Bowl Week in Tampa..

A Tampa Bowl Week in Photos...



How to describe a Bowl Week in Florida? Well, it's been said that a picture may be worth a thousand words and since this is a PHOTO blog (and nobody wants to read that many words anyway), I am choosing to use a variety of pictures that I took throughout the week along with a few comments for each image. We stayed at the Mainsail in Tampa and while Shoe was handling the checking in duties, I spied some birds and turtles in the nearby lake/pond. This bird, as most, was very cooperative for me.



Steve Spurrier speaking at the Outback Bowl Welcome Banquet.

That night, Friday the 26th, both teams feasted on the best that Outback Steakhouse had to offer.



On Saturday morning, I was able to get to Jefferson High School for practice early enough that I was able to shoot the locker room prior to practice. The facilities were definitely not as spacious but appeared to me to be very adequate and met the needs.



On Sunday, I wanted to go to Clearwater to check on the Sand Sculpture progress. The people that do this every year are from the area, I believe they live twenty miles away and they were busy at work. I found it fascinating to watch their techniques and had gotten to know them when I was last in Tampa for the Outback Bowl in 2000 and 2001. As you can see, there is a wooden 'form' at the base (and on upward). Several days previous to my arrival, they had added the sand to the form (a foot at a time) and packed it with a typical construction type packing device.

The Sculpture that they create is very elaborate and two-sided. They commented to me that as they were preparing for this year's event (making sure they had the correct teams, etc.) that they noticed that the Outback logo had changed. Needless to say I was VERY surprised to arrive on Beach Day to see an entirely different sculpture in place. I found that they had encountered the sand version of an avalanche and had to start over again. Later in the blog you will see how the design changed, became simpler and one-sided but looked great nonetheless!



Next on the agenda for Sunday was a trip for several of the team to visit the children in St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa. Since this is a photo blog, I will point out that when shooting the 'little people' it is a good thing to frequently get on their level and not shoot down on them. If your camera has 'auto focus', as most do, you can even put the camera on the floor and shoot 'up' at the scene before you. Although angle viewfinders are available, usually you can do fine by merely taking extra pictures and then deleting what wasn't aimed perfectly.



On the way back to the motel from St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, I saw a couple of lakes beside the road and pulled over to check it out. I got wonderful bird shots as well as the alligator sunning beside the water. That was a better looking alligator, in a more natural environment than what I later took pictures of at Busch Gardens when I accompanied the team on that event.



Once the players found that the Python (or was it a Boa Constrictor?) wouldn't move fast, they 'warmed up' to it considerably. I wonder what was going through the minds during this "look'em in the eye" picture?



Coach Spurrier talking to the team at the pre-practice huddle.



I was sitting in a swing reading, early in the morning, by a pond on the Mainsail grounds when I couldn't resist the temptation any longer and HAD to go back to the room and grab my camera. This duck and the ten(10) ducklings were some of the many great duck/bird pictures taken that day.



Ahh, Beach Day arrives and I see the new simplified and one-sided sand sculpture and wonder what happened! Oh, it looked great and no one would've known if they had not seen the previous creation.



Some sights and scenes from the Hilton overlooking the beach (complete with Outback Bowl blimp high overhead). A had a lot of fun that day with that gallery of over a hundred images (but this blog is long enough without going through those again here!).



Cocky, always a crowd favorite, being cocky on stage!



Ybor City Parade. I decided to use a variety of angles to give a different perspective. This was taken from the balcony of the Carmine's (where the GamecockCentral gathering was held). Note: the creatures being taken along the route to the delight of the crowd.



What says a parade better the looking straight into the United States Marine Band!



There are two sides (at least) to every parade. I found the spectators and their reactions fascinating to observe.



And then there were the many priceless (and tired) children perched on the shoulders of parents, grandparents, and anyone with the strength to do it. This was shot through the crowd with flash and f/2 200mm lens with Image Stabilization turned on during the Pep Rally at the end of the parade between 14th and 15th Street.



Then on to the game. Since this is a photo blog and I use Canon equipment, I thought I would give you a shot of the photographers. Just because a lens is all black does not mean that it isn't Canon. The camera around the neck of the first photographer kneeling on the right is a Canon f2.8 24mm-70mm zoom lens. Various other Canon lenses are on the ground ready to be used when the scene changes and they are needed.



Oh, and there was a game so I had to include a shot of a Kenny McKinley reception in a highly contested moment.

My intentions were to do a daily blog from Tampa but my days and nights were full with taking and then editing pictures. I thought about taking a picture of the traffic on I-95 but thought NO ONE wanted to see that image again. And a 'high speed' lens would not have been required for many sections of that Interstate.

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Rivalry Week - Noon Showdown At Clemson's Memorial Stadium...

End of the Regular Season is upon us...


Coach Spurrier on Day One of August Practice

Not long ago we were shooting hot August practices at Bluff Road trying to put names, numbers and faces together and getting to know the 2008 Gamecocks. Now, so quickly, the weather is much cooler and the final regular season game approaches this Saturday with the showdown at high noon in Death Valley.



There is considerable planning and preparation for every game. Each game is important but the last game is often the biggest of the year, even if it weren't a rivalry game. Although this is true for the coaches and players, I was thinking of the last game, from the photographer's perspective.

