We had the good fortune of connecting with David Frerker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
A major portion of San Diego Sports Domination is sports photography. Getting the opportunity to photograph what could be the biggest moments in the athletes lives. This could be a touchdown celebration, a game winning celebration to cap off the schools first CIF Championship, capturing family photos, photographing the fans …. I have had many great experiences on and off the field. I have photographed hundreds of sporting events ranging from high school sports to U.S. Olympic Trials. I have photographed in stadiums that no longer exist. I have photographed teams that no longer exist. Here are a few of my favorite off the field moments that make me happy. I recently got to do a photoshoot with the Vikings of La Jolla High School. Not being able to play has been hard on seniors around the country and I wanted to be able to do something special for them. I got the following message from one of the players, “These photos are unbelievable man… Capturing some of my best times with my best friends is unmatched. Means so much to have these moments captured.” This past weekend I did a bikini photoshoot for the San Diego Guardian Angels (Dance team for the San Diego Guardians Basketball team playing in the The Basketball League). I got the following comment on one of the photos that I released,”It’s amazing, you made me cry, I have NEVER felt more special, thank you thank you a million times!!!!!” Comments like the ones above are why I chose to photograph sports. My goal is to change lives one event at a time.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Building a business from the ground up is not an easy task. Especially when it comes to creating an audience for a blog/website. You have to write 5-10 articles a week. Those articles have to have substance and they must be relevant. Then you need to ask your audience what they want to see. Our audience asked to see more photos from events. That ment that we needed to work our way into the San Diego Sports Scene. We did this in a unique way. We reached out to the semi pro teams in San Diego who at the time did not receive media coverage. These teams were more than happy to grant us media credentials and have us attend their games. We started out covering semi pro soccer and semi pro basketball. We then moved to covering PRO Rugby the first attempt to bring a professional rugby league to the US. We branched out into semi pro football and never turned back. We got the opportunity to cover the San Diego Chargers before they moved to LA. To this day we cover Semi Pro Football, NLL (National Lacrosse League), MASL (Major Arena Soccer League), USMLR (US Major League Rugby), IFL (Indoor Football League) and are working on adding the TBL (The Basketball League).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
San Diego is a very special place. You have the beach. You have the desert. You have the mountains. We are able to visit all three in the same day. I would plan day trips to each. Some of my favorite places include La Jolla, Bankers Hill, Oceanside, Downtown, Borrego Springs and Coronado. I am going to answer the question as if this was a day trip. We would be here a very long time if I detailed out a full week. We would wake up early in the morning and jump in the car for the quick hour long drive up to Lake Cuyamaca. Lake Cuyamaca is a picture perfect place to hike and catch a glimpse of Eagles in the wild. Making sure we stop for Apple Pie in Julian on the way back. Once back in the city we would decide what we want to do for a late lunch. Girard Gourmet in La Jolla has some of the best sandwiches on the planet. We would either get sandwiches to go and eat them at the beach while watching the surfers…. or go out for tacos. Mitches Seafood has some of the best tacos in San Diego with a view on the bay. After a late lunch it would be time to rest for a few hours. Then get ready for our night out on the town. Depending on the friend we would go check out a few of my favorite breweries (Ballast Point or Coronado Brewing). Or we would head over to Cutwater for my favorite cocktails in San Diego. Following we would head over to Bankers Hill for dinner at Mr. A’s. One of the most amazing views in San Diego. Then plan out where the night will take us.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My story is a unique one as I am self taught. However, I have had many mentors along the way. Photographer Tony Amat. Tony invited me to photograph my first ever event back in 2017. That event just happened to be a college football game. He taught me the importance of brand/sponsor based photography. Tony gave me a camera and said go get it! I haven’t looked back since that day. I will always be grateful to Tony as the man who grew my love of sports photography. Ernie Anderson. A legend. The only photographer inducted into the San Diego State Athletics Hall of Fame. Ernie took this young photographer under his wing. He would never turn down my questions. Always had an answer. Always said hi to me when I was working with the SDSU Marching Aztecs. Ernie passed away in April of 2020 after a long battle with brain cancer. When I step onto the field I always ask myself … what would Ernie do?

Website: https://sandiegosportsdomination.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sdsdomination/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-frerker-52323845/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanDiego_Sports

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sdsdomination

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2x4-jIHcVBYAfbnELye4XQ

Other: This is my personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidFrerker

Image Credits
The first photo is by Don De Mars.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.