The Gardner-Webb game was suppose to be a three-game series but Friday’s game was cancelled due to cold weather. I wasn’t complaining as it gave me a free Friday for the first time in a long time. So instead of Friday, Andrew Brackman pitched on Saturday. This worked out well as I wanted to spend some time with him on a game day. So I met him at his apartment at 9:45am and had every intention of getting photos of him in his “crib” (as the cool people on would MTV say). But I was we were so sleepy that I didn’t even want to pick up the camera so I never did. I’ll have to put that on my to do list I guess.

Afterwards we headed to the North Carolina Farmer’s Market for breakfast where I had the opportunity to meet his family. That was a lot of fun and they were nice folks (even though they don’t like grits). I brought with me some 11×16 B+W prints I had made from the project so far; photos that are embargoed until the final project is released to the public. So they got a sneak peek before anyone else did of how the project is coming along. I did break into a little bit of a sweat when Brack’s mom asked where I went to school and I said (very softly) “UNC”. But they didn’t throw me out so its all good. haha

The weather today was again cold and cloud cover became thicker as the game progressed. I had to keep adjusting my camera’s setting to adjust to the darkening conditions. This heavy cloud cover and windy weather made the game a chilly one. I had to go to the dugouts heater to warm my hands up so I could operate the camera. The Wolfpack also chilled (nice segue huh?) the batters of Gardner-Webb easily winning 8-0. By the top of the 9th they looked spent.

Looking at the schedule, I’m not sure when I’ll get more photos of Brack done. The team is in Myrtle Beach next weekend and are only playing single games in mid-week stands until the ACC opener vs. Maryland on March 9th. Hopefully I will get some time in though even if its only going to the weight room.

Breakfast with the Bracks…

Red waits for Brack to finish putting down comp ticket names…

Wheeling and dealing pregame…

Teammate Drew Martin tries on one of Drew’s jersey. This gives you sense of how long Drew’s jersey’s are. They are made a even longer than someone his height needs, but a longer one was ordered because his shirt tail kept coming untucked when he pitched. I tried the jersey out too and it comes down below my knees!

Pregame…

Andrew Brackman

Scouts check out Brack while he warms up. Looks like a warm-fuzzy bunch doesn’t it?

Shutter Actuations

• Pictures taken today: 190 (not including ‘action photos’; only non-action)
• Pictures taken on Day 6: 55 (I was too lazy to add these to the last entry)
• Previous total: 1,774
• Total Pictures taken for project to date: 2,019

Hours spent on project:

• Hours today spent shooting: 7 hrs
• Today’s Post production: 2 hrs
• Day 6 hours: 1.25 (again, too lazy to add last time; includes shooting and post-production)
• Previous Hours: 23.5 hrs
• Total Hours to Date: 33.75 hrs (16.88% of 200 hr estimate)

Wanted to link to an blog entry on Andrew Brackman’s home opener.

The two dozen or so scouts on hand Friday saw plenty–a fastball that Brackman used to pound the strike zone with consistent velocity. Our gun had him consistently at 89-92 mph, touching 93, but when we checked with scouts, we learned our gun was off (at least we caught it early), and Brackman sat in the 92-95 range, touching 97 and a reported 98, according to a local media member.

If you missed it, here is a link to photos of Andrew Brackman that I took from that day.

Didn’t do much today with Andrew. He didn’t pitch today and I spent most of my time getting photos of players in the field. With him pitching Friday, Brack had today and Saturday off. But below are couple pictures. I won’t be getting to Doak again until Friday. I mean, I do have a life outside Brack which seems unthinkable right now.

Oh man, you know the day is getting slow when you’re taking a photo of a shadow…

Andrew and catcher Caleb Mangum…

High Dynamic Range Imaging, or HDR, is an interesting concept that has come with the advent of Photoshop and digital imaging, specifically when Adobe released it’s built in “merge to HDR” function in 2005 with Photoshop CS2. Explaining what Dynamic Range is would take a long time. But basically, it is a scene’s range in brightness from completely black to the completely bright. For Ansel Adams fans, it’s Zone 0 to Zone 9. HDR imagine could roughly be translated to the traditional B+W photography and printing techniques of dodging and burning although there are some differences. Read the rest of this entry »

Today was opening day for NC State Baseball. For someone who is anal-retentive about time and is never late, I was really late today. I thought the game was at 3pm so I arrived at 2:10 thinking I would be early and could get some photos of the warm-up. However, the game had been moved to 2pm and I arrived at the bottom of the 1st missing Andrew Brackman’s opening pitch. That was something I wanted so I’m already messing this project up. Thankfully Brack’s pitching was better than my luck as the Wolfpack took out the William & Mary Tribe 9-4. I didn’t spend much time getting action photos; instead I spent most of the time in the dugout and clubhouse getting pics of the players.

