alittlenews

 

Alabama kicked off their college football schedule with a cake walk game against Western Athletic Conference opponent San Jose State.  It wasn’t much of a contest.  Bama won 48-3 in a game that was never closer than 7-3.  It went downhill for San Jose State after that.  I was right there with San Jose.  My first quarter was awful.  I was kneeling in the back of the end zone thinking it was the worst quarter of football I had ever shot.  As the first quarter ended I mumbled a prayer which went something like this.

“What have I done?  What do I need to repent of?”  Immediately I knew the answer.  A little later another thing came up.  So what kind of began as a whine, God actually answered.  After that I just asked for help because I was really not doing well.  I walked to the other end of the field with the quarter change and knelt down at the back of that end zone.  (You have to kneel in the South end zone because you block the view of fans.  I like shooting from my knees anyway.)  Before you know it, Julio Jones is laying out for a long pass right in front of me and even before he hit the ground I was praying again.  It went something like this.

“Oh please God, please God, please God!”  I chimped it and then I had another prayer.  It went something like this.  “Oh thank you God, thank you God, thank you God!”  It may sound like I am joking but I promise you that is exactly how it happened.

Now for the rest of the story.  When you are shooting a football team on offense it can be really tough knowing where to look for pictures.  I learned a long time ago there is a trick defensive backs use that I could use too.  As a defensive back back pedals in coverage he is reading the receiver and the quarterback.  He watches the quarterback’s eyes and tries to decide where the ball is going.  This works really well in high school and in college, especially with an inexperienced quarterback.  A wiley old veteran knows that DBs are reading his eyes and will try and throw them off but a young QB doesn’t do this well.

Alabama’s back up quarterback, A.J. McCarron, was in the game because Alabama was already leading 21-3.  I noticed him and was watching him to see if a photo might develop we could use for file art later on.  When he dropped back I saw him looking to the offensive left side.  About the time he let go of the ball I picked up a Bama receiver streaking to the post right up the middle of the field.  I whipped my camera around to that blob of red and squeezed the shutter just as the ball touched Jones’ hand.  At this point I had no idea what just happened.  It was literally a blur.  I didn’t even know if I had Julio in the frame or not.  It happened really quick.  That is when I chimped and had my little fit of thanksgiving down in the back of the end zone.

I knew the play would be reviewed to see if he maintained possession of the ball and this triggered another prayer.  “Oh please let it stand, please let it stand!”  If the play was ruled an incomplete pass the picture would be irrelevant.  Finally the officials declared it a touchdown and I almost did my own end zone dance.  Prayer really is a part of what makes me an effective photographer and, more importantly, an effective human.  I don’t pray all the time on every assignment but now and again I pray specifically about a job.  Not all prayers are answered like this but they are all answered.

Below are a few more images from the pre-game and game action.  Hope y’all enjoy and remember to pray.

 

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.  All images are copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily and may not be reused in any way without the permission of The Decatur Daily, Gary Cosby Jr., and in some cases, the NCAA and its member institution.

Congratulations to Rolando McClain who was selected eighth overall in the NFL draft yesterday.  Rolando grew up in Decatur, played for Decatur High School and the University of Alabama.  He won the Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker and was rewarded by the Oakland Raiders as they selected him in the top ten.  I have been photographing Rolando since he got to Decatur High in both football and basketball and I am very happy to see him do so very well.  Following is a slideshow with some images from his days at Alabama and a couple of images thrown in from his junior year at Decatur High.  Hope you do very well in the NFL.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.

I had no idea there would be questions from the behind the scenes post.  Since there were several I decided the easiest way to answer them would be to just write another post so here we go.

