As a sports photographer, there are few times, maybe more, where we get hired to help shoot for our favorite teams. I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph Tom Brady and the Patriots as well as the Boston Red-Sox and now I can add being hired to help shoot a game for the Miami Hurricanes football team. Sometimes dreams do come true!
While it’s true I’ve photographed numerous Miami Hurricanes games over the years, I’ve never been hired by the team to shoot for them before. I won’t lie when I got the text gauging my interest I was like, “Oh hell yeah.”
Shooting for teams or clients is different than shooting for yourself. I had a list shots needed and my job was to get those shots. Celebrations behind the benches, fans throwing up the ‘U”, cheerleaders etc. were some of my assignments. I was able to shoot game action as well. It didn’t matter to me what I shot because I was working for the Miami Hurricanes. And an added bonus was when I found my photos being used on their social media accounts. I won’t lie I got a little geeked out for that just as I do when the Patriots or Red-Sox use my photos. Ok when any team or players post my photos.
Running Through the Smoke
As photographers we’ve haven’t been allowed on the field to photograph the team running out since the first game of Mark Richt’s tenure. The reason being was that some photographers were anxious to get the best spots and ended up blocking the band from the performing as they had to be in certain spots and there were photographers there lining up. Running through the smoke is one of the most iconic things in College Football and not being on the field for it the past several seasons has sucked to be honest.
Luckily for me since I was working for the team, one of my assignments was to photograph the team running through the smoke. It felt great to be back out there on the field as the flames shot upwards and the smoke billowed out as Sebastian led the team out onto the field. It’s always a bit of a rush being out there as the Miami Hurricanes football team comes storming out.
2001 National Championship Team
Another highlight was that it was the 20th Anniversary of their greatest football team ever assembled winning the 2001 National Championship. It was great to see all the legends of that team back out throwing the “U” up. A lot of those players went on to have great NFL careers. It was a testament to how great that team was. A lot of the players were wearing shirts honoring Sean Taylor, who tragically lost his life in a senseless act of violence years ago.
Out of all the great Miami Hurricanes football team, the 2001 team is far and away the best there ever was and probably will ever be in College Football.
The 2022 season should be a great one. There is a lot of buzz around the program with the new coaching hire of Mario Cristobal as well as all the top recruits they’ve been getting recently. I’ll be out there all season long so follow my Instagram for the latest and greatest from this season of Miami Hurricanes football.
