Fly Cardinals Fly
The Cardinals pulled out their fourth win of the season against the Eagles in Philadelphia on New Year's Eve, which was a great way to welcome in 2024.
Here are the last photos I took in 2023, and what it was like to capture the victory.
I hunkered down by the team tunnel to wait for players as they headed to pregame warmups, but I caught Budda Baker signing autographs for a couple of Cardinals fans.
Then, I knew I had to get a photo of a familiar face to Eagles fans: Jonathan Gannon.
After stretches, I headed over to the quarterback area to get the typical throwing shots.
While I was editing later, I noticed that I captured almost the exact same moment for both Kyler Murray and Clayton Tune.
I had never been to Lincoln Financial Field before, so I tried to create some photos that had a sense of place and really told the story that this was an away game.
I still captured the typical huddle shots, but I tried to take a different approach when I noticed the players surrounding me looking to the speaker in the middle.
In the first frame, Jesse Luketa is giving D.J. Humphries the same energy back.
I love the second photo of three rookies taking in the wisdom from the veteran.
The locker room was as hyped up as ever, but there were definitely a couple more moments of solitude this time.
I could feel that everyone was really ready to get out there and ball.
Because I had already gotten the traditional photos of the players coming out of the tunnel during pregame, I headed down to the end zone to capture them kneeling in prayer before the National Anthem.
I wandered the bench area for something exciting, and Jesse Luketa gave me just what I was looking for.
The defense started out hot by forcing a three-and-out, and with photos like these, I was excited for how the rest of the game was going to play out.
Speaking of heat, the dreaded bench heaters were ruining any chance I had of a good photo when the plays were on the other side of the 50-yard line, as evidenced below.
Thankfully, when the plays got closer, I was able to regain focus (literally).
Even nailing focus isn't always enough though, as you can see in this sequence of James Conner.
He fits perfectly in the first shot, but then I don't get him fully in the second frame, which ruins it.
I'm grateful that I got another chance at a cool sequence with these photos of Rondale Moore in the air.
Zach Pascal was having a great time on the field with his former teammates, giving one of them a playful tackle after the whistle on this kick return.
After scarfing down a hot dog and exactly two chicken tenders, I wanted to get some photos of the players returning to the field from halftime.
The second half started off strong with a Michael Carter touchdown.
I didn't get the best angle from across the end zone of him actually scoring, but the celebration was pretty good.
I turned towards the sideline to capture what I could of the typical teammate high-fives.
In the third quarter, the sun peeking through the stands as it set behind the stadium.
The last sunset of 2023.
Some of my favorite types of photos are where you can see defenders in the background after being thrown off, like this one of Kyler Murray escaping.
I seemed to be on the opposite end for all the touchdowns this game, but I got lucky with James Conner celebrating my way across the field after his first one.
Michael Wilson's two-point conversion was also opposite me, which, as a photographer, is not ideal.
But, as a historian, the moment was captured nonetheless.
After disappointing touchdown photos, I tried to control what I could and get some clean and creative photos in-between plays.
I was closer to the Michael Wilson touchdown than the previous ones, and I used my 85mm lens to capture the action but then quickly moved to my 400mm to get the celebration.
I was very grateful that the sideline heaters didn't affect my view of this tackle by Budda Baker and BJ Ojulari.
I really like this sequence of Greg Dortch because it starts far away enough that I can capture the full-body view of the play, and then his run was so long that the celebration was cropped pretty close.
In the huddle after, I caught a frame of what looks like him checking to see if I got photos of that run.
I lost James Conner in the shuffle during his second touchdown, but thankfully got him landing in the end zone.
Paris Johnson Jr. and Jonathan Gannon were pretty happy about that one.
The game ended on an interception by Joey Blount, one I barely was able to capture because of the heaters in my way.
A really fun part of covering winning games is the post-game celebration.
The locker room is always incredibly hyped even before Jonathan Gannon enters for the speech.
There were hugs all around after JG finally did give his speech and celebrated the effort of all the players.
The entire room kneeled in prayer, and I really love this frame of James Conner that shows the love these guys have for their teammates.
Even after an injury and being on crutches, D.J. Humphries led the team in their final huddle.
Overall, it was a perfect end to 2023.
