Parent Amy Hawthorne attributes her passion for sports photography to the year 2004, when she lived in New York City with her late husband and photojournalist Paul Hawthorne.
He was working for Getty Images and was sent to San Jose to photograph the Siebel Open tennis tournament. On a whim, Paul secured his wife a press pass, offering her the chance to sit beside him on the court and help take photos of the professional match between highly ranked Andre Agassi and Mardy Fish. She learned valuable photography etiquette, such as waiting until the serve to start capturing shots to prevent the sound of the shutter from distracting the players.
Paul loved to take pictures of their children, Class of 2022 alumnus Max Hawthorne and junior Lucas Hawthorne. Tragically, her husband passed away at age 41 in 2008 after battling Primary Amyloidosis, a rare blood disease. Lucas was less than a year old and Max was 4 years old.
In the years after, Mrs. Hawthorne picked up his old cameras to take pictures of Max and Lucas as they grew up. She knew it was something her husband would have wanted her to do.
“It has been a wonderful way to honor Paul’s memory, and I also enjoy watching my kids play the sports that they love,” Mrs. Hawthorne said. “When you are the photographer, you get to see all of the action up close.”
When her sons started participating in sports at Saratoga High, she started exploring sports photography as a means to take high-quality action shots of her kids and their teammates. However, by then, her husband’s equipment was outdated, and the flash cards couldn’t hold as many images, so she upgraded to a Nikon Z50 with a 50-250mm f/3.5 telephoto lens in 2021.
She used the automatic sports function on her camera until she started learning sports photography through a class at San Jose Camera and Video. Her first feel for a high-quality camera was when she borrowed a Nikon Z8 camera with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens from her class to shoot at a minor league hockey game as part of a workshop.
“I could not believe how fast and powerful that camera was,” she said. “It brought the experience of photographing sports to a whole new level.”
The photography workshop experience influenced Mrs. Hawthorne to invest in another new camera: a Nikon Z8 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Her new camera had much faster shutter speed and frame rate, as well as newer compact flash memory cards which were able to hold thousands of high-resolution images.
“It made a major difference in the quality of my photographs,” she said. “The f/2.8 setting allows you to shoot in low light at a very high speed without a flash, which is important for night time sports.”
After taking her photos, she edits them minimally and publishes her favorite shots on her portfolio page. She also shares photos with football coaches and parents, and when she photographed for West Valley College sports, their athletic director used some of her photos on their social media accounts. The Saratoga Sports Boosters includes her images on their social media accounts as well, which she provides free of charge.
Football pictures posted on the Saratoga Sports Boosters Instagram (@saratogasportsboosters).
Mrs. Hawthorne said she likes to shoot lots of different sports on and off campus, including football, tennis, lacrosse, badminton, jujitsu, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, basketball and swimming. Her full-time job working in software management for Apple limits her availability to shoot as many sports as she would like, but she enjoys every opportunity to photograph SHS athletes.
A photo of members of the Saratoga High swim team diving is posted on Mrs. Hawthorne’s Portfolio.
She said she always looks for the peak area of action when choosing where to focus her shoots, aiming her camera where the play is happening. However, she must keep her eyes peeled for other interesting things that may happen.
“Celebrations after the play are always fun to photograph because you can see the excitement of the moment on the faces of the players,” she said. “I photographed a San Jose Earthquakes game this past summer and it was fun to catch some pictures of the loyal fans going crazy when the players do something exciting.”
Mrs. Hawthorne’s portfolio displays Saratoga High football players Motekiai Pahulu and Tevita Pahulu celebrating after defeating El Camino High School in Sept. 2024.
Junior Ian Johnson, who has been on the football team for three years, has seen the impact of Mrs. Hawthorne’s photography.
“She’s really reliable because she comes to every game. And she’s one of my friend’s moms and she’s really good at taking photos,” Johnson said.
Mrs. Hawthorne has continued to hone her craft by perusing and learning through other sports photographers’ work on Instagram. A key mentor for her has been professional photojournalist Brandon Vallance, who offers her tips and pointers based on his experience freelance shooting for a variety of sports.
Sports photography for her is an exciting challenge that constantly keeps her on her toes:
“I enjoy the split-second spontaneity of sports photography. You never truly know what is going to happen from minute to minute,” she said. “Athletes put so much on the line when they compete and it’s very rewarding to capture them in action. As long as sports photography continues to be fun and challenging, I’ll keep doing it.”