First question related to the use of a motor drive?  The answer was absolutely I used the motor drive.  I was firing as fast as the camera could accurately focus track which is about 8 fps.  Which leads to the second question.  Was I manual focusing or using continuous auto-focus?  I almost had to laugh here.  I was using AF in continuous mode.  I was never good at follow focus at f2.8 and I am very grateful for the accurate AF on the D3 especially with 46 year old eyes.  Another related question was what equipment was I using?  I shot with the D3 and the D2h bodies but almost totally with the D3.  There is such a huge difference in image quality between the two that shooting them side by side can yield jarringly different results.  Rounding out the technical questions, what was the exposure settings?  I had to look back at my EXIF data here but the ISO was 5000 on the game action with a shutter speed of 1600 at f2.8 with no converter and 1/800 at f4 with the 1.4 converter.  That was for the D3.  The D2h settings were ISO 1000 with a shutter speed of 1/500 at f2.8.

There were a bunch of photographers on the sidelines but I don’t know how many.  I saw about 10 from Alabama.  I don’t know for sure how many were from Texas, California news papers and agencies and all the national and international news agencies plus magazines and others who I have no idea who they were shooting for.  The good thing about it was the video folks were kept off the sidelines and had to accept a network feed which there were heavy restrictions on use for.  The video folks came out at the end of the game and were there for the post game stuff. We were not restricted as far as movement along the sidelines and backs of end zones went.  The area between the 25 yard lines is restricted for the teams and no media is allowed in this area.  Other than that we could move freely.

The Rose Bowl set up two shooting lines, one for kneeling and one for standing.  This worked out great.  It ensured you could always get a place to shoot from.  When you have a 300mm lens this is really important because you have to move a lot more to follow the action than if you were shooting with a 400mm lens.  I try to spend as much time in the back of the end zone as possible because it gives you the cleanest view and it allows more action to be coming right at you.  I probably spent 60-70 percent of my time in the back of the end zone and the rest running up and down the sidelines.

There was a pre-game meeting among photographers to go over the ground rules for shooting the game.  At this meeting, select news organizations which were determined by the universities were issued a special arm band that allowed close up access to the post-game presentation ensuring no one would be between them and the presentation.  Unfortunately, The Decatur Daily was not among those selected for this access.  I chose to go back and shoot with long glass.  It made sense at the time but turned out to be not so good a choice.  Really, that is what photography comes down to.  It is a product of the choices you make in terms of position, lens, movement and moment.  When you have most of them going for you you have a successful night.  When you have most of them going against you you struggle mightily.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr. and Deangelo McDaniel.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

This Soundslides show is designed to give you a glimpse behind the pictures and let you know what I was thinking, when there was thinking (grin), on my BCS National Championship coverage.  I hope you guys enjoy this and I hope you can pick up some tips.  You can usually apply lessons you learn in one area of photojournalism across the board and use them on other assignments.  So kick back and enjoy.  Leave a comment and let me know if this is helpful.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily. As always, the photos are of student athletes. No unauthorized reproduction or reuse of these photos is permitted to protect the eligibility of the student athletes. The photos are for editorial/educational use by readers of this site. Do not download these photos in any form. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE:  These photographs are for the viewing of this audience only.  They are not for sale or republication in any way, shape or form.  DO NOT DOWNLOAD THESE PHOTOS OR TAKE SCREEN SHOTS.  Play nice or you will get me in trouble and you won’t be able to see football pictures in the future.  The purpose of this site is editorial and teaching and in no way represents a commercial venture in any form.

You guys might have heard there was a little football game out in Pasadena yesterday evening.  I was there.  No big deal.  Just a National Championship on the line.  Fun times.  Actually, it was a great honor to be here shooting the game and surrounding festivities.  This has been a career goal and now I can cross that one off the list.  Of course, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at shooting another one someday.

The good thing is that the game is just a football game.  Big crowd, lots of excitement, fireworks, F18 flyover, parachute drops into the stadium but still just a football game.  That is what the coaches try to get the players to see.  You still just go out there and play football.  I just focused my mind on that.  It is a big stage.  There is a lot of hype.  The whole country is watching.  But it is still a football game and you have ride the horse that brought you.  In other words, shoot the game the same way you would shoot any game.  Work your angles.  Move as much as necessary.  Play the percentages.  It is just football and the teams are going to do basically what got them here.  Same for me.

