Wanted to share a few more of my shots from the Saints v Vikings game in Week 1. I know, it’s week 5, but since I’m not shooting media anymore, I don’t have to worry about being current. I updated my Sports Reportage gallery here. So stop by and check them out. The screen resolution, if you have a big screen, will blur the images some. It’s best to view them not the size of a 30″ screen.
Well, football season is back. And with football season comes football shots on my blog. This year will be a little lighter. Shooting for a new company, which will be awesome, but offer less games to shoot. I will also be shooting some LA Tech football but for the first game I found myself on the sideline of the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings. There was nothing like the atmosphere in the Dome and my Saints pulled off the win against AP and Favre. Can’t wait for the next Saints game down the road and the Tech game this weekend…..
…..this was a poorly written blog. Haha, I’m out of practice.
I had the opportunity this past weekend to do something I had never done before and that’s shooting the New Orleans Saints. I had a blast. It’s so different being down there than it is being next to a college game. It moves so much quicker. It was awesome to be able to get some shots of some guys that I really like to watch play. All of the Saints of course, but then guys like Ernie Sims, Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith. I think they are solid players, so it was impressive to be right by them. And it was also fun to take part in Matthew Staffords first NFL regular season start. It was really hard to just pick a few of the images to blog, seeing as how I shot around 1200 during the game. Anyway, on the to pictures:
Matt Stafford was all smiles before the game. Friends and family were allowed on to the field during pregame. I caught a shot of him smiling at his former high school coach. I think this is the last time he smiled that day.
I don’t know much about Ernie Sims. I just know I like him. So I wanted to get a cool shot of him. Which was really hard because he never faced me. But I did land this one during pregame.
The hottest name in New Orleans, aside from Drew Brees, would have to be Mike Bell. He received a standing ovation when he left the game. In contrast, Reggie Bush was boo’d. I felt bad for the guy honestly.
This is a pretty sweet shot I got of Lance Moore owning the Lions defender. His celebration after was awesome too.
I don’t think I really need to say anything about the way this guy played…
This is a shot from a series I got during Devery’s long touchdown reception. What was even better about it, was after I shot it, I looked to both sides only to see no photographers in site. Jackpot!
Jeremy Shockey seemed to really enjoy his first touchdown catch of the day. Afterward I found out why, as he had no touchdowns last season. Congrats Jeremy.
When I said I had a lot to choose from and it was tough to pick just a few, I wasn’t lying. Here is a screen shot of Bridge showing just the shots I submitted for media. Craziness.
This is a ramble post. Today is the first day of my football season. My stomach is in knots. I love this time of year. Shooting sports is so much different than shooting anything else I shoot. It’s fast paced and you get one chance to get ‘the shot’. You also are in competition with about 50 other photographers with their lenses pointed at the exact same thing. It’s a test of wits and creativity. Generally you show up 2-3 hours early and you get into game mode. For me, this just means walking into the stadium, and then I just stare at the field. I picture movie scenes and listen to intense music. It’s almost as though I’m about to play in the game myself. This year is especially intense. This is the first football season to shoot since going fulltime with my photography. Another interesting thing to point out…you don’t get paid unless your image sells. Therefore, you have to be ‘the man’ when it comes to shooting. If you don’t shoot well, you don’t eat, so to speak. So you have to be on your toes.
This weekend is especially intense for me as I am shooting both LSU and the New Orleans Saints. It’s 9:15 am on Saturday. When I look out my window I see rain. When I look at the weather on tv/internet, I see rain. All day. What a way to start the season off. I’m supposed to be editing a music video for Motion Family right now, which I am. But all that’s on my mind is rain gear, lenses and getting the shot.
I’m so pumped right now. I feel like it’s me against the world. This is the season that is going to make it or break it for me. I’m going to either make a name for myself as one of the best to do this, or I’m hanging it up in the sports media world. Not because I don’t love it, but because it doesn’t pay enough for the time you put into it. The ultimate goal of this is to be a commercial sports photographer. So needless to say, I can’t be wasting my time doing other things, no matter how much I love them.
With all that said, I’m about to go shave my head, make my Ipod playlist, get my gear together and go into battle. It’s day one of a 3 month war. I think I’m ready. The end result will show whether that is true or not. Let’s go….