It’s that time of year again. Yes, football is here. I recently covered both Hampton University and Norfolk State University Football Media Day’s. Hampton’s kicked off my photography season that early Saturday morning on the 15th of August. This was the 5th straight year I covered this event and it was the first time I got to shoot Donovan Rose as the new Pirate Head Coach. This is Hampton’s 3rd coach in three years, which points to a very dismal year for the Pirate fateful.
I next traveled to the beautiful city of Norfolk, Virginia the following Thursday the 20th of August to cover Norfolk State’s media day and I got a different feeling that day. The Spartans seemed confident and loose. The kids had fun, probably too much fun. Nonetheless it seemed like the tide had shifted in the Bay Area.
The Battle of the Bay on October 17 should be very interesting.
The 1st game for both is on the 5th of September and I will be at Norfolk State for their annual Labor Day Classic against Virginia State University. Which I covered last year too won my the Spartan’s of NSU 47 – 7.
Photographing football games in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) can be a bit of a challenge on the sidelines. Sometimes there are way too many photographers on MEAC sidelines, especially at Norfolk State University.
You would wonder were you covering the Super Bowl with the amount of photographers on their sideline. Who are these guys’ shooting for? The NCAA has a strict rule about what you can do with eligible student athlete’s images and selling images to the players is a definite no-no. I always wonder?
The night before each game I usually re-format all my media cards, clean my lenses, charge my batteries and go over the rosters to find new players especially impact players who transferred in. I try to arrive 2 hours before game time to setup and to discuss anything in particular the Sports Information Director (SID) wants covered. I also request a shot list and itinerary and study that as well. I put my cameras together and head to the field to cover pregame warm-ups’.
Secret number Uno, “I get some of my best images during the pregame warm-ups.”
Once the game kicks off I’m zeroed in on the action and the seen. I try to take a storybook approach to covering a football game. I try to make a person feel like they are in the play when they look at my images. I try to shoot from different angles throughout the game and I also try to cover what’s happening on the sidelines as well.
Shooting is the easy part. Postproduction is sometimes the most challenging, especially after shooting a night game at most of the stadiums in the MEAC where the lighting is simply terrible at best. Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop has been a major part of my postproduction for the past 3 years. I also try to provide each SID with about 15 or so images for their game stories and web galleries before I pack up and head for home. Not bad for about 6 hours of work, give or take a few minutes.
This was my first blog. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.
Mark Sutton
suttonm.wordpress.com 