A shirt for a shot

I ripped my favorite shirt Friday night, but I did it while doing one of the things I love, so I guess we’ll call that a wash.

I spent a couple hours in Green Forest on Friday evening, walking the sidelines at the Tigers’ football season opener, with camera — well, cameras — in hand, chasing that ever-elusive perfect shot.

More than 30 years ago, I stepped out to a high school football game for the first time as a photographer, a little excited and a little nervous, determined to get at least one picture that could run in the newspaper.

I had a little experience as a photographer — but not a lot of training. When I was 16, I started working as a stringer for my hometown newspaper, and I had already worked my way through one high school basketball season, taking photos and writing game stories.

Football, I figured, should be easier. After all, I played football — or rather, used to.

We won’t talk about my skill level or athletic ability —suffice it to say I finished high school as a member of the marching band — but I had a decent amount of experience reading the field and it was my own school, so I knew most of the plays and all the players and I hoped that would be enough to get me ahead of the game, so to speak.

Back in those days — we call them the 1980s — we still shot on film. Film cost money, so I had a limited supply. Basically, I had 72 chances to get a shot good enough to print.

I had no doubts I’d get the story — I’ve always been good with words — but to make an even $20 for the night, I had to get at least one photo to go with it.

Right off the bat, I proceeded with what we called “safety shots,” getting the coach talking to players on the sideline, a shot or two of the offense lining up for the snap — things that weren’t hard to get in focus.

After that, it was all about the action.

There’s an old saying among newspaper photographers: “F8 and be there.” It refers to setting your camera’s lens aperture, along with the most important factor — location.

If you’re not in the right spot, nothing else matters. That’s why it was important to be able to read the field.

I got my picture that night, and only got better as time went on. I had a vague notion in those days that I wanted to be a photojournalist, and one day shoot for National Geographic, Sports Illustrated or even Life. Later, I chose a different path, deciding to stick with words over photos.

It turns out that, for me at least, 1,000 words is sometimes easier to come by than the photo that would replace them.

I never lost my love of photography, even though I spent 17 years without shooting anything for print, and for the past seven years, I’ve been able to dive back in.

That’s what I was doing Friday night as I watched the majority of the first half through the viewfinder of one camera or another.

In stark contrast to that first game, where I shot two rolls of film, I took about 240 photos Friday. In this digital age, the only limit is the size of your memory card.

On the other hand, I ripped my favorite shirt. But I got my shot, and that was worth it.

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Robert Cox is associate editor for Carroll County Newspapers. His email address is RCox@cherryroad. com.