Last week, before I left Arkansas for the summer, I got to go have a nice, laid-back shoot. It was practically for the fun of it… one of those things that you do because you really love your job… and makes you love it even more.
My university hosted the Arkansas Special Olympics.
It was a fascinating thing to shoot. Nothing too profound. Just fascinating to be in the middle of it all.
Thousands and thousands of kids from around the state descended on First Security Stadium to participate in these games.
Outside the gates, almost 300 motorcycle clubs from around the state gathered to show support…
…more on that soon.
Cheerleaders from various colleges and high schools were there, too. It was funny watching them pose for pictures. They had this quick set-up…
…so whenever a camera was pointed at them, they snapped to this position… then continued on their way. I was alright without a photo.
“Want a photo?” one of them asked as we were standing around at the gate.
“No, thanks. It seems like you’ve already posed for a few hundred, I won’t add another.”
“Thank you!” one said rolling her eyes and laughing confirming she wasn’t exactly a fan of the gawkers.
I took this instead:
But then I turned around and…
There were almost as many cheerleaders around as there were contestants!
Okay, that’s completely overexaggerated, but there were a lot. They lead each team in and there were a lot of teams.
And that was all before I went in the gate. This was waiting for me just inside:
Just in case you were wondering, there was a bit of a Mardi Gras theme going.
So, all the kids went into the stadium and all the way around the track…
Remember the motorcycles? Well, they were next. All 280-something motorcycles headed into the stadium, too, to show their support.
But, I couldn’t just watch all those motorcycles go by. Everybody has a picture like:
Sure, I got that one later. But, I wasn’t close enough. I had good ol’ Robert Capa running through my head…
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
So, I waded through the bikes and found someone with an empty side-car… and joined him. I LOVE embedding myself into the situation. My perspective changes.
Figuratively? (You can see my silver side-car in the photo above.)
And literally…
So, with my big green camera bag and swinging two cameras stuffed into the sidecar of a 1979 BMW motorcycle… I rode into the stadium with this view:
It was just a fun thing to do.
Even if the shot I was envisioning didn’t come to fruition… there were supposed to be more bikes behind us, but we were early in the pack and sped up around the last corner… it was still something fun to do.
Okay, okay… only two more bike shots and I’ll get on with the story.
Oh, and this one…
After we had driven around the track once, I jumped out of the side-car, thanked my driver, and sprinted back around for the overview shots. But, still wanted something different. With the light dying quickly, everything was sort of a big dark blah.
I took out an SB-900 and put it on the big soft high-jump pad and shot with it just out of frame.
Still cooked them pretty good in TTL, but it’ll do. Its something with a different feel to it.
There’s something very American about this whole thing…
Anyways. I promised just two more. I’ll move on.
Next was the actual opening ceremonies… M.C.’d by a really really energetic dude that looked kinda like Howie Mandel.
Oh, and more cheerleaders.
So, for the past month, all the police officers from cities around the state have been running a torch all over. This was the ending of the long road.
They came into the stadium…
…and passed it on to a few more kids that would take it around and light the big torch.
I told you this thing was a pretty elaborate ordeal!
Well, then the festivities began.
It started sedately enough.
The head of the Special Olympic committee was there watching the festivities.
But soon, the excitement escalated…
…and it looked like this before long.
The cheerleaders went wild… and some of the kids joined in.
Jeff jumped in, too. But for a different reason, of course.
Yes, he’s on stage. The fuzzy ones pretty much created a wall.
Good idea.
This band was from New Orleans and really did quite well. It was pretty impressive that they were out in the Arkansas-in-May heat jamming and dressed like they were. Not bad!
I guess the major benefit was not being eaten by the mosquitoes… as they were feasting upon me, instead.
Well, it was quite a night.
So, this is what I did instead of studying for a final. I still did fine.
But the next day was the real reason for the season. The events. The athletes really did quite well!
But, I shall end my story there even though there are dozens more photos to be shared. I just don’t want to make this out to be too epic of a post!
If you’d like to see the rest of the photos – the ones that you have seen plus about twice as many… also, from the events – just take a look through these:
Its a little more efficient.
—
Well, in other news, I’ve moved to another house in another state for the summer. If you didn’t already know, I’m going to be working at the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal as a photojournalism intern for the summer.
It’s quite an exciting thing to be out in the real world being a real photojournalist.
Will I be hauling 600/4’s? Will I be shooting every day?
The only way to find out… is to stay tuned.
-Noah D.
