alittlenews

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.

What a cool way to begin a new year and a new decade.  I am in southern California to cover the BCS National Championship and related festivities. My first assignment was the coaches press conference at Downtown Disney’s ESPN Zone.  Nick Saban greeting Mickey Mouse is just not something you see every day.  During the press conference a few minutes after Alabama arrived and met the famous Mouse, Coach Saban was asked by a member of the media if he were having fun.  The stoic Saban answered very diplomatically saying practice was more fun for him than meeting the media.  Imagine that!  Maybe Coach will smile if Bama wins Thursday.  Or not.

Then there was Robyn Armstrong McDaniel cradling perhaps the most valuable football in America, the crystal football that sits atop the National Championship Trophy.  She works for Dr. Pepper and her job is to help manage that football.  It sat on the stage between the coaches and ESPN host Jesse Palmer.  She and several colleagues are in charge of managing the trophy.  Maybe my favorite moment was her cradling that ball.  Just don’t fumble!

The press conferences are, well, press conferences.  You get to shoot pictures of the coaches on a set.  Expressions and gestures receive an explosion of shutter clicks all firing at 8fps.  Don’t want to miss a single inflection.  The coaches press conference was an ESPN TV event so it was a bit fancier than most where you only have a back drop and people in front of it.  Faces, expressions and gestures please and as many and as varied as possible.

Otherwise, our first day in California was just like a day anywhere else.  You still have to move around to the assignments.  You still have to shoot, edit and move photos and do it all as quickly as possible with iffy internet connections.  Fortunately, they are taking good care of us.  I could get used to being pampered like this.  There is a media shuttle that takes you pretty much anywhere you need to go.  That is just fabulous because it removes one layer of stress.  Anytime you can remove a layer of stress it is a good thing.  They are also giving us some very nice lunches and wonderful service on just about anything we need.  Like I said, I could get used to this.  I hope my wife isn’t reading this one!

Lest you feel we are having it too easy, our first day began with a 3:55 Central Time wake up call to get to the airport for a 6:15 flight.  We hit the ground here, checked into the hotel, got a bite to eat and were working immediately.  My day finally came to a close at 9:45 Pacific Time when I was finally able to fall into the bed.  With the time change being two hours back to our time zone, every event in the evening pushes deadline hard.  So there you go, all this glitz and glamor, ahem, is certainly off set by the stress, delays and problems of just getting here and doing what would otherwise be pretty normal.  I know, I know, don’t cry for me!

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.

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.

The game of the week was in T-Town Saturday with Alabama facing LSU.  It was a big matchup because LSU is a big time opponent and could give Alabama much needed poll support in the BCS.  I am rooting for Bama to get to the National Championship because that is about the only chance I have of ever covering a Division I national championship and even with Bama playing in the game the deck is stacked against me getting to cover it.

Bama did, in fact, defeat LSU which clinched a berth in the SEC Championship Game for the second consecutive year and they will face Florida again.  I have a much better shot at covering that game so fingers are now crossed.  Bama must still overcome Mississippi State, Chattanooga (suppressing laughter even as I write) and Auburn before the SEC title game but the berth is now clinched.  The only shot Bama has at the National Championship game is to remain undefeated for the rest of the regular season and then defeat Florida for the conference title.  No mean feat that!

So Bama didn’t really knock my socks off during the first half but they did play a reasonably good second half to get the win.  I had a game about like the game itself.  Good in places but not great anywhere.  Such is the day.  Whenever I shoot a game, it is always the shots I missed that bug me.  And there were plenty of shots I missed from either being out of position or from bad focus.  Yep, even with a D3 I can screw up the focus.  Must be operator trouble!

The only technical challenges came from the mixed light in the first half.  The field was a mix of bright sun and shadows.  I just used aperture priority exposure mode during the first half to help compensate.  It worked just fine.  The D3 does have a pretty accurate meter.  I am including a slide show with the post.  Hope you enjoy 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.

For those of Ya’ll who don’t come from around here, the Iron Bowl is the biggest deal in the great state of Alabama. That is what we call the annual contest between the University of Alabama and Auburn University. This year’s grand event will be down on the Plains in Auburn and will start at 7pm. My Christianity will not permit me to say what I would like to say about 7pm starts down on the Plains in Auburn. That pretty much means I will be getting home just in time to get up. Not nice at all. Never the less, I would not want to miss being at this game.

