We’re only about a month away from football starting to ramp up again. It’s a long way from August’s pre-season kickoff, but Free Agency is in full bloom now, and the Draft will be here before ya know it (did I mention the Bucs have the #1 pick?), and I can’t wait to get back out there shooting (and dodging players and balls) on the sidelines.

Now that I’ve shot all 32 teams, what’s next?

Well, I’d like to shoot all 32 stadiums. This past season I got to shoot in some new stadiums, like the Eagles, Ravens, and Giants/Jets. Every stadium provides a different experience, from a fans and a photographer’s perspective, so I always get a kick out of shooting in a new environment. Would love to shoot that new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara (I shot the old one at Candlestick). The stadiums at the top of my list are Seattle’s stadium and Lambeau field up in Green Bay. I’d like to shoot at the Pats stadium, too, but there’s a whole bunch of others I’m still missing (14 total, I believe), including Carolina, Houston, Oakland, Buffalo, Cardinals, Vikings, Browns, San Diego, Bengals and Chiefs. Hoping to get to few of those this coming year.

It’s a lot of work…but it’s worth it

It’s a lot of time, a lot of miles; some moments of joy, and lots of times when you were in the wrong position, or fell for the fake, or muffed the coverage, or you didn’t get in place in time and you missed an important play and you just want to chuck your gear in the trash. It’s a long day, too. You’re one of the first to get to the stadium and one of the last ones to leave. The next day, it feels like you actually blocked for a few plays and muscles hurt in places you didn’t know you had muscles. At the office on Monday after the game everybody keeps asking me “Are you OK? Did you hurt your leg?” as I hobble around the office looking for Advil, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

FOR A REAL FOOTBALL FAN LIKE ME, IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

One of my favorite moments of the season is when I get to go up to Atlanta to shoot with the Falcons at home in the Georgia Dome. I’m there with my buddies Michael Benford, Jimmy Cribbs, and Lynn Bass and it’s right before the players take the field. and I’ve got a couple of remote cameras already set-up (see if you can find them in the shot below — there’s two on the ground), and then I head out to around center field, and the Falcon’s drum line comes over and starts their cadence and the cheerleaders come out and make two rows heading toward the center of the field. The Falcon’s Pyro crew starts up the smoke jets and the fans are cheering on their feet. Then you see the first players start to come through the smoke, and the drums are blaring right behind me and I swear I still get chills each and every time, and I can’t believe I even get to do this, and that I’m there at all. As exciting as all this is, I know I’ve still got three+ hours ahead of me of just focus, fans and fun.

As my father-in-law loves to say, “It don’t git no better’n this!”

I hope you enjoyed this look back at my favorites from the 2014 season. (photo below by Michael Benford)

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