So close ... Five seconds of playoff football

I made the drive up to Allen's Eagle Stadium to shoot Mesquite Poteet taking on Lancaster in 4A division 2 playoff action.  The $60 million facility is just as nice as you would expect.  Most importantly, the lights are very good.

Poteet had no real solution for a strong defensive effort by the Tigers, but they got the ball down by 8 points with about 1:20 left to try to tie it up and no timeouts.  After some heroics and penalties, the Pirates had five seconds to score.

Up to this point, mind you, it had been a fairly mediocre effort on my part.  Nothing dramatic or grand, just decent shots of regular football action.

So on the last play it was a gift to have QB Tanner Ramsey send the ball my way.


Receiver Nathaniel Gaines and defender Dakota Austin jumped for the pass at about the 5-yard-line, but neither secured the ball.


Gaines came down under it and willed it into his hand... a tremendous concentration effort...








As he turned to try to bull his way into the endzone, Austin got help from teammates and they finally stopped Gaines short.


With a referee coming to block my shot, of course.


And to think I had considered leaving at halftime.  Sometimes it really is the last play of the game.

Here is former Terrell Tribune staffer Cliff Gibson's game story at ionmesquite.com.

I look forward to seeing how far former Terrell coach Chris Gilbert can take his Lancaster team.

Have a great weekend.

Monday Photo Roundup - Nov. 12

Terrell travelled to Highland Park for the final game of the season.  As halftime shows go, the Highland Belles were the best dance/drill team I've seen all year.  It's too bad their website has a bunch of mediocre photos that are distorted.

Which leads me to another point.  Don't stretch/bend photos to fit a spot.  Crop them if you have to, but stretching to fit is terrible.  It is also one reason photogs hate giving up digital files to customers.  If you make a photo look ugly, it reflects back on the photographer.

Transfer B&W photos onto clear contact paper to stick them anywhere...

An intriguing photog project - contents of insane asylum patient suitcases.  There is so much history there and so much unknown about the owners of the objects.

10 surefire ways to become a better photographer.  I subscribe to this method, and add one more step.  Also look at a lot of photos.

And if you want better photos of the moon, here is a comprehensive article on that topic.

The football action was a little lopsided Friday, and my shots were just OK.  I'm thinking the lady in the endzone was positioned just right for this play.


Same for whoever was shooting from the other side here..


Have a great week.

Thursday Night Lights at Mesquite Memorial

The Terrell Tigers will go into Mesquite Memorial Stadium as the definite underdog for tonight's matchup.  Luckily for everyone shooting photos, the lights and unique features of the venue can help make up for what may be a lopsided game. The large communications tower at the south end of the field can be incorporated with a wide-angle lens ...






And a nice grassy bowl at the end of the field makes a clean background for on-field action.


And lighting is better than average, so it should be a good night, at least for the cameras.

Quick Pic - Basketball with Strobes

Finally dragged out the big lights for some basketball this evening. I still need to work on placement and whatnot, but it definitely makes for more interesting photos. Not every game, but there will be more of this.

There are downsides too, but I will do a better blog on the experience soon.

Don J.

Graduation

Going into graduation day for Terrell High School I was a little bit worried about the location... Terrell's notoriously dim Memorial Stadium. At least it would not be fast action shooting, right? Sort of.

One great benefit did emerge though. The variety of shots available and access to get around for different vantage points was better than any indoor facility short of Cowboys Stadium. Oh, and there were fireworks! Prints are available (of course) over at www.doncjohnson.zenfolio.com.

Before the ceremony, seniors assembled in the National Guard armory building, which was hot and dim. No worries though, a giant open door provided a nice light from one side...


The principal once called this class "fun loving." That was easy to see on graduation day.


With a camera in almost every mobile electronic device, snapshots were happening all over the place.




A little bit of cloud cover made for nice light in spots outside...


And off they go. I almost always try some shutter tricks.. most did not work so well, but it is good to keep yourself entertained, right?


Lots of happy families..


For about the first 10 graduates, there was a nice backdrop of the end of sunset.. a little fill flash in front, and I was a happy camper...


I can only say thanks to modern technology for being able to shoo iso 1600 and have useful images. I really look forward to my next camera... the 40D is getting a bit aged.


Going in, I had intended to put the 14mm on the 5D and go in really close to the graduates for the cap-toss. I'm still pretty happy with the shot, but still.. woulda coulda shoulda...


And then, Fireworks. The graduates did not stick around long in the center of the field, so I was chasing them around a bit...




Congratulations Graduates... It was fun to be a part of your year.

Happy shooting everyone..
Don J.

Dugout Portraiture

With Terrell in the baseball playoffs, I've had the opportunity to get back out to the field for some sports shots. They may not let me come back next year because they only scored one run in each game that I attended.

Today's game started at noon, and while it was a little bit overcast, the lighting was nice. When the sun came out though, it was typical harsh lighting.

What I noticed is that a dugout is a great example of finding nice light during midday sun. With one large open side and shadow everywhere else, it is like a huge softbox on one side.

See?

Having a nice solid, dark background helps also, of course. Any time you are caught in the sun and trying to make a nice photo, look for shade that has one open side to the light, then look at the light on your subject.

Good posing would help, but even for snapshots of players, you cannot go wrong with good light.





Although there was plenty of light, my action shooting today was not great, so here are a few of my favorites from Thursday.


At 7 p.m. for the start, the light was getting really nice, washing across the field.




After losing the pretty light, it was just dark and funky.


This is a crop of a photo when a runner was avoiding a pickoff at first base.. made me laugh.


Perfect Mothers day gift? A camera of course.

Keep looking for good light,

Don J.

On the right track...

Photographing sports is fun, but shooting a track meet can be a beating. There are multiple events happening at the same time, and there is always a nagging thought that somewhere, at that very moment, one of the kids you should be covering is doing something great in nice light.

It is easy to sit and wait for 20 minutes as kids from various schools go through their turns at something, only to have the one athlete you want a shot of knock off the bar or foul out.

So, I've adopted a much more fun strategy of trying to shoot somewhat creatively and try to find a creative shot at each sport I make it too. And to do that, I shoot students from anywhere.

Finding good backgrounds can be a chore, but so far both meets I've been to this year gave me blue skies. Makes for a lot of low-angle photos, but I'll gladly take it with the evening sun.

The other fun track meet adventure is silhouettes in the setting sun.

Best with the relay, but I would love to get rid of the fence.


Runners in a closer lane make it easier... and throw in some wispy clouds for dramatic.


Works for people warming up on hurdles in the infield too...


Pole vault is fun to shoot... you never really know how things are going to work out.

Nice and clean


Did I mention the background problems?


To deal with the bad bg, zoom in closer, right?


The track at Rockwall has a nice hill at the finish end for sprints (they run right-to-left on hurdles and sprints). That gives you a perch to use the track as the background. Looks cool with hurdles too.




And when boredom sets in, fun detail shots are available






High jump makes for nice shots too..

She isn't that short... these guys jump high

A lot of the athletes have unique styles or traits... This guy flies like an airplane..

While this one floats as if levitating

Ok... that is enough of that...

Have a great weekend everybody!

Don J.