Of course, I had an ace in the hole that I don’t know if anyone else shooting the game had.  I had two churches back home praying for me.  It is pretty hard to fail when you have that much support.  So I take off my crowns and lay them at the feet of the one who gets the glory.  We sing a song sometimes that says “not unto us, oh Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name be glory.”  I like that.  When I do well it is nothing more than God’s gift working.  I had a nice game and probably did about as good as I could considering I was shooting alone.  The bigger newspapers and agencies sent multiple photographers.  But I guess when I have a little divine help that kind of evens out the field.  And really, a lot of big plays happened right in front of me.  You can’t ask for more than that.

I know some of you are probably thinking God doesn’t care about football or pictures and I agree with that.  What God cares about is people so I have no problem thanking Him publicly for helping me perform well.

With the proper accolades in place let me tell you, this was a great experience.  The Rose Bowl in an awesome place to work.  It would have been more awesome in daylight.  The light out here is wonderful and shooting that game in daylight would have been a treat.  The stadium is a bit lower than most of the ones I typically shoot in which means the light stands were lower and that creates a few problems with light quality.  Other than that small complaint I was great working here.  The Rose Bowl is the most beautiful place I have ever shot a football game.  Truly a special stadium.

Shooting this game was no different from doing any college game.  The sidelines were crowded but I had no trouble moving around or working with the other shooters.  To their credit, the BCS did a wonderful job of managing this entire week and the folks who run the Rose Bowl did an excellent job managing the media and meeting our needs.  I shot the game with a D3 and a D2H, same as always.  I used the 300 f2.8 and sometimes had a 1.4 extender on it.  I also used the 80-200 and the 17-35.  In other words, I used the same stuff I always use.  It is probably not a good idea to bring unfamiliar equipment into the biggest game of the year.

I am going to post some photos here with this post and when I get back home I am going to do a narrated slide show for this site to kind of take you behind the pictures and give you an idea of what I did, what I was thinking and why.  Just some stuff you don’t usually think about.  In the mean time, enjoy a few shots from the game.

[caption id="attachment_3327" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Trent Richardson scores a touchdown on a long run in front of Texas defenders Aaron Williams and Earl Thomas during the first half in the Rose Bowl. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 01/07/10"][/caption][caption id="attachment_3323" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Mark Ingram dives down near the Texas goal line with Blake Gideon making the tackle during the first half in the Rose Bowl. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 01/07/10"][/caption]

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

I talked with my wife last night and found that my son David is praying against me.  Patty told me Dave wanted me to get fired so I could come home.  I love that little guy.  He is 8 and missing his dad.  That both breaks my heart and makes me feel great.  Parenting is weird that way.  While this is a dream assignment for me it is also a little bit of a paradox because I hate being away from hearth and home for any amount of time.  The family is just too precious.  I suppose I am blessed that I get to travel and blessed that I don’t have to do it much.

On the ground in Newport Beach we had a full day of press conferences and practices.  This means we spent two hours making pictures of players talking to us from a podium.  Not bad really but it is a tad predictable.  We had Texas offensive players in for a round and Alabama defensive players for another round.  That was before lunch.  We grabbed a quick lunch in the media hospitality suite.  That is an understatement that does no justice to an excellent meal.  The food was so good it was better than many, many restaurants I have eaten in.  These guys really know how to take care of you.  Then it was off to Texas practice.

UT has their practice facility at UC Irvine.  The deal is they only grant us 15 minutes shooting time and your mobility is pretty limited.  Texas skipped one of the periods we were supposed to be allowed to photograph meaning we only had six minutes to shoot practice.  Nice.  I got about three players and one shot of Coach Mack Brown who stayed as far from the cameras as possible and still be on the practice field.  Not great but at least I got a few frames of a couple of key offensive players for UT.

We moved on to the Alabama practice facility at Costa Mesa High School.  We actually got the full 15 minutes with Bama which was somewhat surprising.  Coach Saban is pretty tight about all that.  The down side is we had a much smaller shooting area to work in than at the Texas practice.  I got an incredible amount done in 15 minutes.  All things considered I did about as much as you could possibly do in that amount of time.  I got pictures of most of the key players doing something relatively interesting.

