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.

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.

It's the First Day of School

And I was sent out to cover Grant Elementary and Hickman High School. And then later to Columbia College.

This morning, I got up at 6:45 to cover the first day of school at Hickman High School and then later at Grant Elementary School.

At Hickman, I didn't take many pictures. About halfway through the assignment, I made the mistake of asking the Vice Principal if I could take some pictures inside the school. He informed me that I wasn't allowed to take any pictures of students. So how am I supposed to cover back-to-school without taking pictures of students? (A later suggestion was photographing feet, etc.). I was also later told that I *can* take pictures there. But it really cramped my creative juices and I had to take pictures on the down-low... And didn't end up bringing back many pictures. Here's what I captioned, including this one, where the girl in white looks to me completely like a boy:


Sisters Rebecca Dennis, left, and Lawanda Dennis, second from right, review paperwork before their children's first day of school, on August 24, 2009. Their children, Malcolm Herron, 16, second from left, and Keuna Guy, 16, right, will be entering the 11th grade of Hickman High School. Hickman High School was named as one of the top 1500 high schools in the nation by Newsweek in June, 2009, placing them in the top six percentile of schools nationwide.


Students greet each other before they begin another school year at Hickman High School on August 24, 2009. In June, Hickman High School was named in Newsweek as one of the top 1500 American high schools, placing it in the top six percentile of schools nationwide.