Another Saturday afternoon spent at Sunlife Stadium to photograph the University of Miami Hurricanes football team and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Nothing beat college football. The marching bands in the stands supplying the rallying songs, the fans screaming and shouting and don’t forget about the action on the field. Just another glorious Saturday.
The game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets would be the Miami Hurricanes first game against an ACC opponent which meant it was a big game for the Canes. I got to the stadium several hours before kickoff, as I customarily do, and made my way up to the upper section of the stadium. As I was walking up the ramp, the Miami Hurricanes marching band and cheerleaders were lined up outside welcoming the team to the stadium so I broke out my Galaxy S4 and uploaded some videos to Instagram. I then made my way up to the last row of the stadium and enjoyed several minutes of absolute peace and quiet as the stadium was nearly empty except for the ESPN crews setting up.
After my little siesta I made my way down to the media room where I picked up my copy of the roster for both teams. Those roster sheets are a blessing for trying to identify players and tag them in photos later on. After I grabbed my sheet I headed out to the field to catch the start of warmups.
Warmups are my time to get my setting dialed in and for me to experiment. I also like to see what the other photographers are doing. It’s funny watching some of these photographers; it’s almost like high school. Guys with 400mm lenses and above only talk to each other it seems and then there is always one guy there who is new and asking questions and people tend to ignore them as if they’re too good to help out. Even during the games, certain photographers only stand with each other and if someone stands close to them they move or make a weird face. It’s quite comical.
I was glad when the game started, it gave me something to focus on other than the absolute heat that was scorching me on the field. I was sweating like I had just jumped out of the shower. The action was pretty good as well. Grabbed some shots and missed a few as well. Always frustrating when you miss a shot. I was pretty good that day at predicting the action so I was trying to put myself in the right spot to get the shot. I’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on anticipating where the action is going to be and it’s been paying off these past few weeks.
After the game I met up with Ed Freeman, one half of the Sports Brothers and we headed into the interviewing room to hear the media interviews from the Miami Hurricane coaches and players. I’m usually in the media room when these interviews take place, breaking down gear and going over photos, so it was a nice break from the norm to go hear what the coaches and players thought about the game. Very insightful information and it was pretty cool sitting there as well taking it all in. Love the opportunities that I have and I’m just trying to make the best of them. It will be a couple of weeks before the Miami Hurricanes are back home for a game so I’ll be waiting for that moment to come for sure.
