Yes we’re are a little behind on our site upkeep! We’re just pretty damn busy producing, shooting and editing season 2 of the show!  And if I don’t say so myself… it’s lookin’ alright.

We’ve been to Tampa, Toronto, D.C., Chicago, Las Vegas and Costa Rica already and we’ve got more places to hit.  We’ve talked to amazing people, seen some awesome sights, watched some incredible soccer… and hung out with our fair share of beautiful women.  It’s all headed your way to the small screen on both GOLTV (in Canada) and FOX Soccer.

Remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to get all our updates.  While your there, give us a shout, send us a message!  We’ve got great things planned for the upcoming season of We Live Soccer and we want you people to be apart of that. Let us know how you’re living soccer, tell us about how crazy your supporter group is, show us why you are one of soccer’s hottest. You never know, if we think you’re cooler than cool, maybe we’ll put you on the old picture box for the whole nation to see.

In the meantime, here are just a few shots of from the upcoming season. And we’ll try to eat our fiber and be a little more regular here on the blog.

How did you land the gig as Philly’s team photographer?

I shoot mostly college athletics in the Philadelphia area but have always been a big soccer fan; I was actually an inaugural season ticket holder for DC United in 1996 when the league started and I grew up in that area.   When I found out MLS was expanding to Philadelphia I was really excited and knew it was a job that would fit in nicely with my schedule.  I made some inquiries with some of the contacts I have developed over the years working around town, and found out that a colleague and friend of mine would be working for the team.    Aimee Cicero was hired as the teams Manager of Communications and I had worked with her for the previous 5 or 6 years while she was at Drexel and Temple Universities.  Once I knew Aimee was on the staff I knew I could make this happen and with her help I did!  Thanks Aimee!

Much of the MLS season runs through the summer when the majority of my clients (local universities) aren’t playing, so not only is it great work shooting a sport I love in a beautiful stadium, but it really fills during the collegiate offseason.

Coolest thing about the job?

I imagine most people will say the access, but after you shoot sports for a while you learn it’s not such a crazy thing, the athletes are people too, just better at sports than most of us are!   Being the Union’s Team Photographer, much like all the other places I shoot for the coolest thing is the people you meet and the relationships you make.

New ESPN Color Analyst Taylor Twellman was on the Union’s broadcast team this past season and it was really great listening to him talk before matches about the work he is doing with concussions.  The Union’s Goalkeeper’s Coach Rob Vartughian is a great guy and always comes over to ask how my family is before each game.  The Communications and Marketing staff are really wonderful to work with.   A lot of my best friends are people I work with on a regular basis for the organizations I shoot for, and I know I will say the same thing about the Union if I am lucky enough to shoot for them for a long time.

Now back to the access…that’s not too bad either, getting to be on the field when the Union walked out of the tunnel in front of a packed house against Everton, Manchester United and Real Madrid the last two years has been pretty cool!

Here is a shot of Jurgen Klinsmann celebrating after Robbie Rogers goal against Mexico, the first goal the team scored under his leadership. It was voted Sports Illustrated Snapshot “Photo of the Day” on the Google Chrome App when I took it.   If I wasn’t the Union’s team Photographer I would have never gotten the call to shoot this match from another client.

Who’s your favourite player to photograph?

Two guys come to mind here.  The Captain Danny Califf makes for fun photos with his sleeve tattoos and ever changing hairstyles.  He is really physical and always running opponents down with slide tackles and he gets into the box on set pieces and throws his body all over the place.  Second would be Roger Torres.  Although he comes on a lot of times as a sub, he always brings a lot of energy and the fans at PPL Park go nuts every time he touches the ball.  I think the fact he is 5-5 137lbs really gets people energized to see him.   Since he isn’t the biggest of guys he makes for some fun photos and good news is the Union just completed his transfer so he should be here for a while.  He’s only 20 years old!

On an average day, say your shooting game action, what’s your go to gear?

Normal game day set up is two cameras.  Nikon D3s body and Nikon D3.  In warm-ups I use my 400 mm f2.8 to shoot some close up face shots of some of the guys while they are near the sidelines.  On my other camera I usually have my 24-70 mm f2.8 to shoot fans or general stuff inside and outside the stadium.  Once the players go in from warm-ups  I take the 400mm off and put on a 70-200m f2.8 lens.  Sometimes I will use a flash for the Starting XI photo (PPL Park can be a tough place to shoot when the sun is going down.  The overhangs cast a huge shadow across some of the field while the stands in the background are still in full sun so it can be tricky sometimes but we make it work.  I usually leave my flash in manual at 1/16^th or 1/8^th power or so just to get a little kick of light on the players.   Once the game begins I am usually always two bodies, one with the 400mm the other with the 70-200mm for anything close along the sidelines.   The Auto-ISO feature the newer cameras offer has been beneficial at times when the field is half in shadow half in sunlight.  I shoot all action shots at f2.8. Occasionally I will use a 1.4x extender on the 400mm.  PPL Park is great because it offers a few places to shoot from where you can actually sit on the ground which I prefer to than kneeling behind the advertising boards.  The lower the angle you can get the bigger the action looks!

