SJSU Athletics Photographer Terrell Lloyd Tees Up Lasting Images

Two nights after returning from 10 days covering Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Florida, as the San Francisco 49ers' manager of photography services, Terrell Lloyd was back at San Jose State University chronicling Signing Day Celebration 2020 presented by the Provident Credit Union, and then filled the end of his week and a Saturday afternoon photographing the Spartans' beach volleyball, women's water polo and women's basketball teams.
 
If there was anybody who could serve two bosses and do it with energy and enthusiasm, at an extraordinary high level of professionalism and artistry in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings and with a smile on his face, it's "T Lloyd" as he is known around Spartan Athletics for the last 15 years.
 
Brought on board by then athletics director Tom Bowen after Bowen was hired in December 2004, "T Lloyd" is responsible for all San Jose State Athletics head-and-shoulder formal portraits, team photos and game-action photography for all 22 sports. Prior to joining the Spartans, athletics photography was segmented with one person responsible for portraits and team photos and several others contributing game action photography.
 
With the growth of San Jose State Athletics from 16 sports in 2005 to 22 today and the need and demand for more visual content to provide for traditional, social and digital media activities in today's world, "T Lloyd" assigns two other photographers to help him capture those Spartan moments, especially when multiple events are going on at the same time.
 
HONORED TO BE A SPARTAN
 
"For what I do, I'm pretty lucky to do it at the college level and at San Jose State. I take that as an honor, how long I've been here and working with the athletics department, the athletics director and the president of the school. They're happy to see me, delighted to see me," said the Houston, Texas native who was raised in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, a short walk away from Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park where the 49ers played their home games through the 1970 season.
 
"I take this program with pride. Not finishing college myself, it's kind of a way I am in college. This is my way to stay in school," added "T Lloyd" who was a City College of San Francisco (CCSF) student as he embarked on a professional bowling career.\
  Gallery: (2/12/2020) Terrell Lloyd Feature
 
DEVELOPING HIS EYE FOR PERFECTION
 
His first taste of sports photography was as a youngster attending 49ers games sitting in the Christopher Milk and then later renamed the Berkeley Farms kids section, Section II, as in two eyes. He would read the local sports pages the next day, cut out the photos and create his own scrapbooks. By his estimate, he had over a 1,000 of these scrapbooks that would be the basis of future profession.
 
The love for taking pictures percolated at McAteer High School directly behind Kezar Stadium as a yearbook committee photographer and simmered at CCSF.
 
While at McAteer High, "T Lloyd" was a fixture at the Park Bowl, a 22-lane bowling alley in the neighborhood. His eye on the 1-3 pocket was good enough to pursue a professional bowling career for 13 years. He has 10 sanctioned 300 "perfect games" and eight sanctioned 800-plus three-game series on his resume.
 
Transitioning from a professional bowling career, "T Lloyd" stayed in the Bay Area working for a multi-national telecommunications and networking company and began developing his photography clientele first as a wedding photographer. He also remembers taking pictures from the Candlestick Park stands as a 49ers season-ticket holder during the Super Bowl glory years of the 1980's.
 
Through recommendations and the early days of the internet where he could promote his photography to a broader audience, he added corporate, commercial, and portrait photography assignments before getting his first big break in sports action photography in 1994 with the 49ers. He can claim taking photos at Oakland Raiders' home games, too, when the team returned to Northern California in 1995 and has been taking pictures for the 49ers regularly since 1996.
 
ROUSING ENDORSEMENTS
 
"The quality of his work is unbelievable. It's so good. He's got such a great feel for it. He captures the emotion of the moment. So when you see those pictures, they're overwhelming how powerful they are," said San Jose State football head coach Brent Brennan.
 
"His pictures tell the story of our program. They tell the story of the game. They tell the story of what's happening here, with our athletics department and on our campus."
 
"The thing that makes him different is just how much he cares. He cares about the people. That's the difference. I've met thousands of photographers. None of them knew what my kids' names were. He was like that when I was an assistant coach, not just as a head coach," said Brennan.
 
"So, the biggest thing that makes 'T Lloyd' the best is how much he cares about the people he works with and it comes through in his work.
 
 "He's the best, man. Everybody knows that."
 
Athletics director Marie Tuite has seen his work first-hand since 2010 and wholeheartedly agrees with Coach Brennan.
 
"He is an integral part of our Spartan family.  No matter the sport, no matter the score, he believes in our student-athletes and our coaches.  He cares deeply about this program and he goes about his work with first-class professionalism.  He's helping to move this program forward and I'm so appreciative of his support," she said.

PRACTICE & PLANNING ARE KEY
 
When "T Lloyd" first he came to San Jose State in 2005 with his array of photography experiences, sports like golf, gymnastics, swimming and diving, and water polo were new to him. He learned how to photograph those sports, how to anticipate what would be the best shots and how to be in position for the right picture.
 
"I say my photography changed through the years where I think I got better learning how to shoot the other sports. I tell photographers, you've got to practice, practice, practice, just like the all the sports where they practice," said "T Lloyd" who is easily recognizable by wearing his blue Spartan ball cap backwards with the bill facing away from his camera lens.
 
"They practice in football, practice in basketball, practice in baseball. I mean, the only way you get better is by practice. So once I came here and was able to shoot all the different sports, it was a matter of learning how to shoot the sports and just going through those repetitions all the time and try to improve."
 
His attention to details and anticipation for what may come next is another aspect of his photography that sets him apart from the crowd.
 
San Jose State team photos are more than just telling people to stand in place and smile. Time of day is considered, diagrams are drawn, particularly in football with the number of people in each row and whether it is a player, coach or staff member. He remembers a James Jones touchdown reception in the 2006 New Mexico Bowl win when he correctly anticipated one of Jones' two touchdown catches in the game and positioned himself on the field to get the best possible photo.
 
"…Once you know the sport, not to say everything's easy, because things have to come your way, you have to know  how to expose the image. Shutter speeds, F stops, ISO when we're shooting film back in the day, what film you are using, all those little tangibles, but I think understanding any sport that you photograph is the key. And that's what really propels you," said "T. Lloyd," who has a 3-0 record photographing San Jose State football bowl wins in 2006, 2012 and 2015.
 
 "Listen, I've been coaching for a long time. I've seen a lot of team photographers come and go. He is the most professional. He's organized, really good at what he does and he's wonderful to deal with. He's a great guy. He's the best," said Spartan men's water polo head coach Bruce Watson.