Matthew Durr Photography

Imminent Impact
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/1250

It’s a Christmas miracle! No, I’m not dead after all. However, the firm grip of graduate school has my schedule tied up in all sorts of knots. To make a long story short, I have found it nearly impossible to take time to pursue any photography endeavors lately, even paid opportunities. When you’re in five school music ensembles, preparing auditions for military bands, and still squeezing in a couple academic classes on top, any free time quickly gets assigned to eating and sleeping.

Sob story out of the way, I never know when I may get more free time. It may even be as soon as this coming semester, and I may also have more paid opportunities to persuade me to make more time for my secondary passion for photography. Regardless, I am so close to catching up with all my previous work. After this post, I just have to put together the last quarter of my grossly-overdue 2014 Project 52 (which may end up being posted in early 2015, whoops!), and I’m all set!

Earlier in the Fall, I got the chance to work as one of the photographers for the Great American Rivalry Series, a program presented by the United States Marine Corps that hosts football rivalry games between regional high schools. My game was in Cincinnati, between St. X and Moeller, two area Catholic high schools. In addition to the action of the game, I was assigned to photograph everything from crowd reactions to marching band entertainment to the booths of the sponsors, the latter of which helped warm my camera and my trigger finger up:

Marines
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/320

Toyota
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/125

Pre-Game
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/1250

Before the officials even made it to the field, however, both student bodies were already hyped:

War Cry
Nikon 400mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/1600

Cheer Cone
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/500

Riled Up
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/640

Respect
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 100, f/2, 1/320

Coin-Toss Meetup
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/250

Eventually the marching band made it onto the field and the festivities continued:

Presenting the Band
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/4000

Trumpeters
Nikon 400mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/640

The Bodysuits
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/200

Presenting the Colors
Nikon 400mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/500

And then the teams took the field:

Huddle Up
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/400

Charge
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/500

Backlit
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 400, f/3.2, 1/1000

The Signs
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 800, f/3.2, 1/320

The first half saw me juggling between adjusting settings for the quickly-fading sunlight, as well as getting a handle on the Nikon 400mm’s unforgivably-thin depth-of-field:

First Tackle
Nikon 400mm, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/800

Finding a Play
Nikon 400mm, ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/1000

Official
Nikon 400mm, ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/1000

Face Off
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/1250

Roller Coaster
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/200

Both Sides
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/640

Lined Up
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/500

Cheer On
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/250

Failed Block
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/400

Wrapped Up
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/640

Breaking Out
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/800

Halftime came around, and the lighting conditions finally stabilized:

Piccolo
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/800

Sideline Fans
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/640

Afraid I may not have been getting enough keepers with the 400mm (no time for chimping in football!), I eventually switched the 400mm for my trusty 200mm f/2, which I am much more comfortable with in nailing focus:

Going Low
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/1000

Interception Attempt
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Classic Dogpile
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600mm, f/2.8, 1/800

High Receiver
Nikon 400mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/1000

Barreling Ahead
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Overhead
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Power Punt
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Spiral
NIkon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

The Axe
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Surrounded
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Go Long
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Sideline
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Clash
Nikon 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/800

Show Off
Nikon 80-200mm, ISO 3200, f/2.8, 1/1000

With only a few minutes to go and Moeller up by a couple touchdowns, I went ahead and moved over to their student body to capture any end-game celebrating:

The Crusader
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/320

Cheer
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/320

Celebrate
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/500

Trophy
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 1600, f/2, 1/500

After the crowd finally cleared out, I headed back to my gear storage location and got one last snap of the home team’s painted banner while it wasn’t blocked by fans:

Banner
Rokinon 16mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/500

Not only was this the first time in months that I photographed any sort of competitive sport, but it was also my first experience in American Football. Adding to the challenge of photographing enough offensive/defensive plays of both teams, very little could prepare me for knowing exactly where to place myself to get any serviceable shots that weren’t blocked by sideline players or the myriad officials. I pat myself on the back knowing I got more than enough to send in to my supervisor!

Gear used for this awesome evening was the Sony NEX-7 with the Nikon 200mm f/2, Nikon 400mm f/2.8, and Rokinon 16mm f/2, along with the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 attached to a trusty Nikon d300.

That’s all for this post, guys and gals, thanks for dropping by! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas today if you choose to celebrate it, and I can’t wait to catch up with all the photographs 2014 threw at me! Here’s to making it to the New Year, with photography in mind!