Towards the end of last year, I was hired by College Sainte-Anne Dorval to photograph its high-school hockey program for their communications and marketing materials.

The assignment was about much more than photographing hockey games. The goal was to create a visual story around the program itself: the skills students develop, the work they put in, and the experience of being part of a competitive hockey program.

The creative brief focused on showing that the students have fun, work hard, compete courageously, and develop qualities such as resilience, collaboration, communication, and teamwork. These are important parts of the student experience, and the photography needed to communicate those ideas in an authentic way rather than simply producing a collection of action shots.

The assignment also included creating a complete set of of professional team photos, portraits and headshots for each cohort. These were photographed separately from the hockey sessions, giving the school a consistent library of images that could be used across its website, social media, recruitment materials, brochures, communications, and other marketing.

For a school or college, professional sports photography can be a particularly useful part of its visual communications. Strong images of students participating in sport don’t just document what happened; they can help prospective students and parents understand what it feels like to be part of the program. They can show the facilities, the coaching environment, the relationships between students, and the values that the institution is trying to communicate.

There were some practical challenges to overcome. The photography had to be completed within tight time constraints and with a limited budget, which in turn placed restrictions on the amount and type of equipment I could use. Rather than allowing that to compromise the results, I treated it as part of the creative challenge: working efficiently, making the most of the available light and locations, and being prepared to move quickly between different parts of the program.

The portrait sessions presented a different challenge from photographing the hockey itself. I needed to create professional, consistent portraits for each student while working efficiently enough to get everyone photographed within the available time. Good preparation and a streamlined setup were essential, particularly when working with a large number of students.

The result is a collection of images that shows the hockey program from several different perspectives—from the intensity and excitement of competition to the teamwork, concentration, and enjoyment that happen during practices and classes.

I’m particularly happy with the way the photographs turned out, and it’s great to know that the College, the students, and their parents are happy with them too. That’s ultimately what I’m looking for when photographing an educational or sports program: images that are useful to the institution while also giving the students something they can be proud of and enjoy.

Thank you to Tim O’Connell and Patrick Niiya for trusting me with the assignment. And thanks as well to everyone who helped out during the portrait sessions, particularly those who helped move lights and equipment around and kept everything running smoothly.

It was a fun assignment and a great opportunity to combine sports photography, portrait photography, and institutional communications photography in one project.