It’s not because I am a huge Alabama fan or Auburn fan, I just want to be at the big events, period. This game kind of represents what I love about photojournalism. The whole state is polarized. The whole state will be watching or listening. Churches will have Iron Bowl parties. Bars will have Iron Bowl parties. Heck, even Boy Scout troops will probably be having Iron Bowl parties. It is an event and I get to be there. Not only that, but most newspapers send their best to this game. Most newspapers send more than one shooter to this game. There is pressure. There is a challenge. There is intensity. And I’m not even playing in the game. Fun!

Now my wife doesn’t understand this. She just knows I am leaving her at home, alone, with six of our eight children. She also knows that I will be gone until basically Sunday. And I know that I will have to come home and be civil even with pretty much no sleep to our six children who are at home. (Two of our children are now all grown up and out on their own. One of them is at Auburn in school.) And no, we didn’t exile her there. She chose it on here own. And she hates football. Go figure!

Now, the other thing I hate about 7pm starts on that network that has both elevated and ruined college football (not naming any names here but their initials are ESPN) is that deadline is all over you. There is a page one deadline for the showcase story. There is an inside pages deadline for sports and there is the rather amorphous deadline for the sports front which means that they get their picture whenever the game is over. Did I mention the pressure. Of course, pressure also pushes you to do your best work – quickly! Finally, there is that long, dark drive home with the only thing to keep you awake being the smell from sweat soaked, or rain soaked, clothing which is pretty effective. Its kind of like smelling salts. Then, when all is said and done and you are sitting home fully recovered from this year’s edition, you have the satisfaction of knowing you were there and competing right alongside the athletes. And you will have your stories to tell too. Like the year the game began with sleet and freezing rain and ended with the coldest rain I have ever felt. And my clothes were soaked by halftime and all I had was a light weight rain jacket to use in the second half. I am still shaking!

I will have an update post later with actual pictures from this year’s game. The photo with this post is from a few years back when Auburn beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In fact, as a final thought leading into this game, if Alabama wins this year they will end a five year losing streak and lay to rest all that ‘one for the thumb’ business they heard all last year when Auburn racked up their fifth consecutive win. And if Auburn wins, I guess they will be chanting something about Saban spelling his last name SHULA.

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

One of the hardest things for me to do is shoot through the moment. I tend to give up on plays or to stop shooting as the play ends. It is a bad habit and it causes me to miss pictures. There are times when I have continued to bang away after the play is over and I have made a picture or two that is worth while. I think this habit started back in the day when I had to process and edit film. You see, we had 8 reel tanks and the last thing on earth I wanted to do at a ball game was have to make two film runs. Lazy, Yes. Practical, also Yes. Good, No! I guess you had to have been there to appreciate the aggravation of making a second film run and doing a second edit. There is one thing that was always true; the shot you remembered would be in the second batch and by the time you found it you would always be pushing deadline.

Now that I have made excuses, there really are no excuses, just laziness. We are now digital and there is no film processing or negatives to edit on a light table. Alas, old habits die hard. Now that I think about it, I am amazed I could ever have even considered shooting a game on eight rolls of film. I am not real good at math but my calculator is and it says 8 rolls times 36 exposures per roll is, stay with me here, 288 frames. Seems like a drop in the bucket to the more than 1100 frames I shot last Saturday at the Alabama – Tennessee game. The speed of digital is amazing. Now, back to the point. Sometimes, the best frame will be after the peak moment has passed. This photo is a case in point. Auburn hosted USC and I believe it was Matt Leinert’s first career start for the Trojans. USC handled Auburn pretty well that day. The play in this photo was totally insignificant. The pass was badly overthrown and the Auburn guy never really had a chance. I knew it even as I shot the play but I kept on firing and BANG!, out of nowhere comes a USC defensive back and decaps an Auburn receiver. The play meant nothing but the picture that resulted from the meaningless play perfectly represented the way USC handled Auburn. The photo ran on the AP and I heard that The Sporting News picked it up and ran it. Later, USC requested a copy of it to hang in their dressing room. So a play that I wouldn’t normally have even shot became a kind of icon for the game. You just never know so keep right on shooting. Hey, you don’t have to worry about those 8 reel film tanks waiting for you.

Photo copyright The Decatur Daily. The opinions in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.