Inhospitable Weather Conditions!!!!!!

I had the opportunity, yesterday, to shoot a game that has been on my to-do list for quite some time.

Florida at Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium, in Tallahassee, Florida.

It has one of the all-time best pre-game traditions in all of college football. I got to be witness to this great tradition, but not under optimal conditions.

About an hour or so before kickoff, in the photographers work room, I was seated next to Sports Illustrated photographer Bill Frakes, when some shooter from the Tallahassee area asked him why he didn't come there more often to shoot Florida State games.

He hollored out across the work room "Inhospitable weather conditions!!!"

I don't know how many inches of rain fell on the Florida panhandle yesterday, but the majority of it seemed to fall in Tallahassee. Conditions were brutal if you were trying to keep thousands of dollars worth of electronic camera gear dry.

Don't believe me?

Take a look and try to count the rain drops.


My 'G' spot made a puddle.


And the band played on......
They were like the Energizer Bunny.....they kept going, and going, and going....


The Florida Band tried their best to keep dry, too.


These Florida State kids didn't look to be too happy to be sitting out in the rain.


Every where you looked, people were fashionably dressed for this late fall classic....


"Was that Michael Phelps that just swam for a touchdown?"


Remember what I said earlier about protecting thousands of dollars worth of electronic gear in the rain?
Different people do it different ways.


Even if you have the proper rain gear for your camera, you still have to work hard to keep it dry in these conditions.


Someone had an umbrella on the FSU sidelines. I wish I could have got under it a couple of times.


Rain water poured from the stadium most of the night.


The Florida State cheerleaders were dripping with excitement.


The cheer squads waited a little late before trying to protect themselves from the elements.


Even the 'underwater' skycam has to be cleaned during these conditions.


The sidelines had lots of internet reporters that were trying to stay dry.


But these babydolls knew how to have fun in these conditions.....


Allstate Insurance had a contest where the winner got to attempt a 20 yard field goal for a thousand dollars.
Somehow you just knew this was gonna happen.
After he busted his ass in the rain and humiliated himself in front of tens of thousands of wet spectators, he was awarded, for his good effort, with a couple of basketball tickets.


This is the scrum after the game.
In the rain.
I hate scrums.


Remember the Florida State tradition I talked about earlier?
Here are a couple of images of Chief Osceola during his pregame ritual.




Floridas Jeffery Demps swims for yardage early in the game.


Tim Tebow directs the Gators synchronised swim team.


Florida States Antone Smith.


Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford.


Jermaine Thomas from Florida State.


After Percy Harvin was injured, Emmanuel Moody came in to fill his soggy cleats.
At the University of Florida, everybody gets to help out.


And what would a trip to shoot a Florida State game be without getting a good image of head coach Bobby Bowden?

Despite the inhospitable weather conditions, I had a good trip to the FSU campus, made some decent images, and stayed dry for most of the game.
This game has been on my to-do list for quite some time, so now I can mark it off the list and look for another adventure to dispose of.

Chao