Flashy Finale
The highest-scoring game of the season arrived in Week 18 as the Cardinals welcomed the new year in style.
It was an exciting game from start to finish; let's go behind the lens:
I positioned below the tunnel to get a couple dramatic angles of pregame walkouts.
During stretches, I focused on both helmet-off portraits ...
... and close-ups through the face mask:
Budda Baker took the role of pregame huddle hype man making sure the team was ready to go all out for their last time together:
This week's locker room theme was "reading," as evidenced by these back-to-back photos of Starling Thomas V and Garrett Williams:
For the final game of the season, the team opted to forego individual introductions and have everyone run out together.
I thought it would be hard to capture due to the crowded area, but I was able to focus on smaller groups and even a couple isolated players:
I hustled down to the other end of the field to try and get something of players kneeling in the end zone.
I focused on the crowd in front of Marvin Harrison Jr. for one and opted for a wide shot of Michael Carter for the other:
Before coin toss, the game captains line up on the sideline and wait for the signal to walk out to midfield.
This week, Kyzir White made sure I got a photo of all of them looking super intense:
My first favorite sequence of the game was Julian Okwara's sack and celebration:
Special teams kept things exciting with a fake punt on fourth down.
I promise I'm not lying when I say I purposely stayed put during this play just in case it was a fake punt, and I ended up being right.
You can see I focused on Michael Palardy while DeeJay Dallas receives the snap in the first photo:
I made sure to track DeeJay back to the bench as he embraced his fellow trickster:
That play ended with a field goal (good job Chad!) but I was right back to photographing defense when Sean Murphy-Bunting made an interception.
I wasn't sure if it would stand based on the referee pulling a flag immediately:
I think DeeJay Dallas was the most excited out of anyone when it was confirmed:
I was very glad to already be in the end zone for the celebration as the whole defense (and Zach Pascal) ran towards me:
Murphy-Bunting made sure I got the shot by getting up close and personal to my lens:
We switched sides of the field before Greg Dortch's first touchdown, so I was positioned more on the sideline.
It ended up working great as he crossed the goal line and celebrated my way:
I was using my 400mm lens as Trey McBride caught a pass and starting running:
I just barely fit him into my frame during his hurdle because of the fixed focal length.
Photographing Trey McBride usually involves locking in and just waiting for something cool to happen:
Six minutes later, I was locked in once again for his touchdown:
And the crowd went wild:
After Greg Dortch's second touchdown, I pivoted to Kyler Murray and caught their pinky swear celebration:
I grabbed my 24-70mm lens quickly before Michael Carter's touchdown, and while I was only able to make one good frame of the actual run ...
... it was a great focal length to have for the celebration:
The defense was finishing the game with a flourish, from Dadrion "Rabbit" Taylor-Demerson's strip sack-turned-Jalen Thompson fumble recovery ...
... to Kei'Trel Clark's interception and celebration:
I had dropped my long lens at the two-minute warning so I could more easily run onto the field after the whistle, which left me to shoot Tony Jones Jr.'s touchdown with the 85mm lens on my shoulder:
As the clock ran down, I noticed Marvin Harrison Jr. analyzing the tablets on the sideline.
Even after he was done playing, he was still learning about the game:
This was also after he tied the record of a very beloved wide receiver that just so happened to be at that game.
Chants of "Lar-RY! Lar-RY! Lar-RY!" made me sprint down to the opposite end of the field to catch a photo of the legend:
I ran onto the field postgame and, before I focused on players greeting each other, I saw Kei'Trel Clark down on his knees and decided to snap a few frames to capture the solemn moment:
I quickly moved towards the locker room as players were starting to leave the field.
Trey McBride showed his appreciation to the Bird Gang on his way in:
I posted up at the entrance to the locker room and caught some individual smiles:
I then heard shouts of "Caitlyn Caitlyn Caitlyn" from position groups wanting to capture their final game together:
I snapped a few photos during the prayer to showcase the togetherness one last time:
Before Kelvin Beachum broke the team out, he welcomed "the rookie" Marvin Harrison Jr. to the middle of the room to sing for coach Jonathan Gannon since Gannon's birthday was on Saturday:
Gannon joked it off, so the team decided to do a group song instead:
The team ended the final game as they had done every trial and victory this season:
Together.
