Seattle Struggle
The Cardinals' Week 12 game against the Seahawks was lackluster compared to the past couple of weeks, but I was still able to get some nice photos out of it.
I went out to pregame warmups a little bit earlier to test the weather, and I caught Trey McBride giving his gloves to a fan next to the famous "Sign Guy."
It left SG speechless (which is rare).
I've always loved the clean background and dramatic light of the Lumen Field tunnel.
I started out at the top of the tunnel by the door to get some photos of the first groups running out to warmups:
I then wanted to see what it looked like on the inside of the doors, so I squeezed into the corner as the bigs were getting ready:
Finally, I went outside to the end of the tunnel to capture the last group running out.
I even caught Sign Guy giving a high five to Zaven Collins:
With the rainy weather, I tried to focus on the raindrops on certain visors.
A couple of them turned out well, but I especially like the stadium reflection in Zay Jones':
I also love these moments from pregame that, I think, are elevated because of the rain.
You can see the droplets bouncing off of coach Jonathan Gannon's back in the first one, and the second photo captures the focus it takes to catch footballs amid precipitation:
Paris Johnson Jr.'s huddle speech was the most animated I have ever seen, and while I feel like I say that every week, it definitely was true this time.
Kelvin Beachum jumped on his back, Hjalte Froholdt got in on the shoving, and I was even brought in on the action as Isaiah Adams grabbed my shoulders and hyped me up with them:
The all-team huddle started off much calmer, with L.J. Collier waiting for the team to gather as the heat radiated from his head:
The calm did not last long as the rest of the players began jumping and singing along to the music playing:
It's been a while since the team huddle ended with the traditional hands-in-the-middle, so I was glad to be able to catch it this week.
I like the two different frames that show one of a smiling Collier and one with more focus on the hands:
Sign Guy brought friends and made sure to let us know as the team walked back into the locker room:
The locker room photos were pretty standard, but here are my top ones.
Xavier Thomas' sunglasses were definitely my favorite accessory:
For the team introduction, I went to the far end zone and laid completely on the ground to try and get the lowest possible perspective of the kneeling and praying.
Paris Johnson Jr. looked like he was breathing fire with the cold temperature, and you can also see the remnants of the blue end zone on his helmet (more on that later):
I saw groups of players sitting together in the bench area so wanted to capture that before the National Anthem:
At every away game, Gannon watches the opposing team introductions.
I think it's a cool moment to document:
I liked being able to get two different looks with Dante Stills during the anthem, one of mainly his hair and the other where you can see the reflection of the stadium lights in his eyes:
There were two honorary captains this week in Joey Blount and DeeJay Dallas, but with my 24-70mm lens I couldn't get them all in frame until they walked past me.
I love the second frame's perspective and how big of a stage the field looks.
Let's start of game action with some defensive splash plays.
I got a good angle of Dante Stills' sack and celebration:
I got a not-so-good angle of L.J. Collier's sack but a nice celebration:
Later in the day, I captured Budda Baker's sack and really like the frame of his celebration with Zaven Collins:
The turf field led to some frames with rubber pellets flying around, which I always love as an added photo element:
The game was pretty chippy and there were skirmishes on both sides.
I didn't capture all of them, but Kyzir White was being held for so long I had to take some photos:
The overcast lighting made for some beautiful backgrounds this week.
I guess the rain made the paint smear on our white uniforms, as evidenced by Victor Dimukeje:
I also played around with sideline portraits to take advantage of the nice light:
After halftime, I waited in the tunnel to get some more photos of players with that background.
DeeJay Dallas spotted me immediately:
The offensive struggles made for a difficult game photographically, but I did try to capture that story as well:
There were a lot of bird references this game as well, with it being two bird-themed teams.
From the Seahawks mascot taunting me ...
... to a ton of these things flying around, which my bird-obsessed husband labeled Glaucous-winged Gulls (but he's only 99 percent sure):
The Cardinals were back to flying high after Garrett Williams' interception:
The momentum continued into Michael Wilson's 30-yard catch:
Special teams tried to keep it going but just couldn't stop the Seahawks kicking the final field goal:
But, it was a good show of sportsmanship when a Seahawks player went down with an injury and Joey Blount took a knee until the player was back on his feet.
In the end, the weather matched the mood.
Until next time, Seattle.
