Friday Night Under The Lights

Tonight it was back to work for my client Bonidee Photography & Design and this time I was off to cover “The Hammond Cup” a rival match between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond.

St. Thomas Aquinas normally plays their home games at Strawberry Stadium but for the Hammond Cup they would be the away team in their stadium. Strawberry Stadium is also the home to Southeastern Louisiana University Lions so, it is among the better lit stadiums in the state for high school football.

As a photographer I really enjoy this stadium which allows me to shoot without a flash at night, and tonight was the first opportunity to test out my Mark IV camera with high school football, I have to say I was pleased with the results. I did some limited testing of high ISO’s throughout the night, but spent most of the game shooting my standard 2000 ISO, which is high but very clean on both the Mark III and IV cameras. I pushed the ISO range of my Mark IV up as high as 6400 and shot a bit at 3200, 4000 and 5000 ISO as well. Here are some of my favorites from the night.

1/1000 SEC f/2.8 3200 ISO

3 September, 2010: Hammond Tornadoes linebacker Matthew Brown (45) tackles St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Garrett Woodall (84) during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

The game was a physical match up and Hammond was the bigger team, but St. Thomas played them tough throughout the first half entering halftime at 7-6. Hammond opened the second half with a kickoff return for a touchdown and would go on to a 27-6 win over St. Thomas.

St. Thomas Aquinas has shifted from a run based to a spread passing game, the offense operated by by a sophomore quarterback Daryl Moore will have some bumps along the way, but has a potential to be explosive, missed opportunities sprinkled with a few big plays was the story of the night.

1/1000 SEC f/2.8 4000 ISO
3 September, 2010 St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons quarterback Daryl Moore (15) looks to pass during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010 St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons quarterback Daryl Moore (15) looks to pass during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

A few St. Thomas Aquinas receivers stepped up to make big catches and a handful of big plays, and there was a few near misses along the way.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Ross Pellichino (1) battles with Hammond Tornadoes defensive back William Fleet (19) for the ball during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

In the shot below St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Ross Pellichino who came up short earlier made a catch and run for a big gain putting St. Thomas within striking distance of the endzone.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Ross Pellichino (1) runs after a catch during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Ross Pellichino (1) runs after a catch as Hammond Tornadoes defensive back Tyler August (2) pursues during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

The game was quite physical and St. Thomas held up quite well considering Hammond had a squad full of bigger kids.

1/1600 SEC f/2.8 5000 ISO
3 September, 2010: Hammond Tornadoes defensive back Trevor Ragan (12) tackles St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Garrett Woodall (84) during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

*Notice the face painted on the Hammond defensive back*

1/1000 SEC f/2.8 3200 ISO
3 September, 2010: Hammond Tornadoes linebacker Matthew Brown (45) tackles St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons wide receiver Garrett Woodall (84) during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

1/1000 SEC f/2.8 3200 ISO
3 September, 2010: Hammond Tornadoes running back Terrance Davis (33) is tackled by St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons linebacker Kameron Eckland (58) during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

1/1000 SEC f/2.8 3200 ISO
3 September, 2010: Hammond Tornadoes running back Terrance Davis (33) is pursued by St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons linebacker Kameron Eckland (58) during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons defenders combine to tackle Hammond Tornadoes running back Clarence White (32) during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

St. Thomas was a bit over matched, but the defense consistently would step up keeping the Falcons in the game by making a big play, causing a fumble are getting an interception.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons defensive back Hunter Reid (82) intercepts a pass during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons defensive back Hunter Reid (82) is tackled by Hammond Tornadoes offensive lineman Brandon Francois (75) on an interceptions return during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

Overall it was Hammond scoring on big plays that led to the final score of 27-6 and the Hammond Cup going to the Hammond Tornadoes.

1/800 SEC f/2.8 2500 ISO
3 September, 2010: Hammond Tornadoes receiver Mark Bridgewater (4) returns the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown during a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

One more photo to share, and it comes from pregame as just as I arrived at the stadium I noticed the players getting off the bus, I quickly reached info my bag grabbed my widest lens a 11-18mm ultra wide and got in position to get a few shots of the players as they walked up to the stadium as parents, family and friends greeted them. I thought it was a cool moment that portrayed high school football.

1/2500 SEC f/4.5 640 ISO
3 September, 2010: St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons players march past family and friends as the arrive at the stadium prior to kickoff of a high school football game between the Hammond Tornadoes and the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons at Strawberry Stadium in in Hammond, Louisiana.

Hope you enjoyed the photos, below you can view a slide show of photos from the game, more will be added to the gallery in the coming days. Also don’t forget to check out Falconsports.org for a recap of the action from St. Thomas Aquinas Athletics.

09-03-2010 St Thomas at Hammond – Images by Derick Hingle
Click an image in the slideshow to visit my website if you would like to purchase an image.