After hopping the media shuttle back to the hotel I began working up photos.  I ended up moving 51 photos back from the press conferences and practices.  There is no way you will see 51 photos run in the paper but we should have an awesome gallery from it.  And we will have plenty of stuff to run in the special sections leading up.  That is what you have to keep in mind.  You are not just shooting for today’s paper but for all the stories leading up to the game.  In addition, I am supplying photos to three newspapers and each of them have writers here working on different stories.  There are different needs for each story and newspaper.  The writers are also sharing stories so our stories will be running in the partner papers and vice versa.

After a long day we finally made it to dinner.   Micheal Casagrande, Mark Edwards and I found a great little Italian restaurant in Newport Beach.  There was not a Texas or Alabama color in the place meaning it was completely patronized by locals.  That was a good sign.  The wonderful aroma as soon as we opened the door was another good sign.  The small restaurant was completely full which was the last good sign.  All those good omens led up to a fantastic meal.  Compliments to the chef.  Really nice.  Okay, travel does have a few perks.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions  expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Here is a short slide show on the sideline tight rope walk that Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy did during the first half as she scrambled for a key first down.  McElroy got to the sideline, got bumped and still managed to keep himself in bounds long enough to get the first down.

And as a bit of bonus material, there is always one that got away.  One!  Actually there are so many that get away you don’t even notice most of them but this one just hurts.   Auto focus  is a great tool but depending on it in the wrong situations can burn you.  It is like driving a nail with a pair of pliers.  You can do it but it certainly is difficult and will frustrate the heck out of you.

Alabama defensive lineman Terrence Cody is standing there in the middle of the shower of confetti when, all of a sudden, he sticks out his tongue like a kid in a snow storm.  I am almost giddy.  This is too good to be true.  I am in photographer heaven!  Then he tips his head back and opens his mouth wide.  Nice, NIce, NICe, NICE!

Then I start to edit and realize the confetti confused the AF and my camera locked focus on a point nearer his arm than his face.  NO! NO! NO!  But, oh yes, I missed the shot with his tongue out.  I got the other one but it is just not as good.  I should have manual focused but shoulda, woulda, coulda does not a photo make.  I am still kicking myself.  Memo to self:  when shooting in a confetti shower, MANUAL FOCUS YOU IDIOT!  And, by the way, how in the heck do you get a guy as big as Cody out of focus!?

Alabama took it to the Florida Gators Saturday in the SEC Championship game dominating from opening kick to flying confetti winning 32-13.  The win put Alabama into the BCS Championship facing Texas out in Pasadena.  Bama fans are giddy.  I suppose that athletics director Mal Moore is now thoroughly vindicated in his hiring of Nick Saban.  This is what Saban was brought to Alabama for.  I have not heard a single Alabama fan complaining that he was not part of the “Alabama family.”

So Bama fans are now packing for California.  I can only hope that my editor will come tell me to do the same before too long.  I am not holding my breath but I do have my fingers crossed!  You just never know.  Everyone is tightening up the purse strings right now but I certainly hope we open ours a tiny bit.  I just don’t  know if there will ever be another chance to cover a national championship game during my career.  Here’s hoping!

The SEC Championship was held in the Georgia Dome.  Not my favorite place after last year’s SEC title game where I had a lens stolen.  All my gear survived this time and I understand that I got plenty of face time on national TV.  Sweet!  My brother kept texting me telling me he was seeing me on the tube.  The cameras love me!

Covering the game was very challenging.  The sidelines were absolutely packed with working media.  And you always had to dodge the network guy in the lift that patrols behind the benches.  He has a great perch but you have to run around and ahead of the cart when the play moves down the field.  A whole herd of photographers has to run from one end of the bench are to the other, that is a 50 yard sprint at minimum, while trying to avoid being run over by the guy driving the TV cart.  Fun times.  When you mix that all too frequent little jog in with the pre-game beef stew the result is a little bit unsettling.  I kept my eye out for a garbage can so I wouldn’t soil the lovely, fake, green grass in the Georgia Dome.  Fortunately, the need never came up.