One of the things that makes photography so interesting are the challenges of capturing the images of the day regardless of the time-of-day, the lighting (or lack thereof), and the weather. This Saturday's Noon kickoff game was working out beautifully with a forecast calling for no rain and partly cloudy skies (40% - 60% cloud coverage), well... that was as of LATE Wednesday. But Thanksgiving morning came along with much more rain possibilities in the weather forecast (depending on where one looks and when it was last updated) but suffice it to say by Thursday all of the forecasts were calling for 50-70% chance of rain during the game timeframe.

Often photographer's prefer some clouds to cloudless sunny skies as the clouds reduce the contrast and harsh shadows allowing one to better see the athlete's face within the shadow of the helmet. Dealing with challenges, and overcoming them is fun but it's even better to not have to worry about the challenges and just enjoy taking the pictures. It is much like when the defense knows that it is a passing down they can just concentrate on getting to the quarterback or stopping the pass, well the photographer, in this case, can just concentrate on getting the best image and not have to deal with all of the obstacles.

Dealing with rain...


Shot from the end zone, at night, during the rain.

The last game, at Gainesville, Florida, began with considerable rain during pre-game and warm-ups and then occasional rain off and on during the majority of the game. A learning lesson can often be an experiment that turns out well (or, at least, better than you had hoped). The Florida game provided a learning experience for me that I want to share with you. Now it appears that I will be able to work this aspect into ' my game' this Saturday. Although our cameras and lenses are supposed to be able to handle the rain, I do not know of a photographer that will shoot in the rain without protecting the equipment with some type of 'raingear'.

One sees all kinds. Nice expensive 'rainsuits' that may cost two or three hundred dollars cover some cameras and lenses but likewise you will also see a variety of plastic bags, freezer bags, tape and rubber bands holding something together on the camera. At Florida I tried something new, that worked well for me, and I plan to try to improve on it for my next rain event ( this Saturday?).

What I will do is wrap the camera and the lenses, individually, with something like clear Saran Wrap. Clear, in order to see through easily and while this is protecting the equipment from the elements it is very lightweight and non-bulky. The reason I mention wrapping the equipment separately is that you are then better able to change lenses (changing lenses is often NOT a good option when the cover is taped or velcro'd together as one piece). Whatever you decide to do about the 'rain cover', I suggest that you rehearse it prior to the event to see if it will work and meet your needs.

Back to the planning and preparation for the last game...

This is not only the last game of the regular football season but a rivalry game. Although there is still a bowl game to look forward to, remember that there are special memorable moments in this game that should be captured. That key block, that goal line stand, that pass to the corner of the end zone or the fumble recovery or interception. Everything is magnified in importance on the last regular season game and it's a rivalry match-up. We are not guaranteed the future and this could be the last college game that a particular player participates in and how special would it be to capture the emotion and action in a special photo.

What's new?

November 7th, right before the Kentucky Wesleyan basketball game that night and the Arkansas football on Saturday, I got a new lens. The lens is the new Canon 200mm F/2L EF IS USM lens and it is as good as advertised. The photographers reading this may wonder what makes this lens so special. Briefly, it is made for low light (f/2 is much faster than an f/2.8 lens) and being a Prime lens (non-zoom) the sharpness of the image is without compare. The lens is popular with two groups of photographers, the sports action photographers and wedding or portrait photographers for obvious reasons. It is beyond compare when creating a good bokeh (the out of focus area in the background).


200mm used at the D. J. Swearinger Press Conference at Greenwood High School

I've found it to be excellent when using it at basketball games but it has been a pleasant surprise when shooting press conferences (such as the Swearinger and Quarles Presser at Greenwood High School on Monday) and for daylight football games (no-brainer that it would be great for night football). The advantages manifest themselves in all of the key areas of camera settings as I am able to shoot without maxing out the F-stop setting with a lower (maybe an 800) ISO and 1/640th of a second for basketball. Or I would also have the ability to change some settings and greatly increase my depth-of-field (amount of image that is in sharp focus).


Using the wide angle zoom lens under the basket.


Using the 200mm at a basketball game - picture is cropped.

For basketball games I like to team the new 200mm lens (for normal shots) with a wide-angle zoom lens for close-up shots under the basket action (see picture above). For football, if a day game, I would mount the 200mm lens on the Canon 1D, Mark 3 body for a shot equivalent to 240mm and use the 300mm lens with an extender on a Canon 40D body giving an equivalent magnification of a 672mm lens. With that degree of magnification for football, I would use either a normal wide-angle or a super wide-angle lens for the up close shots (Captains at mid-field, stadium and crowd shots, post-game celebrations and interviews).

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A sequence of photos - "The Lost Helmet"...

How can this happen?



I put a picture in an upcoming Gallery from the Arkansas game that showed Jordin Lindsey with his helmet in hand. By the way, the referee is catching the football, it isn't a magic stunt. Previously, in the game, Kenny McKinley had also lost his helmet on a play. Surely you have wondered how this happens. A football helmet has not one but two straps securing the chin strap to the helmet. This will be a sequence of eleven (11) photos that I shot during one play (in less than two seconds time). The photos illustrate what happened on one particular play but obviously there can be other reasons for a helmet to come lose and go bouncing across the field.

Since I was dealing with the shadows on the field, my camera settings had been changing throughout the day. At the time of these photos, and on this particular camera I was shooting at 1/664th of a second with an ISO of 400. The f/stop varied from f/5 to f4.6. Remember, the camera (a Canon 1D Mark 3) is capable of ten frames per second (depending on other variables that we won't go into at this time).

These pictures were also shot with my newest lens. It is the latest Canon EF200mm f/2L, IS USM lens with some utterly amazing ability to capture action shots, especially in low light. But that's a whole different story that we will save for a later time.

