For the past few years the Miami Marlins have been transforming their loanDepot Park into a multi-use event facility. From hosting the NHL Winter Classic to Monster Jam and now tennis, the Marlins have made their stadium much more than a place to play baseball. And as someone who works freelance for the Marlins, I am able to cover all these events like the Miami Invitational Tennis match. To be honest when I saw the Miami Invitational Tennis event on the calendar I knew I wanted to work it. It was something different and it turned out to be something amazing.
I will preface the remainder of this post and say that I don’t follow tennis as closely as I once did. I used to watch all the Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi matches along with Monica Seles, Steffi Graff and others from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Now I’ll watch the Grand Slam events only like Wimbledon or the US Open. So some of the players coming to the Miami Invitational Tennis exhibition I knew the name, but I wasn’t really familiar with them aside from Carlos Alcaraz.
Walking into the stadium and seeing grandstands for tennis where second base would be and the whole transformation of the infield into a playable tennis court was pretty cool to see. And honestly, credit to the Miami Marlins for continuing to think outside of the box and host a wide range of events at the stadium. I know the team may not have the best product on the field, but they’re amazing with community events as well as welcoming other types of entertainment to the stadium.
When I got my assignments for the Miami Invitational Tennis event I had a lot items to check off. I had to photograph the players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jessica Pegula, hitting balls with VIPs, sponsors and so forth. I also had to photograph Marlins players in the suites watching the matches, fans cheering and overall stadium atmosphere.
When people find out I freelance for the Marlins they assume I only shoot games, but I primarily work events such as this for them. It’s great because sports photography isn’t just about shooting sports. You need to know portrait photography, landscape photography and how to photograph events as well.
And another thing with being a freelancer is that you have to make sure you get all your assigned shots first before you start shooting what you want to. That’s a big one to remember when shooting freelance. Your wants and needs come secondary.
The women’s match was the first on the list for the night and I like to move around the stadium a lot to get different view points and perspectives. I want to ensure that the Marlins have plenty of options to choose from. This night we had three freelancers all with different assignments, but we know how to work well with each other to make sure everything gets covered.
It wasn’t until the men’s match took place that the place was really rocking. Former soccer legends like Ronaldo and Inter Miami players were courtside. The fans were oohing and ahhing with every volley and the players were having a great time.
I transitioned from shooting elevated to courtside. As I mentioned prior, when working freelance you get your client’s shots first then you can take yours. Well sometimes they overlap which worked out for me. I was able to capture the packed stadium in the background with the players in the foreground. So I was getting what I wanted, which was some tennis action, as well as getting photos of the fans and the VIPs/celebs courtside.
It was a really great event. Well put together and it was received really well by the fans as well. Hopefully the Miami Marlins and loanDepot Park get to do something like this again because I would love to cover it.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!
