Senior Portrait work as well, and I earned my CPP in 2024.

You can find me on Instagram at @sgjphotos.

Susan Johnson

Date and Time

Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) (UTC-05:00)

Location

Kingstowne Regional Library
The library is on the upper floor of the building
Kingstowne Regional Library
7130 Silver Lake Boulevard
Alexandria, VA  22315
USA

Event Contact(s)

Gwen Meehan
[email protected]

Sherry Bellamy

Category

Northern District Event

Registration Info

Registration is required
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Registration modifications are permitted
Registration cancellations will be accepted

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