By Ed Piper
David Frerker, an LJHS alum and former Viking football player, is living the life of a big-time sports photographer.
He's living the fame and glory of millions of eyes on his latest sports gems, but with them comes the reality of the grind on his body and mind as he treks hundreds of miles to shoot a Lakers game in Palm Desert, where it is 100-plus degrees this week, and the hard concrete of the Petco Park stands that bloodies his knees while he shoots kneeling for hours.
"I was assigned a spot in the stands right next to where the fans sit," Frerker, a beefy former lineman for La Jolla, said Friday night, Oct. 11, during the La Jolla-Mira Mesa football game in Mira Mesa. He was relating his adventures shooting games three and four of the National League Division Series between the Padres and Dodgers for USA Today.
No comfy photographer's wells those evenings. On Monday night, Oct. 7, he bloodied his knees up, with his electronics--including his all-vital laptop to process his photos--lying right next to him, but also accessible to nearby fans. "I had to keep an eye on my stuff," he said.
No knee pads that night. He didn't know that's where he would be assigned. He showed us a listing of where each of the many photographers covering the game for USA Today were positioned around the stadium, jam-packed with another record Petco Park crowd.
"I went out and bought knee pads" for the following night's game, but "my knees were already bloodied from the first game", so little comfort there.
The other big highlight recently was shooting the Suns-Lakers exhibition game. The long drive was a near-killer. He talked a friend into going with him, that way he could process his images as his friend drove on the way back--a new Toyota RAV with all the electronics. "I can turn the whole car into a hotspot" for doing his photos, he noted with a big smile.
Frerker raced back to San Diego to cover the La Jolla-Scripps Ranch football game Oct. 4.
He often holds sideline councils with wannabe photographers, who eat up his stories of walking the tightrope on the high wire.
He showed one image of Kevin Durant bringing the ball up court during the Laker game. "This one has been picked up a lot," he said.
A moment David wanted to capture was the Lakers' LeBron James on the court with his son, Bronny, during the exhibition--the first time in history that an NBA father has played with his NBA son. But during that time, Frerker was away from the court, loading his images to get them in on time for USA Today's deadline. He missed it.
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