I also found it a bit taxing in the post game to keep up with 21 year old kids in prime physical condition.  Here I am 46 and hauling around two bodies and three lenses and a monopod which I dared not lay aside all while chasing Mark Ingram and company around the field trying to get in focus shots of the jubilation.  Did I mention that there were several dozen other media doing the same thing.  To use the word melee might be an understatement.

I have included a rather large slide show of images for you to check out.  Hope you enjoy it.  I prayed pretty hard before the game to be in the right place and it seemed to have worked out pretty well.  When the paper puts an investment of confidence in me to send me to cover a big event I always do spend a bit of time praying over the job.  I want the paper to receive a full return on the investment they are making plus I want to do a really good job for me too.  The scripture says that whatever our hands find to do we are to do with all our might not as working for men but as unto the Lord.  When He blesses me I like to give Him credit.  You don’t generally see a photo credit saying “Photo by God.”  And save the Tebow jokes.  I know I just threw you guys a softball!

Feel free to email me any questions you may have about covering big games or big events.  I would love to hear from you and I will try to answer in a timely manner or do a blog post in answer to the questions.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  These photos are intended for the viewing pleasure of this audience and are not for sale or reproduction in any way that might make the NCAA or its member institutions feel grumpy.  Just a little humor guys.  The photos really are only for viewing so play nice.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Thanksgiving is always the season for football.  You all know about the annual NFL games featuring the Lions in one game and the Cowboys in the other.  I think I am safe in saying that you have never heard of the teams in the Turkey Bowl.  Well, most of you have never heard of them.  The annual games involve students at Leon Sheffield Elementary, a magnate school in the Decatur City School system.  I won’t say it is as highly anticipated as the Iron Bowl but I can tell you it is a whole lot easier to shoot.

Kids in each grade face off against their classmates each year during the last week before the Thanksgiving holiday break.  A rousing series of games of touch football follow with the ball flying everywhere and, as often as not, a few kids flying around as well.  This is just huge fun and it is wonderful to shoot.  The kids are intense.  The crowds, and yes there are crowds, cheer loudly.  And the boys and the girls play the game together.  It is a wonderful thing to see.

The school moves the games to Rhodes Ferry Park and even erect goal posts which is entirely fitting because an old high school football field once sat upon that very spot.  Each grade plays a tournament between the home rooms and each grade crowns a champion.  The competition is intense but at the end of the day everyone wins because, regardless of the score, it was a day out of class.  When I was a kid in school that was the ultimate goal and what better way to accomplish it than with a great game of football.

There are not many things I like to shoot more than football.  This game is certainly not on the level with the Iron Bowl last weekend or the SEC Championship this weekend but this game holds a special place in my heart.  There is just something so, well, American about the whole thing.  The only possible way to make it better is to play it in the mud!

All these shots were done on the D3 and the 80-200mm lens.  Once in a while I used the crop mode but it was mostly just shot on full frame.  We always publish a selection of photos in the paper and online from the Turkey Bowl.  Hope you enjoy it.  Football is winding down.  I am already missing it.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Alabama’s annual family feud between The University of Alabama and Auburn University is now in the books.  It was a classic Iron Bowl game.  Alabama, ranked second in the nation in the BCS, rolled in to face unranked Auburn in Auburn.  The Iron Bowl is an amazing game in any year no matter how good or bad the teams might be.  This season, the first under new head coach Gene Chizik, Auburn has played great and played poorly.  Friday they played great.

Auburn kicked to Alabama to open the game, held Bama then took the ball and scored a quick touchdown.  Auburn then caught Bama off guard with an on-side kick which Auburn recovered leading to another quick score.  Before you knew it, the under dog was dictating to the second ranked team in the nation.  Then Alabama woke up.  Sort of.  Bama answered with a pair of touchdowns before half-time to even the score.

