July 4th Fireworks- Auburn, CA
Image by aresauburn™
A crop and edit to BW of the last picture.
post pre-game
Image by Robert S. Donovan
Yesterday, completely out of the blue, I got a phone call from a local blogger asking me if I would be interested in shooting some game day lifestyle shots on campus before and after the Auburn vs. MS State game. Seeing as how I had NO plans for the day and I always like an excuse to take pictures, I jumped at the opportunity!
I have wandered around campus during games and taken pictures before. This was a bit different as one of the goals was to take pictures of people. People that don't know me and don't like someone they don't know taking pictures of them. Oh, and they're mostly drunk, too ;-)
I learned a lot, took a bunch of photos, got some good exercise, and had fun. If there's a next time I'll make up some kind of "Press" badge/t-shirt/rainbow wig/etc and maybe carry a bit more equipment to help break the ice with the tailgaters. Maybe I need to dust off the photo vest, too...
This is a shot of the tailgating aftermath in front of the Fiji house on College Street. I took this one for myself. The best part was the band member that was packing up his stuff kicking the trash and cursing "these damn kids." You can see all my photos on the gallery page for the game on theWarEagleReader.com: www.thewareaglereader.com/2009/09/game-day-mississippi-st...
A Game Won & Celebrating After
Image by corey.wagehoft
My friend Mia was excited that her favorite team Auburn won the game and was rocking out to some music at my house after the game. Her expressions were so perfect and I had to capture a picture of them.
www.trueformstudios.com
026/366: 25th Anniversary of Bear Bryant's Death
Image by mosesxan
January 26, 2008 #026/366 (Saturday)
Today was the 25th anniversary of Bear Bryant's death. I went to Elmwood Cemetery where he is buried to pay my respects. I'm sure to people from outside of Alabama (and especially to those outside of the South) that visiting the grave of a football coach on his death anniversary is a bit insane. The man had a five mile long, 300 vehicle funeral procession and an estimated 250,000 people lined the streets to witness the procession.
I was only six years old when he passed away, but even then...at such a young age, I realized how much he meant to my family and to many adults in the state. I never saw him coach in person, but I remember watching his TV shows on Sunday afternoons with my dad. I remember the autographed picture my grandmother had of him in her den that my grandfather got her because he was a barber and cut the hair of one of guys in Coach Bryant's security detail.
While this may seem peculiar to you all, I encourage you to read Ray Melick's article in today's Birmingham News to read about why he was more than a football coach to the people of my state. Some historians have referred to him as the most significant person in Alabama in the 20th Century. Auburn University professor Wayne Flint had this to say about Coach Bryant in contrast to segregationist governor George Wallace:
"Bear saw success in terms of adapting and modifying. George Wallace saw it by digging in his heels and not giving an inch. I think the great failures of the 1960s and'70s in Alabama were in educational and religious leadership, and the great successes were in our sports and military.
"Leadership in this state didn't come from where it should have come from, from education and religion. It came from sports."
To put it in incredibly simple terms...Paul "Bear" Bryant gave Alabamians something to be proud of when there wasn't anything else for them to be proud of. When the government was wrecking the state and dragging its name through the mud, Coach Bryant helped the state develop a positive self image. We might have sucked at everything else during that time, but we were kings of football during the 60s and 70s as evidenced by the six national championships he won.
There were many people passing by the grave while I was there today. All kept a solemn mood and merely nodded at one another as they came and went from the grave site.
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