A Crucial Lesson
Let's begin the Week 4 recap by jumping right into the photos.
With it being the Cardinals' Crucial Catch game, we wanted to show off the different details that come with that initiative:
I've been noticing the various ways players decorate their faces with eye black, and pregame stretches is really the only time you can see them all at once.
I'm not sure of the rhyme or reason of it all, but there sure is a variety, whether it's double coverage ...
... or picking a side, any side:
Pregame also gives me the opportunity to get closer to the players than in-game, so I am able to use both wide and zoom lenses to get different perspectives.
Here, I used a 70-200mm lens to get really zoomed in on Kyler Murray's eyes:
On the flip side, I utilized my 14-24mm lens while avoiding getting sprayed by Paris Johnson Jr.'s spit in the huddle:
My favorite use of the wide-angle lens is to capture the all-team huddle from below.
It's hard to describe the feeling of being surrounded by an entire NFL team while they get hyped up to play a game, but each week I try to capture the feeling through photos:
The pregame locker room was business as usual, but I liked these frames of some of the details I saw:
I picked the straight-on position for team introductions, and while some players run out of the tunnel with no frills ...
... I have to be ready for anything with players like James Conner or Paris Johnson.
For this week's game action portion of the essay, I'm going to avoid chronological order and go all over the place, so buckle up!
I knew we had to be ready for Kyler Murray to hit his 100th passing touchdown this game, and luckily it happened early.
Unluckily for me, I was totally blocked on the throw.
I used my 70-200mm lens for the throw, but once I saw that the ball wasn't coming towards me, I switched back to the 400mm to focus in more on Kyler's celebration.
During the game, I don't always notice what happens in the background or foreground of a photo since I'm so focused on the subject.
I found these in the editing process and just have to point out Paris Johnson absolutely crushing the defender to allow Kyler to run:
These next frames are examples of me catching the crazy action as the subject rather than it being an added element:
Sometimes, the action isn't even the point of the photo.
On defense, I shoot a bunch of frames of players before the ball is snapped, thrown or caught:
I'm glad I caught Garrett Williams' interception from all the way on the other side of the field, but I am bummed they celebrated towards the other end zone:
It's hard to choose who to follow after a play where multiple players are in on the action. For this tackle, I chose Roy Lopez, and I think I chose correctly:
I was in a great spot for James Conner's touchdown, and while I love that I got a good sequence of the action ...
... I always love capturing players celebrating their teammate's success:
Once the dust had settled, I was in the family area waiting to capture a request I had gotten when I saw all the players reuniting with their kids and loved ones.
No matter what happens on the field, some of these players shake it all off and snap right back into their more important job: Dad.
