The art of capturing; The art of processing radiant energy; The art of freezing time, of staying in a moment: Andrew Cicala, only a junior in high school, has mastered the art of photography.
The start
“I think it was elementary school. For one Christmas, my parents gave me a basic point and shoot camera.”
Ever since then, Cicala was hooked. On vacations, sightseeing, even on random objects – each and every moment captured, stan-stilled.
Then, sports came into the picture.
In middle school, he got his first DSLR, Digital Single-Lens Reflex, allowing more precision on each photo. From then, he has been taking photos of sights and sports games.
Fast forward to high school, Cicala heard from a student in the journalism program that Hi’s Eye Sports would benefit from a photographer at the games. Cicala jumped on the opportunity, emailing the overseer of the publication, Shawn McDonald, who took on the chance to try something new.
An Editor in Chief for His’s Eye Sports, Katie Walsh, enjoys having Cicala’s collaboration and sharing his work with the publication. “Having his photos helps elevate His Eye Sports to a new level. Having high quality photos that are timely and relevant makes each article stand out,” said Walsh.
The process
Cicala explained the process, every step that must be thought about and checked before the final product can be produced. “One thing I always do before every photo shoot that I have is the night before I think about what I’m photographing, and I sort of get a basis for the settings that I will have to use for the setting and the lighting that I’ll be shooting in. Then they have to make sure that all my SD cards are set up. I have no space batteries are charged. And then when I first go to the settings of the shoot, I scope out where I’m going to be shooting from and make sure that I get the angles that I’m shooting from correctly.”
“It’s very exciting, the process of actually taking photos,” said Cicala. “When I’m looking through my viewfinder in the camera and watching especially in sports, watching the play unfold, and then going back into the photos that I took and seeing what I was able to capture. I then edit it on my computer. And then seeing the really interesting and captivating moments that the viewer of the photo can appreciate.”
But his favorite part is the capture of action, of motion, that comes with photography. “It’s one thing to watch a video and see something in real time but freezing a frame and seeing motion being slowed down is something that I think is pretty cool.”
The detail
As a sports photographer, Cicala explains smaller details that are vital to his regiment. “I know in basketball as well something that’s pretty small but could play a pretty big role in the photos is a lot of people shoot with their right hand and if you take it from the left side of the court they’ll be blocking your face in the photos. So shooting from the right side of the baseline, you get a pretty unobstructed view of the player shooting. So in the process of taking photos, I make sure that I move around. I’m very aware I’m taking the shots just to get some variation in the photos. And then after I upload everything to Lightroom I edit things to make sure everything looks good. I add any color adjustments or lighting adjustments that I need. And then I export.”
Head varsity boys basketball coach, Jim McKeon, appreciates Cicala’s work and the attention he brings to the boys. He said, “For me, the more the merrier. The more stuff you can do for your team, the more people can see it, which is always good.” McKeon also is looking forward to working more with Cicala in the future. “I’d like to see him so we can maybe get him a little more insider stuff, but I think it’s great for everybody for him getting in the sports avenue,” he said.
The future
Beyond Westfield, Cicala plans to continue his photography career. “I definitely enjoy photography. I’d like to pursue architecture and I know that relatively it has to do with being creative and things like that. But I would definitely like to continue photography in college. Whether that be for like for the schools of sports teams, or overall for the school. I think that’ll be fun to do.”
Check out Cicala on Instagram @cicalaphotography .
