Saturday was the end of a couple things. It was the end of the Wyoming state soccer tournament, and it was supposed to be the end of the world. The world didn’t end, but luckily the soccer tournament did. I shot four games on Saturday including both of the Class 4A championship games for our sister paper in Laramie. Unfortunately for the folks in Laramie, both of their teams lost in the finals. The girl’s game was especially painful because it came down to penalty kicks after 90 minutes of regulation and an additional 20 minutes of overtime left the game tied at 1-1. I’m not a fan of shooting crying kids, but it’s part of the job I guess. Believe me, I’d much rather shoot a celebration photo than a dejection photo. I’m disappointed in my overall take from the tournament because I didn’t get any good features away from the games. I was so miserable with the cold and rain that I was in survival mode the entire weekend.
Ryan says
You know James, your sister paper might have only used the dejection shots because their stories were targeted at readers who only are concerned for the teams and kids they know. But as someone who has a great passion for sports, the emotion emitting from them and with no ties to Wyoming other than I once saw a rodeo, you are telling a wonderful story in the way you’ve composed the order of these photos. You say you are upset because you didn’t walk away with feature-y photos, but the tournament and the experiences of these young athletes is a feature. You’ve told this — the whole — story of this rainy, emotionally charged weekend for these kids. To someone with no particular interest in high school soccer in Wyoming, I think this is gripping stuff. For every game there is a winner and loser, and both have a lot invested into what is ultimately a title, “State champs.” The second photo in your post … damn, you have a great eye. I’m very happy you’ve found such a great paper to display your talent, but I’ll always be a little upset Decatur, Ill. wasn’t a fit for you. Working with you in the past was always a blast, and as an editor I always knew you’d deliver whatever shot I needed. Keep up the great stuff.
Oh, and dry off,
Ryan