pictures.

First thing I ever photographed was football. I wanted to be a Sports Illustrated photographer. I used to just love to run up and down the sidelines with 400 lbs of equipment and compete with the other photographers. Now, my back hurts when i do it and i don’t like that competition anymore (because i lose). I am also easily distracted from the game - making me a target for some giant dude diving off the field or an ESPN truck to wipe me out when not looking. The last football game i was sent to photograph alone (important distinction) i got so carried away with a feature on one injured player that i spent the entire second half photographing him (good light) on the sideline. After transmitting the photographs my editor said, “thanks, rob. Did you happen to photograph the quarterback? You know, he had 6 touchdown passes and set a new school record.” Whoops. I did have two frames of him but one was out of focus (like the majority of the game). The other was just lucky because he happened to walk into the frame and did some screaming thing that made a publishable picture. A bullet dodged, but not by much.

Now, I am an afterthought (understandably) when the photo bosses send me to go cover these things. I go to do features or provide some sort of audio/video/technical help. I am kinda the laughing stock of the sidelines - I am the annoying guy standing there with a 80-200 that everyone hates (at least I leave the monopod at home). So, day 1 of the trip was covering the “Civil War” game in Eugene. The University of Oregon plays Oregon State and, assuming you are into these schools, it is a big deal. I got there early and wandered the fans. The paper was not interested in my pictures, but we published them online.

On another note, i really love living in Oregon. But, there is one thing I absolutely hate - the lack of diversity.