Words and Light

Well, the Steelers defeated the Jets tonight, and are moving on to the Super Bowl.

Tonight, as part of my Sunday late-ish shift, I was sent to photograph fans watching the game at a bar.

© 2011 by The York Dispatch. Pittsburgh Steelers fans Mike and Kim Harkins, of Dallastown, cheer and New York Jets fan Joey Rivera, of Red Lion, grimaces, after the Steelers made a run during the second quarter of the American Football Conference championship game. Rivera, the Harkins and dozens of other fans gathered at Tailgaters Grille and Drafthouse on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011, and watched the Steelers win the AFC championship to move on to the Super Bowl.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had to make pictures of sports fans cheering on their team at the local watering hole, and since the Super Bowl game falls again on my Sunday shift, this probably won’t be the last time, either. That said, these kinds of assignments always present a few challenges:

1. As a photographer wanting to get fans’ reactions to the game, you absolutely need to stick around for a while to make sure you get enough reactions to enough plays. This is because…
2. …Chances are, frames with really good moments are also going to have quite a few mid-blinks or arms in front of faces, etc.
3. Also, sports bars typically have multiple TV screens installed, which means fans at any given table will at any given time be looking in any given direction, depending on whichever screen they choose to watch. This can make for some pretty odd-looking photos, what with people looking in all directions.

All of this means… you absolutely need to stick around for a while. (Which you should do anyway.)