Saints coach Sean Payton reacts after being dunked with a bucket of Gatorade.

WHO DAT?

I’m still not sure what the heck it means, but it is still ringing in my ears after the Saints downed the Colts 31-17 to win the franchises first Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLIV was played in South Florida and I was assigned to shoot the game for one of my clients. Like the previous Super Bowl,
I got on of the prime seats in the end zone – YES A SEAT. Unlike the regular season, the NFL really clamps down on the number of photographers
on the sideline during the Super Bowl. So the league assigns a few seats in the end zone, and upper parts of the stadium from which to shoot.

My spot was in the corner of the Colts end zone on the Colts sideline. Which meant everything was the other side of the field from us.
Although, when Sean Payton was lifted in the air after the Saints win, he turned right toward us.

Being in a seat in the end zone means I had to adjust my normal shoot from low angles style f shooting football.
But the gear was the same – Nikon D3 and D300 camera bodies, Nikon 600 mm f:4, Nikon 400 mm f:2.8, Nikon 70-200 f:2.8
and Nikon 17-35 f:2.8 lenses. As I have said in the past, normally I shoot between 1,200 to 1,500 frames at a football game.
The Super Bowl is a little different, in all I shot nearly 4500 images – or 25 gigs of photos at the game.

When either team was inside the 40 coming toward us, I used the 600 on a D3, when going the other direction I put the 600 on a D300
to take advantage of the cropped sensor making the lens closer to a 900 mm. Which was key to making tight images of down field action,
the celebration at the end, and the pre-game and halftime entertainment.

Here are a few of the images the client used from the game:

Saints fan before partied before and of course after the game.

Programs are sold outside Sun Life Stadium.

Recording artist Queen Latifah performs during pre game.

Carrie Underwood performs the National Anthem.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning (18) throws a pass.

Saints wide receiver Marques Colston (12) runs away from Colts cornerback Jerraud Powers (25).

Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey (88) celebrates a touchdown.

Saints cornerback Tracy Porter (22) celebrates as he returns an interception for a touchdown.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) kisses the Lombardi Trophy.

Drew Brees and his son Baylen Robert Brees try to catch confetti after the win.

Pretty basic set up, grid spot on the face and a get on the back ground

Occasionally I do shoots for an individual, in this case it was with JR from Sueltalo El Show on ‘El Zol’ 99.1 FM in Washington DC.

JR’s wife Jessica Reyes came to my studio for the first time over a year ago and JR came through the first time about this time last year.
Both of them use the images I have shot on their  web sites and blogs to promote their shows on the radio station they are both on.

With Jessica’s mom in tow, the three showed up at the studio around 4 pm, I had been there for an hour or so getting my
lights – all White-Lightnings set up with softboxes and grids ready for the shoot.

Once they arrived we went over JR’s wardrobe, he changed as I finished setting up getting my cameras – two Nikon D3s
with a 70-200 f:2.8 on one body and a 28-70 :2/8 on the other.

After changing, a little makeup and the shoot was under way.

In the two hours of our time together, I think we were able to make some cool images.

After shooting inside the studio we moved outside, I told JR I had an idea he was all for it, and this is one of the images we got.

A variation on the outsde idea.

The image was shot with a Nikon D3 camera and a Nikon 600mm f:4 lens.

Tiger Woods

Model Hua Zhang with make up by Alexandra Sorgi.

I shoot a lot of portraits for various clients, both editorial and commercial. So when I approached a make-up artist about her
casting call to shoot commercial heads shots, I was game.

Sunday I headed to the studio to meet with Alexandra Sorgi and two models – Hua Zhang and Jeneka to do the project.

It was a pretty simple shoot, as some would call it boring, straight forward head shots.

I arrived a little early to get the studio set up for the shoot. We would be using the studio’s cyc wall, so I set up three of my
White-Lightning strobes – one with a octabox to the right, another with a softbox to the back left. The third was on our
boom aimed into the wall to give a clean white background.

As always, I used my Nikon D3 cameras but for this shoot I used my Nikon 28-70 f:2.8 lens for the majority of the shoot.

Everyone involved was happy with the way the shoot went, and I think we made some nice images.

A few of my favorites:

Alexandra darkened Jeneka's lips for the right photo, which we both liked.

Hau Zhang.

Jeneka.

Tight head shots of Hua.

Splish splash, they were playing football.

The headline pretty much sums up the New Year’s Day Capital One Bowl between Penn State and LSU at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Wet – pouring rain before the game and much of the first quarter.

