Picture Perfect

TigerBlog has a new hobby — photography.

Here's a shot he took the other day with his iPhone: 

What do you think? Not too bad, right? 

Okay, okay. That isn't TB's shot, and that wasn't taken with an iPhone. Perhaps credit should actually go where it belongs:

Soham Bhattacharyya has been named overall winner of this year's Mangrove Photography Awards, for his image of an endangered tigress in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, India.

That is a great shot. Look how beautiful the Tiger is. Look how still it is. Who couldn't like that picture (other than, maybe, Harvard's football team this week)? 

How close did Soham actually have to be to the Tiger to take that? What kind of lens was used? 

What did the Tiger do in the next few seconds? Hopefully for Soham's sake it didn't look anything like this: 

You saw this picture in yesterday's TigerBlog. It was taken during Saturday's 21-14 Princeton win over Harvard.

Those Tigers are Liam Johnson and Ozzie Nicholas, and there's nothing still or peaceful about them when they're on the football field. Between them they have 111 tackles through six games. The next best total by a pair of teammates? Here's the complete list of other Ivy League teammates who combined have at least 100 tackles this season: _______________________.

In case you didn't get it, that means no other duo has at least 100. Johnson and Nicholas have 111.

That photo from the other day was taken by the great Shelley Szwast, who has taken so many great Tiger photos over the years, though not in a mangrove. That picture from the Harvard game is one of her best in that it tells the entire story of the game in that one shot. 

That's what great pictures can do. Princeton is fortunate to have Shelley, Greg Carroccio and Ryan Sansom behind the lens for many of its games. 

When TB first started here, the only need for photography was to make sure there were enough pictures for the following year's media guide (those were pre-season printed publications that were obsolete after one game, for those under 30). The NCAA rules required the insides to be black-and-white, with only cover on the inside and outside covers, so the overwhelming majority of photos from back then are in black-and-white. 

And they were actual photos, not electronic versions. There was film that went in the camera (as opposed to an SD card), and that film had to be developed at a photo shop, as opposed to working in PhotoShop. It was all pretty expensive. 

Today? There is no limit to the use of good photos, most especially on social media. The demand is great, which is why, as TB said, having quality photographers is a must.

And then there's TB, whose actual photography hobby is in its infancy. He did shoot the Princeton field hockey game at Brown and got a solid B- or so in that he had some usable photos but deleted maybe eight of 10 he took. 

He also tried against this past Saturday at Dartmouth. This time, it was in the pouring rain in Hanover, and his best picture was probably one he took of the inside of his umbrella. Or there was also one he took of the sky, when he actually thought he was pointing the camera at the field. 

Okay, everyone has to start somewhere. He'll be back at it again Friday in New Haven, for the field hockey game at 5 against Yale to decide the final Ivy tournament spot. 

Who knows, maybe if he keeps at it, he'll end up being as good at photography as he is at golf (which if you're a longtime reader, you know he's bad at golf). Actually, this is one sidelight he might be able to practice and, ultimately, become a reasonable photographer. 

His goal for the Yale game is to get at least one picture that tells the story of the game. You can check out the webpage and the field hockey social media after the game to see how he does.

By the way, if you want to see other great shots from the mangrove photo contest, click HERE.