When the game was over, I rode with Brack to the weight-room where he took the initiative on his own to get some running in before going to dinner. I guess it is going this extra mile (literally) that makes one MLB-caliber.

Had to get at least one action photo in here…

Since the weather was cold and the wind chill colder, the pitchers stayed in the clubhouse between innings to stay warm…

Coach Avent congratulates Brack on a good game…

On the treadmill…

Shutter Actuations

• Pictures taken today: 541 (not including ‘action photos’; only non-action)
• Previous total: 1,233
• Total Pictures taken for project to date: 1,774

Hours spent on project:

• Hours today spent shooting: 4.5 hrs
• Post production: 3 hr
• Previous Hours: 16 hrs
• Total Hours to Date: 23.5 hrs (11.75% of 200 hr estimate)

**Update (2/10 9:45pm): The News and Observer has posted an article about Brack’s start. Also, Tim Peeler from gopack.com also posted an article on Friday that I neglected to link to. There is one photo up there that I took from the basketball game.

Fairly light day today as the only thing I did was photograph a photo shoot being held by USA Baseball to get photos of Brack in the USA Baseball uniform. The photographer for USA Baseball was my buddy Brian Fleming. I was going to stay through the practice which occurred after the shoot. But between Brack saying he wasn’t lifting afterward and me realizing I should really get back to work, I left after the shoot. Anyway, Brack looks sharp in the USA uniform don’t ya think?

Shutter Actuations (a fancy smancy way to say the number of pictures taken)

• Pictures taken today: 65
• Previous total: 1,168
• Total Pictures taken for project to date: 1,233

Hours spent on project:

• Hours today spent shooting: 30 min
• Post production: 1 hr
• Previous Hours: 14.5 hrs
• Total Hours to Date: 16 hrs (8% of 200 hr estimate)

For those interested, the audio from the press conference (in the photos from day 3) has been posted to the website for the local sports radio station, 850 The Buzz. Here is a link to the mp3.

One thing that is cool is he talks about rushing the floor after the men’s basketball team beat North Carolina in an upset. By the grace of God I was able to get an awesome picture of Andrew running on the court with fans. I mean I was in the right place at the right time like I’ve never been before. Of course, that picture is so good that it’s going in the final product and I’m not releasing it to the public; only the athletic dept and Brack himself (and maybe my mom) will see that one beforehand.

No pictures today. May have some Thursday since Brack could have (another) photo-shoot this time with USA Baseball. Also on Friday is the home-opener which I will also cover. This post is more about the ground rules of this project. Before I started the Andrew Brackman project I wanted to come up with some rules to follow that I would use for future projects as well. I know you are holding on tight to your seat with anticipation of what they are. Ok, just kidding. Most people couldn’t care less so this is more for posterity sake as I add this to my pseudo-journal that everyone can see. But I wanted to document these rules so I didn’t forget. I might add more later. Read the rest of this entry »

For grins, I thought I would start keeping track of how many hours I spend working on this project; both taking photos and all the editing and post-production work it will take. Why keep track? Maybe to quantify just how masochistic I am I guess. When I started the project I estimated I would spend a total of 200 hours on the project all told. I’ll see how close I come to that. Here is where I stand do far: Read the rest of this entry »

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and I spent most of my day today up until the game with the baseball team. They started around 9:30am but I still worn out from the basketball game the night before did not arrive until 11:30. I arrived again when they were stretching so made my way out there to take some photos of that.

When I started the project I made a number of rules for me to follow. One was to not use an on-camera flash. However, after today I’m tempted to break that one. There are just too many times outside that I need just a kick of light in the subject to bring it out. I did however use a circular polarizer (CPL) for the first time since I was a student of photography. For some reason, the use of filters has become a lost art with the advent of digital photography. The clouds today however were in a perfect formation to make a CPL effective at bringing out clouds and producing a satisfying effect.

Andrew did not pitch today but he did have an interview with the media. Tim Peeler from gopack.com was there along with reporters from The Technician, 850 the Buzz and others. He talked about being at the game and the excitement of beating Carolina. It was interesting to hear his perspective as a former player for the team.

Once the scrimmage was over I rode with him from Doak Field to the WB weight room. We were there for a little over an hour and I got some good photos of him working out. Once finished in the WB I rode back with him and called it a day.

Andrew had asked me how many pictures had I taken in total. I had no idea when he asked but I thought on the blog I would post the number of pictures taken. The numbers are high because you have to take tons of pictures to get real winners where the technical execution of the photograph is perfect and the look of the subject is also perfect. Some of the photos will be trashed b/c they are out of focus, etc.

Number of pictures taken today: 617

Total pictures taken for project: 1,168

Below are some images today. Again, I’m embargoing my favorite photos until the final deliverable. But here are some assorted others.

Probably the only color picture I’ll post but I liked the sky…

Media Interview…

Weisiger-Brown Weight Room…

Back in the locker room. David Lindsay on the right…