Tommy's Modern Life...

Swimming Through the Foggy Glass...

2012-01-31T01:46:00.000-06:00

I enjoy shooting swimming, but there is one thing I really, really hate about it, the fog. It has nothing to do with the event itself, but more to do with the timing and time of year and the weather. And, that's where the fog comes in, between it being cold outside and so warm in the pool area coupled with the natural humidity from the water means me walking in from 40 degrees outside and really low humidity to 80+ degrees and 85%+ humidity it mean there's going to be a nice frost on my lens. And that means I'm waiting, at least 30 minutes for my camera gear to thaw out per se, and basically just defog. There is no amount of wiping lenses with clothes that really help either, the moment you wipe off a little condensation another film of it appears before I can get off a shot, it's just a hurry up and wait effort.

So, one my lenses finally defog, I can get to work, after having missed about 3-4 races. Oh well, such is life, make do with what I have all complaining will do is miss me more races. There were still plenty of races left including a couple of relays, which are always exciting. District 5-4A is basically Wylie High School and all of the Wichita Falls ISD schools. Over the last two years this has been the extent of swimming coverage that I've gotten to shoot. Luckily Wylie has a pretty decent swimming team. I'd prefer a championship meet a little high on the food chain though since some of these races only have three swimmers, and some even only have one... basically all they have to do is show up, not false start and swim the stroke correctly and you move on to regionals.

One of the great things about the Abilene YMCA where the swim meets are held is the big picture windows on the east side of the building. Depending on the time of the day (really early morning around sun up is best) you can get some really pretty light. I liked the photo above, partly because it was one of the first ones I show after my lens finally defogged, but also because I'm a sucker for silhouettes. This was the tail end of the really nice light coming in, so I took a little chance and metered on the bright light. Then, looking for something fun that shows that these are still goofy high school kids and are out there having fun is almost as fun for me to find. Overall, I was pretty happy with the overall results I got from probably the only swim meet I'll shoot this year.

Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple...

2012-01-28T22:47:00.000-06:00

Every year, January seems to be a wasteland for stories, I think a lot of it has to do with the Christmas hangover. The papers in January are smaller and there just never seems to be a whole lot of news during the month. So, with the lack of news and even bigger lack of visual news, I seem to be doing a lot of feature cruising. So, on the days that an editor notices something that would make a nice standalone feature I jump at the chance. It was also nice that I had a pretty open afternoon and could hang out and work the scene for a while. I had even driven around the block trying to get this steeple and one down the street together, but the worker was on the wrong side of the steeple. However, as I was leaving I looked up through the tree and there was the opening in the branches after getting that shot, I liked it the best of what I had. And, as far as why they were working on the steeple in the first place, I went in and checked with the church office to have some cutline information. It turns out the steeple was damaged in the hailstorm that hit the city pretty hard last April and they were just now able to get roofers out available to repair it. I think half the roofs in the city got replaced from that storm.

Shooting Buckets...

2012-01-25T11:14:00.000-06:00

Since I was a kid I've big fan of the Harlem Globetrotters. Ever since they'd make their guest appearances on the Scooby Doo cartoons. So, it was kind of cool when I was told I'd be shooting a portrait of one of them who was coming in to do an interview. In total we only had about 45 minutes total to do two interviews and shoot the photo. So, after both interviews, I was left with about 5 minutes to shoot the photo. The idea was to say he was in Abilene, so a studio shot was out. I had gone and looked around before he had gotten here to get an idea of where to shoot it. Since time was short we walked to the end of the block on the corner. I had him stand under a tree to get him in the shadow, set up a quick strobe on a light stand and had him spin the basketball on his finger. I have to say it was really impressive. I was able to get off about 3-4 shots while the ball was spinning. Most of the time when I try to get someone to do this we get maybe one and they're flailing their hands all around trying to keep the ball balanced. I guess, that's what makes Buckets a pro... well, that and some great on the court skills.

REHAB 2012...

2012-01-23T19:29:00.000-06:00

One of the events I seem to end up shooting every year is the Rehab telethon. So, after 10+ tries finding something different isn't always the easiest thing in the world to do. The West Texas Rehabilitation Center's annual telethon is a really big deal and it brings in some pretty big stars and decent music acts every year. Last year was pretty cool, we ended up doing a behind the scenes look at the show and ended up getting to go hang out and shoot in the control truck. It was a lot of fun especially to see how the organized chaos happens and turns into a really well-done production. This year, we were doing another behind the scenes look, only from a little different perspective. So, six hours before the event even started I ended up showing up and shooting photos of local singer Twyla Foreman rehearsing with the orchestra. As usual all the folks who run the event were really cool and happy to have us there and pretty much gave me run of the place to go around and shoot. So, I figured since there were no cameras running I'd go out and shoot where I never had during the live show, on the stage. It was pretty cool, and I ended up with a nice shot that I liked and wouldn't get during the show for two reasons. Obviously I can't go out on stage during the live production, and since the lights weren't all in synch yet, I wasn't going to get the nice silhouette like I did. Hopefully next year will work out as well.

Friday Night Basketball...

2012-01-22T20:34:00.000-06:00

Over the years I have seen my share of good basketball players and good games. But to have two really great players going against each other in a really great game has been rare. So, Friday night Wylie was playing THESA, the two-time defending home school national champions. It was really cool to see two of the best womens basketball players in the country going head to head. Wylie's Peyton Little, a Texas A&M signee, and THESA's Moriah Jefferson, a UConn signee, and both played a really great game.

Probably the best part was with both players on, it looked like their teammates were playing above their level too. That always make for a really fun game. When Wylie went down 12 in the second half I figured this game was going to get ugly. Then they started clawing their way back, playing good defense and taking good shots. They got back within two but just couldn't get over that last hump. It didn't hurt that both teams were getting the ball in the hands of their best players. Wylie ended up losing the game 62-60 but it was a good test for them. And, I don't always think looses are bad things. Winning too much tends to make for big heads. Close losses make you not want to lose again, plus in the district that Wylie is in, except for one team they are going to win pretty big and pretty easily so it's good to throw in a tough game during district play.

After the Wylie game I didn't have a whole lot of time, but I still had to run across town to shoot what was left of the Abilene High/Odessa High game. I got there in time to shoot the last 5 minutes of the second quarter, which as late as it was getting was going to be all I'd be able to shoot. The first couple minutes it was bad shots and turnovers and the few decent available shots were happening on the other side that I was on and I was blocked. I ended up getting a couple of decent shots in the last two minutes including the one below, which I liked.

Players of the Year...

2012-01-18T11:13:00.000-06:00

This week was our annual installment of our All Big Country football players of the year. I was thinking I wanted to change things up, but the problem is with all these kids and the coach coming from all over the logistics of it make it kind of a pain to shoot in a location other than a studio setting. The other reason and one that I often preach to others is even though I've seen these style of photos before many of these kids haven't let alone been the subject of these images. I's kind of let that slip out of my head until I was shooting the photos and seen most of their faces and some of their parents' light up at how cool they looked in the photo when I showed it to them in the camera. After doing that, even though the shots looked similar to previous years I was happier with what I had.

Stock Shows, Week 2...

2012-01-16T18:09:00.000-06:00

This week was the last of the tiny stock shows of just the individual schools to cover, next week things start to ramp up with the county stock shows which have a lot more competitors and last more than just a day. This week I shot Wylie and Merkel's shows.

Weird Things Happening on Friday the 13th...

2012-01-15T20:33:00.000-06:00

Friday night was kind of a weird night. I had to shoot the Cooper boys and girls basketball teams, both who were at or near the bottom of the standings in district. The girls were playing the first place team in district and I, like many, didn't think they had much of a chance of winning the game. They ended up winning the game by ten points and really looked better than I'd seen them play all year. Then in the boys game, the Midland High team they were playing wasn't all that great but Cooper was still looking for its first win in district. And, once again they ended up winning the game. I only got to shoot the first half of the game because it was going late, but again they looked good. Well, the only think I could think of was it was Friday the 13th.

This Little Piggy Went to the Stock Show...

2012-01-08T18:31:00.000-06:00

There are a couple things I can always count on in January. The first is horribly bad basketball within the city limits of Abilene. The other is stock shows. The first weekend starts out with the smaller ones and they grow bigger as the month goes on. This weekend I went to Trent. One of the cool things about these little shows is they are usually in really old, rather small barns with a lot of really cool light. One thing about shooting pis though, is they often don't have a particular direction they are going, they just sort of go where they want and especially the smaller kids will have a hard time pointing them in the right direction, that always make for fun photos.

State Championship Battle: Good vs. Evil...

2011-12-25T20:38:00.000-06:00

I've said this plenty of time before, there are only two times I believe in running up the score: 1) Video Games and 2) When the other team is intentionally trying to hurt or has hurt your players. So, when you look at a team's scores for the year and they are beating teams by 60-70 points every game including one that was 93-0. Refugio was gunning for a national scoring record and didn't care whether they were doing it with class or not.

In the Class 2A Division II state championship game Cisco and their ball control, ground and pound offense was basically going to have to play a perfect game to keep Refugio under control. On the first drive Refugio took the ball and looked pretty unstoppable on offense. Until they got to the red zone, the Cisco was able to stop them on a fourth down. The Cisco offense took over and pounded the ball with their zone read running game, and a really nice deep pass to set up the first score of the game, while at the same time chewing up the clock.

It was kind of funny watching the game. Cisco would get the ball and slowly move it down the field on long drives zapping the clock. The Refugio would get the ball and score in 2-3 plays. Cisco's pass defense just couldn't contain the receivers. The one thing that was missing, sort of like I was afraid may be a problem when I started shooting them three weeks earlier was the kicking game. PAT's were an adventure every time for Cisco, and on the first try of the day the kicker sent one wide. That was the difference at halftime with the score 14-12.

In the second half it looked like Cisco was about to fall apart and the 48 points Refugio needed to set the record was going down. A costly fumble on their first drive of the second half and a quick score, then a punt and another quick score and things were starting to look really bad. Refugio ended up going up 36-19 and was looking completely in control. Then in the fourth quarter on a kickoff Cisco returned a kickoff for 86 yards for a touchdown and on the the following kickoff Cisco pinned Refugio deep.

With the touchdown and pinning them deep the Cisco crowd returned and got loud, then another stop and a bad punt. Cisco got the ball back with good field position and was able to march the ball for another score and they were right back in the game with less than 5 minutes left. This was turning out to be a great game and looking like Cisco could shock the state. After the next kickoff it was obvious Cisco had the momentum and the crowd knew it too, and was getting louder. The crowd from the next game was even getting into and making noise. The Argyle fans were pulling out their propane tanks filled with ball bearings and making it nearly impossible to hear from the sideline... I guess no one likes to pull for a team that likes to run up the score.

The Cisco defense held in their own territory and forced Refugio to punt. Taking the snap inside their own 10 yard line, the Refugio punter ran the ball out the back of the end zone for a safety to close the score to 36-35. That was as close as things were going to get. After fair catching the free kick and moving the ball to mid-field Cisco faced 4th-and-3 with just over a minute left and came up about a foot short of the first down. Well, good doesn't always triumph over evil, but at least Cisco kept them 12 points short of the national scoring record. They were a fun team to cover for the past few weeks and as young as most of the team is there I wouldn't be surprised to see them back again.

State Championships at Jerry World, Game 2...

2011-12-21T22:47:00.000-06:00

After the Stamford game I was hoping the second game I had to cover between Munday and Tenaha was going to be a little better game or at least even a little bit better. Well, damn I was wrong. This game was actually worse. Munday, I thought was a good team that could pretty much run with anyone. The problem here was Tenaha had just as much (or more) speed as Munday, but they also had a massive offensive line that was not only big, but they could move pretty well too. Often times, Class 1A teams that have big lines are mostly big because all their players are just fat. Tenaha was the exception, they were big, strong and moved pretty well too.

So, here I was spending the better half of eight hours sitting on the field at Cowboys Stadium shooting two games and seeing the same results, both pretty ugly. The one good thing about this game was, although I didn't shoot as many photos, I was a lot happier with the ones I got. The one big problem with shooting a 52-28 loss that was pretty much decided in the first half was finding a lot of shots with a lot of emotion in them. Lucky I was get to get a few that told the story.

State Championships at Jerry World, Game 1...

2011-12-18T23:01:00.000-06:00

For the first time ever the UIL in Texas decided to have all of the 11-man state football championships all in the same place. And, in the state with probably the nicest high school football stadiums in the country, the championships were held at the nicest one of all, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, or as many know it, Jerry World. While I'm not a Dallas Cowboys fan, I know I have gushed about the stadium before, but this is truly the nicest football stadium I've ever seen, and for a high school football player I can't think of a cooler place to play than this.

Now, I know there have been high school games here for a couple of years, but most of them are the bigger schools, the Class 1A & 2A schools just don't bring in big enough crowds to make it a really viable option, so this year when the UIL made it so all the games would be played at Cowboys Stadium, I thought it was a really great idea even if the smaller games were going to be played in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday.

The first game was the Class 1A Division I game, with Stamford playing Mason. When I showed up to the stadium I noticed that the southwest corner had a bunch of tents set up and a whole slew of people tailgating. This was perfect, we were running a fan story and this way I was going to be able to get it out of the way and even sent with plenty of time before the start of the game.

