Salty Hogs
What a week! I shot six football games over the course of six days. Three high school football games, two eighth grade games and finished up the week with the Razorbacks on Saturday. Today, as I write this blog post I am sore! But, every bit of the soreness is worth it because I love the sport so much. In today's post I will be talking about some images from Friday night's Salt Bowl between Benton and Bryant then will finish with images from the Razorback game against Louisiana Tech.
So, without further delay...enjoy!
NIKON D4, 1/800, F3.2, ISO2500, MANUAL
In the above photo, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (center) flips the coin before what is easily the biggest rivalry in the state. Over 30,000 people attended this year's game. Although this photo wasn't used, it was a very cool frame. Check out the coin just above the Governor's head. It looks like a UFO!
NIKON D4, 1/1250, F2.8, ISO3200, MANUAL
The first image above was the original file I transmitted to the Democrat Gazette. As you can see, they have to crop images to fit into spaces so that the page will be uniform. This image was at the bottom of page 1C (front page) of Saturday's sports section. I have learned over the years that editors like tight shots for this reason and I always do my best to shoot as tight as possible.
NIKON D4, 1/1250, F2.8, ISO3200, MANUAL
This was one of the two inside images. It was a very dramatic moment in the game as Benton scored on a 50 yard run on 4th down! I had been struggling a bit to get a decent photo (that I liked) and I just happened to be in a good spot to capture this frame. So much about shooting football and most sports for that matter, is being at the right place at the right time.
NIKON D4, 1/1600, F9, ISO400, SHUTTER PRIORITY
This was my first trip up the hill in 2016 to Fayetteville, for Saturday's Louisiana Tech at Arkansas game. Pregame warm-ups is prime time to get nice, tight, player portraits. Here, I caught Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen preparing to fire a pass.
NIKON D4, 1/2000, F5, ISO400, SHUTTER PRIORITY
This is my "what could have been image." I shot this horizontal instead of vertical and I kicked myself afterwards because I cut off the top of the ball. So close to having a really killer photo! So, unfortunately, this wasn't transmitted to Zuma Press.
NIKON D4, 1/1600, F5, ISO250, SHUTTER PRIORITY
I really liked this image of Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen. He is back-lit, and there is a reflection of warm light coming from the suites to his left that is giving his face some glow. I like too that he is in mid-air which looks like he is levitating!
NIKON D4, 1/2000, F4.5, ISO180, MANUAL
I had to do a little rescue on this image. In trying to balance exposure, I dropped my ISO down farther than I realized. So, the image was a bit dark. When I adjusted in post, a really cool frame emerged!
NIKON D4, 1/2000, F4.5, ISO1800, MANUAL
Playing football with long hair can be painful. I know these kids are tuff, but I can't image this not hurting! I didn't realize I had this photo until yesterday when I went back through and did a second edit. So many times over the years I have missed something during my cull at the game, only to find it the next day.
