Editing the MU Football Game

ELISA DAY/Members of the Tiger's Lair file into Memorial Stadium before the game against Colorado on Saturday, October 9, 2010. || I thought this image was pretty cool (which is why I took the picture). I'd never seen it, when the Lair piles into the stadium. And I loved how, as they filled in, they made an upside-down M (for Mizzou).

Good grief! Now that was an experience. One frustrating experience. One stressful experience. But an experience that I'm glad I have had, if for nothing else, to be able to say that I can competently do it.

This past Saturday, I arrived at the Missourian at 2 pm to get our ducks in a row before heading over the Memorial Stadium for the 6 pm game against Colorado. (I didn't want to be there at 2 (rather 3), but Brian and Caitlyn (the sports photo editor) felt like this was a good idea, so that "it wouldn't be stressful." We would be able to catch the shuttle and get there and get settled with plenty of time to spare.) The Colorado game was 'kind of' a big deal because, after this season, Colorado is leaving the Big 12 to go to the Pac 10. I was feeling a little uneasy about the whole thing, because sports photography is not my favorite thing. But it was me and 3 photographers out to cover football.

Woo-Hoo!

Caption: With his teammates and coaches celebrating behind him, T.J. Moe runs in the winning touchdown during the last minute of the fourth quarter of the San Diego State game on Saturday. The Tigers beat the Aztecs 27-24. ¦ Sarah Midgorden

Okay, so I'm driving in my car and listening to the game on the radio. MU was down by 1 against San Diego State with about 5 minutes to go.

I go through Taco Bueno's drive-thru and when I turn the radio up, MU is now down by 4 with 1:58 left in the game. The announcers are summing up how this was the first time that the Aztecs had beaten a BCS team in c.25 years, these like crazy statistics that highlight just how bad this loss really is for MU.

And all this because they like to choke in the 4th quarter.

Rock Bridge Away Game

Earlier in the semester, I volunteered to cover an away game of Rock Bridge High School. So, on October 23, I travelled to Blue Springs South to cover the Bruins as they played Blue Springs South in Blue Springs. It was good practice for the game that I'll be doing on November 21st.

Here's the photos I captioned.

Rock Bridge High School senior (#12) runs down the field to tie the game on the Bruins' first return on Friday, October 23, 2009. He was instrumental in helping the Bruins defeat the Blue Springs South (KC) Jaguars, 34-41.


Rock Bridge High School senior Trey Millard (#9) carries the ball down field to gain the Bruins a first down against the Blue Springs South (KC) Jaguars, on Friday October 23, 2009. The next play, Nate Eghvareba (#8) was able to make it into the end zone, giving the Bruins the lead, 14-7.

Breaking Football Stereotypes

Today I did a studio assignment for Vox. Last night, when I heard that I was going to have to do studio work, my reaction was 'crap!' I felt like I'd forgotten everything that I'd learned in Advanced Techniques. But once I got into the studio and started doing it, it came back.

So, my assignment was to photograph a football player in a way that breaks the stereo of the dumb jock. I got advice from Josh on how to light it and I came up with the idea of putting Andrew behind a desk with a pile of books and a pyramid of apples on it. And for a little something extra, there would be a pear in the pyramid for the observant.

But, when I got there, I found out that the idea that Andrew had discussed with Beth was just the torso of the athlete, with him holding some books. I ended up adding an apple.

Here's the shots I captioned:







One of the challenges for me was trying to get rid of the shadow that cast by Andrew's hand/arm onto his chest and getting rid of the reflection on the apple of my two lights. None of the pictures chosen were ones where the reflection was gone. (I achieved that by having him bend the apple back slightly.)

Highlighting Skyler Hinton

I was sent out to photograph Rock Bridge senior Skyler Hinton during football practice. It was a little harder to photograph than the practice I shot of Chase Rome, because they were practicing farther away from the sidelines. I did, during this shoot, push myself to walk onto the field so I could get closer to the action. I figured, better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission...


Rock Bridge Senior Skyler Hinton (#72) pauses for a portrait after practice on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. After breaking his fibia at the September 12, 2008, game against McCluer North, Hinton was sidelined from the 2008-2009 season. Hinton returned to sports after three months and is optimistic about his coming season saying, I think I could do enough that I could play at a good school and get a scholarship.


Rock Bridge senior Skyler Hinton sprints to intercept the nose tackle during practice on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Hinton looks to help his team better their 1-9 record from the last two seasons. Moving from his previous position as left tackle, Hinton will now be playing center, a move which makes sense to head coach A.J. Ofodile, who said, "He's a hands-eye coordination guy. He can snap the ball and make things time up for us."


Rock Bridge senior Skyler Hinton smiles as he prepares to hike the ball during practice on Tuesday, September 08, 2009. Hinton spent last year sidelined after he broke his fibia at the September 12, 2008, game against McCluer North (Florissant, MO). Hinton has defied doctor's projections and expects to help the Bruins better their 1-9 record in 2008-2009

This kid has a great smile. And he was nice and goofy at times during practice. There were a couple of times where I *just* missed a great shot! Arg!

Chase Rome

On the 25th, I was sent out to photograph Rock Bridge High School senior defensive end Chase Rome. Rome recently signed to play football for OSU, and will be graduating early. He was recruited by MU, KU, K-State, Michigan, UCLA, and Syracuse, to name a few. Really nice guy.

It was an interesting shoot. I learned a couple of things:
1) If you're taking equipment that you've never used before, be sure to cover everything BEFORE you go. I ended up having to call in to figure out how to work the auto-focus for the Nikon camera I was using. I'm a Canon user, and with the Canon, you just hold the button half-way to auto-focus. With the Nikon, you have to hold down a different button.
2) I don't know how I feel about the mono-pod. I like the idea in theory, because it will help with arm fatigue. But I found it really cumbersome in trying to position myself for a shot.

Here are the shots that I captioned:

First, the Gatorade moment:

Rock Bridge senior defensive end Chase Rome rehydrates during practice on August 25, 2009. Rome has been playing competitively since the seventh grade, and was identified as a top prospect for college recruitment since the ninth grade. Rome recently committed to playing for Oklahoma State University.