The game started out kind of slow, Stamford couldn't get much done on their first drive, then Mason took the ball down and marched down to score on their first drive. One the next possession the Bulldogs completed a long pass for a touchdown and it looked like the offense may be starting to click. Things were going back and forth but Mason was a machine. Things were still kind of close in the second half despite a couple of stalled drives and a turnover. Then Mason went and blew things open pulling away from a big lead.

But, to Stamford's credit they never gave up and continued to fight. After a few big plays and some nice touchdown drives it was looking like a long shot but Stamford had played themselves back into the game. Then Mason get the ball back and drove down for a touchdown, and in the process killing most of what was left on the clock. It just wasn't meant to be for the Bulldogs this year. The good thing about them though, is they are young team and with the quarterback that they had they should be back next year for another deep run to the playoffs.

State Champs...

2011-12-14T12:02:00.001-06:00

Saturday was the six-man state championship games, both the division I (big school) and division II games were being played in Abilene. Throckmorton was playing Borden County in the division I game. Last year, Throckmorton lost to Garden City in the championship game. This year Throckmorton had been tearing up the fields. Winning nearly every one of their games by the mercy rule.

Now, if you've never seen six-man football it's quite the experience. I think it was best summed up by a friend a couple of years ago when he compared it to college intramural football only higher scoring. It's not uncommon to see scores in the 70's and 80's or even as high as 100. The field is 80 yards long by 40 wide and with 10 less players than traditional football. Also, punts and field goals are almost non-existent. Going for it on fourth down is the norm more than a surprise. And while touchdowns are still worth six points, going for two requires kicking the extra point and running a play (running or passing) is only worth one point. Teams need to go 15 yards, not 10 for a first down, and onside kicks are a regular part of the game and not just kicked late in the game when a team begins to get desperate. Games can get so far out of hand that after halftime if a team goes up by 45 or more the game is over.

This was Throckmorton's third trip to the state championship game and second under coach Mike Reed. This was also Reed's fourth trip to state as a coach. All three of his previous trips were losses, so there were a lot of people pulling for him to finally "get over the hump." Reed's always been a good guy and has helped out every time I've had to do a story about one of his teams, he's one of those guys you can't help but want to see him win. From talking to a few of the parents on the sidelines the last two weeks, not only did they want to win state and see their kids win, the kids wanted it almost as much for their coach.

By six-man standards this was a really low scoring game ending "only" 48-36. It was in essence a defensive battle, even though it didn't start out looking like that. Borden County took the opening snap for a 70-yard touchdown. One great thing about six-man football, unlike its 11-man big brother, is I never fret about missing a touchdown because I know there will be another one soon enough. After that it was all Throckmorton for the rest of the first quarter. The Greyhounds scored 32 straight points to take a pretty commanding lead. It was looking like it would be another 45 for them.

Then in the second half Borden County came out swinging. It's funny, with all the offense in this game no score is ever safe. Borden County came back playing really good defense and pounding the ball out on the ground. With less than 2 minutes left Borden County had closed the gap to 40-36. Throckmorton had the ball and was driving, trying to kill the clock. On 4th-and-1 with less than a minute left and no timeouts the greyhounds line up to go for it (no surprise)... and false started. After the 5-yard penalty on 4th-and-six Throckmorton snaps the ball the defense blitzes and the Throckmorton quarterback threw an ugly knuckle ball looking pass right to a receiver who took it for a 40-yard touchdown.

After recovering a short squib kick with under a minute left in the game it was just a matter of lining up in the victory formation and this one was in the books. It was a really exhilarating game and a lot of fun to watch. Hopefully the next three that I cover in the 11-man state championships next week can compare. It also helped that everything seemed to work, I was really happy with what I shot, both action and reaction.

State Bound Loboes...

2011-12-12T23:29:00.000-06:00

Well, for the third week in a row I was following Cisco, this week in the state semifinals against Mildred at Vernon Newsom Stadium in Mansfield. Normally when I go to shoot high school games I try to get to the stadium at least an hour early, it allows me to get all my stuff set up, type in code replacements and just kind of unwind and clear my head before the game.

Well, every once in a while I can't get to the game when I would like to for one reason or another. Last Friday was one of those nights. I had to go shoot an assignment in Dublin on my way there and ended up getting a late start. Then my GPS ended up taking me a different way than I had planned and I didn't notice until it was too late and ended up getting stuck in traffic. Ironically, the last time I shot Cisco in the state semifinal game a few years ago I ended up getting stuck in traffic and got there 15 minutes before the game, just like this time. So, maybe that was a good sign, for the Loboes, at least.

It ended up taking me much of the first quarter to finally get my head straight to where I could totally concentrate on the game, plus for much of the first half Mildred was keeping Cisco in check. The zone read wasn't working, Mildred was stopping them on every play and the passing game wasn't working either. Then during the second quarter it looked like Cisco was putting things together and threw a long pass that got intercepted. Then two plays later the Mildred running back got stripped of the ball and the Loboes recovered. A couple plays later Cisco scored right before the end of the quarter and the momentum shift was pretty obvious.

Cisco got the kickoff in the second half and came out looking old school lined up in the I-formation and pounded it up the gut. It wasn't really pretty, but really effective. There were getting 4-6 yards a carry and just dominating the line of scrimmage. On defense, the momentum was carrying over and the Loboes were making great stops then turning it around with long, clock-killing touchdown drives. Going up two touchdowns with four minutes left it looked over. Mildred though, didn't believe that. Marching down the field and scoring a touchdown with less than a minute left. Then Mildred recovered the onside kick down only seven with less than a minute left in the game. It certainly added excitement to the game, but the defense was able to hold. It turned out to be a really great game, Cisco did what they needed to do to make adjustments at halftime to win. The photo we ran as the lead on sports was the fumble which was pretty much the defining point of the game. After Cisco scored from that turnover they never looked back.

70 Years Ago...

2011-12-11T23:29:00.001-06:00

Wednesday I worked a very rare morning shift in order to be able to go to my wife's Christmas party. So, I had to go shoot the remembrance ceremony of the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Stuff like this is often tough to cover, I'm always trying to find good images but at the same time the most important thing is to be respectful and not running all over the place and drawing attention to myself. The good part about this is the event was being held outdoors, which is always nice and allows me to feel like I can fall into the background a little easier. The shots I got from the flag raising gave me a little more confidence and allowed to me work things and take a few more chances. The event wasn't all that long, about 20 minutes and much of that was speeches so there wasn't a whole lot of variety to shoot. So, at the end of the ceremony the bugler playing Taps, with the flag in the background and the pretty blue sky as a backdrop was the shot I knew I wanted. It was exactly what I wanted, simple, clean and told the story well.

Blame it on the Rain...

2011-12-09T00:32:00.000-06:00

Like I said in my last post, it only rains about once every forever around here. So when it said there was a 90% chance of rain for Abilene High's game against Mansfield Timberview I didn't think I'd get as lucky as I did the night before and just have a little drizzle going on. The weather for the game was really awful, it was pretty much a damn monsoon rolling through for three hours.

For the first quarter I shot from the mezzanine which had a nice overhang and I was able to stay dry. I had planned on shooting from up there anyway at some point, but figured I'd start out up there and hopefully the storm would pass. By the second quarter the rain had let up and I went down to the field. Well, that lasted about 15 minutes and then the sky just opened up and it poured. Needless to say it was totally miserable. By the end of the half despite wearing a raincoat I was pretty much soaked from head to toe.

From watching the game it felt like I wasn't the only one effected by the weather. It looked like Abilene High didn't know how to play football in the rain. The Eagles were pretty much getting dominated all day both on offense and defense. The Eagles were having trouble containing Timberview's option attack and both the quarterback and running back were having their way running the ball. And Abilene High's balanced offense which had been so potent all season was having trouble getting anything done. Passes were flying long and the offensive line couldn't contain the pass rush and were having a really hard time making holes to run through.

By the second half, both the game and the weather had both gotten out of hand. It's been about five or six years since I've seen an Abilene High team get dominated this bad. That coupled with the nasty weather it just made it an overall miserable day to shoot. About the only good thing was how quickly the game went by. With all the running in the second half it got the game over in just under three hours. About the only nice thing was as hard as the rain was coming down it did make for some nice photos and the pouring rain showed up really well in the photos.

On a Foggy, Rainy Night...

2011-12-07T23:38:00.000-06:00

If you live in Texas you can probably skip this paragraph... Rain is rare here, and on football weekends I sometimes wonder if Texans and God have a deal that in return for this awful drought, the few time it will actually rain will not be on Friday nights. It's been at least four years since I've shot Friday night football in the rain (there was one game two years ago that go cancelled because of lightning, but I never actually got rained on.

So, when I saw the forecast of 80% chance of rain on Friday night, I was hoping for the 20% to happen at least for a couple hours until the game ended, after that... by all means, please, rain cats and dogs! I didn't get my wish, but at least it didn't rain that hard during the game. I was shooting Cisco playing Holliday in Springtown. On paper, this game was going to be as tough as last week when Cisco upset the defending state champs from Idalou. Obviously, last week, paper was wrong. This week though, it was spot on.

Holliday came out pretty aggressive trying to set the tone of the game. Going for it on fourth down and failing on their first drive. Then Cisco took over and pounded the ball down their throat and a long touchdown run for the first touchdown. That was as close as things got the whole game. Cisco owned this game and showed no signs of a hangover from their big win the week before. Holliday was clearly overmatched and Cisco played the game strictly business. And the rain, luckily, never came down really hard, just kind of drizzling the whole game, plus it was really foggy, which actually worked things out really well, giving me this surreal looking light, coupled with really good stadium lights, that made for a few decent photos, plus the long runs made it easier to read Cisco's option attack that I had so many problems with the week before.

Tis The Season...

2011-12-05T23:32:00.006-06:00

Basketball season actually started a couple of weeks ago, but really to me, I just can't accept basketball season starting until after football is over. This is probably my third time shooting basketball for the year, and honestly I'm just not in "basketball shape" yet with my photos. But, last Thursday I got thrown right into the first shooting three games of the Polk-Key City girls basketball tournament in one night.

Here is the thing about the local basketball, the smaller schools are the better programs. The two big Abilene schools are and always have been just atrocious, to the point of it just being rather painful to watch. The smaller schools are a lot more fun to watch and put out much better players. The one exception to the local rule is Wylie, who are the defending state champs in Class 3A, and have a very good chance to make another run for Austin.

So, when I got my assignment and saw who I was shooting, I was 2/3 happy. Both Wylie and Jim Ned have really good programs. Cooper, however, won one game last year. And while they had a three game winning streak, they are still just not fun to watch. So, on this night, I got one good game in Wylie vs. Killeen Ellison, one huge blowout in Class 2A Jim Ned beating the crap out of a really bad 5A team, and Cooper losing a close and almost entertaining game.

Blowing in the Wind, Part 2...

2011-12-05T16:04:00.000-06:00

So, the first game of the day was Abilene High was playing Mansfield High in a rematch of an upset from 2008 when AHS lost in the first round of the playoffs. This time Mansfield was coming to Abilene for the doubleheader. The day was cold and the wind was howling through the stadium, with winds in the 25-30mph range and steady.

Abilene High took a quick lead going up 17-0, and ended up scoring another TD, but because of the stupidest rule ever made, allowing an official to take a touchdown away from a player because an excessive celebration allows them way too much opportunity to affect the outcome of a game instead of the players. Ok, off my soapbox... The game got a lot more interesting in the second half when Mansfield started pounding the ball up the middle. And ended up taking the lead 22-17 after a blocked kick and AHS knocking it out the end zone for a safety.

Then on the free kick following, the Eagles recovered a squib kicked that was bobbled by a Mansfield player. After that AHS drove the ball down the field mostly passing the ball into the strong wind for the go-ahead touchdown. After that, Mansfield started to march the ball down the field on the final drive, with mostly running the ball on fullback dives. Then, with first and goal at the three yard line, the AHS defense stiffened up along with Mansfield making a really odd call on fourth down rolling out for a pass with a quarterback who was not a really great thrower, an incomplete pass and game over. A game that started out looking like it could be a blowout ended in a great 25-22 game in the worst of possible weather conditions. These games are always nothing but fun to shoot.

Blowing in the Wind, Part 1...

2011-11-30T22:40:00.000-06:00

Saturday was a rare home playoff doubleheader both Abilene High and Cooper were playing home playoff games and oddly enough against two Mansfield schools. Both AHS and Cooper won the home-and-home coin tosses. Abilene High had the early game Cooper had the night game. It was also the coldest game of the year. That couple with 30+ mph winds all day made for not only miserable shooting conditions, but also awful playing conditions. It also negated both teams' kicking games and made passing the ball a helluva lot tougher.

Cooper had been playing everyone of its playoff games this year down to the wire. Their first game they won on the last play of the game, so who was to think this one would have been any different? So, when Cooper went ahead of Mansfield Timberview with just more than 2 minutes left in the game everyone in the stadium knew this one wasn't over, it was just a matter of whether Cooper's defense would be able to hold on long enough to either kill the clock or make a stop. If it wasn't for a really dumb late hit penalty and some bad missed tackling on a really tough touchdown run for the winning touchdown Cooper might have made history having another home game the following week, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Black Friday Doubleheader & Why I Hate the Option...