I find it truly amazing when you split a football play into ten or twenty pictures. Incredible detail in Hi-resolution. Often when I am watching the replays of a game on television I am still surprised that the plays only take a few seconds of high-speed action and then they are over. It is really interesting to see the photographers checking their digital cameras after a play, in essence doing the famous 'further review of the play' to their own satisfaction (with no delay of game!).

But there has been discussion on the Insider Forum lately around a series of photographs breaking down a play, in this case, Mike Davis's touchdown run (a play or two after the 'helmet photos' that I will be showing in this blog). So today when I was going through my Arkansas game pictures putting together my next gallery I noticed these pictures that illustrated at least one way that a player lost his helmet while in the midst of doing battle (trying to tackle Mike Davis).

Of these eleven pictures, only picture number 2 is included in my galleries as we try to NOT show too many rapid sequence shots but make ourselves try to decide which shot would capture the essence of the play and tell a story. Truthfully, it can be a difficult call to make when there are so many to choose from and the pictures can vary ever so slightly.

Hopefully, you will find this interesting as well. Also, I did not crop the pictures as tightly as I normally would as several people were enjoying studying the linemen handling their blocking assignments.

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Tennessee...

Changes in Knoxville...



Prior to the game, I was able to capture the intensity in Philip Fulmer's face as he studied the Gamecocks during the pre-game warm ups. When we have opportunity to get pre-game pictures of the coach's, I always find it interesting to study their faces, demeanor, and body language. This is definitely not always an option though as some coaches will remain focused on their teams (or at least away from the center of the field).



On Saturday, both coaches chatted for, what was to me, an unusually long period of time. Who knows, or cares, what was talked about but they both know football, coaching, and each other in depth and have for quite some time. I am not as familiar with Phil Fulmer as I am with Steve Spurrier, but it never ceases to amaze me how Steve can remember the details of such-n-such of a play in a game that was played MANY years ago. Specific details. But the pictures recorded the event of them chatting during pre-game at mid-field , and as happens so often in life, the event will not happen again.



How about those new Palmetto Tree's and Crescents on the field! As soon as I arrived in the Press Box, two and half hours, or so, prior to the game and looked at the field I immediately noticed them and thought "Wow!". I do not know whose idea it was, but it seemed to be very well received. I could have taken the picture from above with a telephoto but decided that a closer perspective would appear better. For those who were unable to see the game, I captured this image that was painted on the field. There was one on each side of the field balanced with the SEC logos beside them.



Now to get into some of the photography part of the photo blog. As many of you know, all during August we took pictures of the team practicing over at Bluff Road and scrimmaging at Williams-Brice, and then the games began. Occasionally (?) we take pictures of the guys as they warm-up and stretch. How to keep it interesting and provide a fresh perspective? In this case, I was able to lay the camera on the grass (Canon makes a 'Right Angle' viewfinder that makes this so much easier than other methods of obtaining the same picture). During this time of the day, I was able to get the proper lighting on Ryan (and NOT too much back lighting behind him) by aiming towards the corner and use the light that was being reflected back onto the field from the stadium that was basically behind me.

Whatever works...



I decided to take a moment and shoot those shooting around me. Hey it sounds like war but it's not! If you are watching the game on television the photographer's are usually right out of the camera's view. If we are 'above' the field/picture then that area on the television is where the network puts the 'details' at the top of the screen (time, down, score, etc.). So I included a couple of pictures to give you a general idea. Remember that I mentioned previously in the blog that at Williams-Brice Stadium we cannot shoot from the end-lines? Well, that is one of the reasons why the photographer's are packed in so tightly next to each other.



There is always much discussion amongst photographer's as to which is best. Nikon or Canon? Both are very good and the results can be outstanding with either. At USC there seems to be more Canon equipment than Nikon by a fairly good margin. The Canon telephoto lenses are the cream colored lenses in the pictures. However, not all black lenses are Nikon. You will see a variety of other cameras and lenses on the field (Fuji Cameras, Sigma Lenses, etc.). I have three different Canon wide-angle lenses that are all black lenses. Also, lenses perform differently on various camera bodies. Without getting too technical, depending on the size of the sensor on a particular camera, a telephoto could be much stronger on one camera than on another camera body. Likewise, a wide angle could become almost a super wide angle, in effect, if it were changed from one camera body to another.

However, if you are thinking of investing in some camera equipment, it is worth some very serious research. Before I committed to Canon or Nikon, I did my due diligence. One of the people that gave me good information was Ken Rathe (Mike Rathe's, late father). We had many good discussions on the sideline as Mike would play and Ken would come from California to watch. I really appreciated his input. I talked to many people and did lots of reading before committing and I am glad that I was thorough.

But remember, a good lens will likely last a lifetime or decades. Cameras get passed by with new technology regularly so you will probably be replacing a camera much sooner than you will be replacing a lens. Prior to the game Saturday, I had fun with one of the players that is redshirting this year. He was interested in watching me take pictures. So I let him use one of the cameras to try and get a picture, he was blown away with the technology and the fun part of it. We both enjoyed that experience!

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Basketball and Football...

SEC Basketball Media Days...

First, a few words on Basketball before getting back to Football coverage. Beginning the 21st through the 23rd of October, David Cloninger and I were in Birmingham, Alabama covering the 2009 Hoops Basketball Tipoff for the Southeastern Conference Media Days. It was a great event as all of the SEC Men's and Women's teams were represented by their coaches and a couple of players from each of the school's basketball teams. For the writers, it was a great time to meet one-on-one with all of the coaches and athletes, and get their stories and answers to whatever questions were pertinent. From a photographer's perspective, it was an excellent opportunity to get candid photos of the various coaches and athletes.



