bucs-vs-raiders-172
Well, let’s get this out of the way first. We lost. At home. Miserably. To a team that’s only won 4 games all season. We’re out of the playoffs. Our season’s over. Ugh! I don’t want to talk about it. Until next year, of course.

Now, onto the shoot. It was a warm beautiful day (as you might imagine; I had a blast) and I have a quick story to share: It’s very late in the fourth quarter, we’re a touchdown behind with just a minute or two left on the clock. I’m shooting from the sidelines, right near the Buc’s bench, and when one of our receivers drops a pass, I look to the guy standing right next to me, and say something along the lines of, “Oh come on–you gotta catch those–it was right in his hands.” He looks at me and nods in agreement. It was Tiger Woods. I kid you not. I had to step back and grab a couple of shots of him, but I didn’t post any here because it would have ruined the story, as you would have recognized him instantly.

Anyway, after I took the shot, I went over to him and said, “I’m having a problem with my short game. I’m hooding my wedge a bit on my backswing, and I was wondering if you had any tips that might help?” (OK, I didn’t really walk over and say that. I had ya though, didn’t I?). Anyway, it was wild seeing him there (I wish I had noticed him earlier, I probably would have at least said “hi”).

GEAR: All shots were taken with a Nikon D3 with a 200-400mm f/4 lens, or a D300 with a 70-200mm 2.8 VR lens. ISO 200 and wide open (at f/4 and f/2.8 respectively, all day). My thanks to Matt May and the Bucs for giving me such a great day that I can nearly overlook the loss. Nearly. (Click on the thumbnails below for a larger image).

So, here are some of my favorite shots from this heartbreaking, season-ending game (and of course, besides the Bucs needing to win this game, to get in the playoffs the Eagles would have also had to beat Dallas. Of course, they did. Double-ugh!).