That’s me at the top of the post. That’s the only photo for today. I wanted to post some shots I got at the Texas Relays, an annual state-wide high school and college track and field meet, but since I was shooting for a newspaper, I’ll let them publish the shots they paid for before I post them on my blog. I’ll save those for Monday’s post.
So I went up to Mike A. Meyers Stadium on the University of Texas campus to cover some athletes from New Braunfels and the surrounding areas. I got there with plenty of time to check in and get my press credentials, field pass and parking pass. I did all of that, and even got a decent parking space. This day was going smoothly. Too smoothly.
With my field pass was a paper bib (kind of like the ones you get at all-you-can-eat BBQ or seafood restaurants). I was to wear this bib while shooting on the field. When I put it on, I immediately thought, “wow, these bibs are really attractive!” But I didn’t argue because I was shooting sports (my favorite) and it wasn’t raining.
I went down to the track to look around before my first event – high school boys high jump. I found a bit of shade under the score board on the south end of the stadium and sat down for a minute. When I saw the guy I’d be shooting, I stood up to grab my camera and a gust of wind blew my hat straight up. I looked around to see where it landed and I couldn’t find it.
After a few moments, a woman standing on the ledge about 8 feet above me said, “are you looking for your hat?” I said yes and she pointed – “It’s up there.” It landed on the support beam for the score board, also about 8 feet above me. The lady said if I could get her a stick or something, she could probably get it down. I tried to be cool and said, “nah, the wind will blow again and it’ll come down.”
Another minute passed and I spotted an official sitting in a golf cart, so I asked him if he could get me something to help get my hat down from the score board. He brought me a push broom and after a couple of attempts at poking it, my hat came down. I thanked the lady for her help and turned around to give the broom back to the official, but he had walked off. “Oh well, I thought, “I’ll just go return it myself.” He took it from the high jump area and that’s where I was headed, so I walked that direction with my camera, camera bag and push broom in tow.
I crossed the track and just as I was approaching the high jump, I tripped over a metal pole that lined the entire inside of the track. There was a loud metallic clatter, followed by the humiliating noise of a wooden broom falling to the ground. But there’s a lot going on at a track meet, so I figured no one saw me. Just when I thought it was safe, an official singled me out and said, “you can’t stand there.” Turned out I was not in a designated media area, so I moved and started to shoot. Crisis averted.
About an hour later, I went over to the pole vault to shoot a girl from Canyon Lake. Before I could even set my bag down, an official came over and said, “you should really stop tripping over the metal pole on the track.” I said, “oh, you saw that?” He nodded. “With me holding that broom and everything?” He nodded, then asked, “what were you doing?”
“Practicing my pole vaulting.”
So at the end of my shooting day, I stood, drenched in sweat, with my crazy patterned floppy hat, official BBQ bib, media pass and photo gear in all of my glory. The moment had to be documented.
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