Week 7 - Come for the corgi races, stay for the football
Alright, let’s get this started shall we. Before we talk about Sunday’s game we need to go back to Thursday. Ordering a 3 piece whiting from the New York Fried Chicken Shop (Yes that’s the resturant name) that’s a block away from my house. While I waited for my food I read an article by Billy Merck on Craig Mitchelldyer, the photographer for the Portland Timbers where he chronicled a day in the life of the photographer. He highlighted everything that went into a gameday, including the intricate remote camera setups, the planning that takes place weeks before a game, as well as the anticipation that takes place during the game to create the best assets possible for the organization. While reading the article I thought about my own workflow and what goes into my gameday performance so with 2 days until Sunday I began to plan.
I wanted to start implementing more creative ideas into my galleries, some old and some new. I utilized one of my go-to strobe light setups, a Godox AD400 with a blue gel to provide a rim light and a pop of color with a speedlight on top of my camera with a yellow gel to balance the temperature of the photo. The players love to show off their style in their pregame outfits and these photos give them a chance to show their personalities before they put their helmets on.
1 PM kickoffs give me the chance to capture my scene setters, using the dramatic shadows cast by the sun at high noon.
Drawing from the creative reservoirs again, I decided to use a photo technique called slow shutter flash where the flash freezes the subject while providing a motion blur around them. I love utilizing this to show motion in my photos or just to enhance a photograph.
Rakeem Nunez-Roches fired up during pregame warm-ups
Another Storyline was the return of our star rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers. I thought it important to isolate him as he ran out of the tunnel for the first time this season and the fog provided an extra dimension to the photo!
One of the storylines for this game was Saquon’s return to Metlife Stadium. I wanted to capture him taking it all in on the opposing sideline.
Giants Legend Plaxico Burress rung the Pride Bell to start the game this week. It’s always great to see legends being welcomed by the Giants faithful as they return to Metlife.
During the First Half I utilized remote cameras in the 300 section to capture crowd photography while not physically being there myself. With extensive shot lists on gamedays it’s efficient to use all of the technology afforded to me. By using Pocketwizard radio triggers and Manfrotto magic arms I was able to secure my two cameras without interrupting the fan experience.
Capturing fan reactions is always one of my favorite parts of gamedays. You can see the passion as they react to 3rd down stops and big plays from our offense!
Dexter Lawerence with his 9th sack of the season!
Malik Nabers and Darius Slay matched up on each other all day, eliciting the following reactions from each other
What would’ve been Theo Johnson’s first career NFL touchdown was unfortunately called back for OPI(Offensive Pass Interference), which sucks because I had the perfect angle for the catch and the celebration
Now for the most important photos of the game, halftime corgi races! Out of everything I captured today, trying to capture dogs running 22mph in focus this was definitely my hardest challenge
Drew Lock was subbed in for Daniel Jones during the 2nd half of the game, however the shot list remains the same no matter the QB. I wanted to provide comprehensive coverage of both gunslingers for social and web coverage.
I decided to use the harsh shadows to my advantage to capture silhouettes of our defensive backs Tae Banks and Dru Phillips!
Earlier this week I wrote in my notes app “The creation of art comes from us drawing inspiration from art we’ve seen before, wether that be architecture, music, fashion, or nature. It’s a constantly revolving loop that feeds back into each other”. I saw this photo of Patrick Peterson on social media a few months ago and saved it on my phone hoping to draw inspiration from it one day. I noticed Tre Hawkins III staring at the opposing wide receiver and began to formulate a plan. I had a 400mm with a 1.4x extender to give me the equivalent of a 560mm F4. I captured the image and prayed that it would retain enough detail to give me the shot I envisioned and voila!
After the game Saquon got a chance to reunite with his old teammates and share a laugh before heading back to the locker room.