Here is a link to one of David Cloninger's stories from Birmingham (I will be discussing part of this story in the blog). Usually this is PREMIUM content but the article is now FREE so you can now reference it. As always, there were a variety of points of emphasis or rule changes discussed. The easiest was the movement of the 3-point line to 20 feet, 9 inches and, in my opinion, the most difficult was the discussion regarding Technical fouls and the new Class A and Class B classifications. This is all covered in Dave's story.

A LINK to David's 'Media Days Notebook, Day 1':
Media Day Story


The restraining line and the restraining box...

As David mentioned, The SEC Supervisor of Officials, Gerald Boudreaux, stated that one area that has drawn a lot of comment is the restraining line or the restraining box. This is NOT a new rule; the rule just states that there should be six(6) feet from the end line to the end of the court.

That is a no zone area; non-playing personnel should not be in that area. As David said, "How that affects Colonial Life Arena is how much room there will be between the first row of seats and the court. Normally, that area has been reserved for photographers and/or the cheerleading/dance team." This will be something to watch for and see how it is handled in Columbia as well as across the country. Speaking from experience, usually every square foot of space is used on these end lines with network and local television cameras, action photographers, and at Carolina the Dance Team is on one end line and on the opposite end line are the cheerleaders and Cocky. This emphasis on clearing the area is for a good reason, safety. However, although it won't change anything regarding this emphasis, but it is not an unusual occurrence to see a player end up in the front row of seats, down an aisle, or leaping a table along the sideline. Who can't remember seeing this happen at games?



So there will be a new floor to play on at the Colonial Life Arena, and who knows what other changes will be evident! There is definitely excitement as the tipoff is much anticipated by team and fans alike.



Two weeks from today is the first game. The Jacksonville State Gamecocks come to town.

On to football...



Now a few tips on photography as it relates to shooting football. It seems like there is always much discussion each week around the kickoff time for the upcoming game. Day or night makes little difference, photographers adjust.

Sunset Saturday is 6:34PM, so it'll be a 'night game' for the entire game (kickoff at 7:05PM) . With night games, there are advantages and disadvantages when it comes to setting up the cameras for good picture taking. The disadvantage is that for an afternoon game a photographer has to be aware that the light is constantly varying and when a different camera is used you have to be aware of what the light was when you last shot with it. That sounds simple but when you are caught up in the action, you have to remember to be ready and monitor the changes. Even 'white balance' may vary during the course of a afternoon ballgame and may need to be adjusted.

The main advantage when shooting a night football game is that once you have the settings where you want to have them, the light does not change much for the entire game. You may or may not have noticed at Williams-Brice Stadium that there are more lights in the Press Box bank of lights than on the opposite side of the field. This translates on the field to your ability to generally be able to shoot with a lower ISO, a faster shutter speed, or a higher f- stop, when you are on the brighter side of the field. And vice versa on the side of the stadium that is darker.

Your goal is to find the best balance of the three key factors (ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed). With today's new high quality cameras, the digital noise has been greatly reduced when using the higher ISO settings. There are different theories on what f-stop to use but I try to avoid f2.8 if I can get by with f3.2. Why? Just that little bit of difference on giving you slightly more depth of field can be very useful as you can often get a more meaningful action shot. The key factor is shutter speed. The minimum is generally is considered to be 500th of a second. Both CJ and I shoot with Image Stabilization lenses and use monopods to help give us the sharp clear images desired and I have had good fortune (luck?) shooting some night action at 400th of a second shutter speed. The Canon Image Stabilizer uses sensors to detect motion and generate a corrective signal to reduce blur caused by camera movement. An image-stabilizing lens group along the optical axis is shifted in response to the detected motion, providing effective cancellation of unwanted lens movement and vibration.

Depth of field is fun to experiment with as different situations provide nice opportunities. If you are shooting something fairly stable (or non-moving) such as the offense in the 'set' position you could drop your shutter speed to 1/200 or 1/250 and gain substantial amounts of the picture that are in focus (depth of field). If you are shooting a receiver running a pass route into your corner of the endzone, you better have AT LEAST 1/500 shutter speed or you'll be rewarded/penalized with a blurry picture.

ISO settings can be a discussion in itself. I've found that I can experience relatively low noise as high as ISO3200 or ISO6400 (or am able to reduce noise sufficiently with post-edit software). However, I suggest that you use your camera and take a variety of test shots at EACH ISO setting so that you can actually know beforehand what will result. If I am shooting in daylight conditions, I prefer an ISO or 250 to 320, although I could go as low as ISO of 50. Situations will often dictate how your camera will be setup but you know prior to shooting the expected result.

Okay, I don't want to lose you, nor bore you, so that'll be all of the 'technical information' shared in this blog. Not to worry, we'll include much more in future blogs.

This week, the Tennessee Volunteers...

Hey, the State Fair is gone. Parking is back to normal. This week the South Carolina Gamecocks will welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN2. The weather forecast currently appears to be cool but NOT COLD. For me, it will certainly be good to be back shooting football after a week off.

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Another Away Game - Kentucky...

Another SEC 'road trip'!

