My Favorite Football Photos Of 2022

Every year it seems like I say that I didn’t photograph as much football as I would like to. This year that was true yet again. The football season is so short that no matter how much you can get to it is never really enough. On one hand I increased the amount of high school games that I was able to get to. That was a goal coming into the year. On the flip side an issue with credentials kept me from a few college games that I would have liked to photograph. It was a year of change, but any time on the football field is a good time. Here are my favorite photos from this past year.

During the Harrison scrimmage against Central Catholic I just played with the light. Those early season games are played in such great light that you have to find ways to play with that a little. Here I lucked out with a good gesture just before we lost the light completely.

This year the Harrison football team came together for one of their own. Before their home opener they made sure that Omarion Dixon was represented with them after his car crash. Later in the year we were lucky enough to have Omarion join us on the football field for a while.

This year I had some fun with the team entrance for Harrison. I wanted to capture it differently for every game. Early in the year you still have the sun to play with so I went with a backlit approach. By the end of the season you are starting the game in darkness so I panned with the athletes. It was fun coming up with new ways to showcase the entrance. Next year it will be fun trying to come up with other ways to make photos.

The Purdue home opener against Penn State was sold out with a hungry crowd. This was my first time since 2013 in the stands without a pass. I came up with a photo idea though for the runout which turned out pretty good. I quickly found out though that I am a terrible fan now. I really love making photos. Shortly after making this photo I left the game. It was great to see the opening of the game though and to make this photo. You can buy prints of this photo here.

When Indiana State came to town it was a chance to get back on the field and make some images. I went from being on the photo team at Purdue to not even getting a pass to photograph the games. That can really shake your confidence you start to wonder if you are just not any good. This game showed me that I could still do this. I had a fun game, and the photo above won the FCS photo of the week. I learned a long time ago that those things don’t really mean that much, but that week it meant the world to me. I have made many photos in Ross Ade over the years, but this is the one that will hang on my wall. A little reminder of a turning point for me.

As luck would have it during that game Caleb Krockover the son of my friend and fellow photographer got into the game to make an extra point. Here he is shown celebrating with his teammates. It had to be a great moment for father and son. I was glad that I was lucky enough to be in the stadium that day to get another angle on the moment. You know that I love to capture emotion, and here you have jubilation.

I love this moment between quarterback and coach. These little moments are why I do this thing. These moments don’t last very long, but they tell a large portion of the story.

This was my first year being a part of the sword game. I have watched these moments from afar in years past, but this year I was lucky enough to get to finally see the game in person. It did not disappoint, and I hope that I don’t miss many more of these games.

My first game on the field at Ross Ade focusing on Purdue was not very memorable. Purdue came out flat after a by week against Iowa. There were times photographing it where I was reminded of the Hazell days. One highlight though was Charlie Jones. Against his old team he had another good game. Here he asks the fans if they have been entertained.

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good in sports photography. I went to the West Side opening game of sectionals early to enjoy the last bit of light. I was struggling to find an image. Then I saw Mike. Last year Mike was on this list a lot. Here during warmups he knew the drill and gave me a quick pose allowing me to make an interesting photo.

The high school season moves pretty fast. Here are a couple of panning photos from the Harrison and West Side playoff games. That four years of high school goes by in the blink of an eye. I wanted a couple of photos to show how quickly that can happen.

My final high school game of the year was a cold and snowy one. I did not mind it though as it made for good photos. The Friday night lights illuminates the snow. This was my favorite photo from the night.

Over the years I have made some photos of TJ Sheffield that I liked. He plays in such a way that it just makes for good photos. I was able to make another one during the final game of the year as he stretched for a first down.

This is the final photo of this list. I was finding any reason to stay on the field after the Purdue win against Northwestern to close out the home season. As it turned out so was Payne Durham. I made some photos of him taking it all in one last time. Every year I try and do the same thing. I thought that it was a perfect photo to go out on.

There are my favorite football photos from the past year. It was a weird year, but I think that I was doing my best work during it. This year I was blindsided a bit by some games disappearing from my schedule. This coming year I know what is going on, and I can be better prepared when football season comes around. It is hard to believe but next year it will be thirty years since I last put on the pads. With a freer schedule I hope that I can celebrate that year with some photos from some stadiums that I haven’t been to in a while if ever. I look forward to seeing where this list will take me next year.

Tomorrow we will take a look at my favorite moon photos from 2022.