With the lighting, constant movement and crowds of people, the homecoming dance is one of the most difficult events to shoot. I arrived early hoping to not miss a single opportunity for a quality photo, which is when I noticed Michael Cheeseman dancing to the music and breaking the awkwardness on the near-empty dance floor. A group of students who didn’t know Cheeseman started hyping him up, and the photo captured the essence of homecoming: a night to let loose, come together and celebrate the new school year.
Junior Andrick Lopez, seniors Connor Langdon, Ben Fehrenbacher and Nate Bravo hype up freshman Michael Cheeseman on the dance floor. “It is kind of hard to put into words the experience,” Cheeseman said. “There were really cool lights, music and snacks. It was a little overwhelming at times; but honestly, a really cool experience. My favorite part was probably dancing. As time went on the dance floor got more crowded, but I just kept going.”
The area allowed to photograph the football games seems to keep shrinking at our home stadium. But I tried to position myself as close to the action as I could. Kingwood Park was charging for another touchdown and I shot through the entire play as the running back was tiptoeing along the edge of the field and charging for the end zone. He had already juked one defender and a penalty flag had been thrown. I liked how despite this photo drawing you to his eyes and the opponent on his heels, you can still see the defender sitting in the grass behind him and the yellow flag.
With a flag down, junior Aidan Troost toes the line to gain some yards against Goose Creek Memorial. Troost led the team with 527 rushing yards and seven touchdowns en route to a 7-4 season.
It was the first time the school ever tried an outdoor pep rally, and I wanted to utilize the lighting and blue sky to my advantage. When the cheerleaders jumped, I took the opportunity to use the outdoor atmosphere as a clean background to capture the essence of the night.
Sophomore Hayley Tappan performs with the cheerleaders during the outdoor pep rally on Sept. 14 at the football fields.
I came out to the Powder Puff tournament with a goal to do live Twitter coverage, but as the first game started I couldn’t bear to miss an opportunity to capture the night in photos too. The tension was high as the seniors faced the juniors in the final match. I liked this photo best because it encapsulates Erin McLain’s sheer determination to try to stop the seniors from scoring. I loved the reaction of their teammates as they seemed completely frozen as they watched the play unfold.
Teammates watch as junior Erin McLain dives to grab senior Pippi Timpanaro’s flag during the championship flag football game of the Powder Puff tournament. The junior team won the championship 21-7.
We were onto the final round of tug of war, and I knew the senior class was fired up to go against the teachers and coaches. I moved to the center of the court and found a low angle to focus on the seniors in their last effort for bragging rights. The position allowed a clear shot at the intensity of the football players leading the seniors. It also captured a football coach in the background videotaping as a wall of students in yellow t-shirts cheered on the seniors.
During the Gold, Fight, Win pep rally, seniors Erick Zapata, Caden Henry, and Cameron Maxey put all their strength into pulling the rope in hopes of snagging a victory against the teachers. “It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially since we were going against the teachers in the end,” Zapata said. “We actually got pretty tired, that’s what I remember was being super tired. My forearms were burning and my hands were hurting.”