Nasty – see above, plus add some wind.

Awful – the field was well . . . LSU wide receiver Brandon LaFell pretty much sums it up: “By far it’s the worst field I’ve ever seen,”
he said. “Not the worst field I’ve ever played on – the worst I’ve ever seen. The Capital One Bowl is supposed to best non-BCS bowl. It’s not.”

Or LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson summed it up like this: “Oh man, it was horrible. I couldn’t make a cut. It felt like cattle ran through the field.”

Great finish – Penn State used a 12-play six minute drive that set up Collin Wagner’s fourth field goal of the game, a 21-yarder under a minute to go for the 19-17.

All that aside, dealing with rain and wind is just part of the job for me, so I put on my rain gear and headed to the side lines for the game on New Year’s Day.

Despite the conditions, I still used my Nikon D3 cameras, a Nikon 600 f:4, a Nikon 70-200 f:2.8 and a Nikon 17-35 f: 2.8 zoom.

Cover a game like this I take a somewhat different approach, I really don’t want to kneel down in the mud and water, so I stand. That is about
the only change I made in my shooting style for the game. Although, once it stopped raining, I did kneel in the second half.

Obviously, the field was a big story from this game, so I wanted to make images that showed it’s poor conditions. Along with nice clean
game action. Here are a few of my favorites from my first shoot of 2010:

LSU safety Chad Jones (3) and Penn State wide receiver Derek Moye (6) slide in the mud.

Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark (17) out runs LSU linebacker Jacob Cutrera (54).

Even LSU fans had a hard time dealing with the Citrus Bowl.

The Penn State O-line in the huddle.

Penn State running back Evan Royster (22).

Grass on the field tears up as LSU running back Trindon Holliday (8) makes a cut.

Mud splashes as LSU safety Chad Jones (3) tackles Penn State wide receiver Graham Zug (5).

Penn State's Andrew Pitz (40) celebrates the winning field goal.

Quarterback and game MVP, Daryll Clark (17), dumps a cup of water on coach Joe Paterno as they celebrate.

Some times one just get by you.

For two of the final three days of the decade, I found myself on one of my favorite places to be – the sidelines of a sporting event.

For me, shooting sports never gets old – well maybe really hot days lugging gear around a golf tournament or in the rain at any event then it’s old real quick.

This time of year, Walt Disney World hosts a boy’s soccer showcase featuring elite teams from across the country
and a Canadian team this year. I was hire by Disney to shoot 2 full days of the boy’s tournament. Which over lapped
with my already planned coverage of the Wisconsin vs. Miami Champs Sports Bowl and a Magic-Bucks NBA game.

But I figured what the hell.

With gear in tow – Nikon D3 camera bodies, a Nikon 600 f:4 lens, and a Nikon 70-200 lens, I hit the field at the Disney’s
Wide World of Sports complex shooting mainly tight action, which is what the client asked for. I used the same set up for the
football game, but switched to a Nikon 300 f: 2.8 for the basketball game.

Overall I was pleased with my take from what turned out to be 22 hours of sports shooting in a 48 hour period.
Here are a few of my favorites from the two days.

The Magic's Dwight Howard (12) knocks the Bucks Andrew Bogut (6) to the ground.

A dejected player walks off the field after his team lost on penalty kicks.

Dwight Howard looks to pass over Brandon Jennings.

Wisconsin running back John Clay (32) scores one of his two touchdowns.

A Texans players get the upper hand on a head ball.

It was nice to see the refs let the teams play the game the way it's supposed to be played.

Miami's Thearon Collier is tackled by Wisconsin's Chris Maragos.

The frame is from a shoot I did with the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard, Krissy Todd of the Hope Foundation and Zach Wilson, who started the Central Florida Animal Pantry.

We set up the shoot at the RDV Sports Plex where the Orlando Magic practice, which meant bringing in my lights and backdrops for the shoot.

After rolling in the two cases of lights, the backdrops, light stands and various other things I needed for the shoot, we set up in what used to be the Solar Bear hockey team’s locker room and waited for the Magic’s practice to finish up.

While we waited, I photographed Krissy and Zach individually and planned on the same with Dwight once he arrived.

I used my White-Lighting lights — two aimed at the back drop to keep it white and two lights off the side with large softboxes to light the shoot. And of course use a Nikon D3 camera as I do for the majority of my work, however, I only used just one lens for this shoot – my Nikon 28-70 f:2.8.