2011-11-29T23:39:00.000-06:00

The best thing about football season in Texas is since schools are out there are usually afternoon football games on Friday, which means I get to miss shooting Black Friday shopping in exchange for shooting an afternoon football game. That deal works just fine for me. So, on Friday while the masses were fighting crowds for doorbuster deals I went to Colorado City to shoot Munday's game against Crosbyton and in the nightcap it was Cisco playing Idalou.

The first game was barely even a game. Munday came out guns blazing scoring early and often. By halftime the score was 49-0 and even then it looked like Munday had called off the dogs late in the second quarter. Most of the starters never even saw the field in the second half and even a few of the JV players made in the game late and still Munday ended up scoring two more touchdowns. The final score was 63-14, and I'm pretty sure they could've put up 100 easily if they wanted to.

The second game, Cisco vs. Idalou was the big reason I went out there. Cisco, a perennial power was playing Idalou, the defending state champion. Just looking at Idalou's stats they play great defense, they hadn't given up more than one touchdown to a 2A team all season including not giving up a point the whole month of October. Cisco, on the other hand, could score at will and averaging more than 40 points a game. Something had to give...

Cisco in the past has been a running team, basing out of the I-formation. That made them rather easy to shoot. This year, however, they've started running the zone read option. Well, the problem with running the option was where I shoot from behind the line was I really had no idea who was getting the ball. When the option is run well it's meant to confuse the defense as to who has the ball. Well, the problem was, it also confused the photographer too! I hadn't shot many option teams lately and had almost forgotten how much I hated shooting option teams. Well, luckily Cisco was playing great defense as well, because Cisco, like their counterparts were playing great defense and causing lots of turnovers. On paper, the game was an upset, but Cisco played great and dominated the defending state champs and pulled out a well-deserved win.

Painting the Town Blue...

2011-11-28T17:30:00.000-06:00

Wednesday afternoon I went up to Stamford to shoot a story about two rival towns playing in a playoff game on Friday. The Stamford High School cheerleaders were painting windows and putting out balloons and ribbons to show the town's support for the team in preparation for the big game against their district rival they were meeting in the playoffs. I hung out with them for a little while following them around town. It was a really interesting portrait of the fanatacism showing how a whole town can rally around the local high school team making its run in the playoffs. And while the sports is football, which does draw more fans than the other sports, the really cool thing is a lot of these small towns will come together and support all their teams that make deep runs in the playoffs and it doesn't discriminate around gender roles either, it's really kind of cool to see.

State Volleyball, Championship Day, Game 2...

2011-11-27T20:43:00.000-06:00

I'll be honest, after seeing Lucas Lovejoy the day before I didn't expect Wylie to have a much of a chance in this game. I was thinking this would be three quick games and Wylie being "just happy to have made it there." I mean, Lovejoy had 5 players over 5'11, most being 6'1-6'2, and they could just KILL the ball. Wylie on the other hand, has no one taller than 5'11 and only one that tall. Wow, I must say the humble pie that I ate at the end of the match was rather bitter. Watching them play was sort of a David vs. Goliath moment. It was really good to see they went down fighting, and Lovejoy was a lot more sore than they had expected.

Given the way that Wylie started out slow in their previous two matches I'd seen them play at state, I thought it would happen again. But the Lady Bulldogs came out swinging and played one hell of a match. The first game they ended up losing very close. Then, they came back and won the next one. I must say, as much as I've complained about volleyball in the past, this may have been one of the best matches I've ever seen. Much like the way my views on soccer changed last year, I think I may be coming around on my views of volleyball (at least the well-played types of games).

They ended up going back and forth and Lovejoy's size difference was mostly being negated by Wylie playing really great and using the great fundamentals that got them there, the good passing, setting and digging that many teams take for granted. In the fourth game Wylie game out guns blazing, taking a big lead quick and while they nearly lost the lead there at the end, they pulled it off and forced a fifth game.

Game five, however, didn't go as expected. Lovejoy took a quick lead, and when the final game only is played to 15, a quick lead is a high mountain to climb. They ended up losing the match, but they did prove they were the second-best team in Class 3A, and with a few breaks the results may have been a little different, but they showed a lot of heart in going down fighting and since the core of the players on the team were juniors or sophomores, I may be making another trip to San Marcos next year. Though I doubt it will be kicking and screaming like I have in the past when given volleyball assignments.

State Volleyball, Championship Day, Game 1...

2011-11-24T21:59:00.000-06:00

The first match I had to shoot Saturday for the state volleyball tournament was Water Valley playing Iola in the Class 1A state championship. It was a 9am match and since I wasn't too worried about having to put together a big slideshow like I needed to for the Wylie match and since the shot I know I needed to get wasn't going to happen until the end of the match I figured I didn't need to shot up right when the match started. But, at the same time I didn't want to shot up literally for the last shot. So, my plan was to make sure I shot a couple of games. I got there about 20 minutes after the match started and the first game was just about to end.

Water Valley looked like they were on a path of destruction to win the match and quickly. The good think about this is it was pretty easy to make nice photos of Water Valley, the bad thing is Iola couldn't seem to do anything and the match was flying by. One thing I was sure to be conscious of was where I shot from and to be sure to vary it up while I did unlike the day before. So, even though things flew by I had a nice mix of photos. I wasn't super thrilled with the celebration shot, but considering how bad Water Valley beat them I guess I should be happy they celebrated at all. I ended up sending what I figured to be way too many photos with 10. Then when I got back in town and saw their pages I found out they ran a photo page and huge 6 column photo on the sports front. The Wylie game I shot for our paper... we ran two photos.

State Volleyball, Day 1...

2011-11-23T23:04:00.000-06:00

Wylie was making their second trip to the state volleyball tournament in as many years. I also had to shoot photos of the Class 1A match earlier in the day for another paper. After last year's trip, Wylie was hungry to get back. Their first trip to state didn't start out real well, it's obvious they were playing tight in losing the first two games, but made a comeback to take the match to five games, but lost the last one. Not the kind of outcome they wanted in their first trip to state, so it was obvious they were wanting some vindication.

The first match I shot was Water Valley playing Cayuga in the 1A match for the San Angelo paper. It's a little over four hours from Abilene to San Marcos and they were playing at 11am. Needless to say, getting up to leave at 7am was not real thrilling. I got there a little after the first game had started. The good thing about it was it gave me some time to get a little practice in before the Wylie game. I had a couple of nice shots, but Water Valley beat them so bad, it didn't make for really fabulous photos.

When the Wylie match started it didn't look so good. They went down 5-1 and all of the sudden it was starting to look like deja vu from last year. Then it seemed like they woke up and in a quick way. After, their little hiccup at the start of the match, there was no looking back. Wylie pretty much controlled everything after that and won the match in three games.

One problem I noticed that I had tried really hard this year to do while shooting volleyball was vary things up. When I got to editing my photos, I noticed I never shot any photos from the floor, everything was shot from up high. Now, my previous problem was I would shoot everything from the floor and nothing from the stands. Oops, well the good thing about it was since Wylie won I'd have a chance to vindicate myself the next day since Wylie had won.

Playoffs Week 2...

2011-11-22T22:49:00.000-06:00

Much like last year my only chance of shooting a playoff football game in the second week of the playoffs was on Thursday night, since I was going to have to go to San Marcos for the state volleyball tournament. Luckily we had a Thursday night game with Eastland playing last year's 2A state finalist, Littlefield. Eastland was 10-0 going into the game and Littlefield was 8-3 going into the game.

This was really a classic example of a trap game. Eastland on paper was the better team, however they had not played in three weeks. With their bye week coming in the last game of the season, and then getting a first round bye for the playoffs, add to playing a team that made a long run in the playoffs the previous year and a lot of those players coming back, well it was just a formula for a tough game for Eastland.

And, on the first first play of the game it was looking like it might be. Littlefield took a long run for a touchdown to open things up. Eastland, though, came back with a touchdown drive of their own. The game stayed pretty tight through the whole first half, with Eastland going into halftime up 14-10. Then in the second half the Mavericks took control in a big way. Opening up with a long touchdown run on the first drive then the defense picked things up with a big stop. Eastland showed just how expolsive the offense was in the second half winning the game 51-22. It looked like they got rid of most of that rust during halftime.

State Bound Lady Bulldogs...

2011-11-21T21:05:00.000-06:00

After a long day on Friday, the following day was pretty easy all I had was Wylie playing for the Region I-3A volleyball championship against Andrews. And honestly, there wasn't expected to be a whole lot of drama in this game. Wylie had been pretty much manhandling all of their opponents and from watching Andrews play the day before against Big Spring, who Wylie had beaten pretty badly twice already this year, I didn't expect them to have a whole lot of problems with Andrews either.

So, when Wylie came out in the first game and played a little flat it was odd, but even still I'm not sure many folks had any doubt about whether the Lady Bulldogs would turn it around and run the table in the next three games. And that's exactly what they did. It was nice having a fourth game though it gave me plenty of time to work my way around the coliseum in Snyder and shoot from plenty of different angles. Which, for me, make volleyball a hell of a lot more interesting to look at than just shooting from behind the net the whole match. I think that may be one of the reason I hated shooting volleyball so much at the start of the season and how it's become so palatable this year... it also helps that I have a decent team to shoot.

Busy Day, Part 3...

2011-11-20T21:41:00.000-06:00

The nightcap of last Friday was heading up the road about 45 miles to Post for a football playoff between Stamford and Olton. The game was something I was shooting more out of convenience thank how good the game looked on paper. It was supposed to be a Stamford blowout. However, that wasn't quite the way it happened, mostly because of Stamford having a problem holding on to the ball. Then towards the end of the game, Stamford's quarterback, Hagen Hutchinson, got hurt and didn't return, now that ended up making things really interesting since he is pretty much the catalyst for both the offense and the defense. That injury allowed Olton, who was playing like that pesky little kid who just wouldn't go away, stay in the game and make things interesting at the end. On the final drive of the game for Olton, they stalled and couldn't convert on 4th down with less than a minute left in the game and Stamford kneeled on the ball to win it 35-32. It was a decent game, but I was hoping for a few more long passes, because the ones that were thrown I was either out of position for or looking at the wrong receiver, oh well, next time.

Busy Day, Part 2...

2011-11-18T06:25:00.000-06:00

Right after the Big Spring game Wylie was playing Monahans in the second 3A semifinal match. It wasn't nearly as good as the match before, Wylie just kind of blew through it and kind of looked bored in the process. There were a few decent photos to be made, but it was obvious they were getting things done quickly and confidently in order to play for Saturday. One thing I have always like about volleyball and womens sports in particular is there is never a shortage of emotions in any of the games.

Busy Day, Part 1...

2011-11-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

Last Friday was not only the first Friday of the football playoffs but also the Class 3A regional volleyball tournament in Snyder. We had both Big Spring and Wylie playing in the semifinals on opposite sides of the bracket. Big Spring was playing first and had been playing really well the last couple of weeks. Plus they had a couple of really big hitters on the team who could be problems for just about any team. The problem that they always seemed to run into is they went through stretches that they didn't pass well and had a tendency to give up big runs. And that's sort of the way the match went, they'd play well for stretches, but also gave up big runs and ended up losing in four games.

This was the first year that it had been played in Snyder, last year it was in Lubbock. So, it was nice having it 85 miles closer, it made the drive there a lot nicer. One thing I was worried about was the light at the coliseum, when I had shot there a few years ago the light absolutely sucked! But the light turned out to be really great. Also, it was really nice, they had a big black curtain behind one side of the court, which made for a really great background for floor level shots. And, when they switched sides I moved up in the stands to shoot from up high that gave a nice perspective I can't really get from shooting in most high school gyms.

Honoring Those Who Served...

2011-11-15T21:29:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday, in preparation for Veteran's Day I had to shoot some airmen from Dyess Air Force Base placing flags at the headstones of those buried at the Local Texas Veteran's Cemetery. This was the second year I had shot it and it's good that I had done it last year, since last year I noticed there were almost as many airman putting out the flags as there were grave sights. Knowing this, plus knowing the right places to shoot to get the best light helped since the whole event is over in a snap. This year I just stayed in one spot and basically staked out where I was going to shoot, it was just a matter of waiting for someone to place their flag. It worked out really well, everyone was only putting out 2-3 flags. So, there were quite a few out while I staked out the spot I was at. In a period of only about 2 minutes I was able to get both my shots. From relatively the same spot. That was a good thing given that the whole cemetery was finished in less than 15 minutes. Thank god for nice light.

Playoff Opener...

2011-11-14T21:05:00.000-06:00

Thursday night was the first playoff game of the year. And, as usual there is no shortage of area teams hoping to stay alive for the next six weeks for a state title. Snyder and Graham were playing each other in Abilene. The good thing about that is I didn't have to leave town. While Graham is sort of part of our coverage area, Snyder was the team we were a lot more concerned with, however, I was also shooting photos for the Wichita Falls paper, and I'm glad I was.

Had I not been shooting it for them I probably wouldn't have gotten the top shot since normally when the team I'm shooting is on defense I line up behind the ball watching the defense. The game wasn't the most thrilling there wasn't a whole lot of passing, and the defenses looked ok, but since I was shooting both teams it kinds of hampered my shooting of the defense. But, there were a few nice moments.

Soccer Time Again...

