The Sharpe Image

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers mascot outside the stadium against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Well, as far as I am concerned…….fall is here.  Even though it is just a Pre-Season game, it is the first real game of the Season for me.  The Panthers did not look so well, but here again, they really did not play too many of their Top Play Makers.  The suffered a loss of 17 to 13, but hey, there is always next week.  It is only Pre-Season!  The above image of the stone Panther was taken with my D300 and my 70mm~200mm lens.  I shot at shutter speed 250 @ f20, this under exposed it by 2 stops.  I thought it looked pretty cool.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers mascot outside the stadium against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Here is another image of the Panther outside of the Stadium.  I took this with Bank of America in mind.  It never hurts to throw the Sponsor Logo in when possible.  This was shot at with my 17mm~35mm at f250.  I over exposed it a stop and it worked out pretty good.

I like to get the players warming up before the game.  These images are always good for “Features” so it is always good to concentrate on the pre game warm up.  I wanted something different.  The Players all ran over and hit the Goal Post.  I just put my camera up to my hip and shot.  I used the auto focus and it turned out.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers Defensive Tackle Lorenzo Williams (94) warms up during pre game against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I got this next shot of Decori Birmingham as he was warming up.  I thought that it was cool because it was just him hunkered down with the ball.  Here again, I was thinking “Commercial Application” when I shot it.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers Runningback Decori Birmingham (24) against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next 2 Images I shot during Player Introductions.  I was wanting to get the smoke all around the player, but yet still let the viewer know who the player was.  I shot sevevral, but these are really the only ones that worked out.  I shot both at ISO 2000, shutter speed 200 @ f10.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers linebacker Na'il Diggs (53) against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers Cornerback Chris Gamble (20) during pre game against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

This next image is of the Ravens Rallying before the game.  It was shot at shutter speed 1000 @ f3.2.  I used my 300mm lens

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Baltimore Ravens against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In the next 2 Images, I was able to catch the NFL Logo in the image.  I wish that I could say that I planned it that way……..but I really did not.  Like I said before, it is always good to catch a Logo in the image.  Editors, as well as the sanctioning body likes to see this.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme (17) against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers punter Jason Baker (7) against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

These next 2 Images are of the Ravens Running Back Willis McGahee busting through the Panthers Defense to gain yardage.  I wish that I could have caught him more “in the hole” with the ball showing, but it was not to be.  I did catch him in the hole, but you really could not see the ball very good.  I opted for the images where you could see the ball.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee (23) against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee (23) against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

In these next two images, I was looking for something different in a Quarterback Image.  I wanted something to stand out…..something different.  In the Image of Joe Flacco (5), I really like the fact that the Panther Defensive player is closing in on him fast.  With the image of Jake Delhomme, I wanted something different.  Jake is a big guy and can be a very commanding presence on the field.  I wanted to show this.  I really don’t know if the image succeeded in this or not, but what the hell……I liked the image.  Both of these images were shot with my D300, and my 300mm 2.8 lens.  They were shot at ISO 2000, shutter speed 1000, and f 3.2

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Baltimore Ravens Quarterback Joe Flacco (5) against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme (17) against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

I thought the next images were good images for Feature Stories.  I am somewhat unhappy with the Dwayne Jarrett image (80) because he is a wide receiver.  I would have liked to have photographed him catching the ball……but it was not to be.  Anyway, I thought that it could be used somewhere in a article if someone wrote a story about him.  The others were taken in mind as feature images.  They were all shot with my D300.  The ISO was 2000, the shutter speed was 1000, and all were at f3.2.

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett (80) pushes away from safety Lardarius Webb (21) of the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive back Lardarius Webb (21) returns a punt against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Final score Baltimopre 17 Carolina 13. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Mike Goodson (33) against the Baltimore Ravens at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

August 29, 2009; Charlotte, NC, USA; Baltimore Ravens defeat the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Final score 17 to 13. Sam Sharpe/www.TheSharpeImage.com

Look for images from this Thursday’s game.  That is the next one for me.

Thanks for looking.

Sam