The biggest challenge was Dwight and not him as a person, he is great to work with and a total ham of you let him. The issue was he is nearly 7-feet tall, so the difference between the three people was pretty big. Luckily, I had planned a head and brought a bar stool to have Dwight sit on for the shoot.

Here is the cover and a few other frames from the shoot.

January 2010 cover of Orlando magazine.

Dwight plays around with Zach's dog Brandi.

Dwight hamming it up (yes I asked him to) with Krissy and Zach.

Quarterback Peyton Manning leaves the field after the Colts win.

Late in the season, the NFL switches things up a bit with it’s playing days. SO Thursday found me in Jacksonville for the Colts-Jaguars game.

The game was maybe one of the best I have shot or seen all season.

Peyton Manning helped the Colts improve to 14-0, throwing for 308 yards and four touchdowns, including the 65-yard game winner to Reggie Wayne in a game where the lead changed hands nine times.

Despite the night game and typical stadium lighting, as always I used my Nikon D3 cameras, Nikon 600 f:4, Nikon 70-200 and Nikon 17-35. This time however, I had to crank to iso up to 4000. I truly love the D3 and it’s abilities to shoot at high ISO.

With the kickoff after 8 p.m., I had my work cut out for myself having to run to get images out quickly – oh and an unlike most games this season, I was working solo. I figured after the first series of each team I would run in and transmit. However the first series for each team, took nearly the entire first quarter.

None of that changed how I shot the game, again as always, low and clean. Many of the images coming from my 600, except for a few touchdown catches and runs, which came from the 70-200.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Wide receiver Reggie Wayne (87) out runs Jaguars safety Reggie Nelson (25) to score the winning touchdown.

Jags wide receiver Mike Thomas (80) scores a third quarter touchdown.

Peyton Manning and coach Jim Caldwell.

Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee (10) celebrates a field goal.

Jaguars wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker (11) is tackled by Colts linebacker Gary Brackett.

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew is forced out of bounds by Colts cornerback Jacob Lacey.

Jaguars wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker (11) celebrates his third quarter touchdown with wide receiver Torry Holt (81)

Peyton Manning in the huddle.

Beford Heights (Ohio) Saints players on the sideline.

Each year, Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. hosts the Pop Warner Super Bowl. Sixty four teams compete for national championships in 4 different age/weight ranges – Jr. Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Jr. Midget & Midget – in two divisions.

In Division I, a national champion is crowned in all four age/weight ranges. In  Division II, Jr. Pee Wee & Pee Wee have an outright national champion, while co-national champions are won in Jr. Midget and Midget. In order to advance to the Pop Warner Super Bowl, a team must win its respective league championship as well as the regional championship.

Founded in 1929, Pop Warner offers programs in 43 states for ages 5 to 16 years old with over 400,000 participants in both its football and cheerleading/dance programs (as of 2008).  Pop Warner is the only youth football organization that requires its participants to maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average in school in order to participate.

This year, like the past 12, the Super Bowl was at Walt Disney World here in Orlando. I was hired to shoot for 3 days of the event by Disney, the rest of the time, I decided to work on a feature on the week.

It’s football so as always I had my Nikon D3 cameras, a Nikon 600 f:4, a Nikon 17-35 and a Nikon 70-200 to use. Throw in a couple of on camera strobes and I was ready to roll.

Action wise, shooting Pop Warner isn’t any different than professional or college football. Other than the fact the players are a LOT smaller and slower. I still get low and try to shoot as clean as possible. Plus look for photos in places other than just on the field.

Here are a few of my favorites from the week:

West Lynn (Mass.) Rams Devinya Robinson (7) leads her team to the field.

Beford Heights Saints Malcolm Brown (21) shakes water from his face.

Lead by coach Eddie Alford, the Richmond (Fl) Giants take the field prior to the Division I Midget Championship.

The Liberty City Warriors Eugene Witherspoon Jr. (3) chases Shaker (Ohio) Fire Marcus Carthon (25) during a game.

Richmond (Fl) Giants Timothy Irvin (2), Khallid Hannah (5) and Oak Ridge's Joshua Wilkes (5) fight for a ball

A fan with a funny sign.

The New Jersey Giants celebrate their Division II Jr. Midget championship.

New Haven Steelers Harold Cooper Jr. (1) after his team's loss.

Watkins Hornets (Washington, D.C.) coach Brian Cobbs is showered with water as his team celebrates their championship.

The Liberty City Warriors celebrate with Mickey Mouse.