Regional Track, Day 2...

The second day of regional track started early. I had to shoot a couple of the early field events before the running started in the afternoon. The good part about this was I'd be able to edit all the field event photos before the running got started, less to do after the meet ended. And since I had a 150 mile drive home afterwards everything I could do to save time was a good thing.

Normally there is a little bit of emotion at the end of some of the races, but the people who are expected to win their races aren't much for celebration. Either they were expecting to win anyway or have been to state already, etc. So, the few times there are nice celebrations at the end of races I make sure not to miss the shot. When it's a local kid doing the celebration I get pretty excited, mostly because I have the chance to make a nice image. So, when the Abilene High kid in the 800m made up a lot of ground after getting boxed in and moved from 7th place to 2nd in the last 300 meters there was a great celebration after he qualified for state for the first time.

Water Water Anywhere?

It's a pretty common story here, the dwindling lake levels across the area. We don't get a whole lot of rain to replenish the lakes and the last couple of years haven't been kind, rain-wise. So, a couple of weeks ago I was sent out to do a lake level story. I shot some photos at Lake Fort Phantom Hill in Abilene and then down to Lake Brownwood and Lake O.H. Ivey. I chose these three lakes because Phantom was local and easy to get to, Brownwood is one of the most populated lakes in the area and Ivey is on of the main water sources for Abilene, San Angelo and Midland, it's also the biggest lake in the area.

I had been to Lake Brownwood a couple of years ago and got some really nice photos, the difference, however, was when I went two years ago it was on a weekend in the middle of the summer. This time I was going on a weekday in early March, big difference. Basically I was looking to show how dry the lake was and found some boats sitting on dry land with high weeds around them. Then when I went to Ivey it was obvious how low the lake was, it also kind of showed the story about how deep it was and how much water was still in it. I also was able to show some of the human element at one of the boat ramps and got a few shots of some boaters coming off the lake. The bonus was finding a pack of deer running through one of the parks by the lake.

Best Catch of the Year...

I finally got to see Wylie play last week during their trip to Brownwood to play a game that, at the beginning of the year, looked like it would be a really good one. However, things have been pretty tough for Brownwood up to this point. This Wylie team though, may be one of the better ones they've had in a while.

Wylie came out gunning on both sides of the ball. The offense took the ball down and scored quick then the defense showed why they may be the best one the Bulldogs have put on the field in a long time. Pressuring the quarterback and a lot of three-and-outs were working in their favor. They totally dominated the first half and it wasn't looking like the second half would be any different.

Now, when people have asked me who I wanted to win a game I've always said to ask me in the second half and I'll tell you who I want to win based on the photos that I get. So, when I got a really nice shot of an incredible one-handed catch (top) by one of the Brownwood receivers to finally get the Lions on the scoreboard, I don't think my feelings would've been hurt if they came back to win the game. But, I also knew that wasn't going to happen. The game was already out of hand. I'd rather have seen a closer game, they always make for better photos, but after that catch, I'm happy with what I got.

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.

A Baseball Game and Softball Boredom...

On Friday, two of my assignments were the crosstown baseball game here in town and a softball game in Sweetwater between Brownwood and Sweetwater, with the winner taking the district 5-3A title.

The first game, the crosstown game, went pretty quick and I was able to stay for most of the game. The problem was the parts I was there for weren't nearly as exciting as I'd have liked them to be. I got a few decent shots, but while I was there just didn't have a whole lot of action going on. The one shot I really did like of the cooper player diving to pull in a ball, I couldn't use since Abilene High ended up winning the game. Oh well, that's part of the problem with baseball, when the pitchers throw too well, the photos tend to take a backseat, along with the offense.

For the softball game in Sweetwater, Brownwood took control of things early and the game was never close. The Lady Lions ended up winning the game, and while there was a lot more offense and action than the baseball game earlier, I ended up getting kind of bored towards the end of the game. Maybe it was because I'd shot 13 innings of baseball/softball that day, maybe it was the total number of games I'd shot over the last few weeks. Either way, when boredom sets in I tend to try and have a little fun with things. On Friday, my cure for boredom was playing around a little with slow shutter speeds and the pitcher. At first I was just dragging the shutter a little to her the motion of her arm, but I didn't like that all that much. I kept leaving it open a little longer and following the pitcher's motion. I got close with the photo, I ended up shooting the top shot at 1/2 a second and at f/22. I'm not totally thrilled with the shot, but I think it's a good start, I wish I could have popped a little flash to bring out her face just a little bit and more importantly the spin of the ball. Oh well, it got me through the game, maybe next time.

District Track...

Thursday was the District 5-3A track meet at Wylie. The great part about shooting this meet for me is there are no losers. Given that all of our Class 3A schools are in this district no matter who wins, it's either a local or an area kid that is winning the meet. It was good to have this meet back in Abilene again, since it's always fun to cover and the past few years while it's been in the other area towns we haven't covered it, so I was happy to see it back in Abilene.

Last year, for the first time in 16 years the Wylie boys didn't win a district title in track. This year the boys came back and with a vengeance. And speeding ahead of the pack, literally was Wylie sprinter Devan Brown. With the strong winds on Thursday and Brown's smokin fast speed already it was pretty obvious that the 100m dash was going to be a very fast event. Brown didn't disappoint. He literally blew past the field even without a great start he blazed down the track to win the race with a time of 10.29, easily beating a pretty fast field.

For the last 21 years the Wylie girls have brought home a district track title. To put that into perspective, the last time the Wylie girls team didn't win a district championship was at least three years before any of the participants in the meet were even born. Last year the girls were able to squeeze out a win over an incredibly fast Big Spring team. This year though, it wasn't in the cards and Big Spring finally dethroned Wylie, but not without a fight.

There are goods and bads about shooting district track. The access is about as good as it can be. Outside of standing on the track during the race I can pretty much have the run of things and the coaches are happy to have you there, so they're all very helpful. It allowed me to set up a remote almost right next to the track (I id make sure that it was far enough away that if someone fell they weren't landing on my remote, for both the safety of the runner and my camera). Now, the bad parts... usually going into the meets you know who is going to win. There isn't the vast pool of talent you'll find at regionals and there's nothing close to what you'll find at state, so the emotion of winning just isn't really there since you won't see a lot of upsets and the winners are kind of expecting to win. But, it's really just the start of the track season for me and, overall, I was happy with the action I got. Hopefully it'll get better from here and I know the emotion will come over the next few weeks at regionals and state.

Ending the Regular Season With a Fizzle...

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.

Playoffs...

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.