Not-So-Welcome In New York
The 2024 season is officially here, and the Arizona Cardinals have a lot to look forward to. While the team didn't leave Buffalo with a win, there were some standout plays, great lighting and even some history being made. Here's what it looked like from my perspective:
I started the day trying to figure out what jacket I should wear, considering we were about to play in an almost 50-degree temperature difference from Phoenix. The beginning of the game was pretty nice weather, and the clouds made for a nice detail in the wide photos I got.
We recently added a 14-24mm lens to our arsenal, and I was really excited to test it out during pregame huddles. It allowed me to get closer and provide a more accurate scope of how it feels when players like Paris Johnson Jr. and James Conner are screaming at you.
While Conner started the all-team huddle, captain Kyzir White pitched in to lead the guys in a call-and-response chant. He screamed "AYYYYY-YOOOO" and the rest of the players repeated it back.
You can tell the impact it had on morale by Conner's face in the last photo!
The locker room was not as tight as I expected, but I was glad to have the 14-24mm lens to get some wider photos while still being fairly close to the players.
I also wanted to get some close-up photos of the different things players were doing with their hands like putting on gloves and practicing gripping footballs.
There were pros and cons to the wide angle lens during pregame. I liked that I was able to get a (literal) bigger picture of the stadium, but it also allowed for distractions at the edges of certain frames.
I prefer the below photo of Xavier Thomas kneeling to the one of Trey McBride because of how clean the whole composition is.
The wind and chill in Buffalo (it was the Cardinals' coolest opener since the team moved to Arizona, even at 60 degrees) was something new for this team, and while they were battling the elements on the field, their reactions to the weather gave me something else to look out for.
Windswept hair and makeshift windbreakers added some flair to the traditional pregame portraits.
Before switching out my 14-24mm lens for my 24-70mm, I captured the captains walking out to the coin toss. I like providing this perspective since not many people get to see this moment up-close.
Michael Wilson's touchdown was my first hardship of the day. With the angle I had, he immediately disappeared into the crowd of photographers, so while I kind of got the actual score ...
... I had to stand up and hold my 400mm on my monopod in order to capture the celebration. I also cropped in quite a bit to focus on the players more.
I was so happy I caught the ball coming out in the frame of Roy Lopez's strip sack. A couple frames after this, the ball disappears, so I was lucky to catch it at the right angle.
Lopez's reaction in a photo might look like he's upset, which is why context is sometimes needed in still photography.
When the clouds rolled in, it created beautiful overcast lighting which made for nicely colored backgrounds and cool reflections on Jonathan Gannon's sunglasses.
Speaking of reflections, I love these frames of Kyler hitting the Heisman pose where you can see the defender in his face mask.
One of the worst parts of photographing a game is when you capture a play perfectly and then it gets called back because of a penalty. Zaven Collins' sack of Josh Allen started out great, and then you see the referee pull the dreaded yellow flag.
DeeJay Dallas' historic kickoff return for a touchdown started and ended great photographically, but I had some hiccups in the middle.
I caught him all the way at the other end of the field and kept shooting as he ran closer...
I stayed on him as he avoided defenders left and right, and even was able to isolate him on his way towards the end zone:
The hiccup was that I was using my 400mm the whole time because I didn't want to miss anything by wasting time switching lenses, which ironically led to me missing the shot of him actually getting into the end zone.
I also was blocked for his celebration of jumping into the stands, but I made it in time to still capture his smiles with his teammates.
While we didn't end the game in smiles, there was still happiness to be found in the jersey swap between James Conner and Damar Hamlin postgame. It's always nice to have a reminder of how football can connect people and allow them to keep in touch.
Greg Dortch took the phrase "leaving it all on the field" literally by not leaving the field until he was forced to because of time.
He, along with the rest of the Cardinals, will be preparing for the home opener this week and hoping to turn the tide.
