The Story Behind the Lens
By ADAM KHAN
The Tower
This picture is of Kal taking pictures at a volleyball game of Manteca High against Sierra High on September 14th, 2025
Under the harsh glow of stadium lights, while the crowd surges with excitement and athletes clash in a blur of motion, Kal keeps his eyes on something else… emotion.
A clenched jaw.
A midair fist pump.
The raw look of victory or heartbreak.
To him, the game is more than action. It is a collection of human stories, waiting to be shown.
For Kal, sports photography is not just about documenting what happens on the field; it is about telling the story behind it. From a sideline whisper between teammates to the explosive joy after a winning point, he looks for the feeling behind the moment.
Now deeply embedded in the volleyball community and quickly expanding his reach, Kal is building a body of work that’s more than content—it is connection. Kal does not just aim his camera at the action; he searches for meaning.
While many might focus on athleticism, Kal looks for emotion. A touchdown, for example, is not just about the score—it is about the eruption of feeling afterward, the culmination of effort, teamwork, and adrenaline. These are the frames that speak to him.
Whether it is the chaos of a football game or the quiet intensity of a volleyball rally, Kal decides in real time whether to chase the dramatic or the reflective. It is an instinctive process, one that requires both technical skill and emotional awareness.
“There is always a story behind a picture, do you know what I mean? There’s always emotion, especially for the player. You are always looking for the point of the shot,” Kal explains.
He sees every frame as part of a bigger narrative. One shot might show the leap before a spike, another the stunned silence after a missed serve. But together, they reveal more than gameplay—they reveal stakes, pressure, joy, and disappointment. And that is what keeps him chasing moments through his camera.
What makes his approach unique is the way he connects his own perspective with the viewer’s. As a photographer, he captures what most miss. But he knows that every image is interpreted differently—fans in the stands, players on the field, even fellow creatives might all see the same photo through their own lens. That difference excites him.
There is a kind of magic in capturing a moment without planning it, something Kal deeply appreciates. While some shots require careful composition or calculated lighting adjustments, many of his favorite photos happen by instinct. A dive across the court. A scream after a block. A fleeting glance between teammates. These are not posed—they are caught.
Techniques like subject highlighting and visual contrast help his photos stand out, but Kal insists it is the emotion that elevates an image from good to great. And often, it is the reaction afterward—the smile on an athlete’s face when they see themselves mid-celebration—that reminds him why he does this.
“Sometimes I’m not even trying to capture a moment—it just happens. That is what makes it beautiful to me. And seeing the players get excited about it later? That is what makes it all worth it.”
In a sea of athletes and fans, he was capturing different stories frozen in a fraction of a second.
The bright stadium lights glared down on the turf as the crowd roared with every touchdown, but Raclif Figueroa was not watching the scoreboard. He stood at the edge of the field, camera in hand, tracking every movement through his lens. Click. Snap. Focus.
What started as a casual interest had become something more. Raclif’s journey into sports photography began with a borrowed camera, some inspiration from Instagram, and a desire to create. Now, as a senior, he has turned that spark into a growing business, building a client base, developing a personal brand, and generating income—all while balancing the demands of school and senior year.
His story is one of passion, hustle, and the power of showing up with a camera and a vision.
“I don’t really see it like a business—I just get to do what I love, give people some cool pictures, and get paid for it,” Raclif said. “That’s the dream, right?”
The turning point came during Raclif’s sophomore year in a media class that encouraged creativity. Around the same time, he discovered a community of volleyball content creators like Holly and Noba Visuals, who were redefining how sports moments were captured and shared online. That inspiration pushed him to bring his camera to school volleyball games and start posting clips to Instagram.
The feedback was perfect. His videos got hundreds of likes, and his following began to grow. Motivated by the response, he created a separate account @clipsbyclif dedicated to his sports content. But it was not until his senior year, after a summer trip to the Philippines where he bought his first personal camera, that photography truly took center stage.
“When I came back, I was like, hey, I might as well keep taking photos, right?” he said.
Recognition came quickly, thanks in part to his work in media class and his consistency in covering school sports. Raclif didn’t need traditional marketing—his work spoke for itself. By his senior year, he was covering everything from varsity football to senior events, with a reputation for delivering high-quality content fast.
His pricing reflects his awareness of his audience—mostly high school students who are often paying out of pocket. He charges $25 per game, with discounts for loyal clients. A typical football night might bring in over $100, but it’s not just time on the field that counts. Between shooting, editing, and delivering galleries, Raclif spends up to seven hours per event.
Still, he keeps prices low to remain accessible, especially compared to competitors charging double.
As demand increased, so did the pressure to deliver fast, high-quality work while juggling school and extracurriculars. Raclif made the tough decision to step away from club volleyball—a sport he had played for three years—in order to focus on photography. That choice has paid off in both time and income, especially during weekend volleyball tournaments where parents often book him for full-day shoots.
Quick turnaround is key in the sports media world, and Raclif is pushing himself to improve even more. Every edit, every delivery is a chance to raise his standard and reputation.
“There are some people in this field that have crazy turnaround times, and I am trying to match that. But that conflicts with all my schoolwork. Time management is definitely one of the biggest challenges.”
The crack of the bat. The roar of the crowd. The brief silence before a game-winning field goal. For most fans, these are just moments in a game. But for Ms. Creighton, they are the heartbeat of a deeper story—one told not with words, but with light, angles, and timing.
Standing on the sidelines, lens raised, she is not just documenting sports. She is preserving emotion.
A longtime photographer and educator, Ms. Creighton has spent years capturing student-athletes at their highest highs and lowest lows—from her own kids’ football games to the photography classroom of Manteca High. Now, in an era where sports photography is more accessible and more vulnerable than ever, she reflects the ethics, artistry, and evolution of telling sports stories through images.