TOUCHING MOMENTS

Some readers may be drawn in by the headline with expectations that this entry will talk about those moments where the underdog overcomes great obstacles to finally win a championship. Or a player extends a hand of friendship to a losing player to comfort them in their moment of sorrow.  This entry is not about those moments.

The touching moments I am talking about are those rare fractions of a second where an athlete is barely in contact with the ball. It takes a lot of luck to capture such a moment. Shooting basketball and football games over the past year have produced a few. Shots of the quarterback making a pass or a receiver catching the ball generally show the ball inches away from the hand, or in firm contact.  Basketball games have a lot of contact as players dribble or shoot, but tipoffs are harder to get because they only occur once a game, or maybe twice if you are lucky. Last winter, I was lucky to capture a tipoff when BOTH players are just touching the ball simultaneously. This past Sunday at the State Title Football Game, I got lucky again and got the football just as it was leaving the quarterback's fingers. Lots of luck was involved.

PHOTOS IN THE PAPER

Last Thursday, I was honored to find three of my photos in the print edition of the Loudoun Times Mirror newspaper! It is always great to see your photos and name in print.

THE TOUCHDOWN CELEBRATION VERSUS THE DIVE

Saturday evening was the Virginia State Division 5 Semifinal football game. It was an exciting game that came down to a field goal at the final buzzer. There were a lot of great photographic opportunities along the way. Here are two of my favorites. The first shows the players celebrating a touchdown as the runner is holding the ball over the goal line. The second shows the runner diving toward the end zone, although he came up a foot short. The local paper used the first one to illustrate the online article about the game. Personally, I like the dive better because it has better action. But the editor chose the first one because it shows the excitement of the players at getting a touchdown. It just shows that the value of a photo is in its intended use. 

Catching the Key Plays

Halfback Leron West passing for Touchdown

Friday was the Virginia Region 5C football championship game between the Tuscarora Huskies and the Stone Bridge Bulldogs at the “Dog Pound,” the Stone Bridge’s stadium. Stone Bridge was undefeated and had previously won against Tuscarora by a single point in the regular season. It was a perfect day for photographers. Bright and sunny. I could set my ISO to 800 and f-stop to around 5.6 and still get very fast shutter speeds. At least until late in the game when the sun was setting.

Kyle Jenkins catching Leron West's touchdown pass

The game was exciting and fitting for a championship game. The Bulldogs scored first but the Huskies scored three more in the first half, two of which were scored in the final 41 seconds of the half. The third touchdown was with five seconds to go on a halfback option pass from Leron West (# 4) to Kyle Jenkins (# I). Fortunately, I was in a position where I was able to capture the pass and the reception.

An exciting second half came down to the final three minutes. Leron West scored a touchdown to tie the game at 27 all. The ensuing extra point kick put the Huskies ahead. But it was not over. With less than a minute to go, the Bulldogs got a chance to win with a field goal, but it fell short and the Huskies won the championship.

Leron West scoring winning touchdown in last minute

I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to be the team’s unofficial photographer and get many pictures posted by the local weekly paper. Being able to capture key plays like the ones on Friday make it even more exciting.  

Blessed by the Photography Gods or Luck

Action photography is part preparation and part luck. Take this photo from a high school football game. By being about 15 to 20 yards downfield, I was blessed with having an open view as the quarterback scrambled through the line and dashed for a long touchdown run. Not only was it a blessing to have an unobstructed view of the run, I was doubly blessed to capture the defender running in parallel. I love how the defenders eye is just visible over the helmet. That is luck!

STADIUM LIGHTING ISSUES

Friday I went to a football game at a new high school stadium. I say new, but it is five years old. Maybe “newer” would be a better description. The stadium lights were lower than the ones I see at Tuscarora High School and caused a lot of glare on the artificial turf. I suppose a polarizing filter would help, but the loss of a f-stop could be overcome. But I didn’t have it with me. Oh well.

Glare wasn’t the big problem – it was white balance. My camera was set for auto white balance. One shot would be okay, and the next couple would be too warm. I tried different settings, but they were worse. At times it looked like the camera was adjusting the white balance so that it went warm when the focal point was on the blue jerseys and okay when it was on white jerseys. But even that was inconsistent. My only option was to continue and hope for the best.

One of the professionals told me the problem was the stadium lights had a flicker to them and the color was changing. Not that you could see it with the naked eye. It was only when the pictures were taken. His camera had a flicker correction that would slightly delay the shot based on the flicker. Mine does not. The situation got better as the game went on and the stadium lights got hotter and slightly more consistent. But the flicker never went away.

Back to back shots on fast burst mode.

IT ALMOST GOT AWAY!

This pretty butterfly fluttered by me and landed on deck the other day. I quickly dashed inside and up the stairs to the office to get my camera. Fortunately, the butterfly was still there, slowly opening and closing its wings in the bright sunlight. Glancing at the LCD screen after the first shot showed that the exposure was good. Click, click, click. Several shots later the butterfly took off. I clicked the preview button anxious to see how the shots came out. “NO CARD” “NO CARD” flashed at my unbelieving eyes. Darn (or something a little harsher). The card was in the computer to download pictures from the previous night’s football game!

I was upset with myself for missing out on the pictures. But redemption arrived about half an hour later. The butterfly came back and landed on the deck for another break. This time I had the camera WITH the SD card in place. A lesson learned.