Alumni returned to Columbia once again for homecoming as the Tigers took down UMass in the team’s last non-conference game of the season. Here are the photos of the week: homecoming edition!
Over the past three seasons, I’ve covered a total of 12 Missouri football games. With the exception of a volunteer assignment covering homecoming tailgating for the Columbia Missourian two years ago, would you believe me if I told you I’d never taken photos at Tiger Walk? On Saturday, I figured it was about time
for me to try it. I positioned myself near the bottom of the hill thinking I could get some nice wide shots of everyone coming down, but this actually ended up being my favorite that I got. I specifically took this photo when Truman, the cheerleaders and the Golden Girls (who you can see in the shadows on the left) all have their arms up at the same time while the fight song plays. There’s a lot to look at in this photo, and as much as it’s not as clean as I would normally like my photos to be, I don’t mind the busyness.
I’ve always wanted to get some really close shots of a player’s face. During a game, that’s near impossible (at least with the lens setup I’ve got), so my only chance is usually before or after the game. I was initially aiming for the players running out onto the field, but I remembered that last week Marquis Johnson was high-fiving his teammates while they ran out, and chose instead to focus on him to try to get that tight shot of his face. I really like that we can see Daylan Carnell running towards Johnson in the reflection, and we can still see his face and details like the eyeblack he has through the visor. The day after the game, I changed my mind about how I cropped this photo and re-cropped it to what you see here to get even tighter on his face. For a little “Where’s Waldo” challenge: try to find me in the reflection!
Truthfully: this was terrifying. I’m always looking for new angles and new ways to approach moments that happen at every game so my photos don’t get repetitive. So when my friend Carys Shelley (@caryss.media) told me I could shoot between the Golden Girls to get the team running out onto the field, I jumped at the opportunity to get up close. I ran into more friends, Sam Cox (@sam.cox.art) and Corinna Utterback (@corinnarose_photography), and we noticed some photographers who had the same level of access as us starting to position themselves against the goalpost. No one told us otherwise (besides a lighthearted joke about being in the “danger zone” from a University Police officer), so we squished ourselves together as tightly as possible. I flipped my screen up so I could place my camera on the ground and shoot upwards while framing it properly. The entire time I was dreading the possibility of either getting one of my cameras kicked and it breaking, or worse: tripping and injuring a player, which would then probably lead to a lifelong ban of me covering Mizzou athletics events… Thankfully, none of that happened and I was just anxious. I did unfortunately get Sam’s knee in frame in the top right corner though.
There’s not that much special about this photo. In fact, I would have liked to have been positioned slightly more to the left so I had a clearer view of Robert Meyer’s kick. What I really like about this photo though, and the reason I chose to include it here, is that UMass STAR Malcolm Greene is diving through the air to try to block the kick. Greene’s leg lines up really nicely parallel to and between Meyer’s and Missouri defensive end Langden Kitchen’s legs. The shapes created by their positions in the frame help to guide your eye through the photo, which I really appreciate, and I find I don’t mind the unbalanced negative space in the top left corner as much because of it.
This photo reminds me a bit of the photo I got of the blocked extra point from the kU game or the one I got of the Missouri and Stanford volleyball players both touching the ball over the net at the same time. It would have been really cool if I’d been on the other side of the end zone so they’d both been facing me, but I still liked this shot as a cool moment and, similar to the last one, the shape created by their outstretched limbs.
Here we have a pair of photos from the same play, similar to the series of Brett Norfleet’s touchdown from the kU game. The construction in the north end zone can sometimes make for a really boring (and sometimes even distracting) background for photos taken from the south end zone. In this photo though, the fact that it was a night game allowed the construction to darken enough to be fairly clean, and even provided a better separation of the players from the background via contrast than we normally see, which was great. I again liked the shape of the two Missouri players converging on UMass quarterback AJ Hairston after the throw and I liked that they were on one of the diamonds in the end zone, again providing that separation and visual interest.
The second photo is of Hairston yelling while lying on the ground after the play. I can’t assume the reason he was yelling (could be pain, could be frustration, could be something else), but I thought it made for an interesting moment. Like I mentioned earlier, we don’t usually get super close to players during a game unless they’re in the end zone or along the sidelines right where we are. This was a rare opportunity where he was right in front of me and I’m glad I was able to capture it.
And now, a fun one! MU senior Joey Yancey, right, had just been crowned homecoming king at halftime, and the group of top ten royalty candidates along with the 2025 homecoming steering committee members all headed down to the field during the fourth quarter to take photos. Here, MU senior and steering committee member Ethan Gonzalez and Yancey pose for a photo mimicking a snap with a bouquet of flowers Yancey received. It’s a fun moment I happened to be in the right place at the right time for. Hello to Jack Andersen (@jacks.adventures.in.colors) on the far left!
To close: a unique moment from the post-game celebrations. Jamal Roberts decided to try his hand at videography and recorded some entertaining footage of his teammates. To see the interaction between the videographer and Roberts and what was recorded, check out this reel posted on @mizzoufootball!
We’re on to a brief break from football, but keep an eye out for some more volleyball coverage coming your way in next week’s photos of the week!
