Eli manning dominates the Cardinals and still looks like a nerd in the process
I was faced with a tough dilemma leading up to this marquee matchup between the first place Arizona Cardinals (NEVER thought I’d get to say that!) and the first place New York Giants. 40 Miles away were the drag boat races I had shot the previous three days and really wanted to do the final day BUT I couldn’t turn down shooting the Giants which most likely would make for better image sales. Any other team and this blog would be about more boat racing! Continue reading to see how the game went.
As usual I spent time prior to the game shooting player warm ups and looking for cool stock images. I also shot a lot of Kurt Warner with all the MVP chatter of his name going on around the sports world.
The below shots of him warming up came out pretty cool but I am still kicking myself for not moving a foot or two in a different direction to eliminate that damn fluorescent goal post, grrrrr!
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
I perfer the above shot cause I like the hand across his face, it brings you right in to his eyes but I know some editors hate hands in front of the face so I also shot the conservative “safe shot” as well.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
The person that Warner was throwing to was pro bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald so I got a unique looking photo of him catching the ball with his face covered by the ball. I shall title it “leatherface”
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
New York Giants safety Michael Johnson was standing nearby with a nice clean background so I fired off a standard shot of that.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
One quick photo of Giants coach Tom Coughlin and it was back to the media room to kill some time.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
For player introductions I got out around the center of the field and got real low as the Cardinals mascot and flag boys led the team to the field. I wonder if thats NASCAR driver Carl Edwards doing the flip in the mascot costume.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
As the Cardinals players ran out I lined up in a spot with the flame machines in the background to do the played out player with fire shots. The below two of star wide receiver Anquan Boldin came out pretty nice.
Safe shot to make editors happy..
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Fun shot to make me happy…
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Finally it was game time and the real work began.
As with most football games one of the first things I like to knock out of my shot list is quarterback shots.
Eli Manning.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Kurt Warner
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
I also had to knock out an obligatory cheerleader photo for my buddy Kyle Terada. Here ya go buddy!
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Enough of that, back to the action.
Giants running back Derrick Ward takes a diving Cardinals defender for a ride as he runs the ball.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
For those of you who look at my blog regularly you will notice I love shooting players with other players in the foreground. I really like the below photo of Kurt Warner looking like a small child compared to the receiver in front running downfield.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
One cool aspect of the University of Phoenix Stadium are the big windows around the top of the dome. They are tinted so they make the outside look very blue when facing away from the sun. Underexpose a few stops and it blacks out the crowd and looks pretty interesting.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/8000th
Or you can face the other direction and line up with the sun through the window for anoher cool shot.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/8000th
With that photo you can see that some sun light gets into the stadium. The problem is with how tinted the windows are the little pocket that actually hits part of the field isn’t very bright and makes any attempt of a light pocket shot not very successful.
Below is a shot of Cardinals defender Stephen Spach blocking on an extra point attempt. The light came right into his face and lit up one of his eyes pretty cool. Too bad its not some wild diving catch or something.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/2000th
Here is a closer look on his face.
On the following kickoff just prior to the kick I shot one of the referees standing in the light pocket.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/4000th
Back to the action. It seemed like this game had numerous throws to the end zone that would have made for great photos had the receivers caught the damn ball!
New York Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon can’t come up with the pass in the end zone.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Not to be overshadowed (or should I say undershadowed?) Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald drops a touchdown pass in the endzone the following drive.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Giants wide receiver/kick returner Domenik Hixon had a big day with kick returns so it was important to produce a few good shots of that. Here are two I liked from one of his 3 big returns on the day.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Nikon D3, 400mm, 1600iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
The great return set the Giants up for a touchdown by wide receiver Amani Toomer.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Woooo!
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
The next time the Giants got the ball it was fullback Madison Hedgecock who ran the ball in despite the diving effort by Cardinals linebacker Monty Beisel.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
One shot that I usually forget to shoot is of the offense and defense lined up for the snap. It is the easiest shots in football to take and surprisingly gets used often.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
One of the big differences in this game was the protection the two quarterbacks got.
Eli Manning…..
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Kurt Warner….
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Which quarterback would you wanna be that day?
One person I had hoped to get some good photos of was Giants wide receiver and Superbowl winning catch player Plaxico Burress. Unfortunately he was pulled from the game after the first drive with an injury. I did at least get a nice shot of him reacting on the sidelines during the game.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Another shot I rarely shoot is tight on a tackle. Sometimes you can get some cool stuff with just a blob of players swarming the offensive player. Or you can get average shots like this.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Later in the game I was set up in the endzone waiting for a nice play to come to my corner. I got two good chances sadly the results were a bit less than desired.
Play One- Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin dives towards the pylon. He was ruled out of bounds before the goal while my photo was ruled back focused. GRRRR
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Play Two- Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald dives for a pass in the endzone but misses it. Worthless photo ensues!
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
I was screaming and cussing for two missed chances as Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was screaming for a penalty against his team. Or maybe he was screaming at me for my back focused pylon dive shot, hmmm.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2000iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Later in the game a few players looked to be taking a nap on the field as a ball bounces by.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Towards the end of the game Cardinals wide receiver Steve Breaston made a great diving catch that would lead to a Cardinals score.
Nikon D3, 400mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
But it wasn’t enough to stop the Giants from winning the game to move to a 10-1 record on the year.
Eli Manning looks confused after the victory. (can you believe this is your Superbowl MVP?!?)
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Cardinals players walk off the field after the tough loss.
Nikon D3, 80-200mm, 2500iso, f2.8, 1/1250th
Nerd? Come on Chief, lol.
Leave a comment!