Author Topic: Photos: New York Giants training camp 2014  (Read 5468 times)

Offline BLeafe

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Photos: New York Giants training camp 2014
« on: July 30, 2014, 08:31:12 PM »
I shot Yankees spring training camp in 1982, but never attended a football Giants camp. Since yesterday's weather was so nice, I headed down to East Rutherford.

The Giants website says that the gates open at 12:20pm and the practice starts at 1:20. I got there at 11:50am and there were already a couple hundred people in line........two lines, actually.

They opened up on time and - after being electronically searched - attendees could pick their spot: one of two bleachers, along the 10-foot-tall chain link fence (but not in front of the bleachers), or around the autograph area where you'd have to wait a couple of hours to maybe snag a signature from a wide receiver when practice was over (yesterday was that group's turn to sign).

I chose to be along the fence because my camera's lens was small enough to fit in the spaces between the links (though kids shook the fence, making things a bit more difficult). I picked the left side because that's where the team seemed to be heading when they came out early at around 12:35.

The fence wouldn't let the camera turn downfield, so I couldn't capture any shots of receptions, so I concentrated on Eli Manning for the short time he was in my limited range. They quickly moved downfield, however, and that was the extent of my Eli closeups - all of which were taken fully zoomed out (they weren't that close).

The rest of practice was played in other quadrants of the large field, so I looked for other things to shoot, like the footballs that had just been kicked and whizzed by the video guy in the 3-story-high cherry picker.


The pix:

1. The (in)offensive line

2. Eli on the receiving end

3. 2014 Giant's first round pick, wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr, hauls in a pass from himself.

4. My favorite shot of the day: Eli takes a snap as it passes head coach Tom Coughlin. This was especially difficult to time because of the camera's 0.6-second shutter lag. It was also my only straight-ahead shot as the offense moved downfield and my only shot of Coughlin.

5. The kick described earlier

6. My second-favorite action photo: a perfect handoff to RB Peyton Hillis.

7. Weirdest shot of the day: I have no idea how this happened - I took a picture of backup QB Ryan Nassib as he cocked his arm to throw and the shutter lag caught the ball in the air. I have no idea where the second ball came from. It was not PhotoShopped in.

8. This is the rectangle of humanity that is the autograph area - a pen, actually. The wide receivers work different sides for about 15 minutes and that's it. Most fans go home empty-handed, but at least they got up close to their heroes. I shot this from the top of one of the bleachers.

9. It was fairly easy to wade into the mob and get some up-close shots like this one of Victor Cruz signing. The kid in the lime shirt in front of Victor looks pretty excited.

10. While I was in the bleachers, I had to get a shot of the team's home stadium (and a bit of the IZOD Center on the right). All the cars in the near lot belonged to training camp attendees.


A formal count wasn't taken, but I was told that about 2,000 people were there.

If you're interested in attending, you don't have to get there early or get in line. I saw people leisurely stroll in during the entire time - even at the end during the autograph session.

Admission and parking is free. Best approach is from Paterson Plank Rd.

Here's the practice and autograph schedule:

http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Giants-Training-Camp-practice-and-autograph-schedule/cdcf1ebd-3e0d-40cc-9fbe-721d128cf08f

« Last Edit: July 31, 2014, 12:43:33 AM by BLeafe »


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Offline BLeafe

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Re: Photos: New York Giants training camp 2014
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2014, 04:55:22 PM »
I don't know how many people here are Big Blue fans, but it was a sad day yesterday when David Wilson had to suddenly retire because of his neck injury and the possibility of doing something truly damaging to himself if he continued to play.

He suffered that last injury a week ago today - the day that I was shooting at Giants training camp. I didn't know about it when it happened..............I found out on the news that night.

I looked through my images for No. 22. He had been on the far side of the field that day while I was shooting through the fence, so I didn't recall seeing him at all.

I finally found an image with him in it. He had his back to me as he watched whatever they were doing on the far side.

It's not much, but it DOES have Eli Manning in the frame and it's David Wilson's last time on the field as a member of the New York Giants.
 
Click to enlarge.

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Offline BLeafe

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Re: Photos: New York Giants training camp 2014...back to camp
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2014, 11:45:32 PM »
Thursday was the last day that practice at Giants training camp was open to the public. The weather was nice, so I headed back to East Rutherford.

This time, I wanted to get some of the action shots  - kicking, receiving, running, etc. - that shooting through the fence wouldn't allow, so I got in early and went straight to the top of the right bleacher. The first picture shows my view. You can see the fence and how far away the players are.

For the most part, I was able to take pictures that cleared the top of the fence.

The team worked on a lot of things I didn't see last time, including all aspects of the kicking game. Much harder to capture were the pass receptions. Stationary QBs are easy to shoot, but there's no way to tell which receiver to focus on. Even if you guess right, the routes they run aren't always straight, so they can run right out of the focal plane. You really have to figure all this out while the ball is in the air.

Kicking shots are easier - pretty stationary, but timing is obviously critical......same with catches by the return men.

The pictures:

 1. My view
 2. Punter Steve Weatherford's perfect form
 3. WR Victor Cruz makes what looks like David Tyree's famous helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII
 4. Fence fan
 5, 6. WR Preston Parker's kickoff catches. I tightened up my timing on the second one.
 7. K Josh Brown talking to the ball pre-kickoff
 8. WR Odell Beckham, Jr catches ball in front of Victor Cruz (80) and Jerrel Jernigan
 9. Fans putting their game faces on
10. WR Preston Parker reception
11. Steve Weatherford punts
12. WR Travis Harvey reception?
13. TE Kellen Davis reception
14. Head coach Tom Coughlin watches K Josh Brown's field goal attempt.  P Steve Weathorford is the holder.
15. The offense beats the defense
16. Safety Antrel Rolle signs autographs after practice
17. Fan 'do
18. Inflatable NY
19. Moving the goalpost: always heard the expression, but never saw it for real
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