Early Morning Wake up Calls, it's Football Time...

I'm still trying to catch up... Football practice recently got started which for me means mug shot tour. Shooting mugs shot of all the 11-man football players in the area. As a way of keeping my sanity I try to squeeze in shooting practice for an end of the week photo column and slideshow. This isn't always the easiest thing to do given that I'm already on a pretty tight schedule. So, most of the schools I'm shooting I only get about 10-15 minutes to get my shots before moving on to the next school.

This year was a lot harder than normal. Last year the UIL, state state's governing body for high school sports changed the rules for two-a-day practices. Instead of the way it had been done, now schools can't have a two-a-day practice until the fifth overall practice and they can't have 2 two-a-day's in a row. Not only did it cut down on the actual practice time for the players and trying to get them into playing shape. But, it also cut down on the time I had to not only shoot practice but to get mug shots. Because of less times the teams had to practice most of the schools I went to who were normally in the middle of their break were either in the middle of practice (luckily most were kind enough to work in mug shots during a water break or take a few minutes from practice to shoot mugs) or were already finished. One school was done and players were about to leave and the coach had to stop them from leaving. Luckily, only one school had to be rescheduled and only one was missed. That's about par for the way things happen every year. I even was able to make a few decent frames and work some nice early morning light.

Here We Go Again...

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.

It's That Football Time of Year Again...

The weather this summer has been pretty mild, however, football practice started on August 2. That's pretty much a surefire way for the temperatures to shoot over 100. On the first day the thermometer, according to one of the banks I passed, topped out at 107! And, of course, I was spending everyday out shooting football mugs and squeezing in practice photos, web videos, and shooting football tab cover shots (more on that later).

This has become a yearly thing. The first four days of preseason practice is spent driving all over the area shooting mug shots of every 11-man football player in the area. Not a whole lot of fun. Luckily I get to shoot some practice photos in between mugs. That's the fun part. If not for that it's would be an insanely boring and long week.