I had a blast rolling down to Memphis, Tennessee to shoot and cover the Memphis Tigers Football Spring Game that they call "Friday Night Stripes."
This was a quick overnight drive to Memphis and it rained the entire day... Literally right up to the moment I entered Liberty Stadium. Great timing for the shoot. Bad timing for the crowd size, which was obviously a lot smaller than usual. But, I LOVE shooting on cloudy days and especially during sunset!
I know two of the Tigers players: Spencer Rich- who I shot at Brentwood High School during their run to the State Finals in 2000 and Bryce Edmonson- who I know through his Dad, Carl Edmonson- who is one of my fellow photographers in Nashville. They are both Linebackers, so I started my pregame shooting around the LB group who lined up across the stadium from the sunset.
Now, many photogs hate shooting into the sun... I LOVE it! Get me all of the reflections and moody sun rays and shadows to play with!
I brought a few lenses, but ended up shooting the vast majority of the game with my 70-200 Nikor. Overall, it was a super cool shoot with a few big interceptions that I was able to capture perfectly. At the end of the game, they had an autograph session and I got to go hang out with Spencer Rich and his family for a few minutes. We were later surprised when former Brentwood High School Football Coach and legend Ron Crawford showed up.
I busted my tail out of Liberty Stadium and zoomed to Downtown- as I HAD to get some Rendezvous Ribs for dinner! I found a parking spot and got to the restaurant for pickup about 15 minutes before they closed. I was a few weeks into my 75 Hard Challenge and part of it was abiding by the carnivore diet (a TON of meat!) so this meal fit perfectly in so many ways. I was back to Nashy in the morning to edit and send out and a bunch of the Memphis players were loving and posting the pics!
See yall next time. Keep chasing your dreams!
-JB
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