CGN Roundtable: Photography, Part I

Facebook Tweet Pin

Everyone loves looking at pictures from meets and of their favorite gymnasts. And we just so happen to have some great photographers on staff who have shot some great moments in the sport over the past few years. In this week’s roundtable, we’re talking all about our favorite images, making up captions for funny out of context shots and everything in between.

What are some of your favorite gymnastics shots? Do you have a favorite gymnastics photographer? Let us know in the comments or on social media!

In terms of picture content, what’s your favorite type of gymnastics shot—poses, action, celebration, bars?

Elizabeth: My peers know very well by now that I love a good on-the-floor choreography shot. I also can’t get enough of team celebrations.

Emily HF: Aaaaah. This is hard. But I’m going to have to say teammate interactions. The little things that show the relationships that get built off the competition floor. These handshake rituals between Hannah Vandenkolk and Allie Smith or Kennedy Green and Sophia Hyderally. This pep talk from Missy Reinstadtler.

Emily M: While I find skill shots amazingly impressive, my faves are always really candid moments on the floor. A series of photos that immediately comes to mind is the Cal beam rotation at Oregon State in 2019, right after Toni Ann Williams tore her Achilles. Emily HF did such a great job capturing all the emotions going through both teams: the hug from Isis Lowery, Milan Clausi overcome with emotion after her routine, the team joking around and keeping spirits high and a hug from Liz Crandall-Howell. Photos like these make us feel like we were there.

Katherine: I like pictures that capture gymnasts mid-leap or skill; that moment lasts a split second, so the fact that the photographer can capture it is amazing. And of course, it reminds you how difficult it is what the gymnast is doing.

Mary Emma: I’m going to agree with Katherine on this one and say gymnasts that are mid-leap. I’m not a photographer, but I’d imagine these are the most difficult ones to capture based on how many bad ones we see in media.

Talitha: I love mid-leap photos too, but perhaps my favorite shots are bar transitions and releases. Gymnasts really seem to be flying.

What’s a picture that makes you laugh?

**Elizabeth:** I was planning to choose literally any picture from a Pauline Tratz floor routine, but I couldn’t not choose this image after coming across it again. It’s not even really a good picture, but I love the slightly creepy, unfocused, smiling Miss Val in the foreground while the team celebrates in the back.

**Emily HF:** When all you wanted was to get some good video for the “gram” and instead get kicked in the butt by an athlete during warm up. This shot of Alina Cartwright during Alaska’s warm up cracks me up every time. Also Natalie Wojcik and Olivia Karas tying in the AA at 2019 nationals and standing on the podium with linked hands and giant grins on their faces.

**Emily M:** I can’t help but laugh every time I see this shot of Larissa Libby and Clair Kaji goofing around during warmups at Big Fives in 2019. I also can’t stop laughing at Jessica Meakim’s great floor facial expressions.

**Katherine:** I have to laugh at this shot of Amanda Elswick because of the crazy ponytail-ography.

**Mary Emma:** This glare from Pitt head coach Samantha Snider in what I believe was a reaction to a judging conference. Maybe it’s mostly because I’ve gotten to know her through working with her over the last couple of seasons, but it makes me laugh every time I see it.

**Talitha:** This photograph of Jeff Graba and Byran Raschilla, with their height difference, the intense clothes colors and Raschilla’s trademark trousers, is ridiculously funny.

How about a picture that makes you tear up every time you see it?

**Elizabeth:** This shot of Texas Woman’s Lisa Bowerman with Erin Alderman on senior night made me tear up behind the lens when it happened. Alderman meant so much to the Pioneers and got emotional after her last beam routine ever at Kitty Magee.

**Emily HF:** Isis Lowery and Toni Ann Williams hugging will never fail to make me emotional. That meet in general was so emotional. Injuries are always horrible, but I’ve never seen a team quite as devastated as Cal was by Toni’s injury. And then for her to come back out on crutches and put on a smile and give pep talks to her team during the beam rotation was just incredible. This hug just reminds me of it every time because it’s more than just gymnastics and the cross-team support here is just the icing on the cake.

**Emily M:** Hands down this photo of Olivia Karas from the 2019 national semifinals. Her career ended just short of the Final Four by a hair, and the look on her face says it all.

**Katherine:** UCLA at Oregon State is the most recent photo gallery on our site, meaning it’s from the last weekend of the 2020 season before everything changed. I can’t help but be sad when I look at this picture of the gymnasts lining up in their typical team formation during awards; they must have not been thinking anything of it when they did it, but it was the last time they would for some time.

**Mary Emma:** This series of pictures of the UIC women’s team right after they narrowly missed the USAG national title in what was the program’s final meet ever. Honestly, basically anything of UIC during the 2019 season makes me tear up.

