Rainstage Sports Photography in Michigan | Beechwood Photography
Rainstage: Real Water. Real Grit. Real Fun. | Michigan Sports Photography
There are sports portraits.
And then there is Rainstage.
The water is real. The athlete is really getting soaked. The intensity you see on their face isn’t coming from an artificial rain overlay added later in Photoshop. It is happening right there, in front of the camera.
And that is exactly the point.
For more than 15 years, photographer Melonie McEver has been creating Rainstage-style sports portraits for youth athletes and high school teams, making her one of the early photographers to bring this dramatic style of sports photography to her clients.
Long before dramatic water sports portraits became something athletes were seeing all over social media, Melonie was putting athletes under the water, lighting them dramatically and creating portraits designed to make kids feel like they had just stepped onto the pages of a sports magazine.
Today, Rainstage remains one of our favorite ways to photograph athletes.
Real water. Real grit. Real fun.
And yes—you are going to get wet.
What Is a Rainstage Photo Session?
Rainstage is a dramatic sports portrait experience built around something incredibly simple:
Water + light + attitude.
But when those elements come together correctly, the results are anything but simple.
Instead of photographing an athlete standing in front of a traditional backdrop with a football tucked under one arm, we create an environment.
Water runs across the helmet.
Droplets hang in the air.
Hair becomes soaked.
Uniforms darken as they get wet.
Eye black starts looking a little less perfect.
The athlete stops worrying about smiling for the camera.
And suddenly the portrait begins to feel less like picture day and more like game day.
That transformation is what we love about Rainstage.
The photographs aren't meant to make an athlete look perfectly polished.
They're meant to make them look powerful.
Meet a Cass City Red Hawk
For this Rainstage session, we photographed a football player from Cass City High School in Cass City, Michigan.
And football is practically made for Rainstage.
Helmet.
Football.
Shoulder pads.
Eye black.
A dark Red Hawks jersey.
Then we added water.
Lots of water.
The first portraits have a quieter intensity to them. Wet hair. Dark background. Football in hand. A serious expression.
They're almost timeless.
We processed several of the portraits with a gritty black-and-white treatment that strips away distractions and puts all the attention exactly where we want it—on the athlete.
Then came the helmet.
And more water.
That's when the session changed completely.
Water streamed down the facemask and collected along the helmet. Droplets flew through the light. Water ran from his chin and soaked into his jersey.
Instead of trying to keep everything neat and perfect, we embraced the mess.
Because that's where some of the best images happen.
Rainstage Isn't About Pretending
One thing is important to us:
The water is real.
We're not photographing a completely dry athlete and simply placing rain over the image afterward.
Where's the fun in that?
During a Rainstage session, the athlete actually experiences the water.
That means we get the tiny details that are difficult to fake convincingly.
Droplets clinging to the helmet.
Water caught in eyelashes.
Wet hair falling across a forehead.
Water running down a player's face.
A soaked jersey reflecting the light differently than dry fabric.
And hundreds of tiny droplets frozen in midair.
Those details give a Rainstage portrait its character.
They also make the experience memorable.
Years from now, the athlete isn't only going to remember what the finished portrait looked like.
They're going to remember making it.
More Than 15 Years of Photographing Athletes This Way
Photography trends come and go incredibly quickly.
One year everyone wants one style. A few years later, something completely different takes over social media.
But dramatic sports portraits have always been special to Melonie.
For more than 15 years, she has photographed youth athletes and high school athletes using water, dramatic lighting and creative techniques to produce portraits that go far beyond the traditional sports photograph.
Over those years, the equipment has improved.
Lighting technology has changed.
Cameras have changed.
Editing has changed.
But the basic philosophy behind Rainstage hasn't.
Give an athlete an experience that makes them feel incredible.
A Rainstage session isn't really about photographing a uniform.
It's about photographing the kid who earned the right to wear it.
Because That Jersey Is Only Temporary
This may be our favorite reason for creating these portraits.
When you're in the middle of a sports season, it feels like it will last forever.
Practices.
Friday nights.
Bus rides.
Locker rooms.
Teammates.
Coaches.
The sound of the crowd.
The nerves before a game.
The wins.
The losses.
The bruises.
The inside jokes nobody outside the team will ever completely understand.
And then, suddenly, it's over.
For seniors especially, there comes a night when they take that high school jersey off for the final time.
That's why we believe sports portraits deserve to be more than an afterthought.
