It's a close knit group

Today was a pretty hectic day.

Erin and I traded out days on which one of us would go to an Ohio State game during the weekend. Saturday was my day.

I've shot college football, but that was when I was a student and it was at a small university. This was definitely not the same sort of deal.

This college had something like 100 thousand people in attendance. This was not a small campus like CMU. There was a lot more work to just getting into the stadium since this is a worldwide known team.

I arrived at the college campus about 2 hours early. I wish I would have arrived about 3 hours early just to be super ready and able to be set up and comfortable. Better safe than sorry sort of thing.

Well I got started by making my way to the stadium and then directly to the press box. This is usually the first stop because of the free food. In this industry there is a pretty small chance of getting good stuff for free at any point in time so I take advantage of that as much as possible.

After eating a beef brisket sandwhich and some chips, I headed down to the field to find a spot amongst all the rabble on the sidelines.

This is sort of where the shit hit the fan. The process of shooting sports professionally is a whole industry in its self. So the world surrounding it is very organized and strict. The stadium security is where things get so fun! Although you are a professional at what you do, the security at the stadium make sure to remind you constantly that you are in their realm and you're not the boss.

If you step over the magic line, you're done. If you get in anyone's way, you're done. Etc. Obviously this is for security purposes so it's just part of the deal.

I had a couple of moments where a security official guy made me miss a really great play/touch down because I was "stepping over the line" which wasn't true.

Let me do my damn job.

Another part of the whole day that was just strange and foreign to me was the "pro" status of people. If you're on the sidelines, I think it's mandatory for everyone to consider you "super cool." Other shooters, commonly twice my age, barely gave me a nod or a smile. I am still a rookie I guess.

I felt like although I was there and I was getting shots right next to these guys, I wasn't a part of their special team. It's possible that it's just me.

Erin thinks it's based on the size of the lens on your camera and how many cameras you carry. I might have to agree. If you display your powerful gear, you must be awesome.