The "Miami" HEAT is On!

When I was asked to submit paperwork for Miami Heat practice credentials last week, little did I know how amazing of an opportunity the week would bring. Sure I knew this was the Miami Heat - a professional NBA team that has captured seven division titles and won the 2006 NBA finals - but this was just a simple practice session right? Yes that might be so, but this was their "spring" training and I had a upfront and center pass to watch it all happen.

So what makes this team so special? If you ask most people, they would say Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James. The three paired together for the first time on the same team courts excitement and anticipation for what the new season will bring. I, for one, find myself more curious about the team since photographing them three times during the duration of the week. It all started Monday night with their arrival ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base:



LeBron James - deemed the most popular player of the team - slaps hands of the fans that appeared on the base for their arrival (above image, published in the Eglin Dispatch). Fans cheer and take pictures of the team as they stand on the stage at the welcome ceremony:



LeBron James talks to a fan as he is leaving the hangar during the welcome ceremony at Eglin:



Wednesday Practice:

My first opportunity to photograph the team arrived. The media gathered outside of the base around 9:30 a.m. and was bused onto the base where we waited in a designated room before our 30-minute coverage opportunity around noon. Then it was time. As I walked into the dimly, semi-naturally lit gymnasium, the sounds of basketballs hitting the gravel coupled with the vision of the players bouncing them around the court struck the excitement and anticipation in me to get straight to work photographing the event. Here is LeBron James guarding Juwan Howard:



LeBron James dribbling toward the basket:





Friday Practice:

I received another chance to photograph the Heat on Friday. With the reporter's angle focusing on two former University of Florida players, I shifted my focus to those two players as well as an other interesting moments I could capture. After practice, I had to rush to secure a spot as the media flocked to the players for interviews. Here is a shot of Dwyane Wade with his legit smile:



LeBron James goes for a basket:



Mike Miller, one of the two former UF players, runs a play during practice:



Really tall Chris Bosh smiles as he talks with the media:



These two were hardly seen apart (except during practice time) and joked back and forth. Here Wade (right) laughs at James when he refuses to tell Wade what he was supposed to tell him because "of the cameras" (as quoted by Wade):



Taking pictures these three days for the paper was epic. Not only did my confidence increase, but I grew in knowledge with my camera equipment. I found ways to utilize and work the dim gym, no-flash policy, to my advantage. Surrounded by a sea of photographers and videographers from local publications and TV networks to the AP and ESPN, I found I fit in right at home. Now all I need is more opportunities like this, and with my internship at the Daily News being so fruitful, I definitely see more to come in the future.

Friday Night Football:



Friday night football was hosted by Crestview this week and visited by Navarre. In a game that was considered "evenly matched", Navarre came out with a boom and defeated the Bulldogs 42-0. The main thing I saw that Crestview lacked in the game was heart. I weaved in between the players and coaches during the game and saw very little spark or motivation on their behalf. Maybe that is where they can start to fix their issues. Photography-wise I worked off my progress from the week before and captured a few nice images again this week. The images above and below were published:



Video from the game:




Thus ends one of the best weeks at this internship. Until next time!
www.nwfdailynews.com
www.varsitysportswest.com

Up side of Unnatural Disasters

Fire!
Where?
About 30 miles east of the Daily News' location about to jump a state road in the Eglin Preserves.

Although spread onto 90 acres of the Eglin property this past Tuesday, the wildfire was contained before it reached State Road 20, and the tree-top flames melted into thick smoke that rested like fog over a lake in the morning just before we arrived on the scene.



Branches were still burning here and there (pictured above) and fire crews still remained in the area to make sure the situation was indeed contained (top picture - published). There were no injuries and no structural damage done by the fire, and at the time, the cause behind the fire was unknown. I enjoyed this assignment even though I was unable to catch any flames. I'm sure there will be other opportunities for that.





The oil in the gulf was a terrible thing, but that doesn't mean everything that comes from it has to be equally terrible. Niceville students used the presence of the oil in our gulf area to study its impact on the marine life. They took samples from the beach in the Destin area and brought it back to their labs at school to analyze. In the first picture, the two students look at different types of worms found in the gulf water:



This student measures, records the name and depth of the sea creature, and then has another student take a picture of the final product:



This is a sample of the sand found in the water where the student divers went. All three pictures were published.