2011-11-13T21:28:00.001-06:00

Last Sunday Hardin-Simmons was playing UT-Dallas in the championship match of the American Southwest Conference tournament. I ended up having to work, since ACU was playing in their conference championship match. It was cool, the last time I had shot college soccer was after HSU had won the national championship last year. The cool thing about having to shoot on my day off (other than overtime pay) is it's usually only one assignment and I don't have to worry about getting a shot and heading to my next assignment.

Since I didn't have to worry about time it allowed me to set up a remote behind the goal that HSU was driving to. Remotes are great and make for some really nice photos when they work. However, they often don't. There are plenty of games that I set one up and come back with a couple hundred pictures of nothing. But, it still fun to set one up and see what happens. Plus, when they do work, it usually makes a great lead photo. For this game I'd say it half worked. I was really happy with the celebration shot at the top, but I also had the header of the girl hitting the ball into the net, sadly the net cut her head in half. Oh well, I think I'd rather have the jube shot anyway... at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. The bottom photo, by the way, is the same moment that I shot at the same time with the camera I was shooting with.

24.6 Miles for the Miracles...

2011-11-12T08:37:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday was the Miracles for Miles Marathon in Abilene. A marathon is one of the few sporting events I've never shot. I have shot long bike races, so how could this be all that much different other than the people are running a helluva lot slower than than the bikes were going. I figured this would be a good thing since it would be a lot easier to get ahead of the leaders. The waking up at 7am after getting home from shooting football at 3am was tough, but walking outside in the cold morning air was a very quick, very immediate wake up!

After covering a few cycling races, I've come to find out photos at the finish line aren't nearly as exciting as those both at the start and along the race course. Plus I had other assignments to shoot, so I probably wouldn't be able to get finish photos anyway. There was a decent sized field for the race so it allowed me to get a few different angles from the start and still show a good number of racers in the field. After that I drove a couple miles down the road and positioned myself a couple hundred yards from one of the water stations. The best part of being up this early was the nice morning light, the sky was absolutely beautiful! After laying in the grass on the side of the highway for about 20 minutes (and getting some odd looks from a few runners), I was happy with what I had. Thank god, I wasn't going to have to follow them the full 3+ hours of the race... plus the really pretty light was quickly running away.

Restoring History...

2011-11-11T09:46:00.000-06:00

Rae Giles may be one of the cooler people I've met in a long time. We got an email tip about him saying he restores old motorcycles that are on display at the local Harley-Davidson dealership. So, I dropped by to talk to him between assignments and ask about doing the story on him. It's not very often that I meet someone and right away he is treating me like we've known each other for years. It was really cool, Rae was just a really genuine guy, and the work he was doing was really amazing. Not to mention all the old motorcycles in the warehouse. I really didn't think I'd get another photo column as cool as the farrier one I did a couple weeks ago, but I enjoyed shooting this one just as much. Here is a link to the story I wrote to go with the photos here.

Ending the Regular Season With a Fizzle...

2011-11-10T12:19:00.000-06:00

Last Friday was the final football game of the regular season. Wylie was playing Brownwood in Brownwood to end the regular season. This week was kind of a weird week since all the playoff spots were set and there were really none of the games had any bearing on what was going to happen in the playoffs. So, I picked the game I figured would be a decent game at least. Well, the game wasn't a great game, but it was quick. Both teams kind of went old school and ran the ball so much that the first half lasted barely more than an hour. The game was so quick it was over before 10pm. I don't think I've ever covered a game that finished that quick. So, even though it was a really ugly game it almost made it worth it given how quickly it was over, plus there were a few decent images made despite how quickly the clock was spinning.

Six-Man Thursday Night Football...

2011-11-09T10:42:00.000-06:00

I don't shoot a whole lot of six-man football, it just doesn't work out either with the timing or there aren't any decent matchups when I can get there. Not to mention most regular season six-man games usually just suck. The talent gap between the good and bad teams especially at this level is huge, and it's usually the third or fourth week of the playoffs before the talent gap narrows. So, when Ira was playing Aspermont, both teams undefeated, in a Thursday night game on the final week of the season for the district championship it was almost a no-brainer to cover the game.

I ended up having to shoot two assignments before heading out and had to write a photo column then make the 90 minute drive to Ira for the game. All that together put me about 15 minutes behind, so when I got there Ira was already up 14-0. Uh oh! Then in the couple minutes it took me to go from my car to the field Ira scored again. One of the cool things about going to these small towns is seeing a few hundred fans cheering on their schools. That number may not sound that big, but when you realize that the combined enrollment of these two schools is less than 200 it really makes it kind of cool.

Well, the game was pretty much a blowout. Ira led 44-0 at halftime and tried to kick a field goal as time expired in the half to end it (in six-man football if one team goes up by 45 points or more the game is over at halftime or after halftime when the team goes ahead by 45), but the kick was blocked. So, basically, I had to wait through halftime for Ira to score one more time. Aspermont got the opening kickoff of the second half and started driving the ball pretty well for a few plays and was looking like they'd be at least a little pesky for the second half. But, that didn't last too long. They ended up turning the ball over on downs, then Ira just marched the ball down the field to end it. This game that was supposed to be pretty good turned out to be kind of a flop, too bad, I was hoping for one of those great high scoring games... oh well, maybe during the playoffs.

Playoffs...

2011-11-08T22:21:00.000-06:00

November might as well just be called the month I'm never home, let's see home many miles I can drive in a single month without ever leaving the state. So, the first playoffs I shot was Cooper playing Arlington Martin in Brownwood. It's been a while since Cooper made the playoffs in 5A, they did make it once during their 2-year stint in 4A, but their one playoff match was far away and one of the other local teams had a home match. But, a short trip to Brownwood was an easy choice to cover. Well, the match wasn't all that great Arlington Martin was good and Cooper was just over matched. They ended up losing the match in three games and it wasn't event that close. Getting blown out so bad, there wasn't a whole lot of emotion about the end of their season, but I was happy with the action shots I got from the match.

Ending the Streak...

2011-11-06T21:57:00.000-06:00

It's hard to call a game a rivalry, when it is so lopsided that one team has a 23-game losing streak that dates back almost 50 years. That is how long Hardin-Simmons has been dominating it's cross-town rival McMurry. And most of those year the score has been pretty dominating on HSU's part. This year, though, McMurry has a really good team and HSU is down a little. It was also McMurry's last chance to get a win, since it was probably the last time these two teams would play with McMurry moving up to play in NCAA Division II next year.

The game wasn't all that exciting, McMurry didn't air it out quite like they had been doing all year with HSU's biggest team strength being pass defense. So, they stuck with a fairly conservative running and short passing game moving the ball down the field pretty slowly but effectively and often. HSU was running the ball well, but could never really get ahead or ended up with an untimely turnover when they didn't need it. Personally, I'd have preferred a little more offense, just makes for better pix, but I did manage to get a few that I was happy with. And given how long the streak was, it made for a couple nice celebrations photos after the game was over too.

Candy Dispenser Day...

2011-11-02T23:29:00.001-05:00

I've always thought of Halloween as a "Love it or Leave it" kind of holiday. I've got some friends that absolutely live for the day, me I've never been the type to like to dress up for anything, that includes going all out on a costume. In fact, that last time I can remember wearing a costume, if you even want to call it that, was when my roommates and I went to K-Mart in college and spent $6 on a box of women's knee high stockings and squirt guns and dressed as "robbers" so we could get into a concert for half price. However, I am one to appreciate a really cool costume, especially one that is homemade or just really well thought out and partially homemade (probably because it's a lot more than I'd ever invest into my costume).
So, last Thursday, I when I was assigned to shoot the Fall Festival (begin rant: which is the new PC term that churches and businesses use as to to offend those who don't appreciate Halloween as a fun event, but find it to be a satanic holiday, end rant) at the Mall of Abilene not only was my goal to find nice moments, but also people in really cool, unique costumes that go beyond he store-bought cheap plastic costumes you see every year. And, I think my two favorites were the owner of the Chick-Fil-A in her chicken Pez dispenser and the kid who's mom made him this awesome Easy Mac outfit out of yellow-painted TP and paper towel rolls, including a fork with noodles on it... just too cool! I'm still not dressing up though, but I will give out candy... hey, I'm not a total Halloween Grinch!

Crosstown Blowdown...

2011-11-02T01:04:00.000-05:00

On paper, this was going to be a great football game. Finally, we were going back to the good old days when Abilene High and Cooper were a great matchup, sort of like the way the game went last year, a good tight game that was going to be a toss up as to who won. And then... they kicked off. Well, it wasn't quite that quick but Abilene High did move the ball down the field and score on their first drive.

Then Cooper got the ball back and the first wheel fell off. Abilene High scored again, only a field goal, but you just kind of got this feeling the momentum was on their side. On Cooper's first four possessions they turned the ball over three times and punted once. It was ugly, really ugly. The score at halftime was 42-0.

I really hate covering blowouts, especially when all signs were pointing to a great night of football and the game was decided in the first 5 minutes. Because, you know any chance of seeing really great action was starting to slip away. The winning team is going to start playing conservative and not trying to run up the score. The second team players get put in the game to get reps and during the second half I'm just hoping for some decent frames to fill out my online slideshow. Overall, it was a pretty big disappointment, luckily I did make a couple of nice frames, but when players are making 50-yard touchdown runs without ever getting touched, you just leave the game with kind of an empty feeling, knowing you potentially missed out on some really great frames.

Crosstown Volleyball, College Style...

2011-11-01T02:06:00.000-05:00

The week before Halloween is always Crosstown Rivalry week, not only for the high schools but also for the two local D3 colleges, McMurry and Hardin-Simmons. It's kind of weird this year though, since McMurry is moving up to play NCAA Division II next year, so this is the last time the week both the volleyball and football games will be combined. It's not going to be quite as fun next year, but the week won't be as busy as well either.

When they played earlier this year, McMurry won the first game pretty easily and then Hardin-Simmons ended up winning the next three straight games to take the match in four games. This time McMurry won the first game in a blowout, then Hardin-Simmons came back to win the next two games pretty easily. It was looking like deja vu all over again. This time, however, McMurry ended up winning the next match, forcing a fifth game. Now, not only is it rare to see a five-game volleyball set, it's even more rare for me to stick around for all five games. But, given the rivalry and the emotions flowing I figured I'd stick around for the whole thing. Plus, they only play the final game to 15, so at least it'll go a little quicker. And, the added bonus is since they were playing so close the final two games I knew there would be some great emotion from the win, and given the heated rivalry, that just added to things.

I'm Starting to Hate Volleyball a Little Less...

2011-10-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

But, only a little bit. I'm still not going to be jumping to cover volleyball over any other sports. But at the same time, I'm not going to contemplate calling in sick every time I see a volleyball assignment if I keep getting decent matches like I did the other night. Now, it does help that Abilene High and Cooper were playing each other, and as big as this rivalry is finding good emotional shots aren't that hard. I think if these two teams had a chess or checkers match there would be 1,000+ people there screaming and shouting for their team.

This match really didn't have a whole lot riding on it. Abilene High had been eliminated from the playoffs and Cooper was nearly locked in to where they would play. Basically this one was for pride and bragging rights. I was kind of expecting Cooper to win it, AHS had looked awful in the last few matches I saw them play and Cooper was improving. But, as it always seems to go, when you get to a rivalry game you throw records out the window, they just don't matter. And Abilene High proved that, taking a bite out of their crosstown rivals despite not having much left to play for. That is the great part about covering girls sports, the pure raw emotion shown by the players in their win made for some decent shots.

Making the Shoe Fit...

2011-10-27T23:25:00.000-05:00

It's my turn in the photo column rotation again. Having been short a photographer for nearly a year now it's getting tougher to come up with decent ideas that I like. So I've resorted to cruising craigslist to drum up some ideas for my old standby, people with unusual/interesting jobs. That's how I came across RJ Little. He's a farrier, he shoes horses and trims their hooves. I had actually found another one a little earlier but he wasn't from the area. So, I called him up and after talking to him for a bit he told me he'd be working on a bunch of horses on Monday.

This actually really worked out well, given that I'd be able to spend most of the day hanging out and shooting photos. It take about an hour per horse and I shot RJ working on about five different horses. The first one I got a bunch of safe shots and seeing how he works and the whole process he goes through. after that I could anticipate what he was doing and be ready for each step. It was really cool seeing the way he worked and how good he is with the horses. It made for a really fun story to shoot and was a nice change from shooting sports once in a while.

College Homecoming isn't as Bad...

2011-10-25T00:37:00.002-05:00

After a late night of shooting a long high school game it was kind of nice to shoot a game without a tight deadline. And, while this was also a homecoming game, the nice thing about college halftimes is they aren't nearly as long as its high school counterpart. Plus, I don't have to shoot the homecoming queens, so that's one less thing to worry about.

ACU was playing West Texas A&M which is usually a pretty big rivalry game as both teams are usually pretty good. WT, this year, isn't quite as good as they have been in the past. But one thing that can usually be counted on is a whole lot of offense. A couple of years ago, during a playoff game, ACU beat them 93-68.

