For this gallery, I aimed to capture life as a student athlete at the University of Denver during the National Intercollegiate Final. As a figure skater representing DU, I experienced the highs and lows of competition. Whether it be having fun on the ice, stressing before I compete, or rushing to do school work, there are many aspects of life student athletes have to balance. Last weekend (April 10th-12th), I took photographs of my teammates, the competition, and my overall experience of the weekend. I captured these images on my Iphone and film camera with the hopes of expressing the value of collegiate sports.
Rebecca German showing off her Denver pride before closing ceremonies. 
University of South Florida posing for a selfie before closing ceremonies. 
DUFSC’s seniors (Gillian Bush, Veronica Mayrose, Caitlin Chupa, and Ayden Smith) taking the ice to be honored for opening ceremonies. 
Kylie Fenske presenting her element for team maneuvers. 
Preparing for media day. 
Skates on and waiting for awards. 
The locker room door in Salt Lake City. 
Freshman (Landice Mullins, Emily Brown, and Lucy Angarola) posing with the team flag for their fist nationals. 
Kylie Fenske practicing a camel spin during team practice ice. 
Working on homework during the competition. 
University of Delaware’s team spirit. 
The bumpy flight to Salt Lake City. 
Landice Mullins wearing her two national gold medals. 
A juvenile short program competitor. 
My Top Photo Picks
Photo 1:
I chose this photo because it captures the overall excitement of the weekend. In this photo, my teammate Rebecca German is preparing the enter closing ceremonies. Before German got on the ice, I took this shot of her in the team jacket. I love this image because German fills the frame of the image and you can feel her joy and excitement through the image. When taking this image, I tried to make sure the Denver logo on the jacket was eye-catching, and I believe I succeeded. I particularly like the color contrasts of the white jacket and the red logo with the blurred background, as this makes the red logo pop and catches audience attention. In the future, I will aim to capture posed pictures similarly to how I captured this image.
Photo 2:
This photograph is special because it wasn’t planned. We we’re standing next to University of South Florida’s team and I noticed them taking a selfie, and I thought it was a good moment to capture. I really like the photo because it expresses their team spirit and togetherness very naturally. From a technical stance, this is also one of my favorite pictures because the team really fills the frame of the image. Additionally, although the picture has a bit of a busy background, you can still easily tell which team is South Florida’s, due to their togetherness. I ended up sending this image to the team on instagram and they loved it! In the future I will try to capture more candid moments such as this one.
Photo 3:
Lastly, this third photograph was one of my favorite pictures from the whole weekend. This image is of the senior pioneers as they enter opening ceremonies, and it truly captures the nerves, excitement, and sentimentality of the first day of their last nationals. I particularly love this picture because it captures their entrance with them standing in the lines of the rule of thirds. Additionally, I really like that you can see the motion of their skating through their hair and dresses. Overall, I love the candid joy this image captures. In the future, I will try to incorporate these features into my motion shots.
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Hi Marley,
I loved how you showed the progression between the skaters performing, as well as you capturing the fun moments the team had with one another. I especially liked the first photo which adds contrast to dark and light and focuses on the figure skater’s back with the DU sign.
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