What a beautiful time of the year to make the trip up the Interstate system to Lexington! The weather was beautiful all the way and we had no traffic problems. From Clinton, SC to Lexington took around six hours and the return trip was under six hours as the traffic was much lighter than the Friday traffic.

Lexington...

Each city has it's own personality, so to speak. Lexington is in the middle of 'horse country'. Our motel was on Man o' War Boulevard, one of the major arteries of Lexington. Named after a famous race horse, this road was completed during the 1980's. Absolutely an abundance of shopping malls, restaurants and motels in a suburban environment.

We arrived in time to go into the downtown area for the evening. This Friday the night found the city to be in an excitement mode of operation. Big football game tomorrow right? Wrong. Anticipation was all surrounding the Midnight Madness introduction of the Men's and Women's basketball teams at Rupp Arena. Elsewhere (away from Lexington and a handful of other schools) this type of event was causing a furor.

That the NCAA gave permission to several schools (Illinois, Kentucky, Marshall and West Virginia ) to hold public events a week ahead of the official start of practices angered many. The National Association of Basketball Coaches said a jump start may give programs a significant recruiting advantage since it can lure recruits a weekend ahead of the other Division I teams. Because of the uproar over these events, the NCAA is expected to ban future public preseason events, like Saturday's practice at Illinois and Midnight Madness at Kentucky, through emergency legislation on Oct. 29.

Tailgating atmosphere...

The stadium and grounds are beautiful. Not a warehouse in sight. Rolling hills, grassy knolls, and sidewalks introduce you to Commonwealth Stadium. Unlike other Venues in the SEC. Tailgating is setup wherever one parks and it could be on, or beside, a paved parking lot or it could be in the grassy areas adjoining the paved ones. The color of the day, to be expected, is BLUE. Very little white although , yes, the Gamecocks were setup as always with the traditional Garnet and Black.

As I mentioned last week, each stadium is different. This stadium was very photographer friendly! Unlike last week, there were zero (0) steps (either up or down) to get to and from the field. The photographer area was near the field (in the opposite corner from our band and fan section), as was the room for the Visitor press conference (post game) and the Visitor locker room. Although the photographer's room was tight (space-wise) , we had everything conveniently located in the vicinity.





Game on...

It was a beautiful clear day with a temperature beginning in the 70's and moving to the mid-80's. As last week, the photographers can shoot from the end lines (and the sidelines were not crowded at all). When Weslye lined up prior to his touchdown catch, I was able to move about fifteen feet from where I had been and stand right between two of the UK Dance Team members and was ready as he came directly toward me. Of all the plays that could have been run to score the touchdown, THAT was the perfect play for me at that time.





This week, LSU comes to town...

Game's at 8PM on ESPN, the State Fair is setup 'next door', the weather forecast currently appears cool but rain chance minimal. My prediction: it'll be a late night (or Early Morning) leaving Williams-Brice. My goal is to be out of there before 2 a.m. after having sent the first of our various Game Galleries to the site, for all of those who are up at that time of the morning anxiously awaiting them!

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Away Game - Ole Miss...

A football 'road trip' in the SEC!

Always an exciting time and quite an experience. I'm one of those 'glass half-full kind of guys' so I look forward to the event in a positive sort of way as opposed to focusing on the long hours and many miles and late nights. Invariably, we meet other fans along the way and have a great time either getting to know them for the first time or renewing acquaintances. We stayed in Tupelo, MS for this game.

How many times have you made a trip somewhere, anywhere, and having done the customary research you thought you had a good perception of what you would encounter on arrival? If you're like me, you found that is often a very different experience than what you had anticipated. In the case of SEC football, each 'atmosphere' is different. The attitude of their fans, either on the road, tailgating, in the stadium, or after the game is often markedly unique. One thing that doesn't seem to change is the 'bonding' with fellow Gamecock fans that are passed on the highway or met in Rest Areas and restaurants along the way.

Had an interesting question asked of me, near Birmingham, in a restaurant while on the way home on Sunday. A man, who appeared to be a truck driver, came up to me and pointed to the 'Block C logo with the Gamecock in the middle' and asked me what it was as he had seen cars pass him all morning and didn't know what it was. I told him. Nothing surprises me in Alabama. Other than the OBAMA bumper stickers that had been converted to GOBAMA. Bama has been a pleasant surprise for their fans as they feel they just might be able to win the Auburn game this year for a change of fortunes.

'The Grove' environment...

One thing that makes a visit to Ole Miss, for football, special is 'The Grove'. The campus is laid out nicely and a central part of this campus is a grassy area under a large grove of trees. Conveniently located with easy access to the major athletic venues. One of my goals prior to the game was to capture in photos this aspect of the environment. You'll see a variety of scenes in the 'Grove Gallery' that include everything from fans of both teams tailgating, interesting tailgating sites and personalities, to the Ole Miss team getting off the bus and walking through the hordes of fans on the 'Walk of Champions'. The walk is very much a highlight of their game day experience and everyone knows exactly when it will occur. You'll notice in the pictures that they make good use of barricades and police for crowd control.






After the walk, in the vicinity of the Stage in the Grove, the cheerleaders and dance team perform to the delight of everyone. In a roped off area beside the stage, the band 'warms up'. Everyone knows exactly what time all of this happens, as well.



In case you wondered if the beautiful flower arrangements and Hi-Def televisions etc. are because Saturday was Homecoming at Ole Miss, I can assure you that they do that every Saturday. It's a tradition.

On to the game...