This time though, the defenses got an invite to the game. There wasn't the typical marching up and down the field constantly for 60 minutes. There were, however, some really nice defensive plays. If I'm watching a game, I like seeing a lot of good defensive plays and a fairly low scoring game. But, when I'm shooting, I prefer a good dose of offense, that just wasn't happening on this day, so I had to make the best of what I was given. Luckily there were a few decent TD's in my direction. Add that in with some nice defensive plays and it turned out to be a decent day.

Hatin on Homecoming Halftime Shows...

2011-10-24T01:17:00.000-05:00

Homecoming football games are never fun to shoot. Here's the problem... Most of the time the opponent is not very good because teams schedule teams that they can beat. So, not only am I going to the stadium knowing the game won't be great, but then I have to deal with nearly an hour-long halftime! One of the few good things about it is the halftime, however. There's usually a nice reaction shot from the homecoming queen.

Due to scheduling Abilene High was at least playing a district game for their homecoming against Midland Lee. After watching Lee get blown out the week before by Cooper I wasn't figuring this would be much of a game. But, Lee came ready to play and adding in two onside kicks they kept the game close. The game never really felt like there would be an upset but Lee stayed pesky pretty much the whole game. This just pushed things later and later and made me start to get a little nervous about missing deadline. Luckily Abilene High started to put things away toward the end and I could rush up and get some pictures sent quick.

Rainy Day Abilene...

2011-10-15T12:10:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was supposed to be a pretty easy day, two football games, starting an hour apart and then one other event and done. These "easy" days never seem to work out that way. As I was pulling into the parking lot at Hardin-Simmons rain started pouring down, then the thunder and lightning came. I was hoping this would be short and the big rains would come in later at night. Too bad the weatherman was wrong, again.

I sat in the press box for a little over an hour waiting to see if they were going to play the game. I grabbed a shot while I was there. After getting word the game was going to be delayed at least a few hours I figured it was time to go look for weather photos. As hard as the rain was coming down and with all the lightning in the area, it was a pretty futile trip. Everyone was indoors and rightly so, sadly this didn't make for great photos.

By the time I got back to the office, I was told the football games that were supposed to be 1pm kickoffs would finally start at 7pm. When I got to Hardin-Simmons the rain was still coming down steadily and I was standing in about an inch of water on the sidelines. The game was sloppy and the real grass field didn't suck in the water nearly as well as it did across town at McMurry who has FieldTurf. I gotta say though, Hardin-Simmons was a lot more fun to shoot in that night! With all the water on the field the players were sloshing around and sliding all over the place. It wasn't real pretty to watch but made for some nice photos. The field goal shot pretty much summed up the day. I never thought I'd have a photo of a plain old 27-yard field goal make the front page of the newspaper, but when you get 3.5 inches of rain during the day, things seem to change.

District Opener...

2011-10-14T19:01:00.000-05:00

Cooper played their district opener against Midland Lee last Friday. After having a tough start the Cougars righted the ship winning three straight. Lee was coming in to the game undefeated, but not having played anyone really tough. On paper it looked to be a pretty good game. Then the game started. Lee's offense was horrible and Cooper's defense was playing lights out. Not the best combination for Lee, and a really favorable one for Cooper.

The only problem with the game is Cooper was getting things done so easily they played a pretty vanilla offense. Not a lot of really great plays just pounding the ball and throwing some short passes and getting good yardage with it. Luckily the defense was playing well and making some nice plays. One really cool thing about this game was the high school kids mimicking the pros and the players and the coaches wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness month.

Volleyball Doubleheader...

2011-10-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

It's no secret my dislike for volleyball. It has nothing to do with the sport or that is a girls sport. In fact there are a lot of thing I like more about women's sports than the men's. Like emotions, the girls tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves more often, win or lose. But volleyball, I think the best answer is, I just suck at it. And, everything I seem to shoot tends to look the same.

Anyway, I had to shoot both Wylie and Cooper playing at the same time. Well, Cooper ended up starting a little later because their JV took forever. Unfortunately, I went to Cooper first. Luckily I work with some really good reporters who are willing to help me out and keep me informed of what going on at the games. This helped out a lot. I had the reporter working the Cooper game text me when the game started and the end of the first game. The plan was to miss the first game at Cooper while I went to shoot at Wylie.

Normally I try not to shoot two games playing at the same time. However, both of these games were being played for the lead in district. For Wylie this was expected. For Cooper, well not so much. By the time I got to the Wylie game they had easily won their first game and were looking like they'd take the match pretty easily... which they did.

The good part about that was since the Cooper game started so late I was able to make it to Cooper at the end of the second game, and the teams split the first two, so there was going to be at least two more games. Just what I needed to work out. This gave me time to make a few shots from the floor as well as being able to go up high in the stands and shoot from there too. It's not often I look at my volleyball photos and am happy with them, I guess this time the stars aligned for a few decent shots.

ACU Football vs Western Oregon...

2011-10-12T02:53:00.000-05:00

ACU played Western Oregon last Saturday. One thing I have noticed about ACU this year compared to the past is they just don't have the big play abilities that they've had in the past. There were a few nice plays in the game, but most were on defense. The offense this year is decent, but the team is built on defense. It kind of takes a little bit of the fun away from shooting this team that is has been in the past.

Outta Town Showdown...

2011-10-06T02:23:00.000-05:00

Finally, I got to shoot an area game since all the local teams were either out of town or off last week. And the game I got was a good one. Eastland was hosting #2 ranked Godley in a Class 2A game that will most-likely decide who will be the district champion. It was a game between a hard-pounding running team (Godley) and a high-flying passing attack (Eastland). It was one of those games I was hoping to get to shoot since the preseason.

The game started out kind of as expected. Godley took the ball down and scored a touchdown on about a seven minute drive. Eastland took the ball ran a couple plays then threw a bomb for a long touchdown. After that Eastland took over and controlled the first half. The defense was playing great, swarming Godley's rushing attack and shutting it down. On the other side of the ball Godley couldn't stop the passing attack. The score at the end of the first half was 23-7 and it was looking like this would be a huge lopsided blowout.

The second half was a little different. Eastland got the ball first and started moving the ball down field like they did in the first half until they got to the red zone. Then the pendulum seemed to swing quickly to Godley. A sack, penalty and a couple bad plays ended with Eastland turning the ball over on downs and Godley's running back finally breaking free for a long touchdown run. Then Godley's defense was figuring out the passing game. The big problem is Godley's offense isn't built for the big plays but they were able to slowly crawl back. Eastland scored one touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter. Then Godley moved the ball but couldn't score. As time started to run out Eastland's quarterback fumbled and lost the ball, there was still a little life. Godley, down by 8, went down the field and scored, but they couldn't convert the 2-point play.

With just over 2 minutes left Eastland recovered the on-sides kick. They had to run the ball and get at least one first down. Now, with Eastland's offense built largely on the pass, this was easier said than done. They had a couple of runs up the middle and went nowhere, but did a good job of killing time off the clock. On third and long Eastland opened up a great hole and their running back took off for a 14 yard gain and that pretty much ended things. All that was left was a kneel down and it was time to celebrate. It was a great game. Hopefully I'll have some more like this coming up no that games are getting important.

Waiting a Long Time for Nothing...

2011-10-05T23:34:00.000-05:00

The Big Country Balloon Fest is one of the coolest events Abilene has every year. Maybe it's just my boyhood obsession with flight, but this event is really cool... when the wind doesn't blow. I know, it's kind of ironic, a hot air balloon which uses no form of propulsion can't fly in windy conditions. But, anything over a couple miles an hour (I think it's five, but not totally sure) and the wind is blowing too hard for it to fly. And, considering, that's kind of what West Texas is know for, it's pretty funny these things ever get up. But they did, and the two previous mornings, plenty of balloons went up, however, I wasn't assigned to shoot the event those days. So, when I got up at 6:30am on Sunday morning and got there and no one was getting their balloons out, I started to get nervous. So I sat, waiting... waiting... waiting... I was told the balloon pilots were having a meeting and hoping the wind would die down. After almost two hours the wind had died down, but no one was going up. Finally one brave balloon pilot started to go up, I ran out there and got a few shots of them getting ready to go up, but with only one balloon it just wasn't all that great, then I got back to the office later in the day and found out this is the same balloon that ran 2 days earlier. Oh well, there's always next year.

Deja Vu...

2011-10-04T00:25:00.000-05:00

So, a week after Wylie blew a lead in the second half they played Lucas Lovejoy and... did it again. For the second week in a row they played really well in the first half and just couldn't get things going in the second half. A lot of this has to do with injuries, it seems like every week another lineman goes down to injury, that makes it tough when it comes down to chemistry, constantly changing personnel makes it tough. That problem leads to holes in the line and the quarterback spending much of the game running for his life. So, when you put all those factors together you can hide it for a little while, but by the second half after you put all the halftime adjustments together, things just seem to fall apart... again.

A Win Would've Worked Better Here...

2011-09-19T23:14:00.001-05:00

I'm often asked "who do you want to win" when I'm at games. And, my official position for my job makes me neutral. However, I'll often tell people "Why don't you ask me at halftime." I usually get a perplexed look and want to know what I mean. Well, this Friday's game between Wylie and Waco High was the perfect example of why I often say this.

I honestly don't care who win the game, yes, sometimes it's a lot easier to cover the winner rather than the loser but these pre-district games don't have a whole lot riding on them other than some bragging rights and pride. There isn't a lot of great emotion to it and relatively nothing riding on the game.

So, this week was the perfect example, of why I decide at halftime who I'd like to win. During the second quarter of Friday's game, Wylie came out and played lights out, both on offense and defense. There were a few nice long passes, some great defensive plays. And, even during the last couple of minutes of the second quarter it poured rain (very rare around here lately) which made for a few really nice shots and weather shots all together.

Basically, I had some really nice shots that I was happy with. However, just because I was happy with what I had, there was another half of football to be played. Then Waco High seemed to wake up and played lights out with some tough running plays and basically pushing Wylie all over the field. Something, that the eye test would've said should have happened the whole game. So, at the end of the game when I went to look at my photos, there just wasn't a whole lot that really told the story. Waco's game was really vanilla and kind of dull, no big plays, no big hits. They just did a workman like game and won. Oh well, these things happen, its a good thing it happened now rather than the playoffs. I still was happy with the photos I got, I just wish the outcome would've been different so they told the story a little better.

Friday Night Football on a Saturday Afternoon...

2011-09-15T23:07:00.000-05:00

The excitement and crowds for Friday Night Football around here are second to none, that's pretty much undeniable, however, the light could be better. So, where there is a Saturday afternoon game, it's a lot more fun. The only problem is, especially this time of year, the weather. The week before the weather had been great. Saturday though it was in the high 90's and the temperatures on the artificial turf field was even worse.

For the first half I toughed it out down on the field. It was damn hot, in fact the turn was so hot from the sun beating down on it it was burning my knees through my pants. How Fun! So, for the second half I decided to change things up. Since I can shoot from the field any game, I decided to go shoot most of the second half from the camera deck on the press box. This is only best done during the day since I need really long glass. Using a 2x convertor on the 400mm lens is best and can only be done during daylight. It made for a nice change from the norm, plus the shade and the breeze were nice too.

How Can a Game This Close be so Boring??...

2011-09-12T20:48:00.000-05:00

Friday night was Cooper's home opener. It's been a pretty tough season so far for the Cougars, in the first game they gave up a 28 point lead in the second half to lose, and last week they got beaten pretty bad in Austin by Westlake. So, this week's game against San Angelo Central was supposed to be the one that righted the ship. Central was coming in with a 2-0 record, but that hadn't really played any tough teams yet either.

Cooper looked good scoring early with a nice touchdown pass. After that the offense seemed to stall. Central was moving the ball pretty well. The score stayed close the whole game, but the game just didn't seem that exciting. Everyone I talk to had pretty much the same feelings about the game... kinda boring. There were a few nice plays during the game by both teams, Central had a nice interception return for a touchdown, and Cooper had a few nice long pass plays. But, for the most part the game just seemed to drag by.

After Cooper kicked a field goal to go up 23-20 Central came down the field and was in field goal position with two seconds left. This is when things REALLY began to drag out. Both teams called a timeout, then another for Cooper, I guess trying to ice the kicker. This whole time I'm looking at the clock, it was late, this game took forever. Lots of incomplete passes, stopping the clock. Then Central lines up to kick, a 29-yard field goal, good. But... flag down, Central called for a false start, a 5-yard penalty and re-kick. Ugh, well, I guess this is good, no overtime... yet. Then Central calls timeout again. Teams line up, then a Cooper timeout, dear god! Can we just play the game already?!? Finally, after five timeouts, no one had any left, they could finally run the play. Central misses (good, there was no way I was making deadline if they went to overtime!), game over... finally!! I really do think it took 10-15 minutes to play the final 2 ticks of the clock!

Look, In the Sky... It's Smoke...

2011-09-10T22:48:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday morning I was leaving the grocery store with a few bags of ice and other frozen items for a party we were having that night. As I walked out of the grocery store there was a huge plume of black smoke in the sky. Damn, I'm thinking, I've got all this frozen stuff and this, what looks like a big fire. As I'm pulling out I see a police car turn the corner and fly down the street. Well, damn, I figure I better go check it out. One of the local schools is in the area the smoke was coming up and there was a lot of it! It turns out the fire was at a building so I pull into the parking lot quick as fire engines are pulling in. The flames were pretty big. The firemen got it out pretty quick, it turns out the fire was caused by a roofer's tar pot and there wasn't much damage. I grabbed my shots and was on my way home in less than 10 minutes and got home before everything melted.

