The Stepping Stone

There are four years of college football where the players experience the joys of screaming fellow students cheering their names during games on Saturdays and the woes of finishing homework in time for their classes on Mondays. They ultimately leave the campus they've called home for so long and go into the NFL where their recompense is a paycheck along with more cheering fans. But somewhere in the middle of that college glory era and the dream job is another stepping stone...the Senior Bowl.

This game is a great opportunity for these senior players because it gives them a chance to showcase their ability to transition from a college player to a NFL prospect. Some are expected to do well at the next level while some are under tremendous scrutiny, like the legendary Tim Tebow.



Though Tim has been a phenomenon at the collegiate level, his mechanics have been harshly criticized by NFL scouts because it falls short of the expectations for that level. Even so, Tim is a fighter and is determined to work hard and improve upon practice and an opportunity, if only someone would give that to him. I'm sure someone will, but the way he played in this game only enhanced the doubts about his potential. Out of his 23 plays, he completed 8 out of 12 passes for 50 yards and had four carries for four yards. He fumbled twice and was sacked once. Those are definitely are not near his Sugar Bowl stats, but he walked away with his head held high.



Tebow was my favorite to photograph for this game, and obviously the fans' favorite as well since his name was chanted the most out of anyone, but I made sure to spread around the focus to as many players as I could catch. Here is a play by Alabama's Javier Arenas:


Tebow about to pass:


Wisconsin's Garrett Graham tackled:


A fan of Tebow:


West Virginia's Jarrett Brown winding up for a pass:


Florida's Riley Cooper staring off in a daze during a commercial break:


Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour celebrates with a teammate aftering scoring a touchdown for the North:


Tebow interviewed after the South's 31-13 loss to the North team:


Fans flooded the field after the game for a close glimpse of Tebow. Some wanted autographs, some wanted to touch his jersey, and others just wanted him to look into their eyes. This girl here got even more when he shook her hand and smiled at her while she told him how much he meant to her:


After making it through the crowd, Tim is interviewed by the press underneath the stands. He was disappointed with the loss but took a positive outlook on it:


Once the press was finished with their questions, Tim walked up the ramp and disappeared into the locker room:


He left the same aftertaste in many people's mouths as they wondered what to expect from him next. I was one of them.
www.nwfdailynews.com

Putting on the Pressure

I drifted back in time this past Wednesday to an environment that I used to be a part of exactly ten years ago. I wore the tight, black uniform and those small, blue goggles and waited on the edge of that diving board for the buzzard to sound off. Those days seem much longer than a decade ago, but the memories resurfaced almost as strong as the swift of chlorine that hit me when I walked into the YMCA. I only photographed this swim meet for a gallery for the Web site, but I enjoyed doing it. I was able to watch competitive swimming again and recall how I was once that little.

The first image struck me as hilarious and strange. She looks like she is being zapped, and the expression on her face further compliments that theory. I loved the look on the girl's face on the next photo down, and the one below that was a wide, low-angle shot I took before I was told to move by the officials. I wasn't violating any major rules, but I guess as a photojournalist, you have to stretch the limits until you are told where they are (unless you know beforehand).





Yesterday I was able to finally photograph a sport during the day hours! Of course it was soccer, and the girls were fairly slow. I still enjoyed shooting the game though because ever moment on the sidelines is a moment to improve. The first image was published:





Today I photographed both boys and girls basketball at Niceville High School. The teams played Choctaw in both games and only beat Choctaw in the boy's game. Here are the two published images:





www.nwfdailynews.com
www.varsitysportswest.com

Winter Action

End of 2009:

The holiday madness and some personal business matters kept me from shooting pictures and updating my blog very much these past few weeks. But here it is, finally. Just after Christmas, I covered a few back-to-back basketball games as part of a tournament at FWB High on Dec. 28. The top picture (which was published) is of the Crestview boys - who lost that game - and the two below (from gallery) are of Niceville (lost) and Choctaw (won).





The next day I went back to the high school and took more pictures of the tournament. This time I captured Niceville v. Crestview (both local teams) in which Niceville pulled off the win, 36-30.





2010:

My first assignment of the New Year wasn't like a field full of falling confetti or blow horns blaring right and left, but it was still significant. Florida is known for having snowbirds at this time of the year, but I am sure the snowbirds didn't expect Florida to be a parallel of the bitter cold winters they left behind them. With temperatures in the upper 20s for most of that week, the snowbirds made their way indoors to an annual Senior Snowbird Expo on Okaloosa Island. The expo had the typical format you would expect from one, but a few interesting tables made for some good shots. This picture is of a lady from Canada playing with a "penny toy" by the FWB's Heritage Park & Cultural Center:


(published)

On Jan. 14 - the one year anniversary of my start at the Daily News - I tagged along with Nick and photographed a soccer game. I wasn't able to practice much soccer last year (I think I covered one game with Nick) so this year I made it a priority for myself. Here is a photo I took for a gallery:



The next night I went back to the same field and shot more soccer, only this time it was guys instead of girls. I used the paper's Nikon and 300 and came up with some decent shots. Fort Walton played Niceville and lost 4-0.




(published)

Lastly, today I covered the first assignment of the New Year that was also something I covered last year - The Martin Luther King Jr. parade. I only shot video this time, but I worked hard to top last year's video and believe I succeeded. (Last year's video is under Jan 09)