A Rare Opportunity

I don’t get to photograph golf very often. It is rare that I do. I have never photographed a PGA Tour event before. When the opportunity to photograph the PGA Junior Championships came up I jumped at the chance. It would be hot, but it would be worth it. The goal of my coverage was of course Charlie Woods the son of Tiger Woods. Charlie is only sixteen, but man he handles the crowds and the pressure so well. On day one I spent the beginning of the rounds just getting the close up photos that I knew that they would want from me. By the end of my first day I was playing around a little. The photo above is the last photo that I made on the day, and it might be my favorite.

Where Is Charlie?

I did not get to see Charlie tee off on this hold. I liked this composition though so I made this photo anyway. You can see a lot of the crowd that was following Charlie around all day. Most groupings had a few people with them. This group had a couple hundred.

Getting Low

I was standing with my feet below the hole to make this photo. I tried to pick my times to make this photo so that I wouldn’t distract, but also so that I could be in a place to get low and get under the hat. It really worked here allowing me to make a photo that I really liked.

Showing Some Context

What the wire wants are close up photos of Charlie. I liked these photos too though because they help tell the story of the day. I kept trying to put myself in situations to make these so that I had some different photos for the gallery. As I was making this photo Alex from the paper made an amazing photo that also told the story with the Purdue water tower in it.

More With Charlie

On Thursday I went back to the golf course to watch Charlie Woods on the course again. Charlie really made a move on Wednesday, and after the Thursday action was in second place. It is really amazing watching him do his thing. He can really hit the ball, and you can see the potential there. It was cool to follow him again on day three of the tournament.

Another Golfer In The Mix

Golfing with Charlie was Purdue commit Sam Carraher. Sam is still a couple of years playing, but I had the funny thought that I made more photos of him on this one day than I probably would his whole career at Purdue. I usually end up working for the other teams so it was kind of fun actually making photos of a future Boiler. He was very contemplative on the green. He would think about his putt while waiting to do so. He also would hold his ball in his hand as he thought through the putt. I waited until a photo came together where the Purdue logo was showing on it. I really like how this photo turned out.

Showing The Scope

I really liked this photo from day three of the tournament. You can see part of the crowd that is following Charlie around the course. The lady in front is sneezing, but I like to think that she is just in awe of the photo. Also you have a couple of Purdue basketball players hanging out in the frame. It won’t be long before I am photographing them again. This is not a tight shot of Charlie, but it might be my favorite photo of the tournament.

Looking For Something Different

I often talk about making better photos when I get bored. I was not bored while out on the course. I was however bored with my photos. When that happens I usually try and find something new to do. It is these times when I usually make my favorite photos. I love how everyone in this frame is watching the ball. Charlie is the star, but the fans in the foreground add to the photo a little.

More Of The Crowd

This is a photo of Charlie putting on the hole that he was driving to in the photo above. For this short par 3 I decided to just have some fun. I wanted to show a bit of the crowd that was following Charlie around this week. I didn’t get them all in, but I got enough of them in to make a photo that I really liked.

Championship Day

I went out to see the final holes of the final day of the tournament. At this point it was less about making tight photos. I had them for the most part already. I was making landscape photos that happened to have some people golfing in them. It was a fun way to get a little exercise.

Trophy Time

When I am photographing for the wire I need to think of photos that could be used down the road. I photographed the trophy presentation with that in mind. It was a good way to make some trophy photos, but also to add some stock images of the winners with trophies.

Documenting The Circus

Compared to the rest of the field it was a circus around Charlie Woods. He had more security around him than most groups had fans following them. The fans all wanted their moment to make a clip of Charlie doing his thing. I tried my best all week to not add to the circus. I tried to make my photos, but also to always give the golfers space. Above was a photo from the final day that I think showed some of that circus off. The phones are out documenting the moment as Charlie hits the ball.

Spotlighting The Course

This week was my first time on Ackerman-Allen that was not part of a tailgate. It has been years since I set foot on the course, and that was just the little portion that we would park on before football games. This week I wanted to see all of the holes and kind of find some good views to show off. I tried to pull out and show the course off a bit at times. It also helped me document the circus a little as well.

A Fun Anniversary

Yesterday was the ten year anniversary of my first game at the Indy Indians. I really wanted to photograph the Charlotte Knights who are the White Sox triple A team. I asked for a pass and was given one. The Indians asked if I could photograph two players that had just joined the team. They were Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell. I agreed to do that. Tyler pitched a good game, and Josh got the game winning hit in extras. Josh Bell got the Gatorade bucket treatment from Elias Diaz. The photo that I made of Josh won the MiLB photo of the year. It is hard to believe that I did that in my first game. To be honest it was not even the best photo of the group that it was included in for voting. The voters picked it though so that is pretty cool, and worthy of a little anniversary section on here. Maybe with football season coming up a little flashback portion of this post could be pretty cool.