I Love Daytime Football...

2011-09-08T23:02:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the first day in months that the weather wasn't just brutally hot, by that I mean it was only in the mid-90's that day. How convenient that it was also the first weekend of college football. Hardin-Simmons was opening up against Coe College, a team returning 21 of 22 starters. They were ranked in the top 10 of D3 football and were supposed to be really good. Their quarterback was a preseason D3 All-American. Hardin-Simmons had graduated a bunch of really good players, had a new coach, new quarterback, etc.

Basically, on paper, this game wasn't going to be close, and it wasn't. Hardin-Simmons won it 41-14. Not quite what was expected. Coe looked and played awful, maybe it was the heat, maybe something else, maybe Hardin-Simmons is a lot better than expected. Whatever it was, the home team looked and player really well. Add in a few long touchdown catches and some really good defense and hard hits and it ends up making for a few decent photos.

Friday Night Football Week 2...

2011-09-07T01:06:00.000-05:00

Friday night I shot Stephenville coming to town to play Wylie. I was looking forward to it after Stephenville had knocked off the #1 team in the state the week before in a game that anyone who was there said it was one of the best games they had seen. For the first quarter, Wylie kept things in check pretty well in the first quarter with it ending only 14-7, thanks in part to Wylie returning a fumble for a touchdown. The Stephenville defense stifled Wylie.

Then in the second quarter Stephenville's offense woke up and the game got out of hand. That's when things started to get ugly. Once the offense started to click the game was over. Stephenville was just too much for the over-matched Bulldogs and there wasn't anything they could throw at them to slow them down. The good news for Wylie, if there was any coming out of this game, was this is the best team they'll play this year and there is no chance they'll meet in the playoffs, since Stephenville is 4A and Wylie is 3A.

College Football Opener...

2011-09-05T23:58:00.000-05:00

Given that the majority of the football games I shoot are on Fridays, when I get to shoot a game on a Thursday, it's sort of like a bonus. That's the good thing about the first couple weeks of the season, Thursday night football. I'm not sure why, they're so popular at the start of the season. But, the first couple of weeks are pretty full.

This week I went to Staphenville for ACU's opener against Tarleton State. Last year, at home, ACU lit up Tarleton handing them their biggest loss in school history. So, I was kind of expecting something similar or at least a pretty easy win for the Wildcats. Well, it didn't quite turn out like that. Tarleton was a much improved team and ACU, well they eventually woke up and won the game but it was incredibly sloppy on both sides of the ball.

The first half of the game was really sloppy and neither team made all that great photos at all. There was a nice enough face mask shot and a couple others, which gave me a few shots to send in. The second half, though, had a lot more action, plus some really great drama in the fourth quarter. ACU, down 4 points in the last few minutes, made two drives in the last few minutes, one ending with them scoring with only a minute left. As I stood on the sidelines shooting some jube shots (one really nice thing about D2 football, is you can pretty much go wherever you want on the sidelines) Tarleton was marching down the field. They got all the way to the ACU 4 yard line with only 4 seconds left in the game. This was probably going to be the last play of the game. For stuff like this I'm always watching for the reaction shot rather than watching the actual play, which ended with an ACU interception. ACU squeaked out a close one. Too bad it was after deadline and the best shots ended up only making it online. Oh well, the slideshow looked good, at least.

One Down 16 to go...

2011-08-31T01:28:00.000-05:00

The final game of the weekend was another area match up between Colorado City and Merkel. Both were expected to have big seasons and whoever won this one was off to a good start. The game started off looking pretty good Merkel scored first, but Colorado City moved the ball well. The biggest problem is Colorado City kept shooting themselves in the foot in the red zone.

In the second quarter Colorado City started to put things together, but Merkel was still playing really well on both sides of the ball, it was just looking like one of those games that looked like it would go back and forth all night. It was a lot of fun to watch but made things a little stressful to cover given earlier deadlines on Saturday, than the normal later Friday night deadlines.

I shot until the middle of the third quarter and after I got photos that would work for both teams I ran to the pressbox to edit. Things stayed close all through my editing. I was kind of hoping one team or another would pull away, but that just wasn't going to happen. So, I sent two photos, one that would work if CCity won and another that would work should Merkel win. Finally, towards the end of the fourth quarter Merkel pulled away with the lead and with less than two minutes left they scored a TD to put things away. This was easily the best game I got to see of the weekend, I just wish I wasn't so squeezed for time. Nonetheless I was happy with what I got. Hopefully things will only get better from here.

Opening Weekend Day 2...

2011-08-30T01:16:00.000-05:00

Abilene High's season opener against El Paso Hanks on Friday was one of those games I'm not sure many people knew what to expect. Last season coming off a state championship and with so many returning starters and great players coming back there were super high expectations. This year, it started without a whole lot of hype. So, when the game started and the AHS defense shut down the opposing team's offense it was starting to look like old times. Then, after they blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown it was looking like the team hadn't missed a beat from the past couple years.

Now the team they were playing, El Paso Hanks was not really a good team. But, when you rush for over 400 yards, score on every possession and don't turn the ball over during the game, it doesn't matter who you're playing, it was a good game. They won the game 77-13 with scoring the last couple touchdowns on really basic plays. Next week, though, they'll face a much tougher test so the season should be interesting, but it is always more fun to cover a winner than a loser.

Season Opener...

2011-08-29T00:46:00.000-05:00

After a month of shooting football practice, mug shots, portraits and scrimmages it was finally time for a real game. Thursday was the first day in Texas that football teams are allowed to play a game. I think last year was the first time I didn't have a Thursday night game to shoot, so it was nice to get a game to start out the weekend. And even better, it was in town.

Something else also happened that hasn't much lately. It rain, not very much, but it still rained. As little precipitation that fell wouldn't have even been a problem normally, however, the lightning in the area that caused a 30 minute delay was. Thursday games are kind of tight for deadlines, so have a 30 minute wait during the game wasn't helping any.

The wasn't all that fantastic, it was two area teams, Munday and Stamford. On paper it looked to be pretty good and from the start it looked like it was going to be pretty high scoring. Which always helps when your shooting on a tight deadline. Well, Munday's quarterback got hurt on the last play before the lightning delay and when the game resumed it became real one-sided real quick. Stamford couldn't be stopped and Munday just couldn't answer. The game ended with Stamford winning 47-21. There was no shortage of big plays, which I missed a plenty of shots, luckily it was only the first game of the year, and there's going to be plenty more.

Cover Stories...

2011-08-26T02:25:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning to believe the worst part of football season happens before the season even starts. It certainly seems like it may be the busiest. It has a lot more to do with the deadlines that seem to get tighter every year and not with the grind of shooting the photos... that's always the fun part. The biggest problem is the logistics and trying to make my schedule end up fitting in with kids' and coaches schedules.

Luckily, we have a lot of really good coaches in the area who make life a lot easier in getting their players back after practice in order to let me shoot the photos. Now, it wouldn't be so bad if this was all I had to do, however, for the first four days of this I'm shooting mug shots of all our area 11-man schools. Some of the cover shots work out when I'm able to get them shot after shooting mugs. However, most of them require some creative scheduling, like driving 60 miles out of my way after finishing mugs, or waiting around for a practice to finish, of hoping a kid can come back a couple hours after practice is over. But, luckily they all worked out, and for the most part I was happy with the results.

For the front cover of the tab (above), the theme was about quarterbacks so we took the best of the local quarterbacks (Cooper's Clayton Nicholas) and the best area QB (Snyder's Keenon Ward) and put them on the cover. The problem was there was no way we'd be able to get them both in the same town because of practice schedules. So, the only option was to shoot them separately and put them together in a photo illustration. Now, this would have been easy enough, I've done similar photos, however, it's always a good idea, when you walk out of the office with the lighting kit to MAKE SURE ALL THE PARTS ARE IN IT!! Like the reflectors!! Because it truly sucks to be setting up the lights and notice you have no reflectors and knowing there no way I'm going to have time to come back to re-shoot it in time. So, after a slight panic attack, I pulled out the strobes I always keep in my car and set them up on the light stands, the strobist approach worked out well this time. Note to self: don't start one of the busiest weeks of the year right after coming off vacation!

Here We Go Again...

2011-08-10T03:02:00.000-05:00

Last week was the first week of August, that can only mean one thing... two actually: 1) It's the start of football season, with high school starting their quests for a state title with the first week of practice, and 2) It's hotter than hell!! And this summer, it's even worse, it hasn't rained here in, I think, like 3 months. Plus, we've set a record for most days over 100 degrees and they don't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Hell, it's in the 90's at 10pm!

However, that's not going to stop football from starting on time. Kids sweating their asses off in hopes of freezing their asses off in December. At least, I'm hoping the 100 degree temps are gone by then! My trip is always the same directions every day. It's actually kind of nice, the schedule has only changed slightly over a few years. That also helps in having the coaches know that we are coming and will have their teams ready for photos. The main part of my trip is shooting mugs shots and any cover photos needed for the football tab. But, I'm also shooting practice photos for any news stories (weather, hydration, general first day of practice, etc.).

So, anyway, not only was Monday the first day of football practice it was also my first day back from a much needed 10 day vacation. However, in hindsight, I'm not so sure I'm going to make my first day back from vacation such a stressful time. It was way too much of a pain and a logistical nightmare. However, despite a few glitches, I ended up making it through and getting a few decent shots. Now it's on to finishing up the rest of the football tab photos, I'll be glad when the real games start.

Water, Water... Nowhere...

2011-07-18T01:16:00.000-05:00

This Sunday we ran a big water package about the drought in the area. Most of the local lakes are below 50% capacity. Between the fast evaporation rate from more than 30 days of 100+ degree heat this summer combines with the almost three months of no rain (I think there has been measurable rainfall in the area twice in the last three months). So, I ended up taking a few road trips around the area to shoot some of the lakes in the area. Pretty much all but one were in really bad shape, a couple were really just glorified mud puddles, it was really awful. However, it made for some really nice and storytelling photos.

It was really interesting, the first place I went to was Lake Brownwood, south of Abilene. One of the places I went to was a place I had last been to in 2007 when the lake was flooding. It was really crazy since the parking lot I had parked in was under six inches of water. This time when I went out there I took photos of some people tanning near the water about 40 yards from where the shoreline was supposed to be.

It's been a while since I've taken a real road trip around the area that wasn't sports related, so checking out all of these places from a news perspective was a little out of the norm. One of the places I went to was Lake JB Thomas near Snyder. This lake was barely even a lake it this point, it's kind of weird, the lake has never been more than 37% full and it's currently down to only three percent. As I was driving down one of the roads to get to the water I looked down at my GPS (pic below) to see how close I was and it showed I was in what should have been the middle of the lake, yet the water was still about 400 yards from my car! As I went further to the western side of the lake, there were areas that were so overgrown it looked like there had never even been any water in the so-called lake bed ever, I'm not sure if it was bad engineering or wishful thinking or a combination of both. The whole trip was a really eye opening experience that pretty much told the story of just how precious water is in this area.

Another Day Another Fire...

2011-07-14T02:26:00.000-05:00

Saturday, I was headed back from shooting an assignment in Lake Stamford and decided to take a little different route home than I got there, and against my GPS's directions (because I'm not so sure she knows the best route). And, once again as I noticed the all too familiar plume of smoke in the air, and since I was headed in that direction anyway, I figured I'd just keep an eye on it. By the time I got back to Lake Fort Phantom it was really big and the scout plane and tankers were circling to make drops. I jumped out of the car real quick in time to get the big tanker making a drop. But, since the majority of the photos I've shot from wild fire lately has been from air units making drops I wanted to stick around and shoot some of the ground crews, hand crews, or the brush trucks. It sounds easy enough, but with the roads blocked off it's tough to get really good access. But, after waiting it out for a while the game warden who had the road blocked off took off. I'm not sure why, he just left, cool. I ventured down the road a little to one of the burning tree lines. I figured if I hung out there long enough one of the brush trucks would go work that area. And, my bet paid off, plus the field I was standing next to caught on fire too. It was kind of crazy, I got really good access here. I think part of it was standing next to one of the command vehicles, I figured if he was there I was ok too. I was able to get a few shots of the forestry service guys working the fire and decided to get out of there. I was happy with what I had and it was hotter than hell out there. It was time to go.

Spending the Night Staring at the Stars...

2011-07-13T01:21:00.000-05:00

This was kind of a last-minute idea. While I was captioning the mud bog photos I was looking in the paper's calender trying to find the proper name of the event and ended up coming across the calender item about the star gazing party at Abilene State Park in Buffalo Gap. I had actually shot one of these parties when I first came to Abilene, but none since. In fact, it had been so long that the last one I shot was done on film. So, this was kind of cool, since now I had a camera that I was confident enough in to shoot with and could make some nice images. I got there a little before the sun had gone down to talk with the members of the Big Country Astronomy Club and get a few shots of them setting up. I kind of knew the shots I wanted for the main photo, something using a long exposure that showed the sky and all the stars.

