The 49ers played their last home game of the year on Sunday and I just gotta say that it’s a little tough shooting games that mean absolutely nothing. I could joke that every Raiders game is like that… but it’s a little worse when you’re at the close of the season and neither team playing has shot at the playoffs. In a dull game my best shot of the day was probably of one of my favorite Gold Rush girls while my favorite shot from the game came when Frank Gore broke a long run… but overall it was probably one of my worse games of the year, but I don’t think it mattered too much financially since not too many clients were looking to buy pictures from a game of no importance. I’ll miss shooting the 49ers though… it’s a little sad to know that I have to wait eight months until I get to shoo them again. But I have one more NFL game to shoot until it’s all over when the Raiders host the Ravens next week… and at least the Ravens have a reason to play hard in that game since they are battling for one of the last playoff spots in the AFC.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year so I was a little disappointed when I they scheduled the Emerald Bowl the day after Christmas. But I left town the day after seeing as many family and friends as I could for the holidays and headed back into San Francisco to shoot the game. But oh the shooting conditions couldn’t be any worse… and things started off bad even before I made it into the stadium. It was pouring rain outside and when I pulled into the media lot my name was not on the parking list. This happens every now and then, and at first the guy was going to let me through when he saw my other credentials, but then the man in charge came over and made me turn around and leave the lot. This didn’t help my mood obviously as now I had to walk a further distance in the rain with all of my gear hanging off me. Once I made it inside, I was happy to see that my co-worker who was shooting the game saved a spot for me. But it was a weird setup to say the least… we were in the dugouts with rain falling everywhere… and let’s just say I was a little nervous plugging in my laptop to an extension cord that appeared to be soaked in water. Basically what I’m trying to say is that the shooting conditions weren’t pleasant. But in the end I had the front page ESPN photo for the night when USC quarterback Matt Barkley raised his arms in the air after throwing a touchdown pass. It was very “Favre-esque” to say the least so I knew if USC went on to win the game there was a good chance the photo would be used… and thankfully it was because it made all the annoying occurrences of the night a little easier to handle.
A very exciting finish took place in Sacramento last night. The Kings held a relatively comfortable lead until the Wizards came back and had a chance to win the game trailing by one point with just over 10 seconds left. But as Gilbert Arenas was dribbling the ball, Kings guard Tyreke Evans reached in and stole the ball and then made to free throws to help the Kings win by three points over the Wizards. What made the night even better was that the game was nationally televised so everyone got to see that the Kings are a decent team who can compete with anyone on any given night. Best ending to a game I’ve shot all year.
Rain, rain go away… Well… That didn’t happen yesterday. I had a shoot at the Grand Island Mansion in Walnut Grove, CA… And the rain put a stop to our plans to shoot outdoors. But as it turned out… That was a blessing in disguise in my opinion! The mansion has some very original rooms which made for some great photos. Even better was that I was working with a couple who was up to take any type of photo I mentioned, regardless of how ridiculous it sounded. So once it was time to take photos, we basically went from one room to the next and just peeked inside to see what each room had to offer. I had a few favorites from the day which you’ll see in this update… But I can’t pick a favorite between the mirror image which makes it looks as if the groom has two brides, or the one which has Hung standing next to a tiny door while Stefani knocks on it to see who’s on the other side. After thinking about it for a bit I’d have to say that the mansion reminded me of a miniature Hearts Castle since it offered so many unique rooms… None of which were the same as the next. I can’t wait to shoot there again to get some more portraits.