Truthfully, I had to leave the tailgating atmosphere before I wanted to as my primary goal was to shoot the football game and I had to move on to the stadium. Now 'moving on' into the stadium can be an event in itself. My luggage included a suitcase full of camera equipment and a briefcase full of computer gear that together weighed almost seventy pounds.

Can you imagine what a welcoming sound it was as I was unloading my gear from the trunk of the car and a man on a golf cart asked if I would like to ride to the stadium? Ride to the stadium? This jaunt included having to go up a final hill to the gate and he dropped me off right beside the stadium. His sole job this day was to carry media people to the stadium and it was most appreciated by all.

Every stadium is different. This one had a feature that I was not excited about. Positively excited anyway. In order to get DOWN and UP to the artificial turf, one had to carry/lug all of their heavy gear down what seemed like a hundred steps! The trip back UP the stairs hauling all of the heavy gear after the game seemed twice as long. Well, at least I got my exercise Saturday to make up for all of the time sitting and driving to and from the game.

Game on...

The game itself was a fun and exciting event to shoot. You have to love an early afternoon game, as a photographer! As long as it's not raining, you are one happy person. One of the good things of shooting games on the road in the SEC is that the photographers can shoot from the end lines (and the sidelines were not crowded either).

For this game I had three cameras with me during the game. Having three cameras gave me the ability to quickly change as the situation changed before me. Sometimes you have enough time to change during the action, but not often. When I was shooting the Ole Miss 'almost' touchdown that became a fumble recovery by Emanuel Cook, I began the play using my Canon 40D with the 300mm lens and switched and shot the end of the run in mid-field with the Canon 1D Mark3 with the 70-200mm lens. I had thought that Emanuel might be able to return the fumble all the way for a touchdown so I was prepared to cover the run from goal line to goal line.



For those interested in the camera information, since this is a PHOTO blog, I will note that there is a 'multiplier' difference between those two cameras. The 40D is 1.6 and the 1D is 1.3 so the difference is 'almost' like having a converter on your camera of .3. Depending on the situation I may mount a particular lens on a specific camera to either make a telephoto lens stronger or get a wider angle with a wide angle lens, for instance. I try to make the Mark 3 my primary shooting camera as it is a bit more advanced and capable of shooting a burst of 90+ HiDef images at the rate of 10 frames per second compared to only 6.5 fps on the other cameras. No big deal but my preference.

All of my cameras are 'setup' identically. Center point focusing, same ISO and shutter speeds, and all clock times identical, then when quickly changing a camera or when editing pictures the necessary consistency is achieved.

This week, on to Kentucky...

Game time is at noon and the weather forecast is currently good. On Friday night is UK's "Big Blue Madness" in Lexington. Complete with Live TV coverage from Rupp of the beginning of their basketball season. One would never know that a football game was going to be played the next day as the focus was entirely on basketball late into the night. Hmmmm.....

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UAB Gameday...

You could feel the excitement in the air. After having to wait an entire week, Saturday had finally arrived. How many times prior to the game this week were you involved in a conversation with someone, maybe even a stranger, and a question was asked about another recent college football game? Did you stay up for the Trojans/Beavers game? What about the Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Maryland, fill in the blank, game!? Have you heard a score for such-n-such game?

Then a bit closer to home, the conversation would turn to the upcoming game for the Gamecocks. For a non-conference game, the storylines for this game were everywhere. The ups and downs of college football. Some players were not going to be able to participate. Other players were going to 'get the opportunity' to show what they good do for the team but not on the 'Proving Grounds' on Bluff Road but on the main stage at Williams-Brice!

With #1 running back, Mike Davis, sitting this one out, the door was opened for increasing exposure of Maddox, Baker, Wallace and others. I was preparing on the field and was working with my 'suitcase' full of camera equipment when Tommy Beecher and Stephen Garcia walked out onto the field (maybe 90 minutes before game time). These players certainly did not go unnoticed by the Gamecock faithful in the area who were cheering and encouraging the two quarterbacks (as well as other players).

My assignment would be to capture the excitement, energy, and 'electricity' of the atmosphere in photographs. Photography is interesting on one side you have the action (a touchdown, a great catch, whatever) and nearby you have the reaction (the joy, the relief, the disappointment, whatever). A good day is when you can capture BOTH. Was this Saturday the beginning on 'An Era' at South Carolina? Time will tell but the goal of capturing it all was very real.

Stephen Garcia immediately after the game...



Changes occur but much stays the same...

Whether the game decides who wins the East in the SEC (this game certainly did NOT), or is a non-conference game to continue working toward the constant goal of becoming a better team this week than you were last week, my job is very much the same. In photo journalism, we not only work to catch the action but of equal importance - capturing the reactions.

On any given play there are 'stories' all around. The fans and their reactions to the action. The coaches and their reactions to the action. Even the players that are not on the field have very interesting reactions to the action on the field. But whether it be offense or defense, action is everywhere.

IF the action were predictable, which it isn't, by design, photographing the action would still be a challenge. Each facet of the game has its opportunities. Blocking, passing, receiving, running, special teams and changes come very quickly. For instance, instantly changing from shooting the quarterback scrambling or dropping back to pass and finding, focusing on, and shooting the receiver catching the ball takes practice, good equipment, and, often, a degree of good fortune.

Several times Saturday I was fortunate, or maybe guessed correctly, and was keying on a given defensive player, for instance, that turned out to be the one who made the tackle when the action headed in his direction.

Today is different than usual...

