Super Bowl Champion Saints, March into Training Camp
Well it’s been a crazy few months covering oil and immediately after getting off a helicopter from an embed with the Coast Guard Cutter Decisive I headed straight over to the opening day of training camp for the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.
My flight back from the Decisive landed after the conclusion of the Super Bowl champs first practice, and I discovered when I arrived at the Saints practice facility in Metairie, La that the evening practice I was scheduled to shoot was moved indoors.
The light inside the indoor facility is atrocious for photography, but it was the first day of camp and I was already in town so I went ahead and shot the practice. Inside the indoor facility I had to push my Canon Mark III near it’s limit shooting at 2500 ISO and even with that I could only manage to get a good exposure with shutter speeds of 320 to 400, but that was the setting I had to deal with, below are a few of my favorites from Day 1 of New Orleans Saints training camp.
July 30, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) runs with teammates during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints indoor practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
July 30, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Anthony Hargrove (69) runs a drill during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints indoor practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
July 30, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints indoor practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
As you can see, nothing spectacular here, beside lighting shooting locations are severely limited inside the indoor facility where the reporters, video and photographers are all limited to working from one sideline.
So after a not so good start, it was an early wake up call to get to the Saturday morning practice on the outdoor fields.
The outdoor session, has good morning light, and a lot of flexibility for shooting locations, and my goal was to get shots of the major players and coaches and some wide looks that could potentially run large in a print publication. Below are some of the photos I liked from the morning session on Day 2 of Saints training camp.
Head coach Sean Payton was a major focus, and I wanted to capture him in some shots with him watching over his team, the stretch at the start of practice provided some opportunities for the shot I was looking for.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton watches over his team during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
The Saints entered training camp with several key players battling off season injuries, one of those players, linebacker Clint Ingram a free agent brought in to replace Scott Fujita who signed with the Cleveland Browns earlier this year. Ingram is not yet at full strength, but he was working on several drills by himself, the sled drill caught my eye and I watched him for a few minutes looking for the right photo, I especially liked the one below.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Clint Ingram (55) during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
Sometimes the better photos don’t feature the top stars, but a nice frame is a nice frame, the photo below of a deep pass reception is one that caught my attention.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Courtney Roby (15) loses his grip on a pass as cornerback Randall Gay (20) defends during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
Of course getting shots of the stars is essential, I got a few of the standard isolated shots of Brees, Bush and others, but I also wanted to get some shots that showed some of the action in training camp.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) throws a pass during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
I followed the pass by Brees in the photo above deep downfield where he had tight end Jeremy Shockey running a seam pattern, it was a perfect throw by Brees and a dropped pass by Shockey, I liked the look on Shockey’s face and thought it made a good photo.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey (88) reacts as he drops a deep pass during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
Moments with coaches and players interacting may not look like much, but you never know what a client my pick, I saw linebacker Jonathan Vilma talking with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and popped off a few shots. The photo below ran in the USA Today newspaper for their camp report on the Saints.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams talks with linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51) during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
As practice came to a close the entire team huddles up for a post practice huddle with head coach Sean Payton, usually coach Payton is obstructed by players in the huddle, following this practice I caught a break as Payton stood where there was an opening in between players.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks to his players following a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
After practice, players sign autographs for fans that turn out to watch the practice, quarterback Drew Brees draws the largest fan base of course and I got a few nice shots of the autograph session, one of the photos ran in a article on CBS Sports. I liked both of the photos below, the first photo I have a Saints commemorative Super Bowl XLIV football in the foreground as Brees signs autographs, the second photo a fan holds out a printed image of Brees holding up his son after the Super Bowl, that was the photo that ran with the article.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) signs autographs for fans following a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
Training Camp means two-a-days, but once again the August heat forced the team to move practice indoors for the second session, I was going to skip the session, but I was still in town after running some errands so I decided to go back and shoot the evening practice, I only got a few shots I was happy with.
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints center Jonathan Goodwin (76) prepares to snap the ball during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints indoor practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
July 31, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints indoor practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
The following morning I was back for another session, and the heat only got more intense with each passing day, 100 degree plus temperatures during the early morning hours was not fun to work in.
One of the biggest storylines of the off season is the Saints defense, and can they improve from last season or was their Super Bowl run a fluke, if what I am seeing at camp thus far is an indication then the Saints are better than advertised because the Saints defense is holding their own against the Saints number one rated offense in camp.
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints players Darren Sharper (42), Jabari Greer (33), Reggie Jones (35), Danny Gorrer (29), Chip Vaughn (21), and Malcolm Jenkins (27) stretch during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defenders combine to tackle force a fumble by running back Chris Ivory (48) during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper (42) watches during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Stanley Arnoux (53) picks up a fumble by running back Chris Ivory (48) during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson (99) dives for a ball during a drill during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) talks with head coach Sean Payton during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (80) blocks against linebacker Troy Evans (54) during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints run drills during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
At one point during practice I spotted Saints owner Tom Benson passing by in his golf cart, as he was passing he stuck out his hand, showing his Super Bowl ring to fans, I focused in tight on the ring and didn’t know until I downloaded the image that I captured the side of the ring engraved with Benson’s name.
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson holds up his Super Bowl XLIV championship ring during a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
Following practice players and coaches walking off the field were greeted by a table full of freshly cut iced watermelon, it was funny I heard someone say one piece per person, but I watched Saints safety Chris Reis and linebacker Jonathan Vilma chow down on four to five slices each, after completing his post practice interview, coach Payton walked up to get a slice himself, I thought it made for a cool camp moment and snapped a few frames, the result is seen below.
August 1, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton eats a piece of watermelon following a training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle
The Saints would again have an evening practice moved indoors, but I felt this time it would not be worth it to shoot the evening indoor session and headed home for the night and thus concluded the first weekend of Saints Training Camp. Below are a few of the publications that have run some of my camp coverage. I’ll have another camp follow up blog in a few days. Until the next time.
USA TODAY US Edition
02 Aug 2010
USA TODAY Sports Weekly
28 Jul 2010
USA TODAY Sports Weekly
28 Jul 2010
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