Warm Memories of a Cold Day

Seeing the Carolina Panthers return to Lambeau Field to face Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers Sunday brought back some cold, yet fond memories of my former life as a newspaper photographer.
It was January of 1997 and the Panthers were an upstart expansion team that had fought their way to the NFC Championship game. I made the trip to Green Bay with fellow Charlotte Observer staffers Jeff Siner and Bob Leverone.
The conditions in Green Bay were brutal as a strong breeze combined with freezing temperatures put the wind chill at 22 degrees below zero. (That's cold!)
I remember we were still shooting film in those days and I had to change the batteries in my Nikon F5 at halftime as the conditions caused them to drain very quickly. Loading and unloading film in three camera bodies was no picnic either as we fought with many layers of clothes, gloves and the hand-warmers in our pockets.
Leverone, now a staff photographer with The Sporting News, did his usual stellar job on the action and Siner edited the photos in a trailer behind Lambeau.
The Panthers gave a good fight but were outclassed in a 30-13 loss. Green Bay went on to defeat New England in the Super Bowl.
The Panthers had nothing to be ashamed of as they had gone farther than most anyone had expected.
Linebacker Sam Mills perhaps best signified the overachieving team. Mills was an undersized middle linebacker who gave his all on every play.
I ran onto the field after the game and Packer receiver Andre Rison gave Mills a quick pat on the helmet to recognize his effort. I was right on top of Mills with a wide-angle lens and caught the moment.
Siner and the editors back at the Observer selected the photo for the front page because it summed up the feeling of loss felt by the Panthers and their fans.
Mills was a class guy who was later diagnosed with intestinal cancer. He inspired the team on its run to the 2004 Super Bowl as he continued coaching during his cancer treatments.
Mills died in 2005 and there is a statue of him outside of the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
The Panthers trip to Green Bay this year didn't go much better as they lost Sunday and this season looks pretty much shot as they fell to 4-6 on the year.
It also made me glad that I didn't spend the day watching the game. My buddy John called and we got in 18 holes of golf on a beautiful, warm fall afternoon.

Andre Rison, left, and Sam Mills

Photos of Beautiful Fall Day

It's been a strange fall here in Charlotte with a prolonged drought and warmer-than-usual temperatures, but a cold front moved through Thursday bringing some rain, colder weather and then a brilliant afternoon.
I had a few things to catch up on at the studio so I headed up to Davidson. I love fall and the conditions prompted me to grab my trusty Nikons to record some of the intense colors around the Davidson College campus.
It's somewhat ironic that I used to hate so called "wild art" assignments like shooting fall color when I was a newspaper photographer at The Charlotte Observer. But I think it's good to keep your creative juices flowing with many types of photography and I thoroughly enjoyed my personal assignment.
I feel so blessed that my passion for photography remains so strong and I get so much enjoyment out of my job.
Here's what I saw Thursday - enjoy!

Bridal Portrait Session

Wanted to share some photos from a fun bridal portrait session at our studio Monday.
I'll be photographing Chris and Sheryl's wedding in Winston-Salem in early December. Sheryl traveled down from Raleigh for the shoot and to make other wedding preparations.
Betsy and I had a good time working with Sheryl and she had some creative ideas for the photos.
We tried several approaches using both flash and available light in the studio and some off-camera portable flash. I love to shoot at very wide apertures to "wipe out" the backgrounds and I often use my Nikon 85mm f1.4 lens for that purpose.
I have a set of Dyna-Lite Jackrabbit strobes that can be used in the studio or on location (they have portable battery packs but can also be plugged into an AC outlet). I also utilize my Nikon SB-800 strobe off camera for certain situations.
As far as the post production goes, I really like Kubota Image Tools and I use them mainly for black-and-white conversion as well as to "punch-up" the color on some shots.
Thanks for making the trip Sheryl and I'm looking forward to working with you and Chris!

Window light Nikon D200 ISO 250 1/100th at f1.4

Available light Nikon D200 ISO 400 1/60th at f1.4

Betsy gives an assist with the veil

Betsy used her Nikon point-and-shoot to catch me in action

One Dyna-Lite strobe Nikon D2X ISO 100 1/250th at f10 (17-55mm f2.8 lens)

Window light Nikon D2X ISO 320 1/50th at f2.8

Off-camera Nikon SB-800 Nikon D2X ISO 250 1/30th at f2.8

Open shade Nikon D2X ISO 200 1/2500th at f1.4

Open shade Nikon D200 ISO 200 1/2000th at f2.8 (70-200 mm f2.8 lens)

One Dyna-Lite strobe Nikon D200 ISO 100 1/250th at f20