Gallery • 7 Photos

Maija Norwood

Left to right: coach Rob Thompson, Boden Strafelda (junior), Will Black (freshman), John Christakos (freshman), Sam Konstan (senior), Tommy Verhey (sophomore), Jackson Small (senior), Levi Mellin (senior), Bobby Verhey (senior), Milo Waltenbaugh (senior), Judah Thomas (junior), Will Steinhacker (junior), Griffin Schwab-Mahoney (freshman), Tysen Hayes (freshman), coach Jim, coach Dom (not pictured)

No crowded bleachers. No lining up by height. Capturing the group was a puzzle.

Photographer Maija Norwood just started taking Spartan team photos this year, and what a year to start. While some schools skipped photos altogether, Norwood found solutions so SPA could make it work.

“Thanks to COVID-19  we weren’t allowed to be next to anyone, so each athlete just got individual pictures,” Norwood said.

She also photographed coach portraits.

In a typical year, team photos involve a schedule and a few steps: line everyone up in rows, make sure no one’s face is behind anyone else’s head, and take several shots so you have good options.

This year?

Norwood said, “With those individual pictures, I would cut out each athlete and then combine them in different layers in Photoshop so they could have a team picture.”

Instead of one layer, the photo itself, most composites were anywhere between 20-50 different layers, according to Norwood.

Maija Photography is known for wedding and family portraits; Norwood also partners with select schools to take sports photos.