Ordinarily I would now be going through my pictures from the game, deleting ones where the focus wasn't sharp (yes, even the pro's have this problem!) and selecting and editing my next gallery. No, today many of the over 2200 pictures I have not even yet seen (but plant too soon!) but wanted to write a short blog while everything was still fresh in my mind.

As I had mentioned previously, CJ and I work together and try our best to coordinate. I, often, visually locate him and notice which camera and lens he is using and although he could point his camera anywhere I have a feel for what he will be capturing. Yesterday, we ended up within a very few feet of each other at one time.

It was a key moment. The action was directly in front of us. This was immediately prior to Garcia's first collegiate touchdown, although one NEVER really knows what will happen next. CJ and I discussed the plan. He would be using his 300mm telephoto lens and get the close-ups on the action and the far side of the end zone (if they went the other way) and I would use my 70-200 zoom and get the action plus the near corners of the end zone.

The plan worked well and you can see some of my pictures in Gallery 1. Other pictures coming in future galleries. Earlier in the game, I was shooting from the corner of the other end zone and I guessed wrong (as sometimes happen). I had been using my 70-200mm lens and changed to my 300mm for ONE PLAY and, yep, next play was a deep pass and touchdown right in front of me in my corner of the end zone.

Oh, by the way, the Wofford offense last week gave the defense a stiff challenge. The many hand offs were hard to follow and defend. But it wasn't just the defense that was challenged, many a photographer 'went for the fake' on several occasions and I was one of them.

Post Game activity...

I'm getting anxious to go through my photographs now and see what I have and begin putting the next gallery together. After the game it is always rather intense. All pictures must be downloaded to the computer (around 2300 shots for this game). Next, the pictures are selected as quickly as possible for the post-game photo gallery. Once selected, the pictures must be edited and prepared for the website. All the time the clock is ticking.

There is no time then to begin to savor the efforts of the game. The goal is to get the gallery up (and other pictures for the home page) as quickly as possible. I left the press box about 11:45PM, last night, and was able to get to bed around 2AM. It was a good night, technologically speaking, as all went smoothly. By the way, if you're not on the roads at that time of the morning, you may be amazed at how the traffic flows so smoothly!

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Only two kinds of photographers...

It's been stated " There are only two kinds of Photographers, the ones who have experienced a hard-drive crash, and the ones who haven't yet had that experience!" I heard this statement most recently during the asmp.org seminar that I attended last Thursday and commented on in my Friday blog entry.

THAT statement, although true, surely brings to mind many other analogies. The two kinds of photographers could be: Point-and-shoot versus DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex), or Amateur versus Professional, Action versus Architecture, and on and on...

However, the point should be well-taken. Until this summer, I was firmly in the camp of those who had not experienced a hard-drive crash. Having gone through countless laptops and computers in my lifetime of working in Information Technology, always being very careful handling hard-drives (especially when turned on and the hard-drive was spinning) I began to feel that I was immune to such problems. It was a problem for the careless. However, feeling immune breeds carelessness. Sure, I backed up my photos and files, but I often felt that I was too busy or put off the backups for a few days (or weeks). Talk about a rude awakening. My window of vulnerability was definitely open.

Natural disasters happen (as if we need reminding)...

This situation is very similar to experiencing a natural disaster (fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc.) moving through your area and destroying keepsakes and treasures that cannot be replaced (and are not insured). Memories are gone. If you are a professional, you could be in a serious situation (with liability) as you may be the 'keeper' of a freshly shot and undelivered Wedding package (or some other important and valuable image/memory).

What are some common causes for crashes?...

Several things can cause a hard-drive to fail. Any of these actions can be fatal: Dropping a computer (especially when turned on and the hard-drive is spinning), electricity surges (especially lightning) , temperature fluctuations (especially HEAT), and just not buying a top quality drive.

What happened to my laptop...

Although my computer was less than a year old, it malfunctioned and turned itself on and committed suicide due to heat. The laptop was securely in it's case (a very closed and protected environment that does not disperse heat well at all) and left 'Hibernation mode' and became active and produced heat - LOTS of heat. The laptop had not run long, something less than 45 minutes, but enough time to cause the hard-drive to begin failing and ultimately to crash. An aside, this shouldn't make a difference but my computers (and experience) is primarily with PC technology as opposed to Macintosh.

Backing up photos...

Whether you are a photographer shooting large numbers of high resolution images or the casual photographer shooting birthday, vacation, and holiday pictures (to somewhere in between) back-ups are important. Talking about somewhere in between, how about the proud parent with at least one child playing sports or cheering and every move must be documented!

A few things to consider. Remember the original point regarding hard-drives WILL fail? This applies to the external drives used for back-up as well. Thankfully, the cost of external drives is constantly falling.

However, remember that even though you can now get one (1) TB of storage for somewhere between $200 and $250, if that one TB of storage is all you have for your photos...you are definitely AT RISK. So, to simplify, you have two options. First, buy another similar drive and keep both drives in sync so that when (you have to assume 'when' not 'if' ) the drive fails, you have a copy. Second, you can copy the photos from the external drive onto a CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray disk.

At the very least, having an external drive connected to your computer AND programmed to automatically back up certain folders on a daily basis can help create wonderful peace of mind is something that I personally recommend.

A word on disc storage...

The capacity of a CD will not exceed 700 MB and a DVD has a much larger capacity (4.4 GB). Blu-Ray is five times the capacity with 25GB for a single layer and 50GB for a double layer disk. Definitely there is potential there for some serious storage! The general feeling is that the relatively new technology of Blu-Ray will be a great solution but the comfort level is not there yet for it to become the standard for the industry. Hopefully soon.

