Another Nice night for football

I finally returned to the Niceville high school football field for another game, however, this time I went solo. Niceville played Tallahassee Godby and barely mustered a win, 24-21. The second image was published in the paper, and the last image was submitted to a Tallahassee publication.







I almost didn't capture this image, but the cheerleader happened to glance at the stands in the few moments that I snapped the frame. I love the look on her face:

Dreams are meant to be lived

Last Friday I drove to Navarre to photograph the game between them and Pensacola Catholic. I was back to using my own equipment for this game but was thankful for the wider range with my 70-200 mm lens. Pensacola Catholic stomped Navarre by beating them 32-7 on their own turf. I only stayed for the first half of the game, but the action was sufficient enough for the assignment. The first photo was published, but I now wonder if I should have picked the second one instead. I had to turn in a horizontal, but the second one could have sufficed.











I used to be in colorguard during high school, so I am still intrigued by the activity. I've never completely let it go since I've found myself spinning brooms at my old job last year, but my time with guard has come and gone. So even though I will never be able to spin a flag and rifle in a show again, I can relive the dream vicariously through photographing those who can live the dream. Here is one photo of a girl from Navarre High during their halftime show:



During the previous week I photographed a girls' golf match. Golf was another sport I used to be a part of but quickly faded after I started middle school. Even though golf might be a boring sport to photograph for some, for me the sport brings back many of those old, happy memories. The Niceville girl in the top photo carded a 39 to secure the second lowest score of the day. Niceville won the match.



Fort Walton Beach scored just behind Niceville to be the second place (in terms of teams).



On the same day I photographed two soldiers who shared their stories during Operation Tribute to Freedom hosted by Blue Star Mothers:



Just before football last week, I photographed the girls' and boys' Miracle Strip Invitational in golf. The girls' pictures are in a gallery on the website and these two pictures were published for the boys:





Even though my blog entries are more professional than insightful, I found myself caught up in hindsight for this entry. Photographing football is a passion of mine, while colorguard and golf are former passions that I never completely left behind. A part of me wants to reopen those opportunities in my life, but would it be for the memory of how those things made me feel or would I be continuing something that never should have been finished? Once I define what my dreams are, then I'll have my answer.

Dogs Dominate

I took the reins this past friday by shooting high school football for the paper by myself for the first time. I drove to Crestview to photograph a game between Crestview High (Bulldogs) and Baker (Gators). The game was as exciting for the fans to watch as it was for me to photograph. About halfway through the first quarter, Crestview scored three back-to-back touchdowns in response to a few bad plays by Baker. I was quietly laughing at myself for walking to the other side of the field after the kick off return from the Bulldogs because the plays resulted in a first down for the Bulldogs instead of a first down for the Gators. After the second touchdown, I began to expect big plays from Crestview and remained facing the direction they were driving in order to catch better photos. Aside from a small rain scare and flash malfunction, the night turned out pretty well. The first photo was published (as a vertical) and the rest are in the online gallery:











Thursday night marked the first time I shot volleyball at any level. I traveled with Nick to Navarre to photograph the high school's volleyball match against Fort Walton Beach. I was told that volleyball is one of the hardest sports to shoot, but I think that was intended toward college ball because the game wasn't too hard for me. I still have much to learn, but I enjoyed my first run at it. Here are three photos I took:







I headed to San Destin to photograph a 9-year-old child ambassador for the Art Miles Mural Program, which promotes peace through art. She has a heart to help others and has done so through the "Shoes for Hope" program by contributing her own money to pay for shoes, buying braclets from the Bracelet campaign to help raise awareness and create jobs for Uganda, and through a month-long trip to the Phillipines, China, Inda, Trinidad, and the Providence of Benguet where she talked with the children and their families. (Paraphrased from Daily News article). So as she was telling me and the writer her story, the girl shows us several of the mementos she received from the different countries she visited. I thought the best way to grab a portrait of this girl was to photograph her in the center of all of her keepsakes: