Seahawks: My new photo blog.
Am I becoming one of those people?
(Don’t answer that.)
I now have…two…blogs.
The new blog is called “Eye on the Hawks”, and it’s a photoblog I’m doing as part of my job over with the Seattle Seahawks. I was fortunate that my previous blog at the Seattle Times was read by Seahawks folks, and when they brought me on board one of the things they wanted me to establish was a similar presence.
“Eye on the Hawks” will, of course, be solely focused on the Seahawks. I hope to share behind-the-scenes images as well as game photos.
The difference is that over there, I will focus more on pictures and storytelling. Here, on what has now become my personal blog, I will tell more of the stories behind the images. How I made them, what I was thinking, how it looks from the angle of the photographer.
Recap:
Eye on the Hawks — Seahawks photo blog, football-related.
Beyond the Best Seat in the House — my personal photo blog, photo-related.
Two blogs.
Well, at least I don’t Twitter.
Yet.
Sounders FC: Giving Cards for Mother’s Day.
Well, I guess if you hold a soccer match on Mother’s Day, everyone should expect a card, right? On the Xbox Pitch, there were plenty of them handed out — red and yellow ones to be exact.
Head referee Tim Weyland handed out nine cards during the 90 minute match, including a damaging red card to Sounders FC defender James Riley in the 57th minute.
If you’re a Sounders FC fan, you’re already familiar and probably sick of discussing the officiating, and frankly, I don’t know enough about soccer to even pretend to have an informed opinion. However, the general consensus was that Weyland was in a bit over his head during the match, and he did the unforgivable in terms of officiating — he became the center of attention instead of the on-field arbiter.
Little did anyone know during the national anthem that Weyland (far right) would have a controversial afternoon.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
Check that. Seattle coach Sigi Schmid did say after the game that he’d vetoed having Weyland on his games back when Schmid was coaching in college, so at least one of the 29,000 folks at Qwest Field had an idea of what might be coming.
Seattle sought to contain Galaxy forward and U.S. National Team star Landon Donovan, as Sounders FC defender Nathan Sturgis showed in the first half.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4.0 lens @ 200mm, ISO 200, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
Without David Beckham, the star power was concentrated on Donovan and Seattle’s Freddie Ljungberg.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4.0 lens @ 360mm, ISO 400, 1/2000th sec.,f4.0)
The Sounders took the lead when Sebastien LeToux knocked in a wide-open goal after a nifty pass from Nate Jaqua.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4.0 lens @ 310mm, ISO 200, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
Weyland held his whistle just before halftime after Jaqua was taken down in the penalty box by Los Angeles’ Dema Kovalenko.
(Nikon D3, VR 600mm/f4.0 lens, ISO 400, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
(Nikon D3, VR 600mm/f4.0 lens, ISO 400, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
That non-call earned the officiating crew a lusty booing as they went to the dressing room.
(Nikon D3, VR 600mm/f4.0 lens, ISO 400, 1/1000th sec.,f4.0)
In the second half game seemed to get out-of-control as both sides took the physicalness to a higher level. Tempers reached a peak in the 57th minute when Seattle’s James Riley cuffed Los Angeles’ Mike Magee behind the head after Magee and two other Galaxy players scuffled with Riley after a foul.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4.0 lens @ 240mm, ISO 400, 1/2000th sec.,f4.0)
Head referee Weyland initially issued a yellow card, then upgraded it after conferring with one of his linesmen.
(Nikon D3, VR 200-400mm/f4.0 lens @ 270mm, ISO 400, 1/2000th sec.,f4.0)
After the ejection, the teams seemed more content to play soccer. Playing a man down for the third time this season, the Sounders were forced to apply all their energy on preserving a draw or sneaking in a potential game-winner.
Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller was stellar again, as he leaped high over Magee for a save.
(Nikon D3, VR 600mm/f4.0 lens, ISO 400, 1/2000th sec.,f4.0)
Action was fierce when (l-r) Seattle’s Tyrone Marshall, Los Angeles’ Alan Gordon, Seattle’s Nate Jaqua and Los Angeles goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts all battled for a service into the goal area in the second half.
An excellent chance for Sounders FC game when Nate Jaqua was inches from a goal, only to have Los Angeles’ Stefani Miglioranzi get a foot on it at the last possible second as goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts closed in.
With the 1-1 draw complete, Freddie Ljungberg traded jerseys with Donovan, which he wore backwards and inside out in his haste.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 32mm, ISO 200, 1/640th sec.,f4.0)
Seattle coach Sigi Schmid and Donovan chatted briefly after the match near midfield.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 58mm, ISO 200, 1/500th sec.,f4.0)
As he left the pitch, local fan favorite LeToux reached over to shake some hands as he made his way to the locker room.
(Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm/f2.8 lens @ 324mm, ISO 200, 1/500th sec.,f4.0)
Earth Hour at the Big Picture Blog.
This post isn't about sports photography, but it is interesting and relevant all the same.
At its essence, photography is all about capturing light. Lens, aperture, shutter and chip/film plane all combine to freeze moments in time. Sometimes photographers are called on to capture the "dark", as it were.
I don't do a lot of linking to other photo sites (there are so many photoblogs out there that perform the same function), but the Boston Globe's Big Picture blog did an interesting treatment of worldwide coverage of Saturday's "Earth Hour" that I wanted to share.
For those who missed it, Earth Hour was a joint effort of cities the worldwide to turn off their lights for one hour beginning at 8:30 local time to raise awareness about the danger of greenhouse gases and other threats to the environment.
Seattle also took part in the effort, where the lights of the Space Needle and other downtown buildings were darkened.
However, if you were one of the 28,000 people (like me) at Qwest Field for the Sounders FC game, well, we missed it. Turning the lights out on the XBOX 360 pitch would have been a disaster. Although, it would have posed a great challenge to photograph soccer in the dark.
Anyway go check out this entry in the Big Picture blog for some cool examples of Earth Hour around the world.