State Track Day 1...

Like a lot of the UIL events this year things got changed around this year for state track too. Class 1A got split into two different divisions. Division I was doing some of their field events on the first day but the running events were being run on Saturday. Division II, which was had a ton of teams that we cover was all being run on Friday, all the field events as well as the running in the evening session. This not only made for a really long day, but also, very little time to sit down and edit photos between events. Since I had someone in almost every one of the Div. II events. To add to that there was a 2 hour delay in the morning to open things because of a thunderstorm.

The delay put all of the field events on a rolling schedule which meant I didn't have any time to run to the tent to edit. So, I spent most of my dinner break editing photos instead of eating (not that it would hurt me to miss a meal or 6). By the time the running events started I was still a little behind with no photos sent. Part of this is I didn't want something put on the page in case I got something I liked better or it fit with the story being written. In the back of my head I was thinking to myself that a rain delay wouldn't be the worst thing to happen. However, I didn't want the two hour rain delay that we eventually got.

The second rain delay really threw things off. The one good thing that did come out of it was I was able to get pretty caught up with a lot of the photos I already had. Plus I was able to send a bunch of photos with the possibility of getting more. After the rain delay I would shoot a few events and if I wasn't trying to edit in camera I was running up and editing between the 1A events I was shooting (the Class 4A meet was going on too and we have no 4A schools that we cover), or I was shooting an event from the top of the stands in the tent as my photos were moving or downloading a card. It wasn't the ideal situation and made for a damn long day, but it had to be done. It's a good thing I enjoy shooting track... and it's happening again, so I got to go back to the hotel for a nap before starting over again.

Baseball Players of the Year...

For the baseball players of the year I actually had enough time to come up with a plan of what to shoot and decided to change things up and take the shots outside the studio. Having a couple days ahead of time to plan things I was able to find a baseball field to shoot on. The Hardin-Simmons baseball coach was nice enough to let me borrow their field for a couple of hours to use as a backdrop for the photos. I got there with, Joy Lewis, one of my awesome co-workers about an hour ahead of time to scout out ideas and places to shoot from as well as set up the lights. My first thought was to shoot the pitchers out on the pitcher's mound and then the batters from the dugout.

After a few test shots from the mound and then a couple where I was planning to shoot the batters from inside the dugout, I liked the dugout shots a lot better. The bright light on the mound plus a pretty strong wind that kept blowing over my softbox was becoming a real pain in the ass! So, I went ahead and shot everyone from the dugout. It made it easier to put the light on the players and balance the light with the outside light and the players weren't squinting from the sunlight. I was a lot happier with the final product this year than I have the last couple of times, having a nice field for the backdrop worked out nicer than the dark studio for a change.

State Track, Day 2....

The great thing about the second day of the state track meet is after working 18+ hours the day before, the second day is a "short 12-13 hours. However, from 9am until almost 5pm it is literally almost non-stop shooting, almost 1,400 images worth. The Saturday afternoon session this year was the Class 1A and 3A meets. This year we had a bunch of 3A kids in addition to usual heavy dose of 1A kids.

The day started in the morning with field events. The good part was that they were spread out enough that I could spend a little time shooting each event. Then around noon the running started. Luckily all of the field events were done during this tie and I wasn't going to have to worry about being in two places at once.

This year, we had a couple of teams that were vying for state titles. Both the Munday boys in Class 1A and the Big Spring girls in 3A had a chance to win. And after a strong performance the day before the Albany girls had an outside chance at winning. Munday ended up running away with their title, literally. Big Spring had a few races that they came up short in and Albany couldn't pull off a win in the mile relay. I ended up getting a few nice frames from the meet, but overall, I think I was happier with what I had shot the day before even though I ended up having a lot more keepers on Saturday.

State Track, Day 1...

I always look forward to shooting the state track meet every Spring. Even though there have been some year the officials seem to have a bigger bug up their ass than others in trying to flex their muscles and show who's boss, the meet is still one of the best run track meets in the country. Not to mention Texas has some of the best track and field talent in the country competing in this meet.

The biggest thing I try to show while shooting this meet, or any track meet is there is more to it than just kids running, throwing and jumping. And having a photo page to display my work as well as an online slideshow is not only a great way to show it, but also shows a need for more than just the standard action photos. Of course, there are plenty of those to show too, but my favorite photos are always the emotional shots, especially those who weren't expected to win their respective races or events.

One thing I have been trying to do for years is the hurdles shot of the runner in the blocks while framed by all the hurdles from the finish line. There are still a few things I don't like about it, but at the same time I liked it enough to publish... I'll try again in a couple years and hopefully shoot it better.

Austin Bound, Quick Turnaround...

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.