Walking Off Sunshine
For the first time since this photo essay was created, I am writing to you after a back-to-back Cardinals win. The Week 8 game in Miami was decided in the final seconds (sound familiar?), but there were photos to be made throughout the day.
The NFL celebrated National Tight Ends Day on Sunday, so we focused a little bit more on that group in warmups.
Trey McBride chose to celebrate with his on-field performance.
The early afternoon light was fun to play with in the tunnel area as players ran out to warmups:
I stayed with my 70-200mm lens to get up close to some game faces ...
... and a detail shot of QB1:
I then switched to my 14-24mm for some huddle photos, loving how the roof of Hard Rock Stadium gives an obvious sense of place:
I had to avoid a very animated Paris Johnson Jr. huddle-shove, but Dante Stills was not so lucky:
L.J. Collier took his turn at the full-team huddle, and his teammates' reaction can be summed up by Kyzir White's face in the second photo:
The locker room was interesting as the seats were built into the frames.
Luckily for photography, that meant they had no choice but to face my lens.
The tunnel from the locker room to the field was dark except for a few lights hanging from the ceiling, so I tried to catch players in those spotlights as much as I could.
The result is pretty spooky:
I missed the team runout because of those photos, but I lucked out that Kyler Murray decided to kneel down in the closer end zone instead of making me run allllllll the way downfield.
At away games, I have a little bit more time to explore the bench area before the National Anthem, so this week I spotted Max Melton taking shelter from the heat and Budda Baker preparing his hands with tape:
After the flyover, Paris Johnson Jr. let out a scream you could probably hear all the way in Phoenix:
It took a little while for the action to get going, so I turned focus back to the bench area.
The team had misting fans that made the backgrounds a little hazy ...
... but there is nothing that could hide how sweaty everyone already was:
The light in the first quarter was really nice and it allowed our red uniforms to contrast nicely against the white and blue of the environment:
I took a quick snap of Trey McBride waiting his turn under the unique Hard Rock Stadium roof:
After one of his many impressive plays, I caught this shot of him giving the ball back to the referee.
That doesn't sound like something that could make for a good photo, but I love the lighting and composition that came out of it:
I ditched my 400mm lens early this week whenever we were close to the end zone just in case the plays came my way.
It allowed for wider photos of Kyler's pass to Michael Wilson and the celebration:
Coach Jonathan Gannon seemed to never look my way, so I decided to try and capture his essence instead of his face.
I love this photo that shows you exactly what being an NFL head coach is like -- surrounded by all the Miami noise that doesn't matter because he has his trusty headset:
Zach Pascal took to killing the haters with kindness as he showed love to Dolphins fans:
I'll close out the first half with a fan-favorite Budda Baker celebration photo:
Because the Dolphins photo workroom tragically did not provide halftime hot dogs, I went back out early to catch the players walking back out to the field.
I love the clean aqua background that the tunnel provided:
If you were scrolling through this essay hoping to see an amazing photo of Trey McBride's hurdle, I have some bad news for you.
Trust me, it hurts me more that this was all I got:
I tried to redeem myself with this photo of the Murray-McBride connection, but I'm sorry in advance if it doesn't satisfy:
I switched to the Dolphins sideline to get a different angle of the dramatic lighting that was happening, and the colors were really creating some interesting images:
I was also able to capture a new perspective of the Cardinals sideline from that view:
Sometimes, the best photo of a play isn't necessarily focused on the team you work for, like this one of the safety:
Other times, your team celebrating is the only thing worth focusing on!
I posted up in the end zone for most of the fourth quarter, which ended up being a great position for Marvin Harrison Jr. pointing out a first down:
Rushing touchdowns are usually hit or miss. The play has to almost come right at you to have any chance of getting a clear shot.
That was not the case with James Conner's touchdown, but at least he turned my direction during the celebration:
My position in the corner of the end zone was the gift that kept giving during the last few minutes of the game.
From team huddles and changing of the guard ...
... to staying upright no matter how many Dolphins attempted the takedown:
Kyzir White also took to celebrating my way after forcing the fourth down:
I stayed in the same corner as the offense moved closer downfield just in case we randomly threw a touchdown.
Kyler Murray and James Conner made sure to put the Cardinals in the perfect position:
Jonathan Gannon met up with Conner on the field right before the third-down play, and while I'm not the best at reading lips I saw what I thought was him saying "field goal," so I moved down to the sideline:
I set my 400mm lens aside and held my 70-200mm ready for the game-winning kick (déjà vu, anyone?)
I snapped a couple frames of the play before running out onto the field:
I was scared I was going to miss the "everyone lift up Chad Ryland" celebration, but I ran over there just in time:
I didn't stay on the field too long, but I caught a couple of players leaving the field on our way to the locker room:
James Conner ran in so fast my life would have flashed before my eyes if he didn't spin-move around me:
I thought he didn't see me, so these are the final shots I got before putting my camera down in fear:
The locker room was as lively as ever, with everyone locked in to JG's speech and screaming before the huddle:
As you can probably see in the photos, everyone was drenched in sweat. I am very glad to be behind the camera instead of in front during times like these.
At the end of the day, if sweat is what we get after back-to-back wins, I'll take it.