This year I have a few new ideas and will probably try setting up some more remote cameras.  I also always bring an assistant to the games with me as it is a big field and tough for one guy to cover.  You never know where the action might be and if you run around chasing it all game you might never catch it!  I have my assistant shoot with a 300mm f2.8 at the opposite end of the field and he did a great job catching some key moments for me last year.

For all you gear heads, my new Nikon D4 should be here within the next few weeks, I’m really excited for that!

I know you shoot a lot of other sports.  What’s the most difficult one to shoot?

Obviously each sport presents its different challenges.  I shoot a ton of college basketball, about 85 games a year, so that is certainly what I have the most practice at.  Indoor events are typically more difficult because you are thrust into some dark places which don’t allow high shutter speeds and might have horrible fluorescent lighting.  The new cameras have made this much easier though over the last 5 years.  I routinely shoot over 5000 ISO which was unthinkable before I got my D3.  Thank you Nikon…

Most difficult…how about volleyball?  I don’t shoot it often enough to get good at it and if you can’t anticipate where the ball is going, good luck trying to find it!

How competitive is it on the sidelines with other photographers?  Do you have to stake out your territory… is it all friendly?

Like I said before, it’s a huge field, and usually there are only 10-15 of us at a regular season league match.  There are certainly spots I prefer to shoot from, mainly the corners where I can sit as low as possible, but if someone else is there I don’t get too bent out of shape and move on to the next spot.  Sometimes being forced to move somewhere else can allow you to make a great image you would have otherwise never gotten and sometimes you wish you had been in your regular spot!

For some of the international matches it has been a little more crowded, but not too bad.   Real Madrid was a little crazy, and USA vs. Mexico also at Lincoln Financial Stadium was packed with photographers.  Obviously, a big rivalry and it was new USA Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s first game at the helm.

How do you think the Union are going to do in 2012?

The jump the franchise made from season one to season two last year certainly exceeded all expectations.  Everyone is saying how young they are, but they have a really solid backline, and their attackers all have a very high ceiling.  Zac MacMath is a young goalkeeper and a lot will fall on his shoulders, but I think we saw enough last season to know he is capable of handling the number one GK spot.   Season three of any new coaching staff or organization is really where you can see things start to take shape and I think that will be true for this group.  I think Carlos Valdes is an awesome player who everyone in the league will be talking about this season.  Peter Nowak is a fiery guy and I wouldn’t bet against him with all the previous success he has had in his career, and if I did I certainly wouldn’t tell him!  Go Union in 2012!  DOOP!

What else do people need to know about Greg Carroccio and Sideline Photos?

Between being self-employed and my kids there isn’t a whole lot of time for hobbies these days.  Photography and playing sports have always been my two favorite things to do and I have fortunately been able to combine the two and create a job that I really enjoy.   I still play basketball regularly with a group of friends and golf as much as I can when the weather is nice.   Aside from that though I’m trying my best these days to grow my business by adding photographers and new clients, it’s a process but it’s moving in the right direction.  Thanks for having me!

Check out more of Greg’s awesome work and do the old follow thing on the twitter and book of face…
www.sidephotos.com
www.facebook.com/sidelinephotos
Twitter: @sidelinephotos

How did you land the gig as Toronto FC team photographer?

I was asked to shoot all the original advertising for the initial team launch and introduction. We didn’t really have a roadmap back then and sort of made pictures on the fly to get people excited. There were no players signed yet so we shot some fans in studio getting excited for TFC. The marketing people liked the shots and they asked me to come on board as the team photographer. Next thing I knew, I was flying down to South Carolina with Maurice Edu to shoot the training camp.

Coolest thing about the job?

Watching and being part of EVERY TFC home game. I may be the only person to attend all the matches so far.
I also love seeing my images used around town and in the media. It provides me with inspiration to get great images.

Are the guys on the team easy to work with?

I can honestly say that all the guys have been courteous and professional and they all understand that the pictures are all part of the package to promote and grow the team brand and get people excited about TFC.

My favourite shot is the Dwayne De Rosario portrait. I love the set-up, the lighting, the post work… what’s your favourite?

