My first Photography Tour: 10 Days On The Road (Part 1) Florida

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

St. Louis, Missouri to Minneapolis, Minnesota to Tampa, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia to Milwaukee Wisconsin to AllOverThePlace, Illinois, to St. Louis to Columbia, Missouri. 10 days of straight shooting. What an amazing trip.

If you know me then you know I don't really stay in one spot for too long. I LOVE to travel. In fact, whenever I travel I bring an American flag with me that hung outside the house that I grew up in. Just a piece of Darien, IL that I take with me wherever I go to remind me of where home is. Whenever I go to a new city I write on the edge of it the city that I am at. This week I got to add Tampa Bay to that white stripe!

I have never been on a shoot for more than 2 days none the less 10 days. It was pretty wild. By the end of it I was exhausted, excited, encouraged and any other 'E' words I can think of! It was so much fun, I couldn't believe that I got to have such a journey. It all started with the College Camp where I got to shoot some of the best College kickers, punters and long snappers in America. Then the TOP 12 camp and to wrap up the camps with the Underclassmen invitation. The whole week really expanded my knowledge of photography. hammering down shutter speeds, changing apertures and throwing up ISO's became the norm. Capturing competition, laughter, tears, excitement and most of all family.

The night of day 9 of shooting I was warn out and sitting in the back of a car, after flying all morning long, we were riding from Milwaukee to the town in which we were staying before the wedding. I had my camera bag in my hand trying to grab any type of sleep I could. I was having one of those holy cow moments and I called my dad and we just laughed at how wild life has become. Being a professional photographer was something that was never on my radar growing up. Heck wasn't even on my radar this time last year. Since going all in on this journey I've traveled to 10 states and shot in countless cities. Its been unreal. God is so good and that is without a doubt.

I have to give a HUGE thank you to Chris Sailer Kicking and Chris Rubio Long Snapping for bringing me on as their photographer for THREE camps in Tampa, FL. Also massive thank you to Samantha Haines who was fantastic the entire time in Florida. She always had plans down to a T and made sure I was always taken care of! Also big shout out to Terry Crosby who was my partner through the whole trip. It is always so cool when you've known someone for years, but it takes an experience where you are together for an extended period of time to truly get to know someone. Much like my last blog! Terry is a true servant and literally would do anything for anyone. There were times during the shoot where I would be drenched in sweat and he ran to the gas station and got me some Powerade Orange blast (I forgot the real name of the drink lol) and it was amazing! Thanks man! (Photographed on the top right myself during the intense TOP 12 selection meeting)

This week of camps has a special place in my heart because back in the day I was a TOP 12 long snapper in the class of 2011. What made this camp even more special for me is the fact that there was a film crew filming the TOP 12 Series. What is so cool about that? The director was a fellow 2011 TOP 12 class long snapper; Tanner Gibas. (Tanner and I both in the first row 3 in from the left (Tanner) three in from the right (me))

To me this was the most surreal part of it all. At one point I was standing with Rubio and said "Can you believe this? The camp photographer and the directer of the camp film series were both Class of 2011 TOP 12 Long Snappers." Amazing.

Side note: its true Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers can actually get along and work together ;)

(Photograph on the right: Tanner and I after day 7 of shooting)

Chris Sailer Kicking and Rubio Long Snapping go beyond just kicking and snapping a ball. When you go to one of these camps you become family. What makes these camps have such a family feeling is the leadership in Rubio and Sailer. They both set the camps up to where it isn't just instruction, its an experience. I still keep in touch with a lot of the snappers I came through with back in 2010-2011. Even in the midst of competition, bonds are formed with the athletes and families of the athletes alike.

After day 8 of camps we were in our Underclassmen camp. I was standing by Sailer and he said something to the campers that made so much sense to me. "We are a family out here. What we do stays with us. We compete and fight for the best spot but we are also a family and care about each other." What? This is a competitive camp why would we care about each other? Because that is the Sailer and Rubio difference.

Intense Shot:
The most intense part of the camp was the TOP 12 selection meeting. Shooting this meeting was one of the most serious shoots I've ever been apart of. Rubio himself said before the meeting started that his heart was racing. The Top 12 Long Snappers, Kickers and Punters would be selected in this meeting...to the campers themselves. To top it all off cameras were rolling during the whole meeting. Dreams were achieved and dashed all in 2 hours. (The photograph to the right was Rubio right before all the meetings started. The intensity was as thick and the Tampa humidity.)

K,P,LS would come into the room and sit in front of Rubio and Sailer and multiple cameras to see their fate as a TOP 12 nomination.

I love this shot of TOP 12 Series directer Tanner Gibas half way through the TOP 12 selection meeting. He was feeling what we all were; tired, drained, intense.

Lets get down to photography!

This week expanded my knowledge of taking pictures and expanded my knowledge of my camera. I love my camera, me and my camera have a weird bond but I am pretty sure thats normal...I think? ha!

The hardest part that I figured out is that I have never shot in 90% humidity. YES YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY 90% HUMIDITY. WE WERE LITERALLY COMPETING IN SATIN'S KITCHEN. But the thing that I never really worked with is the fog that can come from humidity. Because of the temperature difference of going inside to outside the glass in my lenses fogged up. Every time we would go out to shoot I would have to wait 15-20 minutes to make sure my glass and mirror in my body cleared off.

creatively I was worn out by the end of day 7 of shooting. I know what you are probably thinking, how many different ways can you take the same shot? Yes, my point exactly!

I remember sitting on the plane after the camps being completely warn out but full of excitement. The thing about photography to me is that I love giving 100% of what I have. When I played college football I was always apart of a team and to be honest I never started so I was never in control of a whole lot. My photography is all mine. I love it.

One of the greatest feelings is when others appreciate my work. The amount of amazing parents I met at these camps who enjoyed my shots was such a cool feeling. Parents messaged me saying some of the kindest words to me and these words I don't take for granted. Thank you guys all from the bottom of my heart! I am so glad I got to serve such great people!

Haha this last shot!! TC (Terry Crosby) took this shot of me at the gas station before we returned the rental vans. I was so tired that I actually fell asleep while waiting in the driver seat. Terry snapped this shot of me right as I woke up. haha!