GAMEDAY: Extreme Makeover

The first regular season edition of our GAMEDAY special section featured a cover story on the rebuilding of the Georgia defense for this season as they prepared to take on one of the best offenses in the country in the Oklahoma State Cowboys. I was told to do some kind of construction themed photo with defensive players Rennie Curran, Rod Battle, and Bryan Evans. It is difficult to take players off campus for shoots so luckily there was some construction going on right next door to the team's practice fields. I waited an hour and a half for these guys. Waiting is the name of the game in photojournalism, especially when dealing with Georgia football. They are fitting you into their schedules and you have to be there and ready to go even if it means waiting for them to finish practice, shower, change, and eat dinner before arriving at the shoot. When I setup the sun was out and it was night by the time I shot the guys. Rennie was visibly exhausted and ready to get out of there. Rod couldn't stop smiling and laughing during the shoot and was embarrassed his khaki pants were going to show in the pics, and Bryan kept making Rod laugh. I tried to get the guys out of there ASAP. An important part of keeping Georgia willing to work with us on photo shoots is to keep them as quick and simple as possible. Once again Sports Information Director Leland Barrow was my savior. I almost walked off and left my camera at the construction site, but he noticed it. He also helped me carry my gear to my car. Love that guy.


Georgia defensive players from left Rod Battle, Rennie Curran, and Bryan Evans


Georgia defensive players from left Rod Battle, Rennie Curran, and Bryan Evans