Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Homecoming in Ruston – And a Visit With Scott Kelby
Well, I have to say, this weekend turned out to be one of the best I’ve had in a long long time. Every year we make the trek to Ruston, LA, for homecoming at Louisiana Tech University. I love Ruston, and I am pondering moving back. That, however, is beside the point. This homecoming weekend was far more busy than any of my previous. The weekend started on Friday, when I had to shoot a few baseball players for the upcoming baseball season. This presented a unique challenge for me, as I have never photographed baseball players before. The shoot was a little chaotic, as it had been raining in Ruston for at least two weeks, making the field virtually impossible to shoot on. So we kept it to the batting cage area. All in all, it turned out really well. I am not at liberty to reveal the photos, but I am going to take it upon myself to reveal one teaser. I hope I don’t get in trouble. Let’s just consider it promotion for Tech via my site.
Following that, I did some professional photos for a fellow photographer and close friend of mine, Christi Martin. Do yourself a favor and check out her work and drop her an email. Not only is she a great photographer, she is a gracious host, letting myself and my wife stay at her house for the weekend. We didn’t get to hangout too too much, because she had some shoots to do in nearby Shreveport, LA for the weekend. If you haven’t checked out her work, I suggest you do so.
The next day, Saturday, was the day of the ‘big’ game. I hesitate to use the word ‘big’, because at Tech, the crowds aren’t what you would normally see 7 on CBS on Saturday. But we love our Dawgs and I love the games. This game came with a special guest. The one and only Scott Kelby spent the day shooting football with us, tailgating, eating great food and having an all around great time. I want let everyone know something, I was completely impressed with Scott and how down to earth he is, how generous he is and how flat out nice he is. I’m going to be honest and say, I had no idea what to expect before I met him. I mean, for our industry, he is about as high up as you can get popularity/success wise, and you would never know. I felt like I was an episode of ‘Secret Millionaire’. After the game, at Pa Pa Joe’s (if you haven’t eaten there in Ruston, do so immediately), we finally got a chance to just unwind and talk. He was talking about some of the most fascinating things I have ever heard about the photography business. At a time when I was on the ropes getting going, I have to say that his visit lit a huge spark. Scott, from myself, my family, and Donald Page, I thank you for just an amazing day. Now I hope you don’t mind that I flat out stole this picture of us from your site. It happens…
Enough sap, let’s get to the game photos! Lol. Here are a few from the game. Tech blasted New Mexico State 45 to 7 and it was awesome. I hope we can get on a roll and be bowl bound again.
Scott was literally in the mix, almost getting run over in the 2nd quarter. I think he had a blast. I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized I got this.
That’s it from homecoming. A great weekend. I have some more projects I’m working on right now, so I’m sure I’ll have some new posts soon.
Love that last shot of Scott!!!
Great photos and article. I’m a Tech grad (1981) living in North Carolina, and I appreciate any Tech football news I can get. Such good photos of the Bulldogs in action are hard to come by where I live.
Regards,
John Roberts
That’s a great shot of Kelby almost getting knocked over. Perfect timing there. And what he wrote on his blog is true, it looks like he’s trying to get a bust shot of the cheerleader by not looking through the viewfinder to get her attention. At least, it looks like that until I scroll and see he’s close to being knocked to the ground by the football player.
Great post, Matt. I really enjoy reading your blog because you are so upfront, honest and enthusiastic. And thanks for sharing that shot of Scott trying to move out of the way!
Fine work! I bet it was a fun day shooting.
GO DAWGS!
great pic of scott, but i like #40’s endorsement of coca-cola shot.
You know, after showing a few friends this page I have decided that my REAL favorite photo is the one of Dooley. I just love that expression, especially when you realize that everyone else in the background has ‘moved on’ to something else, but Dooley is still SEETHING about something.
Great job, Matt. These kind of shots are hard to get because it is so easy to get caught up in following the action on the field. I’ve found you have to make a real effort to get great shots of the coaches. Keep it up!
Stumbled upon your blog this evening (while procrastinating- Ha!) and wanted to say that your work is fantastic! And HOW AWESOME to have developed such a great relationship with Scott Kelby!