SPORTS & SPIRIT Media DAys: Behind the Scenes at San Antonio High School Media Days

There's a specific kind of energy in a school gym in early August. It's 6 a.m., the lights are humming, my gear is half set up, and in about an hour, an entire volleyball program will come through my camera, one player at a time. Freshmen trying to look tough. Seniors who've done this three times and walk in as if they own it. Coaches pretending they don't want their own photo (they always do and rightfully so).

This is Media Day season, and it's one of my favorite parts of the year.

what actually happens

If you've only seen the final images, the hype banners, the locker covers, the intro video stills, the composite that hangs in the field house, you've seen maybe ten percent of it.

A Media Day is a production. We're moving an entire team of athletes through in a few hours with the mindset that every shot, every player matters. We're providing high volume photographer without losing the core of who we are which is experience based, precision minded, and hands on editing for each and every pose selected. Every detail is planned before the first player steps in: lighting dialed, poses mapped, a rhythm that keeps the line moving without making anyone feel rushed. Every player gets their moment. The senior captain and the sophomore who just made varsity get the same treatment, because to their families, that photo matters exactly the same amount.

And the chaos in between is the good stuff. The hype from the seniors as they watch the freshman step in front of the camera wearing their uniform for the first time, The juniors recreating their pose from the last two seasons and the head coach watching his seniors get photographed for the very last time.

why teams do this

The obvious answer is content: schools and programs use these images all season for hype posts, game day graphics, programs, banners, and recruiting profiles. This isn't the 1990's. Team photos are no longer a want -- they are a need. Those who take media day serious have a program that looks big-time feels big-time, and the players carry that.

The less obvious answer is what it does for the athletes. For a lot of these kids, this is the most professionally they've ever been photographed. Watching a sixteen-year-old see herself lit and shot like the athletes she watches in college, that never gets old.

what parents should know

Here's something I tell Volleyball parents every fall: the Media Day photo is incredible, but it's one chapter. Your senior is more than a jersey number, and senior year goes fast.

A lot of my senior session clients find me through their team's Media Day. They see the photos, then they realize they want the full version: the session where we get the jersey shots AND the real them, planned around who they are off the field too. If your athlete is in the Class of 2027, fall fills up fast once the season starts. We are flexible and we can plan around the game schedule.

for coaches and booster clubs

If your program is thinking about a Media Day, I'd love to talk. I work with teams across the San Antonio area, including Brandeis, O'Connor, Clark, Brennan, Pieper, Holmes, and Medina Valley. Every shoot is built around what your program needs, from individual banners to lockers and full team composites. We can do studio or go back to our roots and shoot in the environment they compete. Reach out and we'll figure out what works for your schedule and budget.

Season's almost here. Let's make your program look like it.

Contact me | robinjanskyphotography@gmail.com