WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – When it comes to taking photographs, 2026
Michael A. Atkind '75 Exceptional Service Award recipient Stephen E. Morneault is, by his own admission, 'a little over the top'.
Morneault becomes the 32nd recipient of the award, which was instituted in 1992 and has been presented by the Alumni Hall of Fame Committee to an individual or individuals "demonstrating a standard of loyalty and commitment to the Eastern intercollegiate program as exemplified by Michael A. Atkind '75, who served as Administrator of Baseball Affairs and Alumni Field supervisor from 1973 until his untimely death on August 7, 1991."
A native of Millinocket, ME – a thriving paper mill town throughout the 20
th century that is located 70 miles north of Bangor -- Morneault has been taking photographs of Eastern's athletic teams on a voluntary basis since moving to nearby Coventry seven years ago with Susan, his wife of 50 years, in order to be closer to his only child, Bethany, her husband, John, and two grandchildren, ages six and ten.
Following college graduation, Morneault spent 41 years teaching math and science and as a technology integrator at the elementary and middle school levels in South Portland, ME. After graduating from the University of Southern Maine in 1973 with a degree in elementary education, Morneault went on to earn master's degrees in administration from USM and computer technology from Lesley University (and is two classes shy of a third master's degree from Simmons University).
Since beginning his "retirement" job as Eastern's game-day and special events photographer, Morneault has created and maintained a web site where all of his photographs are categorized by sport, year, date and opponent. With few exceptions, Morneault has, since the fall of 2019, photographed all of Eastern's games that are contested on campus (exceptions being men's and womens' golf, cross country and indoor track, each of which play exclusively in invitationals away from home or hold their 'home' matches off campus).
"For nearly a decade, Steve has made an extraordinary contribution to Eastern Connecticut State University athletics and all of its programs through his generous volunteer service as a gameday photographer," noted Alumni Hall of Fame chair Scott Smith. "He has dedicated countless hours to capturing the accomplishments and memorable moments of our student-athletes, providing photographs for use on the athletics website, as well as making them available free of charge to student-athletes, families, and fans online. In addition to his photography, Steve has taken the time to mentor our student photographers, sharing his knowledge and offering helpful advice to help them enhance their skills and abilities. We are extremely fortunate," added Smith, "to have individuals like Steve who generously give their time and talents in support of our student-athletes and athletic programs. Stephen Morneault has become an invaluable member of our Warrior community."
While Morneault's current arsenal of sophisticated camera equipment includes four Canon bodies and eight Canon lenses ranging from 24mm to 300mm, his interest in photography began modestly with a basic Canon Elan II, film camera, which he would pull out on occasion to shoot birthday parties and other family functions.
It wasn't until his daughter made the Gorham (ME) High School field hockey team as a freshman that he really caught the photography bug, plunging head-long into his craft after the Gorham field hockey coach requested parents to submit copies of photographs that they might take over the course of the year for a collage to be presented to all seniors at season's end.
In addition to those senior photos, Morneault began taking photographs of his daughter, the starting field hockey goalie on the jayvee team as a freshman who also saw limited action with the varsity. When the high school field hockey team began playing its home matches under the lights (which makes getting quality photos a challenge with inexpensive equipment), Morneault dished out $1,500 ("back in 2001, that was a lot of money") to purchase Canon's professional 70-200/2.8 zoom lense. "I didn't care [about the money]. I wanted nice photos, and that's when I went big into buying nice equipment."
By his own admission, "I got to be a crazed man – probably like I am now," jokes Morneault, thinking back to that period which launched his passion for sports photography. "I'm buying nice equipment and getting nice photos, so I keep going and going. By [Bethany's] senior year, I have to tell you, I'm a little over the top. For me," says Steve, "that was the real start – the crazed phase of me and photography."
Morneault's definition of
over the top: During his daughter's senior year at Gorham High, Morneault made it his mission to capture a game photo of every senior in every fall, winter and spring sport for a senior slide show to be featured at the athletics awards banquet that June. "And $1,800 later – I have the receipts – in film and developing costs [pre-digital age], I had every senior in a perfect picture."
Reaching that goal was not always easy, however, and required 'begging' (his word) the football coach to allow a pair of seniors to see the playing field for the first time in their careers. "[The coach] said, 'I'll give you two plays – that's all you're getting from me.'" That's all that was needed.
In addition to energetically patrolling the sidelines at Eastern outdoor home events in the fall and spring in weather ranging from warm and sunny (a truly rare occurrence) to freezing and windy (more likely) and from clear skies to hail, rain and lightning, Morneault willingly imparts his knowledge of photography by offering tips – positioning for best shooting angles, proper exposure and shutter speed settings, among them -- to Eastern's wide-ranging staff of student photographers throughout the course of an event. With an ability to capture images on two SD cards simultaneously on his newer camera bodies, Morneault is also quick to provide the sports information office with one of those cards for its use, in the event that no staff worker was available on site.
Until recently, Morneault would take roughly 1,500 images per game with his Canon 5D Mark III or Mark IV bodies. However, with the recent purchase of a mirrorless EOS R5 45-megapixel body that squeezes off a remarkable 20 frames per second, that number has risen to upwards of 3,500 and 4,000 images per contest, virtually guaranteeing quality images of every player that sees action, however briefly.
