This is going to hurt.

 

“And it's knocking heads and talking trash

It's slinging mud and dirt and grass

It's I got your number, I got your back when your back's against the wall

You mess with one man you got us all.”

This year’s going to be a little different. Surprise! Football is going to be taking place in the spring because it was cancelled this past fall.

For the past 11 years I was one of many who would look forward to walking and/or driving to Duchon Field in Glen Ellyn, IL; late August through November, the fans came, they cheered and no matter what the outcome, they loved what football brought to our community. (Okay, they liked it a lot better when they won, and fortunately they did a lot!)  

There is nothing like arriving at the field with a camera bag, a few lenses, and that feeling in your stomach before the game begins. I’m just a photographer, I can only imagine what the players and coaches go through! To give the team the best odds of winning from my personal point of view, I would arrive about the same time each game, through the same gate, and take the same path to get my badge for access to the field. I would like to think I bring luck to the team, however, I assure you I have no connection with anyone way upstairs who is paying attention to my pre-game habits. (Our team is that good without me.)

When I am at a game—I am usually near the end zone following the ball on offense and defense. (By doing this, the team is usually coming at me.)  I have found if you stay in one place, you miss a lot of the shots. I have also learned being on the move can make you miss them too—so there is no sure fire way to get this done. What really irks me is when I read the play correctly, I am lined up with camera in hand, there's clicking— and the photos come out blurry.  If you’re ever at a game, and you see me with my head down after a play, you can guess what happened. The funny thing about lenses, cameras and my shooting—-the camera does all the work, and the photographer blows the shot. 

But sometimes it works. This past year, to celebrate 10 years of photographing our team from the sidelines, I made a book. It took quite a while to look at all of the photos but it also bought back a lot of memories. One of my favorite photos, however, is not one of our team’s favorites; it took place when the football team from the community where I used to live, came to our field to play…and it was a playoff game. This was a great game and one where there really was not a loser, however, one team had more points than the other and when one lost, the season was over.

As the game was well into the 4th quarter, the other team was about ready to score which would have allowed them to go ahead. They did, and they won. But, what my camera captured was not what actually happened. The player’s knee was down before the ball crossed the goal line and there was nothing that could be done to change the decision. When you are a photographer you are neutral—too bad. All I can say is..."at least it wasn’t blurry!"

The photo above was taken at a game a few years ago. In the words of any great photographer—of which I am not—-they’ll say it’s “timing, angles, and luck.” I bet you can guess which word best describes this shot. 

Thanks for stopping by.