Assisting The PTFC Photographer

On Wednesday night I had an awesome opportunity to assist Craig Mitchelldyer, the team photographer for the Portland Timbers. I have shot some pretty cool things but an MLS game at Jeld-Wen Field beats them all. I honestly think its better than college football, and getting to hang out with the team photographer while meeting some pretty cool people just made it better. 

Something I have to mention is that the stadium staff were amazing. I got to the stadium about 3 hours before the start of the game and since I had never been to the newly renovated Jeld-Wen Field I had no clue where I was going but the staff where very helpful and friendly. If I had a question that they didn't have an answer to then they would help me find an answer. That doesn't happen at a lot of the venues I've been too.

Once I finally figured out where I was going and met up with Craig we walked around taking shots of the stadium and fans. 

After the team was done warming up and left the field I was pretty much done shooting on my own and spent the rest of the night assisting. So the rest of these shots were all taken while carrying gear from place to place around the stadium.

Have to thank Craig for this shot. He warned me just before the end of the national anthem that there would be a cool photo to take.

We spent the first part of the game waiting for the sky and stadium to match exposures. It made for a pretty cool photo.

while assisting I did have my gear sitting next to me on the field just in chase I had a chance to shoot something. After scoring a goal Eric Burnner, ran over to the corner we where shooting from. In one hand I had Craig's 500mm on a mono pod and then with my right hand I shot this photo of Burnner celebrating. Its not easy holding a 300mm with one hand. Add in that it was at night and it becomes a challenge to take a clear shot of a guy running. So I was happy with the result.