I was in Dallas over the weekend and I spent 2 days in Cowboys Stadium shooting UIL high school football championships for 1st Photo Texas and UIL.
It was my first time in Cowboys Stadium. It’s a beautiful place and it’s surprisingly easy to navigate if all you need is the photo work room and the field. If you try to venture beyond that, though, be prepared for frustration and very sore feet. My mom came with me on Friday to watch the games, and she met up with a family friend, Larry, who is a big supporter of the Wimberley football team. Here they are …
The first two games I shot were on Friday and, I’ll admit, I was a bit partial to the Central Texas teams.
Wimberley played Argyle and won their second football state championship. That was fun because of the team. They have a great group of kids and a fantastic coach.
Lake Travis played Midway and won their fifth football state championship in a row. No other school has done that, it was a big accomplishment.
Saturday I shot three games. Aledo won over Manvel, Southlake Carroll won over Hightower, and Dekaney won over Steele. Each game had it’s own quirks and exciting moments, but the big story of the day was after the Dekaney/Steele game.
Dekaney, which is a fairly new school in the Houston area, won it’s first state championship in anything, and they beat the defending champs. They were extremely excited. They went crazy after the game and just scattered all over the field, jumping up and down and doing flips. It was so much that photographers had trouble keeping up. I was shooting the team when I turned around and saw a guy on the ground mid-field. I thought maybe someone got too excited and knocked him down, but then I saw a few other guys on the ground and an ambulance racing toward them.
There was a lot of confusion, but three people were checked out by EMS and then two were carted away. I found out later that a run-away golf cart, set in motion by those little orange foam pylons (the ones at either end of the goal line) falling on the gas pedal, raced across the field, running over or hitting about a dozen people.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I was working for UIL, so my priority was to get the shots they needed, which at the time was the MVP awards, but I also felt the need to shoot what was happening. I took a few shots and then focused on my job.
That was the end of a five-game stretch and it was madness. There was much discussion in the photo work room about what exactly happened and who got the shot of the golf cart in action. I didn’t have the correct settings, but here’s a shot of fellow photogs discussing…
The golf cart made the news around the state and I was almost interviewed by WFAA in Dallas, but I convinced them I didn’t see anything and wouldn’t make a good interview.
That’s enough about that. Let’s move on to the football!
I had thousands of images when I was finished shooting. I looked through them with this post in mind, knowing that you love to see peak action of players in the air and in the end zone. I hope these make you happy!
You know I couldn’t do a championship post without celebration shots. I’m becoming a big fan of celebration shots. Maybe I’ll eventually compile them in to a big of some kind. Thoughts? While you’re thinking, here are some photos…
Last, but not least, a couple photos of the fans. I love a shot of a crazy fan sporting face paint, colored hair spray and costumes. For all of you crazy fans, your efforts are appreciated!
Whew, that was a long post! This is the last one for 2011, folks. It’s time to pack it up and call it year – a great year. Sincere thanks to everyone who’s been interested enough to look at my photos and read about my experiences over the past 365 days. I hope you come back for at least 365 more. I’ll start posting again on Mon., Jan. 2, 2012.
Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!