As the sun started going down the crescent moon was just about to set people started to line up at the telescopes to see the moon, which with these really big telescopes made some beautiful visuals. Star parties are best when the sky is dark, so a new moon or a couple of days after with minimal moonlight are best, so the little bit of time with the moon was just sort of appeasing the folks before the sun totally set. However, it also made for a really nice photo since while I was standing there a dad was lifting up his little girl (above) to look through the telescope.

Now, if I wasn't that interested in the event I probably could have left then. However, the astrogeek in me wanted to see some stars and planets. I actually took astronomy in college and did really well until it got to the physics par, luckily I didn't have to do any physics here or measure the distances between galaxies. It was just looking through the telescopes and shooting photos. And, once it got really dark I pulled out my mini tripod and started shooting some long exposures. It was pretty late by this point and I'd shot quite a few others up to this point. The good thing though was a lot of the people were gone. And when I saw this kid sitting at the telescope for a few minutes I set my camera on the ground and shoot a few of him using thirty second exposures. It got me just what I was looking for, the kid in the foreground with a nice bright sky full of stars in the background (top), the person walking by with the red flashlight that made the red streak was just sort of a bonus.

Lets Go Play in the Mud...

2011-07-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

Along with the fireworks for the 4th of July I went to Roscoe to cover their parade and mud bog. Now the parade was well, a small town parade. However, the other part of the celebration was a mud bog. I've covered one other one before and it wasn't too great. Mostly because it was really unorganized and they didn't get started until about 3 hours after when it was supposed to start. This one though, was a lot of fun, there were about 50 trucks competing and it started right after the noon start time. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. And everyone was having a good time both the drivers and the fans. And really, how hard is it NOT to make a decent photo with all that mud and a bunch of guys out their trying to get dirty?

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-10T01:19:00.001-05:00

With the majority of the area going up in flames and the fear of what hasn't burned yet being ready to burn many of the towns around the area cancelled their fireworks this year. However, a few places did keep their shows, mostly the few places that can shoot off the fireworks over a lake... something else that's drying up. So, Clyde was still having their show, in fact they were having two, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Our plan was to run the photos on Sunday, so I really needed to shoot the show on Friday night since our Saturday night deadlines are about 10 minutes before the show would actually start. When I got their and set up I figured I had a pretty decent spot. Then when the fireworks actually started I found out I was way too far back I ended up running with my tripod and cameras up to a few people who were watching from a little bit closer rock. When the finale started I still hadn't gotten a shot I liked, I began to panic a little and started shooting a lot, going with long exposures on my camera on the tripod and wide angle lens, my other camera I had my 70-200mm lens on and went filling up the frame with the fireworks and noticed the reflection of the lake in the shot. As I was leaving I wasn't sure if I had a shot or not, so when I got back tot he office and was looking at what I had it was starting to be a little disappointing, then I saw the above shot, and what made it for me was seeing the people's silhouettes in the bottom left of the frame. A big sigh of relief, I had my shot and luckily it was about the only shot I really liked. But, it worked out well as the main photo on the front page, though it probably could've run a little bigger.

Cowboy Reunion...

2011-07-09T00:37:00.001-05:00

For my photo column last week I went up to Stamford to shoot the rodeo at the Texas Cowboy Reunion. It's a really cool event that's been going on up there for 80+ years and for the folks who go, both the spectators and competitors, it's a yearly tradition. Now, I've covered the parade before the event and the fiddlers contest and Saturday events before, but I'd never been to the rodeo before. Not sure why, but it's something I've always seemed to have missed. I ended up getting to the event about an hour early, since I had to shoot and transmit photos from the parade for the next day's paper.

After running into quite a few people I met during Stamford's run to state in baseball, I went to the back and poked around checking out the competitors and seeing what kind of behind the scenes stuff I could get into. It was cool because it allowed me to talk to a lot of folks about the event without bothering them during the rodeo, since I also had to write a short story to go with the photo page. After talking to many of them the theme was the same, pretty much everyone I talked to had been coming here every year "for as long as I can remember." Well, that was easy enough, I knew what I was writing about. And after a couple of hours I had a bunch of nice images that I was happy with.

The Biggest Little Fire in Texas...

2011-07-06T01:14:00.000-05:00

It is becoming commonplace to see giant plume of smoke in the sky outside of Abilene. And it always means the same thing. Most of the fires are thousands of acres and anywhere from 30-70 miles out of town (and yes you can see the smoke from that far away). So, when I saw the plume of smoke the other day I checked with the office to make sure someone knew about it and that someone was going to shoot it. The fire ended up being just up the road at Lake Fort Phantom north of Abilene.

I ended up getting there pretty quick, and was able to see the flames torching the cedar trees. It looked like the fire was burning right towards the lake. I was curious, the way it was burning if the fire departments would even bother fighting it that much, since it looked like it would just burn itself out going toward the lake. I was shooting from another cove across the lake with a long lens, so I had a great view of the flames, but no one fighting it. I sat and watched it burn waiting to see if I could get anything of the fire departments. After a while, I decided where I moved and ended up finding and old abandoned trailer that had a covered patio on the water. It was nice I had a great view and shade, which is perfect on a 100 degree day.

About the time I was starting to get bored just watching trees burn, I noticed a baby deer running around the fire. As I was watching the deer run around it almost became like a sport watching it dodge flames and try to figure out a way to get away. Finally, it went in the lake and swam around the burning grasses and ended up getting away to an unburned area. Just about that time, I heard the familiar thumping of rotor blades and then looked up and saw a helicopter flying in. Well, I guess my idea of just letting it burn to the shore wasn't going to happen. As I first watched the helicopter it was on the other side of the fire nowhere near me. Then after about 15 minutes it dropped some water on my side then went and hovered over the water giving me a clear glimpse of it doing it's job. Then it went out and made a drop right near the shoreline giving me a nice clear view. I stuck around and shot a few more drops before finally taking off.

When I got back to the office I found out that only one abandoned structure was destroyed in the fire. It's kind of funny, a couple firefighters I've spoken to call these "no glory" fires, since there isn't anything to save. It's not like they fight any harder to do their jobs, but people seem to give them less credit since there isn't anything to save. As long as no one gets hurt it's all good. So, another thing I had learned was the fire only burn 37 acres, kind of crazy considering most of the fires I've been covering the last few months were more on the 37,000 acre scale. However, that day must have been a pretty light day, finally, since the 37 acres that burned in Abilene was the biggest fire in the state that day. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come and not just wishful thinking.

First Stop on the Way to Williamsport...

2011-07-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

Shooting bad baseball is not fun, shooting good baseball that means something is one of my favorite sports to shoot. Luckily, during the regular season we're too busy with high school and college baseball to shoot little league. However, during the summer there are no high school and college sports going on, but there are still the district and state little league tournaments. Both of witch have some type of stop in Abilene. The first one is the district 5 tournament. The good thing about it is every team in it is from Abilene or somewhere in the area, the bad thing is... well...the same thing.

Since there wasn't a whole lot going on that night I figured I'd shoot two games one was two local teams, the other a pair of area teams playing right across the street after the first one. The second game was kind of awful, I had gotten there a little late because the first one went long. It was a totally one-sided game. Errors, bad swings, mental mistakes etc. they couldn't do anything. The other team was hitting everything. I didn't end up staying long since I had a few shots and luckily was pushing up to deadline anyway.

The first game between Dixie and Cedar Creek, both from Abilene, was a great game. Cedar Creek was up 4-0 when I got there and I thought it could be a blowout, then Dixie's bats woke up and they took a lead going into the final inning. Down by 2, Cedar Creek tied it up and had runners on first and third with two outs. Then the Cedar Creek batter cranked a huge hit for a three-run homer to win the game. It's one of those things every kid dreams of doing. It made for some really nice shots, from both teams. The only bad part of the game was probably my favorite shot was from a Dixie player coming home after an earlier home run.

Welcome Back Nukies...

2011-07-03T21:32:00.000-05:00

It's kind of hard to believe the Cold War has been over for about 20 years now. But, during the height of the Cold War and America's big nuclear buildup Abilene was a big part of it with the Atlas missile project. And the guys who attached the warhead to them were the men of the 42nd Munitions Maintenance Squadron, who back then were known as the "Nukies," at Dyess Air Force Base. It's really crazy when you think about it that 18-20 year old boys were in charge of the one key element in the destruction of the planet. And one of the first devices to deliver those warheads were the Atlas missiles, which had their silos almost in a circle around the city of Abilene.

So, last week, the men of the 42nd MMS had a 50th anniversary reunion. To get together and reminisce about old times. It was really cool listening to some of these guys talk about what they did. Thinking back on it, it was kind of a big deal, but most of them had the same response about it back them "it was just a job and we did it." In the morning, the group got to go take a tour of their old work area at Dyess and meet with the guys doing the similar job to theirs now. The one major difference being that the guys now only work with conventional bombs as opposed to the nukes. Then, later in the afternoon the guys were going out to Oplin to tour one of the old silos that they worked on the missiles, that has been converted to someone's home now. That was really cool, being able to go into the silo, see how it had been transformed into a really cool home, while at the same time being able to go into the silo and see just how massive the place was, not to mention how the guy had fixed it up and put in a new hydraulic lift to open up the missile doors. Between that and getting to hear the old stories of what things were like back then made for a really cool history lesson you just can't read about.

These are Tough Roller Girls...

2011-07-02T01:06:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year Abilene started it's own roller derby team. I actually covered their first bout, but having to cover a (really bad) indoor football game I wasn't able to spend much time covering the game. And, the last bout that they had sadly happened on a weekend that I was in Austin for Hell Week. So, finally I was going to get to cover the Derby Dames. Well, not quite as long as I'd have liked to. Comedian Jeff Dunham and his muppets were in town for a show. Luckily, he wasn't going on until 9p.m. So, at least I had a little time to shoot the roller derby for a while.

Since I was pressed for time I didn't have a whole lot of time to shoot from many different place and work the room like I normally would. So, I shot right on one of the turns with a nice dark background. There were a few nice collisions and pile ups. The Abilene team was winning it pretty good so I didn't feel too bad about leaving, but hopefully next time I'll be able to go and shoot the whole thing and get some nicer stuff.

Fire Season is Getting Old...

2011-06-30T02:11:00.001-05:00

It's almost getting to the point where 10,000+ acres burning is not news any more. In this case the White Hat fire in Maryneal, a tiny blip on the map in Nolan county about 50 miles west of Abilene, burned 36,000 acres. Sadly, 12 structures burned down, however, of the 12 I think only a few of them were currently occupied. Still, it was a pretty big deal so again I got sent up in a helicopter to fly over the fire to get some photos. Now, while hearing about fires constantly starts to get old, the chance to fly never does, I guess it goes back to me wanting to be a pilot when I was a kid. And I have to say, shooting fires from a helicopter is a helluva lot easier than shooting it from a plane, thank god we have a helicopter service in town that accessible and for the most part available. Plus, I think it helps with dealing with the forest service in them giving us access since a helicopter can maneuver around a lot easier, and with a bunch of planes flying around and all the windmills in the way as well, it helps and keeps us low enough to shoot some decent photos rather than the 4,000+ feet.

I was happy with the photos I got from shooting the fire, however, compared to the last big fire I shot they didn't quite stand up. I think a lot of it had to do with being a day late. When we got there we saw a lot of scorched earth and not a whole lot of fire. The tankers were dropping a lot of retardant and the bulldozers had fire lines dug out. It was a huge change from when you could see the smoke plume from 40 miles away. That was good and a testament to how good the forestry service and local fire departments are at containing these fires. I just wish I could have gotten there a day earlier. It may sound pretty crass with all the destruction going on, I never hope for any of this to happen. But talking to a firefighter one time pretty much summed up the way I feel, He said, "You never hope for this to happen, but dammit, when it does, I sure as hell hope it happens on my shift."

High School Rodeo...

2011-06-28T00:33:00.000-05:00

I spent s few days hanging out at the rodeo shooting my photo column. It's always kind of nice to go somewhere without any real expectations. This year's finds didn't turn out quite as nice as the ones I got from last year, mostly because I didn't have as much time to walk around but I still ended up getting a few shots I liked. Then I went and shot the saddle bronc event on Saturday night and got a few nice shots of riders getting thrown off their horses. I guess since Saturday was the finals they saved the meanest horses for last because it seemed like nearly every one of the riders was getting tossed from their horses. That may not have been what the riders wanted but it sure made for some pretty fun images.

State Baseball....

2011-06-20T22:40:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I've been to Round Rock to cover the state baseball tournament. Last year when Stamford made it to state the game was covered by one of our sister papers who was also covering the games. And after hearing about the five hour rain delay and blowout following, I didn't feel so bad about missing the game. This year when I went down there I figured Stamford having been there would help, since they hopefully wouldn't have the jitters after many of these kids on the team were there last year. And, seeing the team they were playing was a first timer in the tourney maybe it wouldn't be a quick turnaround like last year.

The problem was, they were playing Johnson City, who was coming out of probably the toughest region in the state in baseball. When they walked out on the field the eye test didn't tell me they were going to be world beaters and watching them take infield they didn't look terribly spectacular either. However, once the game started, they showed why they were in the state tournament. Good pitching, really good fundamentals and some nice hitting gave them a quick lead.