Your athlete has spent years becoming the person wearing that uniform.
Let's create something worthy of that story.
Rainstage Isn't Just for Football
Football looks incredible with water, but Rainstage can work with nearly any sport.
Basketball. Baseball. Softball. Soccer. Volleyball. Wrestling. Hockey. Cheer. Dance. Track. Lacrosse.
If an athlete has a uniform, equipment and a little personality, we can start brainstorming.
And that's one of the things we love most about creative sports photography.
Every athlete doesn't need the exact same photograph.
A goalie shouldn't necessarily be photographed like a quarterback.
A wrestler shouldn't necessarily be photographed like a volleyball player.
We want the photographs to feel connected to the athlete and the sport they love.
Rainstage simply gives us another creative tool to tell that story.
Perfect for Youth Teams, High School Athletes and Seniors
You also don't have to wait until senior year.
Some of our favorite sports portraits have been created for younger athletes.
Think about how quickly kids change between youth sports and varsity athletics.
The oversized equipment eventually fits.
The nervous beginner becomes the confident starter.
The little kid carrying a football becomes the high school senior walking onto the field under Friday night lights.
Those stages deserve to be photographed too.
Rainstage sessions can be created for individual athletes, groups of teammates or entire youth and high school teams.
And when an entire team participates, the experience itself becomes part of the fun.
Imagine finishing traditional team photographs and then telling everyone:
Now we're turning on the water.
That's when personalities come out.
Sports Portraits Should Be Fun
There is a misconception that dramatic portraits require athletes to be serious the entire time.
Absolutely not.
We'll certainly create the intense portraits.
The stare-down-the-camera portrait.
The helmet portrait.
The "don't mess with me" portrait.
But behind the scenes?
We're laughing.
We're experimenting.
We're throwing water.
We're fixing eye black.
We're trying something and occasionally deciding, "Okay—that was ridiculous. Let's do it again."
That's part of what makes Rainstage different.
The final photographs may look fierce.
The experience is supposed to be fun.
Real water. Real grit. Real fun.
That's Rainstage.
A Different Kind of Senior Sports Portrait in Michigan
As Beechwood Photography continues photographing seniors and athletes throughout Michigan, we want to bring experiences like Rainstage to more communities across the state.
Especially here in the Thumb.
Cass City.
Caro.
Bad Axe.
Caseville.
Sandusky.
Ubly.
Marlette.
Bay City.
Saginaw.
And the surrounding Michigan communities filled with athletes whose families have spent years sitting in bleachers, driving to practices and cheering from sidelines.
Traditional senior portraits will always have their place.
We love those too.
But your senior portrait experience doesn't have to be limited to one version of who you are.
If football has been a huge part of your high school years, bring the football.
Bring the jersey.
Bring the pads.
Bring the helmet.
Bring the eye black.
We'll bring the camera.
And for Rainstage?
We'll bring the water.
This Is Your Season
Someday, these photographs are going to mean something completely different than they do today.
Today, you may see a football player.
A Red Hawk.
Number 2.
A wet jersey.
A helmet.
A football.
Years from now, his family will see this exact chapter of his life.
They'll remember the games.
They'll remember sitting in the stands.
They'll remember how young he was.
They'll remember the season.
And he'll remember what it felt like to put on that uniform.
That's the power of a great sports portrait.
It freezes more than what someone looked like.
It preserves a little bit of who they were at that moment.
And that's exactly what we've been trying to create with Rainstage for more than 15 years.
Not ordinary picture-day photographs.
Portraits with personality.
Portraits with attitude.
Portraits athletes are excited to show their friends.
And portraits parents will still want hanging on their walls long after the uniform has been packed away.
Ready for Rainstage?
If your athlete wants something completely different from traditional sports pictures, Rainstage photo sessions by Beechwood Photography are designed to turn their sport into an experience.
Youth athlete.
Varsity player.
Senior.
Individual athlete.
Best friends.
Or an entire team.
Let's create something that looks like it belongs on the cover of a sports magazine—and have a ridiculous amount of fun making it.
Come prepared to get wet.
Come prepared to bring some attitude.
And don't worry about keeping the uniform perfectly dry.
That's definitely not happening.
RAINSTAGE
Real Water. Real Grit. Real Fun.
Beechwood Photography | Melonie & Tim
Serving Cass City, Michigan's Thumb, Bay City, Saginaw and communities throughout Michigan.
Comments