Celebrating World Football Day

Celebrating the Inaugural World Football Day with a Special Photo Gallery

In honor of the first-ever World Football Day, I've curated a photo gallery featuring 32 images that capture the essence and joy of football from various moments and places.

What is World Football Day?

World Football Day, celebrated on May 25, was officially proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2024. This day commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament held in Paris during the 1924 Summer Olympic Games. The day aims to recognize football's role in promoting peace, social inclusion, and gender equality, highlighting its powerful impact across the globe.

About the Photo Gallery

These images were captured over a few years and span different events and locations, presented in the following order:

  • Inter Miami CF Game (2021): The excitement and passion of professional football in Miami.

  • PSG Practice (2017): Training sessions capturing the precision and dedication of Paris Saint-Germain players.

  • Syracuse Elite 8 Tournament (2015): Syracuse's thrilling win and the emotions of competitive college football.

  • Camaguey, Cuba (2017): A lively pickup game that shows the universal love for football.

  • PSG vs. Juventus (2017): Intense action from the International Champions Cup match.

  • Barcelona and Madrid Practice (2017): Training sessions for the highly anticipated "El Clásico" at Hard Rock Stadium.

  • Miami FC vs. Atlanta United (2017): Highlights from their 2017 US Open Cup match.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos during practice at Hard Rock Stadium in 2017.

From the streets of Cuba to the professional stadiums in Miami, these moments celebrate the spirit and diversity of the beautiful game, reflecting the unifying power of O Jogo Bonito.

It All Comes Full Circle

A few years ago, I found myself at Magic City Casino Fronton, ready to photograph the electrifying world of Jai Alai for an ESPN story. I was very excited as it was a very Miami story that dealt with a sport deeply intertwined with the city's cultural fabric. Jai Alai, with its roots traced back to Spain's Basque region, was a vibrant part of Miami's history from the 1920s to the early 90s when the public's interest in the sport started to wane. At the time of the story in 2021, we covered the resurgence of the sport in Miami after it received a boost in 2018 with new branding, recruitment of players that could connect with a U.S. audience, and a new playing format.

World Jai-Alai League players are introduced before the start of the games at the Magic City Fronton on May 8th, 2021.

That story was special because it was my first assignment for ESPN, and it was a local story with a national impact. The images captured players passionate about reviving Jai Alai's legacy in Miami, infusing it with fresh energy and ambition.

Recently, I had a full-circle moment that brought me back to Magic City Fronton, but this time in a different capacity. As a TV producer at ReachTV, I had the opportunity to craft a show segment on Jai Alai. It was a continuation of the same narrative but now told through a different medium, leveraging a new set of skills and experiences I've acquired over the years.

A Look Back: The Photography Assignment

A Jai Alai ball, known as a pelota, can travel at incredibly high speeds, often exceeding 150 miles per hour. On the technical side, this meant I had to have fast lenses (usually f/2.8 when talking about zoom lenses) that would allow me to stop the action. However, it was very dark inside the Magic City Fronton for photographic purposes, so I also had to increase my ISO to increase my shutter speeds. Finding a balance between trying to stop the action and maintaining a relatively clean image without too much grain (which happens when ISO levels are too high) was a challenge. Ultimately, I compromised around f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 5000 for most of the images.

For the frames that happened before and after the games (the pre-game preparation, player interactions, and portraits), I used prime lenses that allowed me to open up my aperture a bit more as those settings outside of the fronton (a Jai-Alai court). My kit included: two Sony camera bodies, a 24-70, a 70-200, a 35mm, and an 85mm.

On the narrative side, my goal was to show the uniqueness of this sport. I wanted to capture the behind-the-scenes of how players prepared, the different actions of the game, and the overall energy at the fronton.

Coming Full Circle: The TV Segment

Returning to Magic City Casino, this time as a producer, I was there to capture moments and weave them into a dynamic visual story that would engage and inform our viewers. It was great to see that in three years, the league had made substantial progress in revamping the sport in South Florida. As you'll see in the segment, there are now well-known owners of various teams (including Ray Lewis and Udonis Haslem), it's a complete experience during game nights, and it's still the fast-paced, entertaining game it has been for the past 100 years.

Since this was for The Business Traveler Show, the segment focused on the business side of the operation. We sat down with Scott Savin, COO of the World Jai Alai League, to discuss this revamp and his hopes for the league's future.

The first Jai-Alai fronton to open in Miami was in 1924. Since then, Jai-Alai has had its ups and downs in the magic city but now, 100 years later, a change in format and new ownership groups have revitalized the sport locally.

We visited them on opening night, where World Jai-Alai League COO Scott Savin, and several owners, talked about this revamp and what they hope for the future.

Credits: Johanna Gomez, Host. Bryan Cereijo, Series Producer. Georgi Hernandez, Director of Photography. Yecid Benavides, Audio. Carlos Fuentes, Head of Post. Johanan Benavides, Segment Editor.

Producing a TV segment is different from photographing for an assignment. It involves coordinating interviews, directing camera crews, and ensuring the story flows seamlessly from start to finish in the post-production process. Instead of focusing solely on capturing the story through frames, as a producer, I booked interviews, crafted questions, prepped the host, and collaborated closely with the film crew to ensure a smooth filming process. Despite the shift in skill sets, the ultimate goal remains to produce a compelling visual narrative that engages and captivates audiences.

Sharing these experiences through this blog is more than just a retrospective; it's a celebration of the journey and the growth it brings. Here's to many more full-circle moments and the limitless potential that lies ahead.

"Spring Break" 2018

This spring break did not have much "spring" or "break" in it but it was definitely a productive one. I traveled to North Carolina to find an apartment with the help of my mom (and had it not been for her, I would still not have a place for next year) and spent the rest of the time in Syracuse cheering on the Orange as they advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament (woot, woot).

I also spent the week testing out the FujiFilm X-Pro2. I wasn't sure of how I was going to like it considering I am a Nikon and Sony user but it's an awesome camera. Here are some quick thoughts followed by the photos I made with it this past week:

  • First, I really enjoyed using the various color profiles that are built in. I also appreciated the fact that you can see what the frame you are composing looks like with said profile through the viewfinder - something you can't do with a DSLR.
  • The build quality is great! It is a weather-sealed body and I was using it with the weather-sealed 23mm lens (35mm equivalent because it is a crop sensor camera) so I wasn't hesitating when taking it out in the heavy snow or light rain.
  • Most importantly, it made me want to just photograph. In my opinion, it's an ergonomic camera and made me want to take it everywhere. It was a lot of fun using it.

“Play Ball!”

It’s finally baseball season. America’s Pastime is back in full swing and I could not be more excited to finally start photographing baseball.

As the end-of-semester stress starts to build up, I hope the ballpark will serve as my place of peace while I try to make some cool frames. 

This past weekend I photographed all three games between the Syracuse Chiefs and the Rochester Red Wings. Here are some of my favorite photos:

Grit

Often times in school we're told not to quote Wikipedia, but look at this amazing definition it has for the word "grit:"

"Grit in psychology is a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual's passion for a particular long-term goal or end state, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective."

I still don't know where this series is going, but I think I've found a preliminary name for it. Enjoy part two of this running set of images!

Back at it...!

For a while now, I've been wanting to update my blog with some of the work I've been doing. These are photos that I am doing for assignments or personal projects that I would like to constantly share. 

I'll start by posting the game I covered at Madison Square Garden that featured the Syracuse Orange vs St. John's.

You can find the whole shoot at The Newshouse: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thenewshouse/albums/72157662210831402

Here are some of my favorite takes from the shoot: