Of all the pictures from this month one of my favorites was of the LSU Tigers football squad with head coach Les Miles just before taking the field for a game against the Florida Gators.

October 8, 2011; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Les Miles with his players prior to kickoff of a game against the Florida Gators at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE / © Derick E. Hingle 2011

Below you can view a slideshow of my Pictures of the Month, enjoy.

Pictures of the Month October 2011 – Images by Derick Hingle

One player that appears to have earned his way onto the team against the odds is running back Joique Bell, and although the official cut list has yet to be released strong showings in several games seems to have earned a spot of the roster behind Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles. Chris Ivory would be expected to take that fourth spot, but he has been unable to play and is expected to be placed on the physically unable to perform list (PUP List) for short, meaning he will miss the first six weeks of the season, and will not count against the active roster, allowing Bell to likely slip in at least temporarily. Below are a few shots of Joique Bell from Thursday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tennessee Titans linebacker Gerald McRath (51) tackles New Orleans Saints running back Joique Bell (20) during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Joique Bell (20) behind center Matt Tennant (65) and Cecil Newton (76) against the Tennessee Titans during the second half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive back Joique Bell (20) against the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Another player to watch was recently signed kicker John Kasay a 20+ year NFL veteran brought in to fill in for the injured starting kicker Garrett Hartley, I expected Kasey to be almost automatic, but boy was I wrong, as Kasay missed a short field goal and extra point converting on just a single field goal during the evening. Kasay is likely to rebound, he is working with a new holder and long snapper so he will need to adjust, unfortunately the Saints kickoff in less than a week, so he better get ready soon. Below are some shots of Kasey’s sub-par debut in the Black & Gold.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints kicker John Kasay (2) attempts an extra point during the second half of a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints kicker John Kasay (2) reacts after missing an extra point attempt during the second half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints kicker John Kasay (2) sits on the bench during the second half of a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The Saints were just notified about starting defensive end Will Smith will face a two game suspension to open the season, that means that the Saints will likely have Turk McBride as a starter against the Packers, McBride is new to the team so I made sure to get something of him in action.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Turk McBride (90) against the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Another starter on the defensive line I wanted to feature was Shaun Rogers the big man in the middle saw some extended playing time against the Titans.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Jamie Harper (23) runs past New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (92) during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (92) rushes against Tennessee Titans center Leroy Harris (64) during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (92) rushes past Tennessee Titans center Leroy Harris (64) during the first quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Being the fourth preseason game I had a keen eye on rookies, two players I expected to play did not play a snap during the game defensive end Cameron Jordan I did not even see during the entire game and running back Mark Ingram only made an appearance in warm ups, but I got a few frames that appear to be from game action like below.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) during warm ups before a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

I didn’t have a good head shot of Ingram yet, and later in the game I noticed him sitting on the bench alone holding a firm grip on a football, I can tell this kid wants to play, looking forward to seeing him throughout the regular season.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) sits on the bench during the second quarter of a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Saints quarterback Drew Brees hardly even threw the ball during pregame, but I looked for him on the sideline, usually he is bunched up with other players but I was able to isolate him on the sideline a few times.

The Saints had several other rookies I wanted to get, but I don’t only shoot the Saints, I’m covering Titans players as well and the Titans had first round draft pick quarterback Jake Locker.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker (10) against the New Orleans Saints during the second half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Here are a few shots of the other Saints rookies.

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Martez Wilson (95) reacts after recording a sack against the Tennessee Titans during the second half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Nate Bussey (59) during the second quarter of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Ramon Humber (54) against the Tennessee Titans during the second half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Joique Bell (20) walks off the field following a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

September 1, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive back Johnny Patrick (32) walks off the field following a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at the Louisiana Superdome. The Titans defeated the Saints 32-9. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

I’ll close out with a photo everyone will enjoy, here is a shot of the Saintsations cheerleaders performing in the third quarter.

Look for more, throughout the regular season, until next time.

I knew going in it was going to be raining and miserable so I suited up my 400mm lens and Canon Mark IV in it’s protective rain cover prior to heading out, the camera and lens were much more protected from the weather than myself, but even with the rain cover I had problems with water getting on my lens numerous times during the night having to dry it with my lens cloth, eventually my lens cloth was too wet to dry the lens.

The reason I was out in this horrid weather was to document the St. Thomas Falcons capturing the Hammond Cup for the first time, and as you will see in the photo below that mission was accomplished, but since I traveled light on gear shooting only with a 400mm for the night I shot the trophy presentation looking down from the stands giving me a unique look at the celebration. Below are a few of my favorite shots from the post game celebration.

September 2, 2011: Seniors for the St. Thomas Falcons celebrate with the Hammond Cup Trophy following a 20-12 win over their in town rival the Hammond Tornadoes during the annual Hammond Cup at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond, LA.

The trophy celebration was the result of defeating Hammond in a very physical game, coupled with the stormy weather conditions, below are some of my favorite ‘physical’ shots

September 2, 2011: The St. Thomas Falcons Tyler Bradley (35) blocks Hammond Tornados Travon Hunter (6) down the field during the fourth quarter of the annual Hammond Cup at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond, LA. The season opening game was played despite continuous rain storms from Tropical Storm Lee that is impacting Southern Louisiana.

The shot above might be my favorite of the night, capturing the moment of contact between the players a spray of water flies off their jerseys.

The play above appears to be a sack by a sack by senior defensive end Modestas Bukauskas (12), but actually the quarterback as he is thrown to the ground managed to flip the ball off to a receiver standing nearby as seen in the frame below.

In this next photo below, senior linebacker Tony Miller (16) gets a vicious hit on a Hammond receiver near the sideline.

Miller also made a huge play getting to the Hammond punter to cause a turnover in the second quarter.

Senior quarterback Daryl Moore (15) pushed through a pile a of defenders before losing his balance and falling just short of a score.

One of the biggest plays of the game senior safety Steven Wronkoski (11) rips the ball away from Hammond’s Travon Hunter (6) who had just intercepted a pass, the play was recovered by the Falcons giving them a fresh set of downs to continue the drive.

The photo below, while not a positive moment for St. Thomas was on of the more physical collisions I captured on the night as senior quarterback Daryl Moore (15) is hit, notice how heavy the rain was falling at the time of the play.

Junior Garrett Richardson (25) holds off a Hammond defender with a stiff arm as he runs down the sideline for a big gain.

I’ll finish up with a few shots of the #4 nationally ranked St. Thomas Starlettes dance squad whom braved the heavy rain and performed during halt-time of the game.

I hope you enjoyed a look into my first outing of Friday Night football for the year, check out more of my work at www.dhphotography.biz

Enjoy a slide show of larger images of everything you saw in this blog below.

09-02-2011 STA vs Hammond – The Hammond Cup – Images by Derick Hingle

Being preseason, I mostly shot stock type images, and I won’t bore you to death by sharing those so, instead I’ll show you ten of my favorites from the evening.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper (41) hits San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith (11) causing an incompletion during the first half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The picture above initially was ruled as a fumble that that was picked up and ran in for a touchdown, but after further review, the play was ruled as an incomplete pass, negating the touchdown and the news value of the photo.

*Correction* I got two plays mixed up, the photo above was not the play initially ruled as a fumble and run in for a touchdown that was another play earlier in the game. I believe the play resulted in a fumble recovered by the 49ers, but I don’t remember exactly, I had a slight mix up with my files that were loaded in the first quarter during the game and I had some moments throughout the game mixed up.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith (91) reaches for the arm of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith (11) during the first half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The Saints put a lot of pressure on 49ers quarterback Alex Smith in this play Smith would tuck away the ball and end up taking a sack, but the sack portion of the play was blocked due to the pocket collapsing around Alex Smith.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Nate Bussey (59) runs over San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Kevin Jurovich (14) while running back an interception during the second half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. The New Orleans Saints defeated the San Francisco 49ers Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The photo above was from the second half of the game, and a few frames before that photo I should have had my best photo of the game, as the two players collided their helmets lined up heat to head, unfortunately the image was soft and not useable but I still got a heck of a hit from Bussey returning the interception.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Chris Taylor (36) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second half of a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Louisiana Superdome. The New Orleans Saints defeated the San Francisco 49ers Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

A moment of glory for a rookie free agent running back trying to make his mark, but with Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles, Chirs Ivory and Joique Bell ahead of him, his best hope is likely impressing another team or a possible stint on the practice squad.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Morgan (13) runs past San Francisco 49ers safety C.J. Spillman (27) on a punt return during the first half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The surprise of the night, a free agent rookie prospect for Walsh, made his mark with a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown, the play above is not from the score, but another return that he nearly broke loose. I was in the workroom transmitting images since the primary starters had just come out of the game when Morgan broke loose for his score.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Darren Sproles (43) prior to kickoff of a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

This image is from pregame warm ups, Darren Sproles didn’t get many snaps and the few he did get I wasn’t in a position to get a clear shot, but because I shot him in warm ups I had a quality shot that clients can access.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Chase Daniel (10) escapes the grasp of San Francisco 49ers corner back Tramaine Brock (26) during the first half of a preseason game at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

While it was one of my better action shots from the game, it did not feature key players and likely won’t be seen anywhere else except for this blog.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) during the second half of a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Louisiana Superdome. The New Orleans Saints defeated the San Francisco 49ers Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

A tight action shot of a key player in rookie Mark Ingram, he received six carries during the game for 23 yards and a touchdown, but like the Joe Morgan touchdown I was just coming out of the workroom from transmitting when it happened. But I did manage to get some good action on Ingram despite missing the shot on the touchdown, its a reminder you can’t get everything that happens on the field.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh talks with quarterback Alex Smith (11) prior to kickoff of a preseason game against the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

It was Jim Harbaugh’s debut as an NFL coach and probably a night he will want to forget, one of my goals for the night was to get some shot of Harbaugh, the shot above with him interacting with quarterback Alex Smith was my favorite of the rookie coach.

August 12, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) during the second half of a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Louisiana Superdome. The New Orleans Saints defeated the San Francisco 49ers 24-3. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Getting some photos of the Saints top pick in the NFL Draft was important, the Saints have a deep defensive line, and he may not see a lot of action in his rookie season, but clients at some point may do a article on Cameron Jordan so having a photo like this will pay off for me later down the road.

If you want to see more, there is lots of it, check out the full gallery slideshow below

08-12-2011 San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints – Preseason – Images by Derick Hingle

Training Camp is not something that need to be covered every day, I probably attended a few too many practices myself, but as I joked with a colleague the practices were excellent exercise losing several pounds a day just from the pure heat. Every camp I attended the heat index reached over 100 degrees, and one day it topped out at about 114 degrees interestingly enough I don’t have a single photo to share from that day, because the worst thing that can happen to a photographer happened to me that day. My memory card in my camera failed, the data was corrupted and I attempted to recover the photos in several ways, including photo recovery software and even brought the memory card to a computer shop but nothing was recovered.

I lost one day of coverage and had some photos I really wanted from the shoot, but lets move on to what I do have available to share.

The first day out there just like the others were incredibly hot and humid, and for the first day of training camp I tried to shoot the key players returning to the team as well as drills that tell a story of what training camp is like. This year was different than in the past since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was not yet in effect, free agent signing were not allowed to practice until August 4th, so early on I shot the rookies and key players, and when I possible tried to get a shot of a new signee watching practice since they could not participate in camp.

One of my favorite photos throughout training camp was this shot below of a slap drill meant for special teams players making a diving attempt on a tackle for a punt or kickoff return.

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Patrick Robinson (21) during the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Another similar shot of the slap drill that I really liked is seen below, in this shot you can notice the beads of sweat flying through the air as the player dives, yeah kinda disgusting, but it makes for a great photo.

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Casillas (52) drives for a tackling drill during the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Below is another similar drill teaching tackling technique featuring rookie cornerback Johnny Patrick.

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints rookie cornerback Johnny Patrick (32) participates in a tackling drill during the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Below are a few photos of Drew Brees.

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) throws during a team drill on the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) stands with wide receivers Adrian Arrington (left), John Chiles (11), Devery Henderson (19), Robert Meachem (17), and Marques Colston (12)during the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

July 29, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) signs autographs for fans following the first day of training camp at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

On my second trip to training camp new Saints running backs Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles made their first appearance at training camp, Mark Ingram being a rookie went straight to work on the field, Sproles was still several days removed from participating in practice sessions.

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints rookie running back Mark Ingram (28) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running backs Darren Sproles (left), rookie Mark Ingram (28) and Pierre Thomas (23) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Some of my favorite shots of the day came during 7-on-7 drills one shot with Marques Colston going up against Jabari Greer was selected by Sports Illustrated as one of their Leading Off – Pictures of the Week.

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Jabari Greer (33) deflects a pass from wide receiver Marques Colston (12) before intercepting the ball during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints rookie cornerback Johnny Patrick (32) knocks the ball away from rookie wide receiver Michael Galatas (18)during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton sometimes has a sense of humor, because many players recently signed new contracts and could not participate in practice Payton had little umbrella drinks brought out for the players who got to relax and watch as the other players went through the grind of training camp.

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has Shirley Temple cocktail drinks brought out for the recently signed veterans that are not yet allowed to practice during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar holds a Shirley Temple drink after coach Sean Payton handed out the drinks to veterans who are unable to practice during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

I planned to shoot the first day veterans free agents were allowed to practice on August 4th, but practice was moved to the indoor facility and inside the light is poor making it more difficult to shoot practice, so I returned on August 5th, an outdoor evening practice, and as luck would have it, a thunderstorm would move practice inside within the first few minutes.

Below is the only good photo I got before practice was move indoors.

August 5, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (92), Aubrayo Franklin (99), Tom Johnson (72), Turk McBride (90), and Camron Jordan (94) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Here is an example of practice indoors, it’s dark and with longer lenses it is more difficult to get a sharp image.

August 5, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (22) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Still not having what I felt that I needed I returned to shoot again on August 6th. Here are some of my favorite shots, in what I felt was my most productive day of shooting training camp.

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) leads his team during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints guard Jahri Evans (73) works on a sled drill during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackles Sedrick Ellis (98) and Shaun Rogers (92) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running backs Mark Ingram (28), Pierre Thomas (23) and Darren Sproles (43) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Darren Sproles (43) breaks away from Ramon Humber (54) and Cameron Jordan (94)during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) catches a pass in front of linebacker Will Herring (53) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) calls a play in the huddle during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

But it would be after practice I would get my favorite photos of the day and probably on of my favorites of camp, the photos weren’t a big hit, a pass or running play, it was one of the best players in the NFL playing with his kids after practice.

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) plays with his son Baylen Brees following training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) plays with his son Bowen Brees following training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) plays with his son Bowen Brees following training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) plays with his son Baylen Brees following training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 6, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) plays with his son Baylen Brees and other children following training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Finally, my final day shooting 2011 New Orleans Saints training camp, August 9th. I pretty much had what I needed, but I stopped by the facility to pick up my season credentials and while I was in town I figured I’d shoot practice, and I am glad I did. It looked bad when training camp first started with rain clouds looming overhead the threat of having practice moved indoors appeared likely, then the rain moved in light at first I remained on the field shooting. The rain quickly turned into a downpour and the media gathered under a tent and I shot from there as it began to pour down. Luckily there was no lighting so the team remained on the field and worked out in the rain.

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Dwight Roberson (66) deflects a pass away from tight end Michael Higgins (81) in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Martez Wilson (95) in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton walks by players stretching in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams directs players in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

After the team finished up their stretching, some defensive players began to work on a tackling drill similar to what I shot the first day except this time the players dove head on into the tackling dummy as the rain continued to come down, I knew this was another opportunity to make some great photos. One of the photos was again selected as a Sports Illustrated photo of the day, so I was pretty happy with the effort from the day, here are the photos.

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Nate Bussey (59) in a tackling drill in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Click here to see the photo on SI Snapshot.

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (92) in a tackling drill in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis (98) in a tackling drill in a rain storm during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Eventually the rain stopped and I took back to the field as the team began some drills, below are some photos of the new faces you’ll see on the Saints team this season.

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) under center Olin Kreutz (50) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Will Herring (53) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Martez Wilson (95) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (92), Aubrayo Franklin (99), Sedrick Ellis (98) and Will Smith (91)during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (92), Sedrick Ellis (98), Aubrayo Franklin (99) and Will Smith (91)during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) pressures quarterback Chase Daniel (10) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Clint Ingram (57) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

Finally, my last shots of training camp, a hand off taken by running back Mark Ingram during team goal line drills where Ingram ran through safety Roman Harper who is seen laying on the ground as Ingram runs into the endzone.

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) hands off to running back Mark Ingram (28) during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

August 9, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) scores a touchdown in red-zones drills during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

I hope you enjoyed my look into New Orleans Saints training camp, I look forward to sharing more images throughout the season. The preseason kicks off on Friday against the San Francisco 49ers, I can’t wait to get back to shooting NFL football.

Today, my wait ended shortly after 11:00am when I walked into my local Books-A-Million store after learning on SportsShooter.com that the new issue had hit news stands, but I had no idea if I had a cover or not. So I arrive at the sports magazine section give it a quick look over and didn’t notice the magazine, I take a second look scanning the shelf and I see it, LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson gracing the cover, I instantly recognize it as a photo that I took, I don’t know how, there must be a lot of similar shots by other photographers of the quarterback dropping back, but somehow I know it is mine. I pick up the glossy magazine and look inside and there is reads “Cover Photography” and I see Derick E. Hingle/US Presswire (LSU/MISS) so to my surprise not only did I get LSU’s regional cover, I also got Mississippi’s or Ole Miss and many still refer the team as.

I was ecstatic, to see my shot on the cover for the second consecutive year, the difference this year was my picture was the lone featured image, last year I shared the cover with two other photographers. If you want to take a trip back and see last year’s blog on the SI Cover Click Here.

Inside there was a picture of each cover, and the Mississippi regional cover was shown on the page you can see it below.

So, I open up the magazine to see if I have anything inside, as well as the cover and find two full page featured images and a few smaller photos, I did not scan the smaller images but here are two of the featured shots.

*Update August 20, 2011 – While checking out the newest magazines out for the week I noticed, the new Sports Illustrated Fantasy Football 2011 special edition and noticed one of the head shots featured on the cover looked familiar so I turned the page to look inside and saw my name in the cover photography credits. Of Course my image is featured with 13 others images, and it’s just a simple head shot, but a cover nonetheless, I am happy to debut my third cover of the month from Sports Illustrated this time featuring new Saints running back Darren Sproles, unfortunately I only found one more image inside the magazine, but I have to say Sports Illustrated has been good to me for the month of August, can’t wait to see what’s in store next.

Again this year, Sports Illustrated was not my only cover, but it certainly is the one I’m most proud of I received covers for two regions of Sporting News Pro Football Preview 2011.

It’s always nice when I get a cover featuring my local team the New Orleans Saints, last year I had the recently departed Reggie Bush on the cover this year I got Marques Colston.

My second Sporting News Football cover was Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans and that comes from a game last year where I traveled to Houston when they played the New York Giants.

Lindy’s College Football Preview was another magazine cover, Morris Claiborne the heir apparent to Patrick Peterson graced the cover, this was the 2011 National College Football – Deep South regional cover for Lindy’s.

I also had another first this summer, my first FATHEAD, if you don’t know what they are, FATHEADS are life size wall graphics featuring various NFL and graduated college players, and this year I got my first one with Patrick Peterson being featured if you want to get one for yourself Click Here, for the Patrick Peterson FATHEAD.

I have several publications I don’t have a physical copy of the magazine but in the store today beside picking up Sports Illustrated, I saw the new USA Today NFL Preview, looking inside I found two major features.

Mario Williams was featured for the Houston Texans preview page, the photo of course came from my road trip to Houston last season.

I also had the featured image for the New Orleans Saints page with this photo of Mark Ingram taken at the Heath Evans Softball Showdown, the image was taken after Ingram his a homerun and was rounding the bases.

Well that is all for now, below is a slideshow from a tear sheets gallery showing some more of my featured tearsheets from the last few years. Thanks for the support I get from people that enjoy my work, I can’t wait to see what is in store for this year. Until next time!

Featured Tearsheets – Images by Derick Hingle

I squeezed in just two practice sessions in July, but I came away with plenty of fun photos to share, and August should bring a lot more with more camp and two preseason games to shoot.

The photo below of Jabari Greer breaking up and then intercepting a pass intended for receiver Marques Colston is my top shot from the early days of camp.

July 31, 2011; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Jabari Greer (33) deflects a pass from wide receiver Marques Colston (12) before intercepting the ball during training camp practice at the New Orleans Saints practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

I had one of my images selected by Sports Illustrated Snapshot and several others featured in NFL.com’s best of Training Camp click here.

Check out more of my favorite photos below in the slideshow

Pictures of the Month July – Images by Derick Hingle

I didn’t shoot a lot of overly exciting stuff throughout the tournament, and in fact my best photo came during a weather delay when a lightning bolt struck one of the lighting fixtures in the stadium, I was ecstatic with the shot for several reasons, first – It was my first capture of lightning striking ever and that was very exciting to me as a weather junkie. second – I’ve seen severe weather photos published many times throughout my career and this image, was selected as one of Sports Illustrated Snapshot’s photos of the day. I hoped to see the photo published in a magazine, but it didn’t happen. Below you can see a screen cap from Sports Illustrated.

Anyways enough talk about the photo, my picture of the month is “Electrified”

June 05, 2011; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Lightning strikes at the stadium during a suspension of play due to severe weather during the Tallahassee regional of the 2011 NCAA baseball tournament between the Florida State Seminoles and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Dick Howser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle

2011 Pictures of the Month – June – Images by Derick Hingle

Enjoy the abbreviated slideshow.

2011 Pictures of the Month – May – Images by Derick Hingle

Anyways the month of April was jam packed with coverage of the New Orleans Hornets including their run into the NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, you will see some of my photos featured in my NBA Playoffs blog if you have not seen it, you can check it out here.

Besides the NBA Playoffs I traveled earlier in the month to Talladega for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega you can see that blog here.

The only other events I covered in April was the annual Purple & Gold Spring Game for LSU Tigers football and a High School District track meet that I shot for the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons Website, I have several frames I liked from the evening.

As always I’ll kick everything off with my top shot of the month and you can view the remaining images in a Big Picture slide show.

This month I selected the photo below of Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant blocking a shot by New Orleans Hornets power forward Carl Landry as my photo of the month.

Here is a slide show of all my pictures of the month for April.

2011 Pictures of the Month – April – Images by Derick Hingle