Last week I got the amazing opportunity to go Mississippi and shoot the BYU vs Ole Miss football game for the Daily Universe. It was the one of the best overall football experiences I've ever witnessed. Between the traveling, the trip, and the game, it was very memorable.
These are a few of my favorites from the game:
Bronco during the pre-game warm up.
Juice Quezada stiff arm
He literally missed it by that much
I love shooting games on artificial turf. There are little black balls that spring up when feet are dragged that add this element of motion to photos. I love that extra look.
Heaps to Apo
The dreaded pick 6 returned 96 yards. (Ole Miss' only touchdown came on defense)
This was a huge tackle and I just happened to be in the right spot on the field to get it. Normally I'm shooting in the end zone that BYU is trying to get into so that I'm always getting shots of the player's faces. This time I was close to the BYU team on the sideline and got this.
So, do you want to hear a sad story? During this game I learned a lesson the hard way. I've shot a lot of sporting events and I feel like I've got a very good handle on using my camera, and paying attention to all of my settings that are constantly changing. But in the 4th quarter, I missed on thing. On the biggest play of the game. So here we go: (see the next four photos)
...and then suddenly, my camera wouldn't fire anymore. I was in shock. My memory card was full. Between the biggest play of the game happening and feeling excited about the Cougars making an improbable play, and also fumbling to try and pull out a new card out of my cargo shorts, I completely forgot about the second camera dangling around my neck and missed Van Noy pick up the ball and score. I came to in enough time to pick up my second camera and shoot the team pile on in the back corner of the end zone.
Sad story, I know, but you live and learn!
I love this shot of Hebron Fangupo. His name really matches, don't you think?
To view a slideshow showing the complete game from tailgating to the end of the game, mixed with a little bit of music from Rudy, view the video below.
I loved the people in Mississippi. They were all incredibly nice and hospitable and I would take my family to a game at their stadium in a heartbeat, and that's saying a lot because there are quite a few stadiums I've been to that I would never, and I mean never, take my wife and girls to. I would really like to see another matchup between the Cougars and the Rebels.
Since I'm on the field, I see things most don't every game. Most of these things are random, but are most of the time very comical. In an attempt to share with people what I'm seeing, I'm going to be tweeting during every game I shoot this year.
And to conclude this post, here are my top 3 quotes from my trip.
3. Listening to Mississippi sports radio on the way to the game, the announcer finished up making his predictions of all the SEC games for the day. His final line was "And no matter what happens to your team today, make sure you get up and go to church tomorrow."
2. After parking at a little diner in Tupelo, Mississippi called Huddle House, an older man in a big white truck and stopped me and asked if I was from New York, pointing to my license plate. I let him know that I was actually from Utah and that the car was a rental. He then replied, "Oh good. We don't mind those Yankee's driving through, but we don't want them staying." HA! I laughed so hard as he drove off. I know that quote completely negates what I said about the hospitality of the tailgaters mentioned before, but that guy was one in a million!
1. On the way back to Birmingham Alabama to catch my flight, I went to church for an hour in a small town in Alabama. On my way out of the building, I held the door open for a couple that was on their way in. The wife went in first and said "Thank you" in a nice southern accent. The husband then followed and said "Roll Tide." Don't know what I'm talking about? Click here and then you'll know.
Looking forward to shooting the rest of the season! I love shooting football!
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