The “Fighting” Illini

September 6th, 2009

The college football season got underway this weekend, and I can’t help but be reminded of my junior year in college when I followed the Illinois football team for The Daily Illini.  I shot nearly all of the games that season, home and away, and you can’t ask for a better seat in the stadium than being on the field in and amongst the gridiron action.  It was also a pretty sweet gig getting to take the The DI company car on road trips every other weekend to other schools across the Midwest.  Unfortunately though, there was just one drawback – we sucked.  The team went 0-11 that year.  That’s right, I didn’t photograph a single victory, and believe me, it can get a little tiresome seeing your team get pummeled every f-ing week.

Now I’ll be the first to admit it…I got pretty lucky with the above shot.  I could never have predicted that when I clicked the camera, I would capture the football squarely between the kicker’s foot and the outstretched arms of the Illini defender the instant before he blocked the ball.  When you’re shooting sporting events, the action can be so fast, especially when looking through a telephoto lens, that sometimes you just have to rely on a little luck.  I’ll never forget scanning through my developed negatives on the light table and seeing this shot in the loupe.  Holy shit.

And that’s the shame about digital photography.  Not only do we no longer have the physical tangibility of our film and pictures, but we’ve also lost that incredible element of surprise.  That great ritual of dropping a roll of film off at the photo place, and then coming back to see what you had.  And while I love the immediacy of shooting digital (and the price tag), I do miss that ritual.

Entry Filed under: Pic of the Day, Sports, The Daily Illini