Virtual-Doug

Football is Over

The last of the local teams have bowed out of the playoffs - high school football is over for me.  This was my third year of shooting football - and I'm glad its over.  I'm also sad its over.

Much more work goes into shooting football than other sports.  Not only are the games longer, but I have to get to the stadium earlier to set up, and buck the crowds when I leave.  Contrary to popular thinking, photos do not flow from the digital camera to the Internet  - they have to be selected and processed.  When over 800 shots are taken at a game, it takes more hours to process them than it does to shoot them.

But what fun.  High school sports are the last bastion of true amateur athletics and I love watching the kids give it all they have.  Though I am sure most have visions of future NFL glory in their heads, most know they won't even play in college, much less the pros.  That doesn't keep them from playing as hard as their talent allows.  I believe there are a lot of life lessons to be learned through sports and the good coaches try to do more than just win games.

(Yeah - go ahead.  Click on each of the photos.  You will see a larger version of the picture if you do.)

The day after I shoot a game, I have many people ask me about some play or pass or strategy used.  It also surprises people that I take pictures of the scoreboard after each point change.  Its because I have no idea whats going on - my head is buried in a viewfinder.  When the play is over and my camera is  digesting the shots, I am either moving to a different place or thinking about what kind of shot I want next - - but I am not thinking about the game.

" . . . thinking about what kind of shot . . " you ask?  Yes - if it is third down and 8 yards to go and I am shooting a team with a passing quarterback, I anticipate a throw, then check to see where the best receivers are and try to get this result.

I see the unusual too.  To the best of my knowledge, there is only one other blue artificial turf field and that is at Boise State University,   but there is a high school stadium with blue turf in south Texas - and the home team plays in blue just as Boise State does.  Funny thing - when you are in the stadium you don't really notice the blue, but in photos, it looks just plain weird.  One good thing about artificial turf (at least for a photographer) is that the stuff reflects the stadium light upwards making for better exposures.  Only one of my local teams plays on an artificial turf field.

I even shot a junior high game - or I should say games.  The two local junior high schools have a 7th  grade red team and a 7th grade white team, along with an 8th grade red team and an 8th grade white team.  I have no idea what the differences are between "red" and "white" teams, but when the two schools played each other for the mythical city championship, there were a lot of people in the stands.  The caliber of play was predictable - lets just say the kids have a few things to learn, but they still gave it their all.  Their were bands playing and cheerleaders cheering and all the rigmarole of a varsity high school game.  I may do more of junior high games next year.

One of the things that makes shooting football different from other sports are the ancillary activities that go with it.  The band doesn't play at softball or soccer games.  Sometimes there might be cheerleaders at an important basketball game, but its not the norm.  Ah - but there are both varsity and JV cheerleaders at football games.  They do some spectacular stunts.  I'm not sure that the best athletes aren't on the sidelines rather than on the field.  They are also very difficult to photograph because cheerleaders are on the sidelines and are not lit directly by stadium lights.  I can use flash for some shots, but not for the truly fast moving feats they do.

Every game has at least one spectacular play. The "regulars" - the other photographers I see at many of the games - all like to ask "Did you get it?"  Of course, I usually miss it,  but occasionally I get the interception or tackle-breaking run or the open field tackle.  I am always intrigued by how the editor chooses the shots to run in the paper because his tastes seem to be quite different from mine.  Of the 800 (or so) shots I take at a game, about 80-100 are posted to my web site, I turn in 10 to the newspaper, and one shot gets run in the sports section.

As the season end draws closer, it becomes time to photograph the thrill of victory.  (I don't have the heart to photograph the agony of defeat)  One of the local schools (the one where Tom Landry played his high school ball) won its first district championship since 1993.  The place went nuts - crowds on the field, coaches high-fiving and big linemen jumping in the air like ballerinas.  But it was fun dodging the delirious fans.

I'm sad the season is over - - but I won't miss staying up until 2-3 in the morning either.