**Talitha:** The pictures of California’s Victoria Salem performing exhibition routines after years of serious injuries always make me tear up. Perhaps this photo, with the team showing her their love after her beam routine, is my favorite.

What do you think is the most memorable moment to be captured by one of our photographers?

**Elizabeth:** My brain often thinks of storylines and how fantastic images can tell those stories. When I’m watching a meet I know Emily’s shooting, I often send her a message or six, asking if she managed to get X reaction that I saw on TV. Grace Glenn getting the first ever leadoff 10 on beam was one of those times, and I’m so glad Emily was there to shoot it.

**Emily HF:** This one was hard for me because there are so many moments that stick out in my mind, but I think the one most deeply ingrained is UCLA clinching nationals in 2018. This was my first nationals I shot, and I was super overwhelmed. I remember desperately running the numbers in my head and realizing it was a gamble for getting a shot of the winning team since OU and UCLA were at opposite ends of the arena. I picked UCLA because there just seemed something magic with Lee that day—and it paid off. She started the routine with this smile, and it never left her face all the way through to her last salute.

**Emily M:** Essentially the entire Utah at UCLA meet from 2020. That competition showcased some of the best of what collegiate gymnastics can be, and I’m glad we have a record of it! I especially love this moment during the UCLA floor rotation, and Utah celebrating the win.

**Katherine:** Elizabeth was on hand for Northern Illinois winning its first ever MAC championship and the moment the team realized. I can’t help but compare it to UCLA’s reaction at winning nationals in 2018, yet the latter is an iconic gymternet scene while the former isn’t. These teams often don’t get the attention that those in the “Big Four” conferences do, but the intensity and emotion with which they compete is unmatched.

**Mary Emma:** This one from the 2019 MPSF championships when Alaska found out it had broken the program record. Like Katherine said above, a lot of celebratory pictures like this one exist for bigger teams, but I think it’s so cool that Emily was able to capture such a memorable moment for a smaller team.

**Talitha:** This picture Emily took of California’s Maleah Pearson and Toni-Ann Williams is so emotionally charged. Toni-Ann had just torn her Achilles and Maleah had just performed an exhibition routine after years battling with injury. The photo reveals their support for each other and their strength vis-à-vis adversity. Iconic.

What picture do you think is the most beautiful?

Elizabeth: I don’t know about most beautiful, but I really like looking at this shot. I’m also a sucker for a good faux-portrait, like this one of Rachel Dickson with the low depth of field and vignetting.

Emily HF: Lexy Ramler’s front aerial on beam is a thing of beauty, and when it’s caught right at that middle point, her oversplit and extension are gorgeous. This and this stand out to me in particular. I especially love the first one in black and white; it really emphasizes the moment

Emily M: Oh that’s tough. The editing Emily HF did on her UCLA at Oregon State photos is so gorgeous. I’m especially drawn to this Gracie Kramer shot. I’ll also never be over this Grace Glenn image from the 2018 national finals. Her leap is always stunning, but against that black backdrop? Heck yes.

Katherine: This shot of Maya Bordas’ floor choreography is stunning.

Mary Emma: It’s so hard to choose, but I’m going to go with this shot of Sophia Hyderally’s trademark scale on beam.

Talitha: Our talented photographers have taken a lot of stunning shots. The ones I like the most, however, are perhaps those that show cross-team friendship and respect. Like this one of Isis Lowery, consoling Toni-Ann Williams after her injury. Or this one of Margzetta Frazier and Missy Reinstadtler smiling at each other. It’s more than gymnastics, they seem to say.

Which gymnast would you say is the most photogenic? You’ve never seen a bad picture of this gymnast.

Elizabeth: There are a lot to choose from, but both of California’s Kyana George and Maya Bordas are stunning in their own right, making any shot Emily has taken of them great. I have to stop myself from using too many of them on our Instagram or for header images. Also, special shoutout to Navia Jordan, who never got the attention she deserved when she was at Centenary, but was an absolutely gorgeous gymnast.

Emily HF: If you know me at all you know my answer to this. It is literally impossible to take a bad picture of Lexy Ramler. I find myself having to toss pictures that I would use of other gymnasts in a heartbeat because I have so many better ones.

Emily M: Definitely Milan Clausi, hands down. Sitting on the floor, working through beam choreography or just standing around, she always photographs well. My runner up is Norah Flatley.

Katherine: I’d have to go with an unknown gymnast called Kyla Ross. The form, the poses and the electric smile…none of it ever looks bad.

Mary Emma: Lexy Ramler. Every picture I see of her has perfect form and toes pointed. I’m not sure if it’s possible to take a bad picture of her.

Talitha: Any gymnast with perfect form is photogenic to me. If I had to choose one, however, it would be Alexis Vasquez. Her lines and pointed toes are gorgeous, and I love her makeup-free style.