HHS senior Wilson Riley has become a prevalent photographer around the Homewood athletics scene. Riley photographs various Homewood sporting events including basketball, baseball, football, lacrosse and track. Riley first got into photography because of his interest in the production of sports graphics.
“I had started doing some sports graphics and needed my own photos so I didn’t have to use other people’s work,” Riley said. He then borrowed a camera and got to work. His first pictures were taken at an HHS baseball game. His passion for the art only grew from there. In order to share his work, Riley then set up his Instagram account under the name of WMR Productions, with the three letters standing for his initials.
“I wanted to be able to share the photos, and thought that instagram was the best place,” Riley said. On the account Riley not only showcases his photos, but also his original sports graphics. He continued on photographing Homewood sporting events, and continued to share those photos via his Instagram profile.
Riley’s photography has been a great deal of help to the baseball program at Homewood. His social media posts and game day graphics widely publicize the games. One testament to the helpfulness of WMR Productions comes from varsity baseball player Jack Ross.
“The cool game day graphics make people more interested in in coming and watching us play,” Ross said. Alongside the program benefits, Ross has been able to use a few of Riley’s videos for college recruiting. Ross describing this as a huge bonus to having Riley at the games.
WMR Productions also has grown to include graphics and photos not representing HHS. Riley began to start photographing local pro teams from around Birmingham.
His first professional team start came from an opportunity that sprouted from his summer job working at Rally Camp. Riley heard the Birmingham Barons Game Day Coordinator speak one day, and reached out to him regarding photographing at Barons games. Riley received a media pass and began to shoot at games regularly after that. This unique opportunity further strengthened his affinity for photography, and Riley began to spend more time with his craft.
Since, Riley has shot pictures for the Birmingham Barons, Birmingham Squadron, Birmingham Legion and a few other minor league teams. He’s even gotten the chance to work with a few of the athletes from these teams. These athletes have reached out regarding using Riley’s photos their personal Instagrams. One of these athletes is Sonny DiCharia of the Rocket City Trash Pandas minor league baseball team.
“Sonny DiCharia was fun to work with,” Riley said. Dicharia attended Hoover High School before playing college baseball at Samford University, then moving to play at Auburn before started his minor league career. DiCharia played in a Barons game that Riley photographed.
In the fall Riley will be attending Auburn University, where he plans to continue photography as a hobby.