I am pretty critical of my work like a typical photographer so I am always revising my favourites but I really liked how a recent composition turned out. I also have a soft spot for one of the first fan images I have ever shot when the south section is going crazy. This was taken on only the 2nd home match ever and it helped people to realize just how fanatical the supporters are.

On an average day, what’s your go to gear when you shoot?

Shooting sports is pretty equipment specific and I usually carry 2 to 3 Canon camera bodies all equipped with a 400mm 2.8 for on field action, a 70-200mm 2.8 for closer action and looser shots and a wide angle 17-40mm for fan images and post game field shots. It is all natural light which at time can be pretty unpredictable. Also, rain gear on hand is a must just in case!

Not that your going to show any kind of team bias of course… how do you think Toronto FC are going to do in 2012?

Playoffs!! I love Aron Winters and the whole team direction starting from the ground up with the new academy initiative and right onto the first team. There is a winning attitude around BMO.

What else do people need to know about Paul Giamou?

I am always shooting and have been lucky enough the last few years to be able to travel the world for assignments and large productions. I have seen and done a lot of things that would only be accessible through photography. I love me job and that is why I always try to get the best for my clients.

To check out more of Paul’s awesome work go to www.paulgiamou.com

How did you land the gig as FC Dallas’ team photographer?

I was in the right place at the right time and had made the right connections. Prior to the 1994 World Cup, I was working with the Dallas International Sports commission when it was announced that there would be a MLS team in Dallas. I photographed all their board meetings with FIFA and made my connections into the soccer community.

I didn’t get the initial job as team photographer with the Dallas Burn but ended up with the job following the first game. I’ve been the team photographer to date except for two years after the team became the current FC Dallas. There was a personnel change and with that change came a new photographer. Another personnel change happened, and I was back. For the two years that I was not the official photographer, I was hired by a Guatemalan newspaper to photograph all the FC Dallas matches. My job was to photograph one player, Carlos Ruiz. So, I have photographed a majority of the Dallas Burn/FC Dallas games from inception.

Coolest thing about the job?

Going to the games and getting paid for it!

Who’s your favourite player to photograph and why?

Brek Shea! You follow Brek and you’ll come away with great images.

Who’s easier to work with… the guys or the team dancers?

It depends on what kind of shoot is going on. They are both easy to work with, but the guys do have a tendency to cut up during shoots.  That actually makes it more fun, but it can take a little more time, which is no big deal. That’s where you really get to know them on a personal level. The dancers on that level are true professionals. They are the easiest by far because they are used to being photographed. They can give you what you need in a few minutes.

What’s your favourite FC Dallas photo you’ve taken and why?

I don’t have a favorite photo that I can think, but I have some that I like for different reasons. I really don’t prefer looking at my work.

I enjoy shooting and checking the images in camera just to see what I didn’t see, plus to make sure I got what the client is looking for. I may shoot 1200 to 2000 images in a match. In a matter of an hour or less, you have to narrow that down to 25 to 55 of the best images. In a perfect world, I would shoot and have an editor that knows the sport do the editing. I could care less about looking at my shots after a shoot but I have to.

I like going back a month or so later to see what I captured. To me that is exciting; it is like reliving the match again. When shooting the event, you see so much, and it’s the one I see that I remember wishing it was in the camera. If you see it, you didn’t capture it.

On an average day, say your shooting game action, what’s your go to gear?

I use flash for candids, close up crowd, fan and marketing type photos. I never use flash for any game action on the field. Go to gear for a match – Three camera bodies with one flash, Lens – 16-35mm, 70-200mm and a 400mm

Not that your going to show any kind of team bias of course… how do you think FC Dallas are going to do in 2012?

All the way to the MLS CUP! This is our year.

What else do people need to know about Rick Yeatts?

I remember that my first camera at the age of ten was a plastic camera that shot 120 film. I still have some of the negatives today. I used that camera till I was about fifteen. After that it was a succession of the latest Kodak cameras they sold at a corner Drug Store.

I joined the Marines after high school and naturally I got mixed reactions since we were still in Vietnam. After bootcamp, I was a marksman instructor before going to Military Police School. I signed up to go to the Japan mainland and they sent me to Okinawa. After arriving in Okinawa, I took seven hundred dollars to a camera store, bought a camera case and filled it up with several lenses, 35mm camera body and a flash. At that time, all my photography was travel-type photography.

After the Marines, I ended up going to barber/ beauty school and worked in the top salons in Dallas. I traveled and taught at different hair shows throughout the country. During that time, I worked with one of the top fashion photographers in the country as a stylist and picked up the photography bug again. I went out and bought the latest Nikon camera body, which was a F4 and a couple of lenses, and I started photographing my models on my own and that was when I started considering a career change.