Volleyball has been a challenge for me... but one that I wanted to take on and succeed in. This week I made a few minor changes to my settings and my shooting habits and found the results to be very positive. I captured several great shots and submitted two for print. The middle one appeared in the print edition. This game was at Fort Walton Beach and against the Niceville Eagles. Niceville won the match 25-8, 25-15, 25-15.







Video from the game:


Then came Friday night football. Coming off of a successful shoot in a low-light, fast-paced sports game, I applied many of those new changes to this football game and found equally-pleasing results. The game was at South Walton, who was the winner against the Baker Gators, 21-14. The top image was published.









Video of the game:


This was South Walton's homecoming game, and since I am a photographer that shoots for print and online galleries, I photographed some of the homecoming ceremony. The senior who was crowned the homecoming queen was genuinely shocked at her nomination, so I caught a few frames of the moment along with a student's reaction to the announcement:







That is all for this week. Check back next week for more and visit the Web site:
www.nwfdailynews.com
www.varsitysportswest.com

Reliving the Adventure... through images

Sometimes going back in time can be fun. Our thoughts can carry us there during a down moment, our friends can reminisce about it through conversation, or the simple act of noticing something familiar can trigger the memories and feelings from that time. I can't speak for most photojournalists, but every so often I like to travel back in time through my images and take a closer look at the events I photographed. With the college football season underway, I felt the itch to go back into my Gator football folder and dig through a game I photographed on the sidelines in 2008. As I did so, I found a plethora of photos that went unnoticed my first time around the editing process. Out of those images, here are some of my favorites:

This was during the Tim Tebow era and the National Championship-winning season. The game was against South Carolina and the odds were with the Gators.



This season had a bundle of talent like Aaron Hernandez (81), Tim Tebow (15), Jeff Demps (2), Percy Harvin (1)...



...and Brandon Spikes (51).



Smiles escaped Urban Meyer even after an interception by Brandon Spikes was caught and returned for a touchdown (above image). Urban's sturdy, blank stare was a common reoccurence through the rest of the season and the following year. Now Urban has turned that frown upside down - at least for the good parts of the game.



The offense during the Tebow era had more running game. Let me rephrase that, the offense had a more powerful running game. Tebow took hits like no other quarterback and images like this might become more scarce with the current quarterback...



...who is John Brantley, a more pro-style quarterback who has been known for his throwing capabilities. Here he is as a back up in 2008. Since then he has grown more in his skills and has become more built and toned.



The fans are just as loud, passionate, and expressive now as they were then. However, I feel the reactions might be more on the negative side now than it was during that season.

 

Let's not forget the former coaches. Steve Addazio started as the offensive coordinator last year after Dan Mullen left for the head coaching position at Mississippi State. Here is Mullen after the game in 08:



Ahmad Black still reigns as a strong safety in the Gator Nation. Here Ahmad celebrates after catching an interception (something he is highly known for doing):



Tebow takes a snap:



Jeff Demps is the only player besides Brantley and Ahmad in this blog post that is still a player on the current team. Hernandez and Spikes were drafted after last season to the New England Patriots, Harvin was drafted after the National Championship to the Minnesota Vikings, and Tim Tebow was drafted after last season to the Denver Broncos. Here is Demps back in 2008 meeting some fans after the game:



But my question is, where will Demps go after the season? Right now he is orchestrated as one of the best players in the nation. He most definitely has the fastest speed out of any runningback and can out run many of his opponents, but he is only a junior and could easy decide to stay for his senior year next year. Whatever the case may be, the Gator offense is explosive with him there and could quite possibly provide some spark during this lackluster season of Gator football.

Now that I have found and relived some of the most precious moments in my photojournalistic history, I can place these memories back in my past by safely storing them away in that file folder like a scrapbook stuffed away on a shelf...

Or I can keep them here and use them to remind myself of the adventures I can have and capabilities I already have as a photojournalist.

I think I'll do the latter.