My Favorite Purdue Sports Photos Of 2022

I have said this a lot on these wrap up posts, but this was a weird year working with Purdue. I only had one job for them in early January. Before the pandemic we were talking about making my role with the department greater, and now I am having trouble getting credentials. With limited access to the sports it did make culling this list a lot easier. There is always a positive to everything, and that is the one that I could find here.

About a week into the year I made my first Purdue sports photos of the year. As luck would have it this was the only event that I made photos for them during the year. I always enjoy making photos of the track athletes though. They are each doing something amazing out there. I wish that more people would see that and give them an audience.

My only wrestling meet of the year was the annual Mackey match. I like this one because you have a chance to make something a little more interesting than normal. Of course here I highlight a very normal photo. I just love these lock ups.

I have had some fun with popping a flash over the years as the players take the court. It is a good way to make something a little different. This was one of my favorites from last year.

I have been lucky enough to work a few Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships over the years. This year I was there for one of the other teams  in the field, but I made sure to make this photo. When you see a great freshman diver you grab that photo. If history is any indication they will be in the Olympics soon.

In late February I went inside to photograph a Purdue baseball scrimmage. I was so excited to see Purdue baseball that I would photograph a practice in terrible light. I knew that I wanted to see this team play as they would be exciting so I would take any opportunity that I could to do just that.

I love playing with slow shutter speeds when it comes to making tennis photos. Here is one of my favorites from last season.

I worked this photo for a couple of games. I knew that there was something here. Trevion Williams was that player that just made good photos just by being. I actually had another idea for this game, but I moved over when the Purdue photographer came to use that idea. I think that it shows a lot about my photography skills that I made a better photo than I had thought of originally. Being forced to move over let me see this view that I never thought of. Sometimes you have to be lucky.

I love these little moments. As a photographer with access your job is to bring the viewer into places that they can’t get into. You are there to show the fans the players personalities. When you find little moments like this it makes your day. They are fun photos to make that really let people see the real players on the court. My full gallery from this game can be found here.

One of the best to ever do it at Purdue. I knew that I wanted to get out and see as much Purdue softball as I could this past spring. They had one of the best hitters that I have seen on that team. The home season was already short, and the weather decided to shorten it even more. I was lucky enough to get out there a few times this year though.

I have made many photographs of Tyler Powers over the years. This was one of the last photos that I made of him before taking the field this year. Everything just kind of worked out for a photo that I really liked.

When you are photographing a baseball team you want emotion. This team had it. Here is a perfect example of that excitement. That love for the game makes the photos very easy to make.

This was the last photo that I made in Alexander Field in the spring. I remember watching the seniors go through senior day and thinking that it was sort of my senior day as well. I already knew the way that things were going so I wanted to make one last photo with some impact. Seeing the way that these players had fun with a kid from the stands made my day. They were staying dry from the rain, but still having fun in the dugout.

Opening night for Purdue soccer has become an amazing night where you can watch a packed field cheer on the Boilers. This year I went out to have some fun with the light. This was my favorite photo from the night.

The football home opener was an event. It was also the first time that I had to pay to get into Ross Ade Stadium since 2013. On that night in 2013 I made the $70 gamble as I called it that really paid off. Here I paid less than that for a photo that I really liked. It sold enough copies to pay for a few tickets which is always nice too. You can click on the link to purchase this photo as it would look great on your wall.

In late August the Purdue volleyball team usually has a tournament around my birthday. This year I had to wait a few days to see the team. I was at Holloway for the opponent, but I photographed their first game as a warm up. Volleyball is a quick sport, and I will always take all of the practice that I can get to make better photos of it. Here are a couple of my favorite celebration shots from that first game.

I love these tunnel photos. There are a great way to make something interesting. Here I tried a little something different and I really liked how it turned out.

This is a photo that I had already practiced a little earlier in the year when my oldest was at a catching camp at Bittinger. With that snake tattoo on the pitching arm I knew that I would break it back out here. There is a way to make this even better that I need to try some day down the road.

Late in the football season I found an outlet to get onto the field at Ross Ade. I really wanted to make some photos of Charlie Jones as he looked very exciting. Here he enjoys a nice gain against his former squad.

I love these little quiet moments. In the past I always had coin toss duty so I had to be up near the captains at this time. This year I had a little more freedom to pick and choose what I wanted to cover during the last moments of pregame.

This is the last photo that I made this year of a Purdue player. It is hard to believe that I went the last month and a half of the year with no events, but that is the new world. I really liked this image though, and if I had to pick a closer this would be it. It says a lot on its own so why am I still writing?

This was the hardest by far of these year end posts to write up. In fact it was the last one that I wrote of all of my end of year wrap ups. I started it a couple of times, and then decided to scrap the idea. I have done one of these for the past ten years though so I thought that I would put this one together. As it stands now with no access to either basketball team or football this might be the last of these that I put out. No matter what this was a heck of a ride. Not many people get a chance to do what I did for a short time. When I walk into the facilities at Purdue and see my photos on the wall it still fills me with great pride.