I started shooting minor league hockey for fun and ended up being the team photographer for the Dallas Freeze for four years, while still hairdressing. I kept up shooting fashion, which eventually led to an Avant Garde style, which was way more fun but not much of a market in Dallas at the time. I also shot for different hair salons, doing publicity hair photos.

The hockey led to shooting professional ice skating. That led to the Dallas International Sports Commission, which lead to Fox Sports. I shot the championship matches at the Dallas Cup for a few years, which was my only knowledge of soccer. I met their media manager who ended up working for the Texas Women’s University Athletic Department in Denton, TX. I was hired to shoot all of TWU sports, which lead to working with the Athletic Department at the University of North Texas. I’ve been with them since 1997 and that’s the same time I started with the Dallas Burn. The rest is history. I’m still with North Texas and FC Dallas.

To check out more of Rick’s great work go to www.rjy.com

I’m really excited about this blog posting!

You see I do a little of the picture taking myself and I love reading photo blogs and books… so I thought it’d be cool to incorporate the photo and the soccer.  After a bunch of Googling, mixed with a little digging, and a few e-mails… BAM! There you have it! A series of web-interviews with some of the men and women rockin’ the soccer photography world.

Now the questions aren’t going to bust any brain cells here. If they do, someone’s not doing something right. These are just to get a little insight on the wickedly talented people behind the lens. Then feel free to check out more of their work to see all the cool stuff they shoot.

So enough with the lead in… We’re kickin’ off the series West Coast style, with a true veteran of the photo game who is passing the photo torch to a new generation, and is now an actual rockstar, Juan Miranda.

How did you land the gig as Chivas’ team photographer?

I was working with The L.A. Galaxy Media Public Relations department as the Media Coordinator when I heard that Chivas USA was going use The Home Depot Center as their home base for their inaugural 2005 season in the MLS. I ran into their Vice President Whit Haskel who had also worked for the Galaxy. I asked him if they had a team photographer, he stated that they did not and to submit a resume. They hired me as a Freelance photographer to document the historical presentation to the media on September 23, 2004. Well as you can see, I became the first official Chivas USA team photographer.

Coolest thing about the job?

The coolest part about the team photographer position is that I was able to capture the historical first of everything for Chivas USA’s inaugural year, first official team photo, first pre-season match in San Diego, there were a lot of first photos that the team gave me the opportunity to be a part of.

Do you travel with the team to away games?

Yes, a few matches here in California, Santa Barbara, San Diego, San Jose. Most of the away matches in other states are cover by the opposing team photographers.

Who’s your favourite player to photograph or that you really want to shoot and why?

There were a lot of great players that I enjoy photographing, the legendary Ramon Ramirez, Claudio Suarez, Paco Palencia, Ante Razov, Jesse March, and some of the newer players like Brad Guzan, Dan Kennedy, Atiba Harris, Maykel Galindo, Johnnie Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan… that’s just to name a few. What make these guys fun to shoot was that their style of play was phenomenal, they could run around the opposing players carrying the ball past them with no effort, goal keepers Brad and Dan made some spectacular saves. They were always accessible, never shying away from a photo. That’s what makes professional players famous, the more they get their face on the covers of media article the more the fans are aware they exist, without the photos no one knows who you are.

What’s your all-time favourite photo, any kind soccer or not, that you’ve taken?

There are a couple of shots that I’ve taken that really made me proud. There is one of Los Angeles Galaxy Carlos Ruiz make a scissor kick (The Chilena), I took the photo just at the right time and was able to get the ball right on his foot, the Galaxy used that photo for the 2004 calendar.

Another one I have is goalkeeper Brad Guzan capturing the ball as Galaxy Landon Donovan goes flying over him, some of the other great photos that I like are Claudio Suarez and Cuachtemoc Blanco crashing against each other jumping for a header. There are too many photos that I think are great to list I would need another few pages to describe them all.

On an average day, say your shooting game action, what’s your go to gear?

You always have to be prepare when you go to any photo event. I rely on my Canon equipment to help me get the best photos. I ‘m currently using the Canon EOS 1D Mark 4, 3 and a couple of mark 2′s, I also carry 24-70mm 2.8, 75-200mm 2.8, 400mm 2.8 and to get all the way across the field I use the 600mm 4.0 lenses.  For day time photos you want to shoot at ISO 200 at 2.8 and shutter speed as fast as you can get it. Night time shooting in the stadium I go 800 ISO to 1000 ISO always f2.8. Some guys like the focal point more cleaner, f-11, I like the f 2.8 to get the background to blurr, you get some spectacular backgrounds in the night with the stadium light giving you some cool reflections. Getting an “All Access” photo credential also helps a lot, you get access to all the spots most media photographers can’t access, you don’t have to fight for a position with the rest of the media photographers, getting in your way and distracting you from get the money shots.