Second half was every bit of exciting as the first half with Auburn again scoring first.  Bama kicker Leigh Tiffin added a couple of field goals but Auburn still led 21-20 with only eight minutes and change left in the game.  That is when the second ranked team in the nation took over.  Led by quarterback Greg McElroy, the Crimson Tide marched steadily down the field chewing up yardage and time on the clock.  Then I knew Bama was going to win.  With just over 8 minutes left on the clock I made a picture of the scoreboard as a sort of marker in my images.  Alabama ground its way down the field finally ending up inside the Auburn five with a third and goal with about a minute and a half on the clock.

Like everyone else in the building, I just knew that Alabama was going to run the ball up the middle.  If they scored, fine, but if they didn’t they would be set up for a field goal to go ahead and Auburn would have about one minute and one time out to try and win.  I positioned myself so I could see Tiffin’s face when he kicked the game winner.  Then to my utter surprise, and apparently to the surprise of everyone else in the stadium including the Auburn defense, McElroy faked the middle hand off and sprinted out to his right finding running back Roy Upchurch in the right flat all by himself.  Upchurch raced into the end zone and Bama had a lead that would force Auburn to try to score a touchdown and not simply go far enough for a field goal try.  This sealed Bama’s victory.

Great game unless you were me.  I was out of position for every touchdown except one.  The game winner happened on my side of the field but I was up near the 25 yard line setting myself up to shoot the field goal I had anticipated.  Instead of a really nice picture, which Mark Almond from Birmingham News made, I got a lame photo of Upchurch just after he caught the ball.  Then to my complete chagrin, the entire jubilation after the touchdown was blocked from my view.  I literally missed the whole thing.  Maddening!  But it was that kind of day.  I was so out of position on Auburn’s touchdowns that I was literally 100+ yards away when they scored.  No joke.

The story of game was Alabama.  Sorry to all you Auburn fans but if Alabama lost then the story was not that Auburn won but that Alabama lost.  If Alabama won the story was that Alabama made it through to the SEC Championship unbeaten.  Unfortunately for Auburn fans, the Tigers were merely the foil and not the primary combatant. I know that chafes the Auburn folks but sometimes that is just the way it is.  The point is that I was positioned to cover Alabama’s defense meaning that I was behind the Auburn offense which put me behind the back of the end zone.  Two of the three of Auburn’s TDs were long plays that caught me far, far away from anything meaningful because I was shooting to cover Alabama.

That is the trick when covering a big game like this one.  You have to decide before the game starts what is the most important thing and go with that.  I couldn’t clone myself to be on both ends of the field so you have to know there are some photos you are going to miss.  I anticipated a one-sided Alabama victory; therefore, I positioned myself to cover that.  Auburn decided not to play along with my scenario.  This threw  a monkey wrench into my coverage and frustrated me all day long.  Because the game stayed close I had to stick with my plan.  Even doing that I missed almost every touchdown or got nothing more than a record shot from them.  I had photos of all three Alabama touchdowns but none were impressive photographically.  That is the way it goes some of the time.  You just have to hang in, read the game and try to make adjustments on the fly.

I shot the game with the Nikon D3, Nikon D2H and the 300 f2.8, 80-200 f2.8 and the17-35 f2.8.  I leaned most heavily on the D3 for obvious reasons.  I yearned for longer glass but there was nothing that could be done about that.  I spent a lot of the game sprinting behind the bench from one end of the field to the other trying to stay in position to shoot with the shorter 300.  That would be a 50 yard sprint loaded with gear multiple times during the game.  I know, I know, don’t cry for me.  I was shooting the Iron Bowl.  Still, I am getting older and 50 yard sprints are a long way in the past.

The slide show included with this post shows you the action photos that I actually transmitted and a secondary edit I did today for our follow up stories so the total output from the game will probably be around 50 action shots and maybe a dozen feature type shots and I really took it easy on the features this year.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  These photos are for the viewing pleasure of this audience and may not be reprinted or reused in any fashion without written consent by the copyright holder and the athletic governing bodies.  So look but don’t touch!  The opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.