The Sharpe Image

This was the opening game for the Carolina Panthers.  The day was beautiful for Photography, but that is about all you could say.  The Panthers got beat 38 to 10……they seem to need a lot of work to get themselves to where they really need to be in order to be competitive.  But this is not about the Panthers playing skills, it is about the photography of the day.  I really did not feel too much on top of my game today.  Maybe it was because of the Panthers poor playing, I do not know.  But I did get some decent stuff from the day.  Please take a look.  Thanks!

I have really been trying to work on more “conceptual” type images.  I just feel like shooting players that are hitting and running into each other is just not taking my photography to a new level.  I think that it is important to try and capture the “essence” of a sport.  The things that go on around it to make it what it is.  It is real hard for me to do this.  I seem to get caught up in trying to document the play action so much, that I forget to try and expand my vision to other things.  This takes thought for me.  I am NOT one of the “super creative” types that it comes easy for, it is work for me……..real hard work.  Please take a look at what I got and let me know what you think.  All of these images were shot using my Nikon D300.

I saw this Image as the players were taking the field to warm up.  I actually shot it with my 500mm f4 lens from inside the Stadium tunnel looking out.  I hand held the lens (here is a shock to most…..I ALWAYS hand hold my 500 f4.  I hate monopods!)  and shot it at shutter speed 1250.  I could have never pulled it off otherwise.  I thought that this image was a fair image.  It left room for text in the upper left hand corner, and I liked the colors of it.

These next 3 were of players coming out of the Stadium Tunnel right before the game.  I love to catch these guys in the smoke………it is just a cool shot.

This next image was a crop from the image above.  It turned out to be just a bit more than 8 megs when opened in Photoshop.  Big enough to do a lot of things with.

All of the above images were shot at F13 and a shutter speed of 400.  The ISO was 200.

This next image is of Jason Baker who is the Team Punter for the Panthers.  Jason is a deeply Religious person, and I almost felt an intrusion on shooting this shot.  I have shot it before, but I really liked the way the light came in around the floor this time.  I do not think that I will shoot this again this season……there is really no need in the intrusion when he is trying to have a private moment.  I shot this with my 17mm~35mm lens, f2.8 and the shutter speed was 40th of a second.

I was really trying to pull something different with this next shot.  I shot this at a 30th of a second at f22.  I shot several frames during a punt return, and for the most it really did not work out.  But this one seemed to work.  I was wanting to just capture the speed at which Mike Goodson runs.  I really do not know if this will have any editorial value at all, but I really did like it.

In this next shot, I really wanted to get Donovan McNabb all by himself, but I wanted to leave room for text in the image.  I shot this from up in the Stadium, I think that it worked.  I was thinking “feature” when I shot it.  Probably not as strong as I would have liked, but I still think it works.

I just thought this next shot of Chris Clemons was just different looking.  Almost “evil” in a weird sort of way.  This was shot with my 500mm lens at f4, shutter speed 1000.

In this next shot, I was trying to capture the Team as some of them were “rallying” before the tart of the game.  The truth of this shot it that a TV Camera man got in the way when I took it, so I had to do a somewhat “funky” crop on it.  I would have gotton more of the whole group in if it were not for TV……but it is what it is.  This was shot with my 500mm f4, at shutter speed 1000.

In this next shot, I wanted to get a prospective from the quarterback’s point of view on what it looks like to have someone “rush” at you.  This was shot with my 500mm f4, at the shutter speed of 1250 of a second.

I have vowed to myself to really work on my “passing game” this year.  In my opinion, that is what separates a good football shooter from a great football shooter.  I struggle with the passing game……I admit it.  This is what I got from this game.  Not great shots……but to my defense, there really was not much going on as far as spectacular passing in this game.

The next 2 images of Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams are in my opinion just good play action images.

The one of Jonathan Stewart (28) was shot with my 500mm lens, and the one of DeAngelo Williams (34) was shot with my 70mm~200mm lens.  Both were shot at shutter speed 1000.

These last 2 images just struck me.  I think that the one of Jake Delhomme struck me because I have never really seen an angle like this before.  Not saying that people have not done it before, I have just really never seen it.  I shot it with my 500mm f4 lens.  The portrait of Tackle Jeff Otah just had a nice feeling to it.  It seems “gritty” in a way.  The shot seemed to reflect the “mood” of the day.  This was the 4th loss in a row for the Panthers.  Although the previous 3 had been pre-season, a loss is a loss.  I think that it was starting to settle in as he looked at the scoreboard.

Well, that is it for this game.  Look for more this week from the NHRA event at zMax Dragway.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

Sam