We’re back this week with more Photos of the Week! Wrestling gets its first feature as the Tigers fell to Oklahoma State 33-3 at home on Friday. Men’s basketball faced Oklahoma on Saturday in an overtime thriller topped off with not one but two buzzer beater threes amid rumors of cancellation due to weather.
Apart from the one high school girls wrestling tournament I shot a few years ago, this was pretty much my first time covering wrestling. I don’t typically like the lighting in the Hearnes Center,
especially compared to what’s in Mizzou Arena, but I found that the reflection of the light hitting the white mat helped to brighten wrestlers’ faces a bit from the angle I had, which was helpful.
One thing I’ve mentioned a few times was how I’ve learned to shoot tighter in general, but especially on athletes. I was at my maximum focal length of 200mm here and I considered cropping in even more on their faces but I liked the context of their singlets filling the frame and I didn’t want to cut off any logos.
I’ve also previously mentioned the importance of knowing when the wider context of the scene rewards (or limitations with your equipment necessitates) shooting wider photos. This was one such instance, and when I heard the crowd cheering and noticed the people in the background standing up, I decided to focus on them while keeping the wrestlers in frame in front of them so there was both context and visual interest beyond strictly action.
This is another example of intentionally shooting tighter. In the moments where wrestlers weren’t moving as quickly, I was paying close attention to facial expressions to see if I could get anything interesting. Hilton’s face was pretty visible during this match, so I focused on it and chose to specifically use a photo where he looked more expressive. (Shoutout to my friend William Wicks (@w_wicks_photo) for helping me with this caption… I know nothing about wrestling…)
After the meet’s conclusion, I walked around the floor seats to grab my backpack and bring it to the press table to get started on toning my photos when I looked up and saw that Stoner had come over to engage with some young fans. I wanted to get Stoner’s face in frame so I moved to the side opposite his writing hand so it would be clearer. My classmate Sam Brusven (@sambrusven) got another angle of this moment while on assignment for the Columbia Missourian.
It’s pretty easy to get basketball photos of players approaching half-court because they’re usually unobstructed by other players. It’s not as easy to get photos of them moving up the court or taking a shot because other players (or referees) are constantly moving between them and me. I do my best to find a clear window between players to get those action shots, and this is a good example of when that worked out. In this case, we can clearly see Stone being converged upon by two Oklahoma players while another Missouri player fills the right edge of the frame.
As a journalist, it’s important to stay professional and objective, and within sports coverage specifically, it’s important to control your reactions (even when covering the team you’re rooting for). At the same time, I’m sitting in my assigned box on the floor and feeling just as nervous and stressed as I’m sure all of you were while watching. I ended up missing the actual shot by Pierce to tie it, but did my best to cover the general reaction just after the moment. A few things I love about this photo: the team is celebrating, the clock is at zero, the light around the backboard is on indicating the end of the second half, and the crowd is going wild while the arena lighting effects are flashing.
At this point in the game, I’m drowning in anticipation waiting for what comes next. Xzayvier Brown had just hit a jumper to put the Sooners up two with four seconds remaining, and I’m immediately aware there’s a possibility this ends dramatically.
I keep my camera on and ready for pretty much the whole game, but I’m especially aware at this moment that I need to do everything I can to get this shot. I intentionally shot a bit wider than usual to do my best to avoid accidentally cutting off limbs. The end result is this shot that’s ever so slightly out of focus thanks to my camera focusing on Oklahoma’s Tae Davis and Derrion Reid instead of Mitchell. Despite this, the magnitude of the moment itself led me to upload the photo and include it in this week’s column.
If you watch the broadcast back, you can actually see me and my classmate Thomas Raymond (@thomasraymondmedia), who was shooting for the Missourian, run across the court from the right side of the screen to try to capture the aftermath. This was probably my favorite shot that I got because it shows Mitchell still so elated while being interviewed and all his teammates are surrounding him celebrating the moment. It also reminds me of the photo I got of the women’s basketball team swarming Coach Harper during her interview after the Tigers beat Cal earlier this season.
Besides the freezing temperatures outside, it’s great to be back! We’ve got gymnastics and men’s basketball coverage is coming your way next week, so come back for more from me!