You will constantly hear this from me - Buy Quality! This applies to the disk media for storage of the images just as it does to the cameras and lenses that are used to take the photos. TDK, SONY, Gold are some of the quality brands. It is typically recommended that CD's and DVD's be re-burned every ten(10) years. However, there is a new DVD (that I plan to acquire, for obvious reasons) that is said to have a 300-year shelf-live. Do we see any labor-saving here even if we may be no longer living 300 years down the road?

A final note on disk storage. Do NOT use a Sharpie but use a CD Safe pen if you are going to write on the disks. Also, specify the LABEL and Catalog the files so that you can quickly go to the disk, insert it, and download the files.

It was mentioned in the asmg.org seminar that one individual would charge the client a $25 'Archiving Fee'. So if the client lost the image or needed it again, there would be no charge to produce it and forward it on and save the day.

Remember how 'delete' works...

When images are deleted from a memory card or a disk, the data is still there. The area is cleared, so to speak, and ready for fresh data to overlay the deleted data. This being the case, software exists to often 'rescue' the data that you thought had been deleted.

Data can often be recovered from a crashed hard-drive. But it is a very expensive process. Usually it will cost several THOUSAND dollars to recover the files and often what is recovered is simply the majority of the files in no apparent organization. This can be a laborious process to deal with. Considering the costs/effort to backup the data and comparing this to the anguish and expense and uncertainty of trying to recover the 'lost' data, time spent on file management and backing up can be a great investment.

File Management - Finding the image...

I have a photographer friend who has told me that he doesn't delete images because he never knows when they may be needed. Well, I do delete images and probably not often enough as each image takes up space and requires maintenance (archiving and backing up).

Another subject for future discussion is of what use is a photo from several years ago, if it can't be located efficiently. We'll also talk about various methods of archiving data, naming conventions, etc. File Management is important, especially when dealing with large volumes of sports images.

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A long and winding road...

Yesterday was definitely not a typical day in the life of this photographer. I left the house around 8AM and returned home around 11PM. A photographer is always interested in light. What angle is the sun at this moment in time? Is it a bright day, partly cloudy, overcast, rainy or potentially rainy, etc. Well this day broke as forecast, sunny and clear. I was happy.

A bridge to nowhere...

Just what the photog ordered. I headed for Spartanburg county as I wanted to shoot some interesting bridges for an upcoming photo contest. I wanted the bright sunlight at it's mid-morning angle. Everything worked out perfectly. Shooting began a few minutes before 9AM. It seems like I am always experiencing something new that forces me to pay attention and learn something new. This morning was no exception.

My cameras and lens are heavy to carry around so since this wasn't a game where I would need everything at my fingertips, I worked out of the trunk of my car. All went well initially, I got my telephoto (both medium telephoto and my long lens) pictures taken and the equipment put in the trunk. So I was about two hundred feet away from the car shooting with a super wide angle lens when I noticed something. On the other side of the river, four deer entered the picture. With the camera and lens I had just secured in the trunk, I would've gotten some great shots. I snapped a few shots with the wide angle and then got my exercise by running to the car and retrieving the equipment and running back up the hill. You guessed it, the deer were history!

The pictures turned out well. It was an old bridge, with character, that had been passed by when a new bridge had been constructed to replace it. The bridge was overgrown with Kudzu and had substantial trees growing on it. It was time well spent.

Next back on the road to head to Williamston, South Carolina in Anderson County. I was told that there was an interesting covered bridge behind the city park. This bridge is over a small river and is only for pedestrian traffic. That photo shoot went well but the only animal excitement was dog that ran across the bridge at top speed chasing a squirrel on the other side. The squirrel got away.

ASMP - American Society of Media Photographers meeting all afternoon...

The afternoon was entirely different than the morning. The South Carolina ASMP had a seminar at the BMW Zentrum in Greer, SC and was attended by people from Georgia, North and South Carolina. The subject was 'Creative Tools and Techniques for the Digital Photographer' presented by Jim DiVitale.

Jim just completed a tour of Canada. He did this seminar and lectured in all fifteen major cities. He belongs to the 'Explorers of Light' organization and the tour was highly subsidized by Canon. I say subsidized because attendees had to pay to attend but it was more reasonable because Canon had picked up the tab for Jim's traveling expenses, etc.

I won't, especially at this time, go over all that was discussed and that I learned but suffice it to say, it was time well spent. I had thought that if I could come out of there with three or four areas of knowledge that would be useful to me in my work, it would be time well spent. Well, the vast majority of the four hours was VERY useful. I was glad that I had attended. Jim's wife works as a wedding photographer so there were even good tips for working in that setting.

What I did find especially curious was who did and didn't attend. I've been shooting games constantly for about seven years and know many of the photographers by organization and often by name. Of the twenty-six in this seminar, guess how many I knew? None. Not one even worked for a South Carolina newspaper.

Induction of new members into South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame...

Next was the drive from Duncan, South Carolina to Columbia, South Carolina to cover the induction of eight new members into the Hall of Fame. It was a great experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of it was like working a 'Wedding Reception' with the mingling of the people and some of it was similar to a 'Rehearsal Dinner' and then finally it was similar to various press conferences. Regardless it was a fun and educational assignment to listen to the stories of various people over the last fifty to sixty years.

Tonight it's back to High School ball...

The game I'm covering tonight is Spartanburg at Greenwood. So I've got all the camera gear ready, now got to get out the door and make it happen!

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