Bring it on!!

 

“I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd

But when they said, "Sit down," I stood up

Ooh, ooh, growin' up.

We’ve all said, “look how much he/she has grown!” As we grow up, we hear this all the time; as we grow, and we take on bigger tasks and responsibilities, we are often seen in different ways—some are good, some not as good.

For all of you who think today’s “Snap. Shot.” is about sports, it is more or less.

Today we learned from our local high school that football is planned for the spring; it’s been a long time since I photographed a football game, and I am really hoping I am allowed to do it when they re-start. There are a few reasons: First off, I love to photograph the sport, but here’s the real reason—if you live in the upper Midwest, you can be sure there will be weather extremes. We will have rain, snow, sleet and everything in-between. We probably won’t have warm weather, but that’s not a big deal, I have photographed in very bad weather and captured some of my favorite photos. 

The only people who are really miserable during the game are the parents and the cheerleaders. Who would want to sit on a cold piece of metal or stand huddled getting rained on? Not me.

The two most memorable games I photographed, I almost didn’t do. One was a playoff game in November, and while we were at breakfast prior to the game, the skies opened and the rain came down in sheets. I know this is an expression, but it really did. I kept debating whether to go or not; I didn’t want to ruin my camera or lens, but I had waited for years to shoot a “mud game.” If I had passed, I would be fine, but would be wondering what I missed. The same thing happened during another playoff game, but this time there was a snowstorm—a real doozy. 

When I finally arrived at the game, it had already started—it was as if we were in the middle of a blizzard. Actually we might have been as it was windy, blinding and my trusty Nikon was not happy I had done this to it. I had to keep rubbing the lens as it continued to gather snow and water, and unfortunately many of the photos were out of focus. But even through I didn’t get the shots I really wanted, I had a memory and that’s just as important. Actually, the photos would have been more important. Sue me.

The photo above was taken at a college football game in Ames, IA between the Iowa State Cyclones and Oklahoma Sooners. Similar to the high school games I shoot, I didn’t know the players; I was told there was one player to look for, as he was up for the Heisman Trophy, his name was Baker Mayfield and he played for Oklahoma—-today, he is a rock star for the Cleveland Browns.

Thanks for stopping by.