The Week That Was In Sports

This has been a crazy week. It started with football on Saturday. The way that things are shaking out I will probably only have two more football games this year. My high school season might just be done. On Sunday I had some softball which was most likely my last softball of the year. Monday night started basketball season with the Purdue exhibition. On Thursday night my week really started to get crazy with the Big Ten soccer tournament. I had two games to cover on Thursday and four more in the next two days. It was a nice variety of sports this week. Below are a few stories from the week that I liked.

Rutgers Snatches Victory From The Jaws Of Defeat

Near the end of the Purdue and Rutgers game I was thinking about where to be when Purdue won. The Rutgers tied the game. Purdue had the ball so I had to have a plan, but also to let that plan evolve as the circumstances would change. I went to the Purdue end zone in case they scored. About right when I got there Purdue turned the ball over at the Rutgers end handing the game to them. It was all up to the kicker who had missed a field goal earlier in the game. He drilled the chip shot and gave Rutgers a much needed win.

A Good Game

Before the game I had the thought that this might be the best game in the stadium this year. It is sad to say, but neither team was very good, but that is why they might match up well. I ended up being right as the game came down to the last second. Most of the games in this stadium lately have been blowouts one way or another. It was cool to see a close game. A little tension down the stretch was fun.

I’m Okay

It was nice of the Rutgers quarterback to let the Purdue defender know that they are okay halfway through the tackle. It is this kind of sportsmanship that you like to see.

Almost

This photo kind of sums up the game for Purdue. Just out of reach. The remaining games on the schedule look pretty daunting right now. This might have just been the last chance for a win this season. The two remaining home games are against Ohio State and Indiana. It is hard to say this, but right now Indiana looks to be going to the playoffs again. With all of that said this is year one with a new coach. There are things that I like when I look at how he deals with the team. We are nearly done with the season and I don’t know how he likes to fold the brim of his cap. I don’t even know what his favorite hoodie is. He kind of seems to focus on the game, and I like to see that. He will have more of his guys here next year so hopefully that will help things out a little.

Another Familiar Face At Bittinger

I covered all four years of Chelsea Parker’s career at Harrison. I stumbled into her freshman season, and then had fun watching that team play for the next three years. It was really cool to see her back in the area with DePaul. She is a great hitter that should keep doing big things in the Big East.

In Game Portraits

Sitting by the dugout gives you great access to make portraits in game. I was having some fun making different portraits when this one just kind of happened. I was not planning on making the photo, but when the opportunity presented itself it was too good to miss. I really like how this turned out.

Anything But Hitting

My goal for this game was to be able to make a gallery with any kind of photo but a hitting photo. It was a fun challenge to go into the game thinking about. Of course I made a couple of photos of hitting, but I didn’t make a habit of it. I focused on the field or the things around me instead of the hitting.

Having Some Fun

I have really started to have some fun making softball images. It might be my favorite sport to photograph now. The players have fun, and the smaller field allows me to capture most of that fun. I have photographed a ton of softball this year. I still am not ready to be done. The spring season can’t get here fast enough. Of course once it gets here it goes by so fast.

Back In Mackey

Monday night I was back in Mackey Arena. It is that time of year when we start going back inside. I usually resist it a little. I like being outside in fields where you can move around. Once you get inside your options are very limited. I do enjoy basketball photography though. I have really learned to like it, and to find the things that interest me on the court. This year should be a fun year as far as basketball goes.

What Can You Say?

There isn’t a lot that I think you can take from the exhibition game that Purdue had Monday night. They had a convincing win against an opponent that was there for that reason. As the games start for real it will be fun to see how all of these new pieces come together for Purdue. There is not a lot left from last year’s women’s team. This early part of the season will be getting to know the new faces and what they do so by March I will be able to predict things a little better. This game for me was all about learning.

Going Wide

At least early in the year for the Purdue women you can kind of pick the spot where you will sit. For the first half I sat under the basket where I normally do. I had my 28-70mm lens on my Sony A1 and my Sony A9II had my Sony 50-150mm lens on it. This worked well, but I really wanted to play with the 50-150 a little more. For the second half I sat on the end of the baseline and just used the 50-150 on the Sony A1. I thought I might use the 28-70mm lens from time to time, but that wasn’t the case. As this season starts I may play around with how I photograph basketball a little. Some lenses may come in and out of the bag while I try and find what works best from where I sit. I think it could be a special year in Mackey so I want to do the best that I can to document it.

The Big Ten Soccer Tournament Returns To Purdue

In 2015 one of my first big gigs was covering the entirety of the Big Ten Soccer Tournament when Purdue hosted it. Ten years later I am back photographing it again as Purdue is hosting the first two rounds. It is a different format now, but still pretty cool to be a part of. Folk Field and the area around it are beautiful right now so it is great to have some more soccer to photograph there. So far as I write this I have photographed two matches with four more to go. You will get to see more photos from the tourney in next week’s post.

The Joy Of Victory

Part of the fun of covering tournaments like this is that you get a ton of emotion. Both games on Thursday were 1-0 matches. There was tension and emotion all the way through. Post match for the winners the joy and relief that it was over was fun to photograph. The photo above is one of my favorites from the tourney so far.

Everything In One Photo

This is the kind of photo that I always hope to make. It doesn’t always work out, but you have the player that scored the goal celebrating with the other team recovering in the background. It tells a story looking around the frame. Of course to be picky I wish that it had all happened just a little bit over sot he Big Ten signage was in the frame, but even with that I still like this frame.

As The Sun Goes Down

I get a lot of great light throughout the day, but right at the end as the sun is going down things get kind of fun. I went to the last home match for Purdue to kind of scout this out a little so I knew what to expect for the most part. It was beautiful, and I can’t wait to play with it again tonight.

Slowing It Down

During the match at night I slowed things down a little bit with my shutter. These photos are probably only for me at the end of the day, but I still like to make them.

Work The Signage In

Whenever I can I try and work the signage into my photos. The play is always moving around, but you start to mark where the things are so you know when they are getting close to it. Part of my job as the tournament photographer is to document all of the signage. A little game that I like to play during the run is to get it into my game action too.

More Photos From The Week

This is the part of the post where I post way too many photos. Once again if you get to the bottom you deserve a prize. Maybe grab that extra piece of Halloween candy that you weren’t going to grab. You deserve it.