Trang's Birthday

Its not polite to reveal a lady's age - so I won't.  You will have to figure out for yourself the age of a second year graduate student who spent two years working after she finished university.

She came over for an abbreviated weekend - this is a tough time of the year for students as there are only a few weeks left in the semester and she had to be back to do research in the library by Sunday afternoon.  That didn't inhibit the fun.  The Mystery Guest Blogger wanted to bake her a birthday cake, but as she didn't have a particular favorite, I got my favorite - Boston cream pie.  (Yeah - I sounded ridiculous saying I had no idea why a cake is called "pie", but then Trang already knows I don't know everything.)
 
Her reaction to having birthday balloons and presents?

Next week is T-Bone's birthday, but he won't be here to celebrate - he will be in Houston - but he'll be here for Thanksgiving.  Looking forward to having our three Vietnamese members of the family here as we say thanks over our "western chicken."  (Turkey to you.)

For the MGB and I, our thanx will be for having our lives graced with these three wonderful people from Viet Nam.

An Addition

I used to write postings about my mother - I called them The Mommy Report.  It chronicled her life and how it interacted with mine.

As Yogi Berra said, "Its deja vu all over again."  Well - - - not quite, but close.  The past month, the Mystery Guest Blogger has been in Ohio with her mother.  The decision has been made for her to move south to sunny Texas - but not right now.  She is with us for the Thanksgiving holiday, will return to Ohio for one last Christmas with family, then move here permanently in January.

You won't read any mother-in-law jokes on this blog - I've always gotten along very well with the MGB's mom.  She is a warm-hearted woman - well read, quiet, and unobtrusive.  Being deaf herself, it was she who made me realize that I was compensating for my own poor hearing by lip reading.

This morning, she enjoyed the beautiful weather as she watched her daughter doing outside chores.  Welcome to deep south Texas, Mama.

Monthly

Halloween with Trang

She was cheated out of it last year, so the wife and I just had be sure she had a chance to carve a jack-o-lantern this year.  Even though the Mystery Guest Blogger is in Ohio visiting her mother, I didn't want her to miss out on the American cultural experience of pumpkin carving.

After getting her into my usual Friday football game as my "assistant", and getting a shot of her with the Mission High School Eagle, we spent Saturday morning having fun!

Having fun carving up a poor defenseless pumpkin, that is - one she had picked out herself for the  slaughter.  After checking the web and some photos, putting a bunch of old newspapers on the floor, warning the cat to stay out of the way and selecting the right knives, she began.

I was reminded of the danger of provoking a woman with a large knife.

 

And I watched as the creativity started.  Not content with merely following somebody else's ideas, she soon figured out what she wanted to do with her pumpkin.  Since the Mystery Guest Blogger was absent, she wanted her pumpkin to speak for her - "Mommy - Where r you?"   Outlining her cut marks with a magic marker, she soon had her pumpkin talking for her.

Is this life imitating art or art imitating life?  (Don't blame me for this photo - it was her idea.  If her  mother sees this, be assured Trang does not usually stick her tongue out at me.)

And the final product.  She took it with her when returning to her apartment - just so there would be some kind of Halloweeny kind of thing on the front door step.  The two candles I sent with her should have lasted the evening.

My reward for showing her this deep American "cultural experience?"  I was treated to fresh home-made pumpkin soup - Vietnamese style.  (As soon as I post this, I'm heating up the left-overs for supper. It is very yummy.)  Though she put me to work grinding some peanuts, she did most of the work - while my stomach growled in anticipation.  Once again, I was reminded of the dangers of provoking women with large knives. She obviously knows how to handle knives - she told me she has been cooking for her family since she was in the sixth grade.

In addition to the soup, she prepared a delicious entree of rice noodles, chicken hearts (yes, they are very good - and tender too), cilantro, and of course, some fish sauce.  I know I have bragged on Vietnamese food before, but it really is delicious, fresh - and very healthy.  I love it!

And Trang knows how to make it right!