For Landon Kidney, it has been a short road from amateur photographer to professional photographer and from shooting high school sports to professional sports.
He has gone from taking pictures on his Kindle Fire as a child to becoming the team photographer for the Potawatomi Fire at only 15 years old.
The son of Tecumseh Chief of Police J.R. Kidney and former portrait photographer Andrea Kidney, Landon said he watched his mother taking pictures as he grew up.
Andrea said she has been an artist her “whole life,” but she became a photographer when Landon was one. She turned professional when he was three, shooting portraits by natural light in their home and outdoors and second-shooting weddings.
When he was old enough, Landon helped with some of his mother’s shoots by carrying equipment and holding the reflector.
She enjoyed the rush from getting the perfect shot and the honor of seeing her framed photos in the homes of her customers while making deliveries.
But after eight years, she grew tired of editing those photos to perfection.
So, in Dec. 2018, she passed along her backup camera to Landon and told him to figure out how the aperture and shutter speed “work together.” It was only after he “figured it out on his own” that he asked what the automatic setting symbols meant and she let him in on that secret.
Nevertheless, he not only learned to use the camera, but he taught himself the art of astrophotography to capture the stars.
When asked if her talent rubbed off on Landon, Andrea said she believes he has a natural ability and an eye for composition.
“I guess maybe it’s rubbed off on him,” she said. “You know, I just think that he’s naturally good at it, but you know, I’ve also taught him certain things … and he’s learned by watching me.”
While teaching his fellow volunteer photographers at Life Church in Shawnee, Landon, like his mom, does not suggest the automatic settings. But that is because the conditions are too dark, and they are not allowed to use flash during worship or events.
It was through his church that Landon was offered his first photography job at 14, shooting mostly sporting events for Shawnee CTV.
He used CTV’s Canon EOS DSLR to photograph basketball, football, wrestling, swimming, softball and volleyball at Shawnee and North Rock Creek high schools. He also shot a car show and graduations, and he videotaped baseball games.
J.R. serves as the Security Coordinator for the Potawatomi Fire, and he was asked if Landon would be interested in being their photographer.
FireLake Arena Director David Qualls had him come in for an interview, even after J.R. reminded Qualls that Landon was only a freshman at Epic Charter Schools.
J.R. said Qualls told him, “As soon as I saw him pick up the camera, I knew ... that he knew what he was doing.”
“It was the day before their away game,” Landon said. “And the next morning I was on the bus to Texas.”
Since then, Landon has been with the Fire for all but a few of their 24 games using a Canon EOS Mark IV provided by the team.
He said they mostly stay on I-40 or I-35, going straight to their away games and back without sight-seeing. But, while in Texas, they never fail to stop at Bucee’s, a super-sized convenience store.
Since their first game on March 4, Landon has become friends with the team members.
“They all like me pretty well. It might be because I give them pictures,” he joked.
Landon said he takes between 500 and 1,000 pictures at each game, and it might take a few days before he can get the players their action shots.
Landon loves capturing the players’ expressions during game play and is proud when the team shares his photos on social media. J.R. said Landon recently had an “ah-ha” moment when he saw a picture he took on a billboard for the team in OKC.
Since Landon can usually be found sitting beside the basket during games, the challenges of snapping those photos can be intense and even dangerous.
“I’d say that it’s a fast-paced sport, and it’s not a very easy thing to shoot,” he said. “Definitely trying to be in the right place at the right time always gets me, just having that full attention span just waiting for the right moment. It’s constantly changing, back and forth. You never know what’s gonna happen next. It’s just super intense.”
“Also, not getting hit by the players, that’s been a challenge as well, and it’s also happened a few times.”
Landon was run over by a player during their very first away game in Texas, and he said, “that was not a pleasant experience.”
Andrea describes another close-call.
“He had one guy fly by him and literally had to jump over the top of his head,” she said.
Luckily, only a finger was hurt since he had one hand held up.
Landon recently filled in for an ill photographer at Shawnee Forward during their Leadership Shawnee Program.
J.R. said Landon seems to love the challenges of his jobs.
“He’s nervous as can be, and ‘Oh, my goodness, I gotta go do this tomorrow.’ And then when he goes and gets it done, he’s like, ‘Hey, that was pretty cool,’” said J.R.
Landon is saving up for his first car and is interested in investing and entrepreneurial enterprises for his future.
To view some of Landon Kidney’s photos, visit his website at https://landonkidney. smugmug.com/.
