Prep pictures

This might be stupid, but do you run pictures of high school girls in sports bras at practice?

I try not to, but sometimes it's pretty damn hard if I'm going to include every sport (which I do).

 

i don't see the issue too much. would you run pictures of girls at the beach? yes. Would you run pictures of female swimmers? Yes. That is my take, although I am sure others, and some readers, may feel different. But you can't ask all the cross country girls to put on a shirt in 100-degree weather just for your photo.

 

I don't usually seek it out, but don't worry too much, but a coach said something today. I was going to run a photo he took from a team vacation, and, of course all the girls were in sports bras in damn near every photo. He said he didn't feel real comfortable using one of those. He wasn't being a dick or anything, but I got me thinking: maybe I just was too fast to assume it was appropriate.

 

Depends on the photo.

If all or half the girls are wearing full-coverage sports bras at regular practice, go for it. Easy to justify against any complaint you may get.

If you've got a unique angle that shows cleavage or another unflattering element, don't run it. If your photo appears to be taken from up in a tree near the practice field with a long-range lens, don't run it.

 

Hell, I once had people say that a picture was "obscene" when it was a group photo of four swimmers... guys mind you... and none were wearing shirts. It's just a matter of what part of the world you are in and what your editor thinks.

 

Hell, if you ask a certain photograper I've worked with, that's all you run.

 

Unless it seems suggestive, and it's a good photo, go for it. I don't even think about it much anymore, maybe cuz I've been covering girls sports too long. But I've had a couple of odd moments (both of these are college):
Couple years ago after a volleyball match I needed to talk to the home coach (who lost) and she was busy with her team so I waited on the side. At the end she told them, something like you're all running 10 lines, but you sure as heck gonna do it while wearing those uniforms (tops). And boom. They all came off. and the girls were running in sports bras and short. I'd think the coach was a dyke, but she's married with two kids. I know, that means nothing.

I requested an interview with a girl after a match and she comes over and after she gets to me, she changes out of her volleball shirt to her street shirt. They don't always go to the changing room to so this, but most won't change right in front of me either.

 

I see nothing wrong with this. But I'm a heterosexual male, so I wouldn't.

Seriously, though, if the pictures aren't suggestive and there are no complaints about you being there taking the picture, I think its fine to run them in the paper. You might want to show some general courtesy by asking the coach to ask the players. But on the surface, I don't see a problem with it.

 

Once we ran a picture of a volleyball player leaping for a kill...my staff of one was a little worried about running it because you could see her belly button.
I pulled photog duty before and volleyball and girls soccer games, and my cousin said, "Damn, I've known guys arrested for less!"

 

sports bras usually show less than any bathing suit top.

 

Yeah, but we don't run a lot of big pictures of 14 year olds running in bikinis either.

Really, I feel about the same way about it as most of you: just don't let it be obscene. Like I said, I usually don't worry about it, but the coach's reluctance to use such a picture today sort of made me wonder.

Thanks.

 

your paper covers jr. high sports?