My Favorite College Football Photos Of 2024

This was the second year of my new deal making photos for the wire. In 2023 I was still learning the ropes and struggling with captioning photos and getting them out quickly. This year I picked up some work for the out of town teams as well. It was a good year getting to get out and try some different kinds of photography. When I worked for the schools it was all about making photos of everyone. The past two years has been a bit more fun just making nice photos. I learned early on that my stock photos would not get sold. I need to do something different to get noticed. It was a lot of fun trying to make those different photos.

I love the Purdue runout. The photos really don’t sell on the wire for me, but I really love making them. This year I realized that I should just have some fun and make the photo to start the game. It may not sell, but I start the game off with a photo that I like.

I don’t think that it is any secret that I grew up a huge Notre Dame football fan. I grew up an Irish Catholic boy not far from the stadium. One of my favorite players over the years was Bryant Young. Here his son Bryce celebrates a huge play on the field. That boy from LaPorte loved making this photo.

When the team you are covering has a potential Heisman winner on it you hope that the plays rolls to your side. Here things worked out perfectly for me to make a photo that I really liked as the quarterback rolled right at me. I gambled a bit hoping for a photo like this. I didn’t have the best angle of the score, but this was the photo that I was there for.

I love the tight end position. Many, many years ago that is what I played. When I went to Purdue they had Tim Stratton who was one of my favorite players. This year they had Max Klare who I really enjoyed watching. Next year I will get to see Max again, but just one weekend when Ohio State comes to town. He is a real talent that I really hoped would stay at Purdue.

I really got to see some great teams this year. A lot of the college football playoff teams made their way through West Lafayette or played Purdue. Here Penn State celebrates a touchdown.

This photo had a lot to do with my wife. She had told me a story of a Nebraska player during the week and what he had gone through on his journey to Nebraska. After the game I was next to him thinking he was going to be interviewed. Instead he went right to his coach to celebrate. It was my favorite photo of the day, and I made it because of my wife.

When I made this photo Purdue was on top of the world. They were handling the Sycamores, and the quarterback was setting records. Who knew at the time that this would be the lone win of the season? The games felt much different after this.

The final Purdue home game of the year had a great sunset. I ran up into the stands to make this photo. The sky was amazing, and the field always looks good. I really like how this photo turned out.

The Purdue season opener was a game full of fun for the Boilers. Here the defense celebrates a bit play. When I look back on this season I hope that I remember these moments.

You can’t beat a good stiff arm photo. Here I made one under the lights as Oregon was driving down the field. I was fairly close to the action here, and like the high school stiff arm photo that I showed yesterday this one has a little more impact because of that.

Notre Dame came into Purdue after a loss and on a mission. Here they celebrate an early touchdown with a team celebration.

A little mixup in timing made this photo a little better in my opinion. Purdue normally has the flags right in front of them during the runout. For the last game of the year though the flags took off a little early. That was great though because they ended up in the end zone a little backlit. I think that it made this photo much better in my eyes because of that.

Before the Oregon game I was having some fun making photos of the players going through their warm ups. I was going for one thing, but here I made a photo that I really liked.

I had no great angle on this defensive touchdown for most of the play. I was constantly blocked. When the player scored and turned to celebrate though I had a great view of that action. I loved this moment from the game.

The college season always seems to come and go so quickly. I really enjoy making photos at Ross Ade Stadium. I am glad that I found a way to get back into the stadium to make photos. This year I tried to do some different things, and I hope that this list is better because of it. What do you think? What is your favorite photo?