The weather for the game could be best described as hotter than hell. And although it wasn't over 100 like in Abilene, it was only in the 90's, that was easily made up with a nice heave dose of humidity. I spent the first five innings baking in the sun in the photo wells along the first and third base lines, and an inning in the stands shooting behind home plate. However, I had been eyeing the left field home run porch most of the game. So in the sixth inning, I put the 2x teleconverter on the 400mm lens and I went up there to shoot for an inning. When I got up there I pretty much wanted to kick myself in the head for not shooting the whole game up there! It was cool in the shade and had a nice breeze blowing in. Basically the best seat in the house. Plus when I went up there, Stamford's bats woke up.

Stamford got down early and wasn't looking great. It was sad and starting to look like last year's mercy rule loss was going to repeat. Luckily, the defense started to pick up and finally in the sixth inning the bats were starting to wake up. Scoring five runs in the inning and closing it to one run. It was looking like they were setting themselves up for a nice comeback win. Well, then in the top of the seventh inning Johnson City blew things open with a 5-run inning and Stamford's bats couldn't finish it. Well, the good thing for them is most of the team was made up of sophomores and juniors so there's always the chance they could be back next year. Although, given that I've never seen one of the local teams win one of their semifinal games in the state baseball tournament, they may not want me covering the game.

Spending the Day with the FCA...

2011-06-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

The assignment I had following the Garage Band Woodstock was the annual FCA football game. However, before that, was the FCA basketball game. I've never been a huge fan of these types of games, mostly because, while I think it's really cool the kids get to be honored for all their hard work during their high school careers, the action is never all that great. Yet, every couple of years, they seem to prove me wrong. This just happened to be one of those years.

Now, just because of my perception of the game no having great potential, that doesn't mean I'm going to slack off in how I shoot it. Doing that just ensures bad photos.

The girls basketball game wasn't a great game, the South team won, like it has every year the game has been played. And it wasn't all that close. Luckily, there were plenty of area players on both teams. The players off the North team at least did have a few moments that they shined, when they were able to break the South's press, which made for some decent enough photos.

In the football game I got there a couple minutes after it started by the time I got into the stadium and fought the crowd. The halftime usually lasts forever, so it's always my goal in this game to get something nice before the half, after that if I get something nice I can either trade it out or have it for the slideshow. In the first drive of the game I got the shot of the receiver reaching for the ball. After that it was just making sure I got enough for the slideshow and making sure I didn't miss anything by falling asleep. The shot of the kid losing his helmet I got in the second half and made a nice photo for the jump page. Well, this year was the exception to the rule, hopefully the start of a streak.

Getting Down With the Garage Bands...

2011-06-18T23:54:00.000-05:00

This was one of those assignments I was just hoping to get lucky with a decent shot quick. I had to shoot the second annual Garage Band Woodstock. My plan was to (hopefully) get two quick shots before heading across the street to shoot my next assignment. I knew one shot would be east enough, getting something of the bands. The other one I had in mind was people dancing. When I got there things had just started, and there weren't many folks on the dance floor, so I made sure to get my band shots out of the way. After that I just walked around observing the crowd, looking for something else. I wasn't seeing a whole lot from the crowd, then I checked back on the dance floor and saw the little kid getting down. Perfect. I kind of sat back shooting from afar not wanting to him to see me and possibly clam up. Then again, as much as he was into his dancing I don't think he would've noticed anything. I got my shots, got names and was out in time to get to my next assignment in time.

Back Outta Town for more Baseball...

2011-06-14T23:49:00.000-05:00

It was right around a year ago that I was shooting Stamford beating Forsan for the chance to make its first trip to the state tournament in baseball. On that night I shot probably my favorite baseball photo of the year. Well, this year Stamford was playing again, in the regional finals, this time against Hamlin, and the situation was a little different. They lost the first game of the series so they were going to have to win two. I found myself racing up there since I had a couple other assignments that needed to be done and it was a 5pm game in Graham.

By the time I got there, it was the fourth inning and Stamford was winning a close game. That's ok, while I was afraid I'd missed a lot there was plenty to come. In the bottom of the seventh inning, down by two, Hamlin tied the game up with a homerun. Then in the top of the eighth Stamford's Hagen Hutchinson scored on a great dive into home plate. Thank god for the LCD screen on my camera. I thought I had it but just had to check to be sure. I did, crossing my fingers I zoomed in to be sure it was sharp. Big sigh of relief, it was.

So, now that Stamford had won the first game and I had a great shot of Stamford I needed one of two things to happen. Either, Stamford wins the second game or Hamlin gives me something better if they won. It's tough enough getting one shot I love during a game, so getting two was completely implausible. The other impending problem I was seeing was time. It was nearly 8:30pm when the second game started. And the way the first inning was starting, this game looked like it may last four hours! Stamford scored in the top of the first, then Hamlin scored three, but the inning ended with a great play at the plate. After that it seemed like the wheels just completely fell off for Hamlin. Stamford came out and scored tight runs in the top of the second. Hamlin got back up and couldn't answer. Stamford came out the next inning and put up more. Stamford ended up winning the game in a blow out with a mercy rule win. It was really kind of a sad ending for such a great series and close rivalry between two evenly matched teams. Plus it made Stamford's celebration a little anti-climactic. That's ok, I got to run the shot of Hutchinson diving across the plate. The top photo is actually my favorite, however, I ended up going with the one of him with his hand on the plate (below), I think it did a little better job of telling the story.

Austin Bound, Quick Turnaround...

2011-06-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

The Albany Lady Lions' first trip to the state softball tournament started with a 11am game in Austin. After having spent 10 days in Austin just a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to spend as much time in my own bed as I could. So, we ended up leaving at 4:30am for the game. That sounded crazy enough, but this one may top it... if Albany won, we spend the night and cover the championship game on Saturday, that's normal enough. However, should they lose, we were going to turn around and be back home that night. Well... they lost.

The really cool thing about state championship games are the venues. The University of Texas has really great facilities all around and the McCombs Softball Complex is no different. It's a beautiful stadium. And, when I;m covering a game here I try to make sure to shoot some photos that kind of show where they are playing. Win or lose this is a big deal. A couple hundred teams start the year with the goal of making it to Austin, and only four from each classification make it. So, in getting to not only shoot for print but having an online slideshow with an unlimited amount of space I try to show everything happening from warmups, to the game, the fans and the post-game celebration/disappointments.

The game started out kind of ugly. Grapeland was hitting well and Albany was making uncharacteristic errors, both fielding and mental on the base paths. I'd chalk it up to nerves. The did end up calming down and playing better. The problem was, when they did start hitting the ball they couldn't string enough together to score. Or, they were hitting the ball well but to the wrong place and were getting out. It's one of those things, that it just wasn't going to be their day. They ended up losing the game 8-3, which meant that my day had just gotten longer. After filing my photos, putting together a slideshow and grabbing some dinner we were headed home. Luckily the reporter drove the way back and I was able to use my wireless card to get online (with a very slow connection at some points) and build the slideshow. So, by 9pm I was home and back in my own bed and ready to cover baseball the next day.

Division Rivalry... In the Finals...

2011-06-12T23:37:00.001-05:00

Stamford and Hamlin are less than 20 miles apart, are district rivals and having been battling each other pretty in much every sport this year. However, both their baseball teams were about as evenly matched as you could get. They tied for the district championship splitting the regular season games (here are the photos from their first game of the season that I had shot), then Hamlin took the one-game playoff. So it was only fitting that they would end up playing each other for the regional championship and the right to go to the state tournament.

At the start of the game, both teams were playing really sloppy. Hamlin's pitcher couldn't throw strikes and Stamford couldn't field the ball, committing five errors in the first three innings. I'm guessing it may have had something to do with nerves. They played at McMurry University's Driggers Field in Abilene (probably one of the nicest D3 baseball fields in the country), in front of the biggest crowd I've ever seen at that stadium. The stands were packed and there were fans 2-3 deep along the fences on both sides of the fields.

It had all the feel of a huge game and after the teams calmed down they started playing like they deserved to be there, but Hamlin had already had the lead. Stamford clawed back to within a run, but just couldn't get back ahead. Stamford was the home team and had the last at bat, but just couldn't finish it off and Hamlin won it it 6-5. Despite really bad play at the start of the game, it turned out to be really fun to watch, and a good start to the three-game series.

State Bound....

2011-06-11T23:51:00.000-05:00

I was running a little late getting to the Graham for the 10am start of Albany's softball game against Petrolia. I wasn't too worried since if Albany won the first game the most important shot was coming at the end for the celebrations photos. And, if they lost the first game, it was going to be a doubleheader. I was hoping they'd go ahead and win the first one so my day would be really short. Of course, that wasn't going to happen. They went up 7-1 early in the game before I got there and the wheels fell off, mental errors and good hitting sunk them. Well at least I didn't make a 1.5 hour trip for 30 minutes of work.

And, if I were to shoot a softball game, I can't think of many places nicer to shoot a high school softball game than in Graham. This may be the nicest high school softball stadium in the country. And with the high that day going up to 109, the best part about it was the stands were covered. Shade in 109 is ALWAYS a good thing. So, I shot the first couple of innings from the top of the stands with a long lens. Albany scored a few quick runs and was afraid we were in for a long game, given that these batters knew the pitchers so well. Luckily there wasn't a whole lot of scoring the rest of the game. Petrolia scored a couple of runs, but Albany did a good job of shutting down any chances for a big run as well as still adding a couple more runs throughout the game.

I've said this before, officially it's not my job to care who wins but make a story-telling photo from the game. However, it's always a lot easier to cover a winner rather than a loser. So, when they held on to win it made some really nice jube shots, especially after losing the first game, looked like it added a little to the celebration.

A Whole Lotta Pomp and Circumstance...

2011-06-06T20:42:00.000-05:00

Shooting Wylie's graduation has become a yearly ritual for me. I'm not sure how many consecutive years I've shot it, but it's got to be at least five. So, my challenge every year is to try to find something a little different than what I've shot in the past. This year I was running a little late, because of an earlier assignment. So, getting a lot of pre-ceremony photos didn't happen. So, my shot had to be from the commencement itself. I got a couple of decent shots, but figured I'd stick around for the end. Wylie is one of the few schools I've seen that still throw their caps into the air at the end of graduation. I actually shot that photo last year, but wasn't thrilled with it. I shot it up close with a wide angle lens and didn't like the look. So, this year I decided to get high and shoot with a longer lens hoping the compressed look would look better. I was a lot happier with this year's photo then last. My only complaint about it, is the graduates aren't real coordinated in throwing the caps into the air. Hopefully they'll do better next year.

Singin the Blues From His Head to His Shoes...

2011-06-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

The other day I got assigned to shoot something called Mr. Blue Shoes, who was playing for elementary school kids. I had no idea what it really was. It sounds kinda like a Barney the Dinosaur show. But what it really was, was blues musician Michael Dyson playing for kids and teaching them about the blues and the history of the music genre. It turns out to be a really cool show and Dyson was really good. He ended up playing a lot of the oldies and telling the stories about the origins of blues and where it came from. I really wish they had more of this in the schools rather than just kids reading textbooks and memorizing facts to take tests. I know when I was a kid stuff like this is what got me interested in learning a lot more than a teacher at a blackboard.

The Full Swing of Baseball Season...

2011-06-03T00:41:00.000-05:00

So, now that golf tennis and track are done, the only sports left for the season are baseball and softball. Luckily for us we are blessed with some really good area schools playing baseball the last few years. This year is no different. On this night I had to cover Hamlin playing Seymour in a one-game series. One thing I have found is that in one-gamers the best team doesn't always win, especially when it's two teams playing from the same district. But, that's what they were playing.

I had gotten there a little late since I had to shoot another assignment a little earlier. When I got there, I noticed a huge crowd. Hamlin has its whole town supporting them and this night was no different. It was a great crowd. I always enjoy games like this, the electricity in the air makes it more fun to cover and the crowd gives it that big game atmosphere. Plus these two teams came from the same district so there was already a little rivalry there anyway.

The game itself was pretty close which is best for making photos. Close game usually get players playing harder trying to make big plays and trying not to allow them. Not to mention a lot of emotions flowing from both the fans and players. Put all that together and add in a really dusty field from no rain in forever, and you have the makings of some really nice photos.

Last Day of Hell Week...

2011-05-31T11:33:00.000-05:00

I've always looked forward to this week every year, it s great opportunity to make great images, it's also a really long taxing week. And by the end of the week, I'm always looking forward to it being over and getting home to relax and see my wife and dogs. And one of those reasons is the last day of track. Usually by then I'm pretty sunburned and the last day I spend pretty much the whole time out in the sun. However, again, it's a great time to make some really nice photos as well. And we usually have a lot of kids participating, as well as winning.

This year was a little different in that we still had a lot of medalists, but not as many winners. Luckily though there were still some winners and some really great moments, as usual. And a few of those nice moments, I even got lucky enough to capture. The best race was one of the last ones. Munday, on of our area schools was tied with Collinsville going into the final race of the day, the winner would win the team title as well. Collinsville had a pretty big lead going to the final hand off when the anchor leg dropped the batron and slipped on the track! I was actually right on the hand off since I was waiting to shoot Munday's handoff, when I saw the two guys start to get tangled I just held the shutter down (top photo). By the time the Collinsville guy got the baton back and was running Munday had a lead and ended up winning the race. It was really a crazy ending and made for some nice celebrations at the end, not to mention the devastation of the other team.