Not that your going to show any kind of team bias of course… how do you think Chivas are going to do in 2012?

Chivas USA can be a MLS cup contender if they play as a team and not just individuals trying to make a name for themselves. Coaches Robin Fraser, Greg Vanney, Carlos Lllamosa with Goalkeeper coach Daniel Gonzalez make a great coaching staff, I was fortunate enough to have seen Robin, Greg and Carlos play when they were in their prime years in MLS. They know how the game has to be played to win games, all the combined experience they channel to the players hopefully can bring a fruitful year. The player line up this year can and will be fantastic, they kept “Sueno” aka Jorge Villafana, Juan Pablo Angel, Dan Kennedy, Alejandro Moreno and have added some great new young players, Miller Bolanos, Oswaldo Minda from Ecuador,  British Ryan Smith and probably more great players to come, the season is young and they can still add players.

What else do people need to know about Juan Miranda?

It’s hard trying to talk about yourself, trying not to brag too much. I started shooting MLS games when the league first started in 1996, at the Rose Bowl were my first MLS photos, I was working for a small time newspaper called La Voz Latina out of Lancaster, California. One of the first photos published was one of the Mexican great goalkeeper Jorge Campos playing with the Los Angeles Galaxy. It’s a great profession with a lot of competition, it’s exciting, frustrating, trying to get the money shot before the other photographers beat you to the wire. You can’t make any money if you are not a fan of the game, you would miss a lot of shots watching the match. Every movement is a photo when your the team photographer, the team want you to capture as much still footage as possible. Whether it be a face of frustration by a player missing a goal shot to the face of a fan celebrating or crying with fanatic emotion.

My favorite music is Rock n Roll, mostly loud guitars and drums,  garage sound bands like AC/DC. Last year I joined a Latino Rock Band “Felix and the Katz”, they were famous in the late seventies, early eighties, Felix the singer and founding member got the itch to play again and has reformed the band, unable to get the original lineup he opted to get new members, thats when I auditioned and the got the Bass guitar spot. We’ve been play in Los Angeles, places like The House of Blues, the Yost Theather and smaller clubs around Hollywood and the Los Angeles area. Unfortunately for me this year I have decided to follow my childhood dreams of playing in a rock band, playing loud rock and roll. I decided last year that I would leave Chivas USA and let another aspiring photographer take the role of Chivas USA Team photographer, I wish him/her and the team great success.

You can see more of Juan’s great work at:  CDChivasUSA.com  and Gettyimages.com

This is cool.  I’m excited.  You should dig it.

What do we all love to look at?  Yes, pictures, photos, images! If you said other things… I don’t know what your looking for, but it’s probably not here.

For those of us who do dig the photographic arts, we thought we would try to introduce you to some of the incredibly talented image makers that are documenting the beautiful game.

Soccer photography. Who takes those awesome shots of your favourite team?  It ain’t me… probably isn’t you either.  If it is, you have a cool job, and I’m jealous. We’ll bring you the first “Soccer Shots” on Wednesday. Hope you check it out!

We think we have a pretty cool team here at We Live Soccer, in our humble opinion of course.  It’s a small team, working our a$$’s off trying to grow and bring you the best coverage of the game here in North America. 

That being said, our team likes to spread its wings and continue to get better at what they do, so that when doing what we do for WLS, it rocks!!  Did that make sense?  To put it another way… we do other stuff too.

Some “other stuff” Elia Saikaly, our Director of Photography , did recently was only spend a couple of months in the Himalayas, climbing to some insane height above sea level, braving substandard amounts of oxygen… all to get some pretty pictures.  And these “pretty picture” skills are what he brings to We Live Soccer.  I’m just sayin’… we’re all lucky to have these kind of skills on board!!

In reality, Elia was doing this in support of Finding Life and the great work they do.  You can read his account of the adventure on the Finding Life blog: bit.ly/prytXB  In the meantime, watch the video and jump over to his Vimeo page to read up on the tech side of the shoot if you be so inclined.

If you dig timelapse photography then you will love this.

45 Days in the Himalayas – A Time Lapse Film from FindingLife Films on Vimeo.

…and if that’s weren’t enough, here’s our feature on Elia’s foundation Finding Life.